War on Terrorism: The Celebrity View 

Many celebrities feel obligated to share their political opinions and the war on terrorism has been no exception. From novelist Norman Mailer’s rants about “what if the perpetrators were right” to singer Steve Earle’s soon-to-be released tribute to John Walker Lindh, the celebrity community has been a source of anti-American commentary since the war started. Here’s a selection of some of those comments.

A Singer Speaks Up Country rock singer Steve Earle sang his new song about John Walker Lindh for the Today show. One line described the U.S. as the “land of the infidel” while the chorus included a chant to Allah.

Today showcased Steve Earle's yet to be released John Walker's Blues

Film Stars – and One Tennis Star – Complain About the War and the Country

• Former Cheers star Woody Harrelson, in an interview with a left wing London tabloid, said “America’s war against terrorism is terrorism.” Harrelson also praised British performer George Michael for his recent song attacking President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. 
  
  

• In an interview with a German magazine, former tennis great Martina Navratilova compared the Bush administration to Czechoslovakia under Communist rule. 
  
  

• Actors Ed Asner and Ossie Davis, along with such luminaries as Noam Chomsky and Gloria Steinem, signed a petition that blamed the Bush administration for the war on terrorism. “It is unjust, immoral and illegitimate,” the group claimed.  
  
  

• Film director Robert Altman told the Times of London: “When I see an American flag flying, it’s a joke.” He later added that “there’s nothing in America that I would miss at all.” 
  
  

• During a speech at Princeton University, Danny Glover charged that “one of the main purveyors of violence in this world has been this country.” 
  
  

• In a Fox News Channel interview, Glover denied ever calling the U.S. a “purveyor of violence.” As an added bonus, this CyberAlert item included an Alec Baldwin interview with CNN’s Judy Woodruff in which the actor claimed he never actually said he was leaving the U.S. if Bush won the election. 

Criticism from the Literary World

• Novelist Norman Mailer said the World Trade Center represented everything that was bad in America and had to come down. Mailer also wondered: “What if those perpetrators were right and we were not? We have long ago lost the capability to take a calm look at the enormity of our enemy's position.” 
  
  

• Novelist Gore Vidal, in an interview with Reuters in Italy, claimed America deserved to be attacked and accused the U.S. of waging “a perpetual war for perpetual peace.”

Then There’s the Truly Hopeless…

• At a VH-1 Concert for New York, Richard Gere told a Madison Square Garden audience of rescue and police personnel that he opposed revenge on the terrorists and that “compassion and love” would lead to understanding.

Thank God for Dennis Miller…

• Comedian Dennis Miller questioned the complaints of civil libertarians during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. “People say it’s not the American way to infringe on civil liberties. Well, it’s not the American way to rollover for punks, either,” Miller said.
  
  

• In an earlier appearance with Leno, Miller berated the media claim that it’s “the public’s need to know” that drove reporting on American ground troops in Afghanistan. “We don’t want to know,” the comedian yelled. Miller also shared his views on drilling for oil in Alaska: “I say you run a pipe in there and suck it dry.” 

…and James Woods

• Actor James Woods told Jay Leno that he “loved” President Bush’s handling of the terrorist war. Woods also fondly recalled the U.S. response to Moammar Gadhafi in 1986.
  
  

• In an interview on Entertainment Tonight in early October, Woods gave his views on how to fight the terrorism war. “Simple logic tells you that if somebody wants you dead you have one course of action: To get them deader sooner,” he said.

For more MRC Spotlights, see Profiles in Bias.