Penn Ultimate Lunacy

By Phil Boehmke

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." -Abraham Lincoln.

Which brings us to Sean Penn. Recently during an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher (who also does his very best to prove Lincoln's point) Red Leo's son gave us an impassioned defense of his dear friend Hugo Chavez. Sean, who appears to be polishing his resume' for the position of Hugo's Minister of Propaganda gave us this impartial critique of the media's coverage of President Chavez.

...every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it! And accept it. And this is mainstream media, who should-truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies.

In the paradise that is Hugo Chavez' Venezuela those who criticize his dictatorial regime may have their broadcast licenses revoked. Obviously Mr. Penn has an even more radical appraoch - jailing dissidents.

If the United States treated dissent the same way that Mr. Penn recommends, he would have been locked up in a filthy prison cell many long years ago. Would President Chavez tolerate the kind of personal insults that Mr. Penn hurled at President George W. Bush? Would President Chavez allow Sean and his fellow travelers to protest the nation's war on terror?

Sean, before you move to Venezuela (which I wholeheartedly endorse) you may wish to check the legal code and find out what sort of penalties apply to those who viciously attack photographers.

Say what you will about Sean Penn's political views or violent hatred of the paparazzi, at least he is compassionate and forgiving man. Just a matter of days before his appearance on Real Time, Mr. Penn extended this special wish for his critics.