Matt Damon: Maybe The President’s Daughters Should Go To Iraq…

[CatWoman]

Robert De Niro and Matt Damon will be on Hardball next week, so they played a little teaser clip for us. Damon thinks that all of America should share the burden of war and maybe the Bush Twins could be serving our country better shopping in Baghdad.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/12/15/matt-damon-shi...

[dogday]

1. I love Matt Damon

always have....

[Olney Blue]

2. And Robert DeNiro will support Dems in 2008!

[Cha]

7. I remember Robert De Niro

standing on stage with Ben Affleck and Al Gore in Miami the last day before the selection in 2000!

He knew.

[Olney Blue]

8. Knew what?

[Cha]

9. Knew that Gore was

the better man for the job.

[Olney Blue]

13. I thought you were posting a conspiracy theory that

DeNiro knew that Gore was going to get screwed by the SCOTUS.

(sorry! )

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Arugula Latte]

50. No. That was Pacino.

Pacino was in on the whole thing.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

24. In the opening scene of Fahrenheit 9/11, too.

[AX10]

3. K & R!

[ikojo]

4. Matt Damon may be rich now but I don't think he's

forgotten his working class Boston roots. He knows which class is sacrificing the most in Iraq and it isn't the class he's part of now that is for sure.

Way to go Matt!

I also think Chelsea Clinton should be there. Hillary voted for the war when she knew that no one in her circle of friends was going to risk their progeny.

[JanMichael]

42. He narrated the Howard Zinn documentary "Neutral on a Moving Train"

As in "can't be neutral". I don't think he's moved to the right at all from what i've heard.

He was apparently raised near Zinn and his mother or father was an uber Lefty.

[Frank Cannon]

45. I never would have heard about Zinn if it weren't for Matt Damon

"Why don't you read Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States? Now, THERE'S a history book for you." -- From Good Will Hunting.

And so I went and got the book. Wow.

[brazos121200]

5. Damon was saying that as it is now there is a

certain (economic)group of people in America who basically have to enter the military for financial or other reasons, and that it is not fair that they should bear the entire burden of Bush's wars of aggression. He was saying that if a draft was initiated, all would have to sacrifice equally, and that if Pres. Bush has draft age daughters, maybe they too should have to serve, and possiblly be sent to Iraq, too. Bet that would stop the war pronto.

[Warpy]

11. Yeah, that's how it worked during the Vietnam War

----NOT.

There's a reason we all fought so hard to end the fucking draft. It has never been and will never be fairly administered. There will always be loopholes for fat cat contributors so their kids won't go, just like Congress writes sweetheart deductions on their income taxes and buries it in unrelated bills.

Consider what Stupid would be if he had a nearly unlimited supply of manpower to throw at the middle east.

Never bring back the draft. We now know madmen can cheat their way into office. We know a lack of manpower in the military is limiting this one's ambition to conquer a whole region to control its oil.

[Bob Loblaw]

15. My sentiments exactly.

Consider what Stupid would be if he had a nearly unlimited supply of manpower to throw at the middle east.

[brazos121200]

20. I completely agree. But I believe that just the threat of a draft could

bring a quick end to our overseas adventures. I lived through the Vietnam era draft,and it was not a pleasant thing to live through. You are right, though, the wealthy and well connected will always find a way to subvert equality and fairness.

[Warpy]

33. Yeah, that really worked in Vietnam, didn't it?

The threat of a draft won't work. Too many people who are too old for it but too young to remember Vietnam will support it as a way to show patriotism, give Junior some training, make a man of him, blah blah blah.

Sometimes you need to listen to those of us who have been there. Theories are fine, but an examination of practice in the past will demonstrate most of them don't work.

[seashorelady]

44. It is time for young adults to start paying attention

and get out and vote. Students made a difference back in the 60's and they too can make a difference today.

[stanwyck]

22. I agree about not bringing back the draft, BUT

having an all volunteer military does make it just a little too easy to get into "invasions" without having the country realize the consequences. I believe that's what Damon is saying. And what Eisenhower said over fifty years ago.
The military industrial complex is too intrusive into our policy making.
War is supposed to be the last resort after all other options have been exhausted.
The invasion of Iraq clearly was not the last resort.
The Bushies cooked up the books to get us into this mess for war profiteering and American colonialism.
A horrific mistake has been made. And the people who were the "deciders" are not the ones paying the price.

[Warren Stupidity]

29. The theory that the volunteer army makes it too easy

to get us involved in stupid wars is falsified by vietnam. Stupid war, conscript army. The draft certainly might mobilize antiwar sentiment EVENTUALLY, but our leaders have never ever had a problem getting us into wars, conscript army or volunteer army, getting in has always been simple. Getting out of a bad war is an entirely different problem.

[Warpy]

32. Well, it would be easier to redefine the military's mission

and amend the constitution, if that's what it takes, to be a defensive force, only. Under that definition, they could have gone into Afghanistan to roust the political entity that attacked us. However, Iraq would have been out of the question.

The all volunteer military is now working exactly the way it's supposed to, with fewer volunteering as long as a madman who sees himself as emperor occupies the White House.

Notice that a purely defensive military doesn't preclude a draft. However, one supposes that to be unnecessary unless this country really has been attacked.

War is ruinously expensive and destroys everyone involved in it, actively or passively, either physically or mentally or both. It is to be avoided at all costs. It should be used only to repel an enemy.

[Warren Stupidity]

35. Indeed. That is completely to the point.

Instead of some bizarre indirect self defeating idiocy such as 'bring back the draft to end the war', what needs to be done is to legally restrict our military to defensive operations and to get back to the pre-WWII situation where committing our troops to operations outside our borders, where committing our troops into war, requires a formal declaration of war. It is time to stop this nonsense once and for all.

[seashorelady]

43. Point well taken

Never bring back the draft. We can all be grateful that he doesn't have an unlimited supply of manpower to throw at the middle east.

[Cha]

6. I'm glad someone is saying it right

out loud on national tv! Especially when that certain "president" lied to get is into the war on Iraq and keeps saying everything is peachy keen and he's not going to ever leave Iraq while he's the decider.

"You know and if the President has daughters who are of age then maybe they should go too…"

[Dover]

10. Shopping in Iraq is exactly the goal of the corporate/military invasion.

They'd love for it to become a 'free trade' zone for consumerism. And I'm sure the Bush twins will be the first one's to cut the ribbon at the opening of the new MALL OF AMERI.....errrrr...IRAQ.
Buy, be entertained, but by all means....don't look behind the bloody curtain.

[me b zola]

31. You're correct.

I heard on one of the cables news stations last month that they have built a "western style" mall in Afghanastan.

[MannyGoldstein]

12. Why Not Chelsea Clinton?

Senator Clinton was still pro-war, last time I checked.

[Erika]

17. W started this war(s) Let the twins back up their father.

Bill Clinton Kept the peace.

[0rganism]

23. Sure he did, if you can call that peace

There were many things Bill Clinton did well -- he was a smart man. However, under the "sanctions regime" preceding the current catastrofuck, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died horribly from lack of medicine and adequate clean water facilities. Some of that is doubtless Saddam's fault, and some of it is the fault of UNSC-mandated bombings of civilian infrastructure to enforce "no fly zones".

It truly is a testament to the idiocy of W that he managed to make things WORSE for Iraqis than they already were in the 20 years previous.

[Captain Hilts]

41. Hussein's the one that starved those kids. He had a choice.

He chose to keep trying to arm his military instead of being permitted to sell oil.

The starvation was a direct product of decisions Hussein made, not Bill Clinton.

[0rganism]

48. The problem with your thesis is, he DIDN'T try to get proscribed weaponry

However, he did try to create the requisite uncertainty about his possible weapons programs that would enable him to stay in power.

[Township75]

30. Good Point! There are plenty of posters who are all for....

sending Bush's children there, until that same standard is applied to a Democrat...then all of a sudden it isn't necessary. That makes it seem as if it isn't the war they are outraged about.

[pinto]

16. I don't see how children ought to be held to account for, or support, the actions of their parents.

I understand the point being made, but it just seems a stretch to me.

[dflprincess]

19. They were out campaigning for daddy in 2004

If they support his policies they should go all the way and enlist. FDR's sons were all in the service and 3 (not sure about the fourth one) served in combat zones.

[marmar]

18. Jason Bourne is a good egg....

Proof positive that all the smart celebrities are liberals.

[blogslut]

21. Good

He's put it out there. I hope we, as a country, talk about it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Agreed mart

but every time we mention the D word people get in a tizzy... and that is the only way they could be in downtown baghdad, not shopping, but patrolling

[treestar]

26. They may be jerks, but they are independent people who

should not necessarily pay for the sins of the fathers, but if they support this war, then they should go, like anyone who supports this travesty of a "war" should.

[Frank Cannon]

46. When the Bush twins began actively campaigning for their father...

in the last election, they gave their tacit support for his miserable war. It's absolutely fair and appropriate that we ask them to demonstrate this support in Baghdad in their BDUs.

[burythehatchet]

27. Matt Damon ROCKS!!!!!!

[Mr. Jinx]

39. Yeah Matt!

It's been said many times, but it's always nice to hear it from a person of his celebrity.

[blonndee]

28. Damon and his friend Clooney...

ROCK my WORLD! I just love both of those guys.

Donations from Matt Damon:

DAMON, MATT
SANTA MONICA, CA 90405
SELF-EMPLOYED/ACTOR

DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE (D) $26,700 primary 11/28/05

MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION $5,000 primary 06/23/04

MOVEON.ORG VOTER FUND $20,000 primary 06/23/04

JENNINGS,JON PAUL(D)House(IN 08)FRIENDS OF JON JENNINGS COMMITTEE
$500 primary 03/11/04

KUCINICH, DENNIS J(D)President KUCINICH FOR PRESIDENT INC.
$2,000 primary 12/27/03

source: http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/M...

Oh, I got Matt Damon's autograph in the Denver airport bar three years ago and got to speak with him briefly. He was super friendly.

[Jennicut]

34. To be fair to Chelsea I doubt she is like her mother, I think she is very liberal

and intelligent and never would have been for the war in the first place. I could be wrong, but I just see her as skeptical of the war. The Bush twins deserve to go over there just so their act gets straightened out and because they are so spoiled. Chelsea was one of the least spolied kids ever in the Whitehouse. Plus, Bushie twins campaigned for Daddy's presidency knowing the Iraq war was raging in 2004.

[AZBlue]

36. While I agree with his sentiment, isn't it a bit hypocritical coming from a 36 yr old male in good

physical shape? He could go there just as well as they could. It just seems a little too much like Bush sending others' sons and daughters and not his own.

[Cha]

38. Not so~ Not hypocritical at all..

Damon didn't want the War On Iraq in the first place. Not hypocritical for me not to want my 38 year old son to go, either. And, it wouldn't be hypocritical for my son not to want to go.

We all saw through it from the get go and protested in kind.

[mondo joe]

47. He didn't support the candidate and his policies. They did. NT

[roamer65]

37. Damon is right. Start drafting now.

No exemptions for ANY REASON. Let a few rich kids die and this thing will be over very quickly.

[ritziecracker]

40. Supporters of war in Iraq don't have children there!!!

Staunch supporters of President Bush's War they believe we should keep troops in Iraq and stay the course. But when these conservatives are asked if they would be willing to send their sons and daughters in harm's way,the answer is always "NO."

[NotGivingUp]

49. way to go matt and robert!