Monday, July 05, 2004

130 Degree Heat, 180 Degree Turn

At last, a Hollywood star I won't have to enjoy only after deliberately erasing all the mindless anti-war mumbo jumbo quotes. And of all people it's Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, who comes off as rather witty in this article. Now, she doesn't say she supports the war or anything. She doesn't have to to win my respect. She actually went there and saw real people (unlike, it seems, many of the journalists who pretend to cover Iraq). And though she had her deeply held views about the U.S. military, she adjusted her politics to the reality, not the other way around.

Staunchly anti-war, Romijn-Stamos said the visit had been a real eye-opener and it seemed to have given her a slightly different perspective on life.

"It was unbelievable and I'll never forget it," she said. "I grew up in Berkeley, California, which is the most liberal, left-leaning place you could ever find and I had zero contact with our military.

"So I had a pre-conceived notion they would all be rednecks who were only there because their daddies had been in the army. But I was wrong and I met the most amazing people over there.

"It was 130 degrees [Fahrenheit] and they were walking around in full fatigues and we'd get there to find out they'd been waiting in that heat for three or four hours. And they had so much perspective on it, they were really deep and smart and had a lot of opinions."

That's all I'd ask of anyone who claims to be against, against, against. Go and see, or find a real view.


Besides, she's easier on the eyes than Michael Moore.

[Update, July 7] Note to other Hollywood types: take a tip from this athlete. American tennis star Andy Roddick, pestered with leading questions by a reporter from Der Spiegel, gives the right answer. Just because you're a movie star/jock, doesn't mean you know anything.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What about the war?

RODDICK: What's that supposed to mean?

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What do you think about the Iraq war? A mistake?

RODDICK: One of my best childhood buddies is fighting down there, and of course I hope he comes out of it OK. Listen, it's not my job to make comments about that. As an American, naturally, I support my country. Some things I agree with, others I don't. Thank God I'm not the one who has to make the decisions there. I don't know enough about the whole situation to pass judgment on it.