It is always somewhat painful, and quite frankly embarrassing, to watch wealthy Bel Aire celebrities make comments such as those made by Harry Belafonte on his recent visit to Venezuela:
"No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people ... support your revolution." (Yahoo News)
I seriously doubt Belafonte, the son of Jamaican immigrants, would have been able to succeed in his chosen profession of entertainment (and be able to afford a very large Bel Aire residence) under a political system based on the philosophy of one Hugo Chavez.
Having been to numerous countries where the government sponsors terrorism (Syria and the Palestenian territories under Yasser Arafat, for example) or where terrorism is a way of life (Israel, Pakistan, the tribal areas of Waziristan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, China all of which I have been to), I can assure you that we do not live in a terrorist state or under a terrorist dictator. I can understand dislike for the President and his policies. But base your criticisms on facts and reasoned analysis, not hate and ridiculous analogies. (I am about as apolitical as they come in today's divisive poltical environment, but I have to say that this kind of absurdity is doing nothing but demeaning the Democrats' cause.)
The lack of civil rights in Syria, Sudan, China, or Zimbabwe (just to name a few) stands in stark contrast to the abundance thereof in the United States. Maybe Harry Belafonte should leave the shelter of his money and his status, go walk the streets of Damascus and prostelityze his political philophy. Maybe then he would understand the immense stupidity of his view from the cell of a Syrian political prison.
Everyone in this country is entitled to their opinion. But if one is going to express it on the world stage, I suggest one apply some due diligence and vet that opinion for such things as hyperbole, hypocrisy, and idiocy.
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Belafonte and Chavez. What a pair. I'm not so much disappointed with Belafonte as I am with folks (primarily in Hollywood) who overtly or covertly agree with him. Belafonte is an entertainer. Scratch that. He's a washup entertainer. I remember my Dad liked him a bit. I'm as concerned about his opinion as I am about Jessica Simpson's. He's an idiot. What are you going to do? But everybody else? They should know better.
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