posted on April 20, 2006 06:58:10 PM
Some of us will never forget or forgive, Jane.
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Jane Fonda on PBS: Pathetic Right-Wingers Spread "Myth of Hanoi Jane"
Posted by Tim Graham on April 20, 2006 - 12:31.
At the late-night PBS talk show "Charlie Rose," the revolving door of hosts keeps turning. On Monday night, ABC's Barbara Walters interviewed Jane Fonda about the paperback edition of her memoir, and just past the midway point of the interview, Walters asked indignantly about conservative opposition to her. "It amazes me that I still get letters about you...what has it been since Vietnam? Forty years?...The anger. 'Traitor to her country. Honoring her would be traitorous, stupid,' and so on. It goes on and on and on." Fonda was harsh:
"Well, partly it’s organized. It’s not spontaneous. Some of it is probably spontaneous. But it’s sad, and in a way, it’s pathetic, that lo, these many years later, these people have not (pause) made sense of the war. They’re off base in terms of where the anger needs to be placed. And I’m made a lightning rod, and the right wing has been very assiduous in fanning the flame of the myth of Hanoi Jane. You know, they’ve spread lies on the Internet about things I supposedly did that aren’t true. And they’ve kept it alive because it suits their interests."
Walters: "You’ve apologized."
Fonda: "Many, many times."
Walters: "Many times, for the pictures, for your anti-war..."
Fonda, interrupting: "I never apologized for being anti-war."
Walters: "No, no, no. No, no, no. I’m saying you were anti-war, you were not pro- the enemy..."
Fonda, interrupting: "Not anti-my country."
Walters: "You’ve apologized for the photographs. You’ve said you will..."
Fonda: "I’ll go to my grave regretting that."
Walters then asked if it still hurts, and Fonda said she separates the letters between the ideologues, who she ignores, and the people with real pain, which makes her sad, but many vets and wives have written to her praising the book. Walters followed up: "Does this kind of business stop you from perhaps speaking out and giving your feelings about the war in Iraq?"
Fonda: "Um, I don’t want to give the right wing the opportunity to um, distract from what’s really happening. What’s really happening is that the majority of the American people are against the war in Iraq, and I don’t want to be a distraction from that."
Walters: "Which means what? That you do speak out or you don’t speak out?"
Fonda: "Well, I speak out, but I’m not doing what I did during the Vietnam War, in terms of marching and touring the country and speaking out against the war. Because I wanted to do that – and then I realized it would be a distraction."
Walters: "What scares you most today about U.S. politics, about what’s going on in the country?"
Fonda: "The most immediate fear is what the Bush administration is thinking about doing in Iran, the nuclear weapons in Iran. You know, from everything I’ve read, you know, most importantly, the article in The New Yorker by Seymour Hersh, it would be an utter catastrophe...I think that’s very frightening. I think just about everything that’s coming out of this administration is terrifying."
Walters then asked Fonda why the Democrats aren't doing better with all of Bush's problems. Fonda said she's not really concerned about building the Democrats, but building a grass-roots political movement. Walters let the curtain slip a little, with the royal we of the anti-Bush campaign: "You say we should do it from the grass roots. Like what?"
It was clear that Walters wasn't going to ask challenging questions to Fonda, underline her real activities and statements of the Vietnam era, or ask what precisely is the right wing allegedly lying about. It should have been clear from the first minute of the program, when Walters began lovingly: "Jane Fonda is with us tonight. I’m so glad. I have known Jane for 36 years, so we’re really going to dish tonight (Fonda laughs). Jane is an actress, an activist, a feminist, a philanthropist, a workout girl, and an American icon."
Barbara said "In the 1970s, though, Fonda became a controversial figure when she publicly opposed the Vietnam War." Barbara noted that Fonda already appeared with Charlie Rose for an interview when the hardcover came out. "I love this book. I really do...I am so pleased to have Jane Fonda back on this program. I love this book. You know that."
Fonda: "I know. It makes me so happy." Walters also called it a "moving, honest book," and explained how Fonda already knew: she wrote Fonda to tell her.
There was a lot of psychobabble in this interview, with Fonda talking about how she was crippled by misogyny, and the struggles of "women who aren't embodied." At one point, Walters asked the typical Baba Wawa question: "Who are you, Jane Fonda?"
Fonda replied: "I am a resilient woman with a lot of courage and I have managed to stay curious, and I think that’s a saving grace. It’s far more important to be interested than to be interesting. I’ve stayed interested, I continue to grow and learn, and I like that." (I doubt Fonda meant that as a plug for PBS, which has used "Stay curious" as a promotional slogan.)
Then, there was more fawning at interview's end.
Walters: "We have had 36 years of friendship and doing interviews. Later on this week, youre going to be doing 'The View,' so I'll have to have new questions to ask you with my ladies. But you know, when I see you myself, from that girl I first interviewed all those years back, in the shack, trying to find a way, and I look at you today, I have great pride in our friendship.
Fonda: "I love you. I'm honored to be your friend. You are a pioneer. You have been so important for women."
Walters, in whimsical New York accent: "Likewise, darling. Likewise, darling."
Fonda: "Thank you."
Walters: "I hope Charlie has the most rapid recovery, but I consider myself fortunate in having been able to replace him tonight."
Fonda: "I'm grateful to you. Thank you."
Walters: "The book is called 'Jane Fonda, My Life So Far.' It's a big, thick paperback, but gee, it's an important book."
posted on April 20, 2006 07:33:27 PM
Fonda was on Larry King Tuesday night and it was a very good interview. They talked about the Vietnam thing after Fonda said she had done plenty she was not proud of and that was one of them. BUT she did say she thought Sheehand was can't remember exactly but something like courageous bla bla. That let people know she was against war even thought she said she would not talk about it.
**************
Some minds are like concrete,
thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
posted on April 20, 2006 07:40:20 PM
Bear,
Living in the past again. Between Clinton,Jane,Kennedy,Carter even all the way back to F.D.R. Bear just can't face the problems of TODAY in America.
"I DON'T GIVE THEM HELL I JUST TELL THEM THE TRUTH AND THEY THINK ITS HELL." HARRY TRUMAN
COME JOIN THE NATIONAL DAY OF AMERICAN PROTEST ON NOVEMBER 7 2006.
posted on April 20, 2006 09:15:46 PM
You can rehabilitate a lot of things, but most people agree a traitor is a traitor. You do not encourage an enemy success in shooting down your own countryman and them years later "regret it".
posted on April 20, 2006 09:26:42 PM
You've got that RIGHT, Bear.
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Amen, desquirrel. That's the truth.
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And for me personally, I believe kerry AND fonda were traitors to our troops during that time too. I will DIE believing they BOTH should have been convicted for being traitors.
He and fonda made a great pair. Both anti-Americans....her more interested in getting 'recognized' for her career....him to be recognized so he could get his political career off the ground.
One of the things that I recognize as a problem is so many are too young to have lived through/during those times.....and they just won't ever be able to see it the same way we did/do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation:
What would a Democrat president have done at that point? Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack.
Ann Coulter
[ edited by Linda_K on Apr 20, 2006 09:31 PM ]
posted on April 21, 2006 12:47:29 AM Living in the past again.
Apparently your reading comprehension skills are failing due to your advanced age sheepa but when Hanoi Jane (like clinton) speaks in public they are the ones drawing attention to their PAST making targets of themselves.
"“More Iraqis think things are going well in Iraq than Americans do. I guess they don’t get the New York Times over there.”—Jay Leno".
posted on April 21, 2006 05:24:45 AM
Bear,
I read well enough to see how you post about people from the past often. Its really funny to watch neocons like Bear who can't seem to face the reality of the present dwell on people from the past.
You have written about Fonda,Clinton,Carter,Kennedy and even go back as far as F.D.R.
Todays neocons inability to face the problems of America today is one of many reasons they are falling apart.
FACTS ARE THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS BY ALMOST 3 TO 1 HAS HAD ENOUGH OF THE CON IN THIS CONSERVATIVE FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
THE GREAT AMERICAN PROTEST DAY IS NOVEMBER 7 2006.
posted on April 21, 2006 07:39:02 AM I read well enough to see how you post about people from the past often
Apparently not. The only times I post on subjects from the past is when those involved (Hanoi Jane, clinton & others) stand in the CURRENT limelight and bring up the subjects which made them infamous.
"“More Iraqis think things are going well in Iraq than Americans do. I guess they don’t get the New York Times over there.”—Jay Leno".
posted on April 21, 2006 10:30:40 AM
If you read bigpeepa Jane Fonda isn't old news. She is right in the fore front of everything.
Talk about speaking about people in the past bigpeepa read your signature line. Harry Truman about as old as FDR
Canadian Press
Published: Monday, April 17, 2006 ATLANTA
(AP) - Jane Fonda says she would like to tour the United States and speak out against U.S. involvement in Iraq, but her controversial history of Vietnam War protests leaves her with "too much baggage."
"I wanted to do a tour like I did during the Vietnam War, a tour of the country," the Oscar-winning actress said Monday on ABC's Good Morning America. "But then Cindy Sheehan filled in the gap, and she is better at this than I am. I carry too much baggage."
Sheehan, whose soldier son, Casey, died in Iraq in 2004, has become a leading anti-war figure.
Fonda said that during a recent national book tour, war opponents - including some Vietnam veterans - asked her to speak out.
Last month, the Georgia Senate overwhelmingly rejected a resolution honouring Fonda, an Atlanta resident, for her work preventing teen pregnancy, donations to universities and charities, and role as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations.
Her political activities protesting the Vietnam War, including a trip to the former north Vietnam in 1972, have long made her a target of veterans[.
Fonda, who won Oscars for 1971's Klute and 1978's Coming Home, was interviewed shortly after returning from a vacation trip to Argentina with ex-husband Ted Turner. Fonda said she and Turner remain close.
"He's my favourite ex-husband," the 68-year-old actress said. "We get along great. I love to fish, and he has some beautiful property down there."
She is one of the few issues that seem to be completely non-partisan. I know plenty of Democrats and they all hate her just as much as the Republicans.
It seems the only ones who DON'T hate her have some kind of Hollywood or Media agenda... Or just like to argue pointlessly.
Dr. Arcane, revelator of mystical secrets http://www.drarcane.com
Got questions about the secrets of the universe?
posted on April 21, 2006 01:13:41 PM
There are men aging in prison that did not commit as heinous a crime as treason. They also think their crimes are ancient history and should be forgotten.
Meanwhile, this worthless #*!@ runs around free and gets to shoot her mouth off. And she has FANS!
Just disgusting.
__________
The raghead fig-puckers are fighting to spread their culture and religion, and to destroy ours
