Saturday, July 16, 2011

Still Exercised About Jane Fonda















Jane Fonda was looking pretty 'not guilty' back in 1970, if I may say so. But then, she was still two years away from her Hanoi Jane episode.

I don't know which part of Jane's QVC Cancelled My Appearance!! drama is stranger, the fact that the old leftie was trying to hawk her merchandise on the kitsch-kapitalism kable channel in the first place, or that she would be shocked when a popular backlash set in against her.

I was to have been on QVC today to introduce my book, “Prime Time,” about aging and the life cycle. The network said they got a lot of calls yesterday criticizing me for my opposition to the Vietnam War and threatening to boycott the show if I was allowed to appear. I am, to say the least, deeply disappointed that QVC caved to this kind of insane pressure by some well funded and organized political extremist groups. And that they did it without talking to me first. I have never shied away from talking about this as I have nothing to hide. I could have pointed out that threats of boycotts are nothing new for me and have never prevented me from having best selling books and exercise DVDs, films, and a Broadway play. Most people don’t buy into the far right lies. Many people have reached out to express how excited they were about my going onto QVC and hearing about my book.

Bottom line, this has gone on far too long, this spreading of lies about me! None of it is true. NONE OF IT! I love my country. I have never done anything to hurt my country or the men and women who have fought and continue to fight for us. I do not understand what the far right stands to gain by continuing with these myths. In this case, they denied a lot of people the chance to hear about a book that can help make life better, easier and more fulfilling. I am deeply grateful for all of the support I have been getting since this happened, including from my Vietnam Veterans friends.


No mysterious, well-funded, political extremist groups are necessary to explain why cable TV-watching Americans would react against Hanoi Jane 39 years later. And her 1972 sympathy tour/propaganda fest in the People's Republic of Vietnam was no myth, although, to be fair, there are a couple of urban legends about it.

The transcripts of Jane's interviews with Radio Hanoi indicate that she was just a common-variety New Left type, of which there were so many back then, and one who made up for her lack of ideological substance with an overabundance of emotion and enthusiasm. She gushed all over every North Vietnamese student, peasant and soldier she could find, while denouncing U.S. troops ("war criminals") and South Vietnamese soldiers ("cannon fodder for U.S. imperialism").

I think the really offensive thing about it all was the sappy look of adoration on her face when she visited an anti-aircraft gun location. She even posed for the camera wearing a helmet and squinting into the gun's sight as if she felt a vicarious thrill at the idea of shooting down one of those U.S. aircraft.




















































Those images permanently damaged Fonda's appeal to certain segments of the U.S. population, including, it seems, those who watch QVC. She and her business consultants ought to accept that fact, and confine their marketing efforts to those audiences that either don't know or don't care that she once played cheerleader for the North Vietnamese Army.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jane got what she deserved. She had to sit in the front row at a thousand Braves games with Ted Turner! That's long term "Community Service"! I think she even had to go home with him after the games. gwb

TSB said...

I guess that *was* community service for her. Okay - the scales are balanced. But I wonder what Ted was being punished for?

Anonymous said...

Self-inflicted wound: He fell for that "sappy look of adoration"!

Anonymous said...

Japan women come back from 1-0, 2-1 to defeat USA in World Cup Championship! Hillary Clinton calls for US withdrawal from Okinawa! gwb

TSB said...

There is a World Cup for women?

Anonymous said...

I know.. I never heard of it before either. Japan only has 25,000 women soccer players total but they beat Germany, Sweden and the USA. A lot of the players lost friends and family in the Tsunami so it was fun to see the little rascals win the big one!

Anonymous said...

Opinio Juris has a great dissection of the Warsame detention today. gwb

TSB said...

I just read that OJ piece. Warsame was captured in international waters, and was held in international waters (with Red Cross notification and visits) until we decided what to do with him. That harks back to the days when pirates were defined as "enemies of all mankind" (hostis humani generis) and were literally, physically, beyond the reach of law.

Since international waters cover three quarters of the earth's surface, that's a pretty big hole in legal jurisdiction.

Anonymous said...

TSB: When I saw the term "post-legal"
in OJ's piece I thought he was on the right track. He points to them invoking the law of war to start and then falling back on the other law when war fails to apply. You you are getting creative and calling this "pre-legal" ! Great humor. At least I can follow your reasoning. What do you think will happen in court? I predict not guilty on all counts. gwb

Anonymous said...

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/20117313948379987.html
Mass psychosis in the US
How Big Pharma got Americans hooked on anti-psychotic drugs
TSB: This is a good article about the US but it is especially true about the ARMY. I was thinking you could do a post on what drugs are allowed for foreign service workers in places the avg person would never think of going. gwb

TSB said...

There are regional medical officers who diagnose and prescribe for the diplomatic community overseas. In some places - Iraq, Afghanistan - I'm sure that Foreign Service people share some of the same medical problems that the military is having.

Apart from that, malaria medicine, especially Larium, used to be a big source of psychiatric side effects. A co-worker of mine on Larium had such a vivid hallucination of an intruder in his bedroom that he drew his pistol. He wasn't 100% sure of what he saw at night after that.

Anonymous said...

The Pentagon was real slow to restrict Lariam I suspect because it was such a lucrative contract for the drug company. (About $512 per soldier I think) I heard lots of hallucination stories from non-hallucinatory room-mates. gwb

Anonymous said...

That reminds me ambien, the Army's answer to the #1 complaint: can't sleep! This soldier discovered he was "sleep driving" after he kept finding his keys in the outside of his door in the morning. Others ended up in ditches etc. Add alcohol for even more interesting side effects! gwb