Yep, vile...that's a good word for the whole thing. VILE
I know a guy that was a POW when she went over there in 72 and was filmed laughing it up with his captors and playing around on an anti-aircraft gun. He's not to 'fonda" her.
Exactly, how does one justify opposing a war by visiting the enemy and posing on their weapons with a big grin. I also know in the minds of many she is considered "vile." The guy that did this will be a folk hero. It was a very mild reaction, spitting tobacco on her face. I think they'll consider it ' a little payback'
She has even admitted that it was a stupid thing to do. Guess that wasn't good enough.
I guess nothing would be enough for those "patriotic" types, even when a person has expressed sorrow for a stupid act.
It doesnt surprise me in the least little bit that that guy will be considered a folk hero. Not one little bit.
Problem is, most people in their twenties do really stupid things, things that, with years more experience under their belt, they'd never dream of doing (*cough* I speak from personal experience). What JF did was incredibly stupid and un-thought out, but, like many things we do, it seemed right to her at the time. She was not to blame for the vets being spat on when they came home, and frankly I think holding a grudge against someone for nearly 40 years is even stupider than whatever brought about the grudge in the first place.
But this _is_ Kansas City we're talking about. Not exactly a hotbed of intellectual debate or self-perception...
Ag, your overgeneralization of American culture really misses the mark in most instances.
Actually, Kansas City is a modern and nice town, great deal of tech industry. Middle America. You can poke fun, but I'd wager that your average Kansas Citian does a little better than the rest of the world. Intellectually and artistically, it is as fine a city as any other in the world its size. Probably economically better off than most. You could live in far worse places and be happy...I'll put it that way.
Most Vietnam Vets I know have been profoundly affected; even 30 years afterwards...the wounds run deep. It's a brotherhood so to speak. I would put what Fonda did in 72 in the same category as Michael Moore's stunt with Columbine. She was just trying to enhance her career, piss her father off and she got in a little over her head walking on the bones of the dead.
I know Viet Nam (and it's _two_ words in Vietnamese) vets as well, RD, mostly the homeless ones with substance and mental health problems. My mother had friends who were killed there, or damaged beyond heal. I think _you_ are broadly generalizing the 'culture' of the Vets; not all of them were spat on, not all of them were called babykillers. Not all of them were damaged, either, at least to the extent one hears about in the press. It's highly individualized, although no-one would disagree that the whole war was a big frickin mess and messed up many people, Vietnamese included.
The Midwest is the Midwest, Radio, and will, I doubt, ever be on par with the West or East Coasts as far as intelligentsia or artistic richness goes. It's too conservative, too agricultural, and too far away from major international hubs. That doesn't mean it's a bad place, but it has more than its share of baccy-chewin' shit-kickers.
And let's not put Ms. Born Again Fonda in the same category as Michael Moore. Moore's documentaries are thoughtful and thought-provoking; they might be propaganda, but they damage no-one as Fonda's stunt did, and raise some salient points about fearmongering and social alienation in the US.
*smooch*
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