Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Politicizing a Tragedy...

O.K. I wasn't going to do this...but now I'm finding an irresistible urge to blog about Suzanne Somer's comments when, unfortunately, her beach house burned down today in Malibu CA.

Suzanne: At Least I Don't Have a Kid in Iraq

Posted Jan 9th 2007
1:20PM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: TV

In the wake of a devastating fire that destroyed her Malibu home, Suzanne Somers maintains a positive attitude. In a statement to TMZ issued by her rep, Suzanne says, "My nature is to look at the glass half full. I don't have a son or daughter in Iraq. I haven't lost a loved one. We will rebuild, and I truly believe we will learn something great from this experience." Suzanne and her husband were not in Malibu during the blaze.

Now, don't get me wrong. I feel bad for her and her family that they lost their house in this terrible fire. It's just that I found this portion of her comments, "I don't have a son or daughter in Iraq," a bit odd in this situation.

There are over 200 comments at the TMZ website. The following one may be a bit harsh, but I thought that the first sentence reveals why I found Somers' comments strange:


226. Isn't it amazing that a lib can politicize anything? You know what this dumb a** would of said had a family member did die in this fire - - " Well at least they didn't die in Iraq" - I bet you Barbara Streisand is going to burn her house down to show solidarity with the rest of the nut jobs.

Posted at 11:28PM on Jan 9th 2007 by Paul


I just had to add in my own two cents worth. Based on many of the comments that I read, I felt it necessary to share the following:

221. If the truth be told, we all know how MOST Hollyweird "celebrities" feel about the Iraq war. I didn't see any "brave military men and women" verbiage, (which is usually typical of those who support our troops) within Suzanne's comments. No. Her comments were actually more similar to Kerry's "botched joke" when he said that "if one is not educated," then they "get stuck in Iraq."

I truly believe that many of the young commenters here desperately need a history lesson....the one that they were SUPPOSED to get in school but which the liberal left loonie teachers in most schools didn't teach. Here's your chance to catch up:

I wanted to share this link American Liberals Just Don't Get It to an awesome essay written by Raymond S. Kraft which might help people who are against the Iraq war develop a more
genuine reasoning and thinking ability about it.

Also, everyone needs to see the movie Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.


I guarantee that anyone who currently objects to what we are doing in Iraq will most likely perceive the war much differently after reading this essay and viewing the documentary.

Christinewjc


O.K....have at me! I know this post is bound to ruffle a few feathers and I'm probably going to be bashed for it!! As Scotty used to say on the old Star Trek series..."I've got the shields up...captain!"

HT: TMZ.com

7 comments:

Christinewjc said...

This is a good comment, too:

218. "My nature is to look at the glass half full. I don't have a son or daughter in Iraq. " Interesting. A house burning down is not as BAD as someone serving in the military. I know a few people who have been there. I know a few who are on their way. I also know they would rather fight terrorism, free a people from an evil dictator who brutally rapes and murders his people, and then fills mass graves with their bodies than have their house burn down. I also know a bunch of people who do not equate every bad thing that happens in their lives to the war in Iraq. But then again, they are not actors. They are not people who are paid to act like other people and are otherwise unemployable.

Posted at 10:00PM on Jan 9th 2007 by AMMO Dawg

Andrew is getting fit said...

So she thinks worrying about her possessions is not as bad as worrying about the possibility of losing a family member in Iraq? Where's the wrong in that?

I don't think it's politicizing...it's just commenting on the everyday reality of life in America at the moment. People are worried about the loss of life of military members in Iraq.

Mark said...

when I first heard that quote of hers last night on the news, I blew milk out of my nose! What a self serving liberal opportunist whore,...I really need to work on my language.

Christinewjc said...

You could be absolutely right, Ebsfwan. Many of the people who commented at that site thought likewise.

But others thought differently. I just found it really odd at the time.

BTW, I saw a clip of Suzanne being interviewed at the site of her burned down house on CNN Headline News late last night. Guess what? They left out the portion of her comment about Iraq! I wonder why??

Hey Mark...work on that language of yours! She's not a "whore" (as far as I know...but she may have played one on TV?) Liberal opportunist? Quite the possibility!

limpy99 said...

I liked how she said they would learn from this and move on.

Perhaps she'll learn to not build multi-million $$$ homes in brush fire zones?

I don't see much political in her remarks. If I had a kid in any sort of war zone I'd probably be more worried about that than possessions. Those can be replaced.

Jaded said...

To be honest, it never occured to me that her comment was a political jab. I took it to mean that it would certainly be worse to have a child in a war zone than to have your house burn down. I know I would consider my child in harm's way far worse than losing my possessions.

And I take issue with the idea that actors are somehow all uneducated, liberal heathens who wouldn't be able to get any other job. I made my living solely as an actor for many years before getting a master's in special education. Still, I make a good portion of my living as a performer, and the rest by teaching others how to sing and act for a living. Isn't your own daughter trying to work in that industry?

I think it's wrong to pass judgment on anyone who has just gone through a tragedy of that magnitude. It's easy to sit in the comfort of our own homes and decide that Suzanne Somers, or anyone else for that matter, is grieving in the wrong way, or reacting inappropriately. Thank God I don't know how I'd react because I haven't lost my home and a lifetime worth of mementos, pictures, all of my jewelry, clothing etc etc. People grasp for things to feel good about, and the fact that her son isn't in harm's way is one of those things. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Ubersehen said...

I think the remark was likely a little political, but only because the topic of Iraq is still very much present and relevant today. No doubt, if the United States were not currently involved in this conflict, she would have made a different comparison. If her house had burned down during the flooding of New Orleans, for example, that might have been her choice instead. In any case, given that the war is a major and highly publicized issue, it makes sense that she would choose it as a point with which to contrast her smoldering ruin of a home.

If anyone is still interested in finger-pointing, give a jab to the organization that made such a big stink out of it in the first place. Suzanne Somers is a celebrity, and the network knew, because of her social standing and the content of her remarks, that you and thousands of others would eat this trash up and either agree or get all incensed about it. What purpose does this story serve but to be inflammatory and divisive? Go network news.