Richard Dreyfuss Calls Out Bush, McCain and their "Corrupt" Republican Party
Richard Dreyfuss, appearing on MSNBC to discuss the new documentary he narrates, America Betrayed, on Hurricane Katrina, the worst man-made disaster in American history, seized the opportunity in front of a cheering crowd of onlookers to blast George W. Bush and the Republican party for all the damage they have inflicted upon this country over the last 8 years.
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Dreyfuss: I don't think the Europeans have any confidence in our government. I think that the last eight years has destroyed two hundred years of respect and dedication. And I think we have been the point of meaning and admiration in the world for very specific reasons, and George Bush trashed it.
O’Donnell: So, you don't think that John McCain would be able to manage this government well, would have a different response than George Bush to a Hurricane Katrina?
Dreyfuss: I think the Republican party is corrupt through and through. And even the republicans like Buckley before he died said 'we should lose this election, go into the wilderness, and get cleansed', and I believe that's true. I think that they have been in office too long. I think that they are too adept at thievery, at moving the Constitution into places it never meant to go. I think that they have an extraordinary ability to divide rather than unite. And I think that I'm tired of being called a traitor, because I like my flag and I support the troops.
In what I must say seems to echo a theme similar to that of Naomi Kline's must-read book, Shock Doctrine, America Betrayed promises to go beyond Katrina and delve into the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9/11 attacks, the war in Iraq, and offer "a long, hard look at how this country handles disaster, which ones they indirectly cause and how corporate America and their friends in the White House profit from those disasters in the long run."
Can't wait to see this one.
Dreyfuss is NOT the best person to talk. Maybe no one is. Cocaine, Cuervo and lawsuits against his own famliy...ouchies.
Just telling it like it is.
I can already hear Limpballs, Insanity, and their buddies. "He's just another rich Hollywood actor....he's a typical angry liberal...he actually cares what Europe thinks....blah, blah, blah."
Unfortunately, the truth he speaks will quickly get dismissed for all the reasons I've listed above.
the gop most certainly needs to be thrust into the wilderness to be cleansed for as it is written in scripture
"lo! i hear the voice of an ass braying in the wilderness"
Leadership @ 1:
That's it, look at the bright side! ; )
The damage has been heartbreaking and breathtaking -- not to mention absolutely infuriating.
And it all could have been prevented if we didn't have so many myopic, deluded, brainwashed, rigid, fearful, malleable, gullible and downright stupid people in this country.
Other adjectives also apply, of course.
look who else is calling out bush........
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4628711.ece
Who cares what Richard Dreyfuss thinks politically?
He's a great actor. Don't give a shit what he thinks politically, unless he's on point and makes sense.
Leadership @ 1:
"Maybe no one is". What a neat argument for silencing all criticism. Very Republican.
I commend dreyfuss for what he just said, he's half way there.. Now if he can say it all over again but replace the word republican with democrat and he will get the the other half right. Both parties... corrupt to the core.
Bush Real Estate industry was to busy scamming America to help the Katrina folks.
Oh, look at him risk everything to pronounce what is pretty common knowledge.. big fucking deal. if he woulda said this shit five years ago, i might have given a whoop..
and then there is this giant steaming pile of crap: "I think that they have been in office too long. I think that they are too adept at thievery, at moving the Constitution into places it never meant to go. I think that they have an extraordinary ability to divide rather than unite."
....As opposed to the Democrats, who are saints and angels. Jeezus christ, is this mans bias what landed him the interview or what?? Sleep tight, lefties!!
The poor... and BLACKS.
Katrina should be a precursor to the upcoming election. Americans SAY that they will vote for a black man named Barack Hussein Obama but when they get in that voting booth, John McCain, the white, former POW will get the vote.
White middle-class Americans are afraid of blacks moving in to their own neighborhoods.
America isn't even close to electing a black man, and that is sad.
Mr. Dreyfus is exactly on target.
Tim @ 10:
just make it real easy if your going to use a broad brush
just replace with the word ......people
Leadership @ 1:
Bush and Cheney has killed countless family members of other people's families. I'll listen to Dreyfuss and anyone else who is critical of the worst political disaster to ever strike America.
Otto @ 13:
Don't be too sure. All my friends, all retired white people, are voting for the man they like. That man is Obama. They are afraid of McCain. We all have grandchildren.
I'm so glad to hear people speak out about Katrina, it is a domestic disaster that continues to be overshadowed, in fact, largely forgotten, by the media as its attention is focused on the foreign disaster that is Iraq, far bloodier and costlier.
Thank you Richard Dreyfus and all who continue to film this tragic story.
mjULTRA @ 12:
It's amazing how many trolls are stopping by to well, troll. I think they had Dreyfus on because he narrated a documentary about hurricane Katrina , the response to which, if I'm not mistaken, was actually a high point of the Bush administration. They actually screwed up everything else even worse.
anyone with half a brain should be speaking out against what this regime has done to us and to this country. we've asked any and all who have any kind of the public eye to speak out publically. so dreyfus does just that and we have the republican operatives who get paid to insert their pathetic remarks on this site, they have to get paid so they insert their weak arguments against dreyfus. hopefully they will be on bush's and rove's staff when they put together the rebuttals for the democratic convention. Have you guys been to school? have you been asleep for the past eight years. How can you forfeit this country for the pittance the republican party pays you to cause havoc. you guys are so pathetic. your remarks on this site stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. they can not only be seen very easily but they can be smelled as well. your opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and most of them stink.
Leadership @ 1:
Laughable, and void of any plausable rationale. We are talking about failed, corrupt elected officials here, not an actor's personal life.
Address the topics he called boosh out on, and you'll be here all night, pal. Gotta run.........Stevie Wonder, Al Gore, and Michael McDonald all before the HISTORY UNFOLDS.
Your going to see more and more celebrities and high styling me me's and me too wannabe's coming out of the woodwork all of course claiming to have the answers.
A sure sign everyone is desperate.
"At moving the constitution to places it was never meant to go."
Yes, into the circular file.
Peter G @ 19:
this is another nut that can't except that they voted for
an inexperienced clown in 2000 that took this country to
an unwarranted war. well the bood is on their hands not
mine....they don't want to admit to this deficit and devalued dollar....and know more and more evidence coming about the propaganda of the war. go obama
I guess we can forgive Mr. Holland's Opus now!!
Of course - he's totally right - as if that matters to the meatheads....
Tim @ 10:
Absolutely. Both parties...hell, the whole system, is corrupt beyond my wildest dreams. The system has failed everyone except for these elected officials.
The Truth Hurts @ 3:
It's depressing that it takes actors and comedians to point out the obvious.
I pray to Joe Pesci for the day when the cons are in the permanant minority of a 3 party system with no power what so ever to effect policy.
That will be a great day.
Jo @ 17:
True words. We are a white family in Georgia - you couldn't get a more southern area. Not only that, but the majority have served in the military. Every single one of us (parents, aunts, uncle, cousins, etc) are voting for Obama
Bush Crony's were to busy screwing Americans with their sub prime real estate bubble to deal with Katrina.
Developers were thankful for Katrina because it saved them the hassle of what would normally take years dealing with public resistance and the red tape of the courts to get imminent domain or cheat people out of large tracts to raze, develop, and make a killer profit.
Disaster capitalism at it's finest.
I've been saying for 6 years now that the Republicans have proved themselves to be the enemy of America...
...but I know I wasn't in Jaws...I saw Jaws, in the theater when it came out in 1976...however I was only 6 years old and my Grandfather (who took me) had to carry a screaming kid out of the theater...what did he know about "R rated".
shit, I seemed to have lost my point. But yes, I agree that the Republicans are the worst of the worst of America, and the people who are so ignorant that they support this criminal party should be ashamed of themselves, the information is out there. not all of us were fooled by their fear mongering.
please, to anyone who still supports the Republicans, please please please take enough interest in your country to find out what is really going on and try to stand for what is right. Don't let yourselves be fooled by empty rhetoric and clever bumper stickers!
I recall reading an article during the '90s on FEMA. The agency had done a terrible job with one of the hurricanes, Andrew?, and a system-wide review was ordered. By going back to its roots and focusing on its mission, the agency reformed itself and in two later hurricanes performed exceptionally well. The experience was touted as an example to be followed by other agencies. Five years of Bushies took it from that pinnacle to heckuva job Brownie (and this example was definitely replicated throughout the government the last eight years).
Barbara @ 28:
Obama unites people. Love it, Barbara!
Leadership @ 1:
Hollywood trivia, the important thing is that he is a thinking human being, an American citizen,
and somebody who fed up with the Republican corruption stupidity machine.
mjULTRA @ 12:
"As opposed to the Democrats, who are saints and angels." Hey bongwater, compared to the fucking anti-christ neocon motherfucking Republicans, the Dems are angels. Based on your seriously lacking brainwaves, I would say you were a top graduate of MKUltra all right.
ferrofluid (Obama + Biden = 2008) @ 33:
at first glance i thought you meant bush....cocaine,booze...lawsuits
Here is the truth about the Bush administration's response to Katrina.
It is a real eye-opener:
Machiavelli's Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove
And, want to know what condition the levees are really in?
Here you are:
The Catastrophe Wasn't Katrina
ferrofluid (Obama + Biden = 2008) @ 33:
Yep. Thinking isn't illegal...yet. :P
And how often do we really get to hear rhetoric v. Bush Cabal on MSM? Rock on, Richard!
The Truth Hurts @ 3:
And we can hope (or just wait) that Lumpy Rash gets arrested again for his usual drug smuggling behavior,
then its third strike time and off to prison for Lumpy.
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 30:
Unfortunately, you're talking to a brick wall. These Republican dillweeds wallow in their ignorance. Nothing you could say could snap them out of their funk. If the neocons sent them to Gitmo, they would blame the evil liberals.
New Orleans has just announced a state of emergency regarding the approaching hurricane Gustav.
Leadership
Dreyfuss is NOT the best person to talk. Maybe no one is.
What kind of idiotic statement is that? No one is the best person to talk? Take your own advice.
Any and every one should still be screaming over the destruction of NOLA.
Criminals who drown in their cells have nothing to complain about- in your opinion?
Joe @ 11:
au contrair, the white Republicans like Trent Lott and the usual Repug welfare thieves,
got their mansions and condos rebuilt to better condition and size than before Katrina.
Meanwhile poor people got evicted from their undamaged desres redbrick house in the various projects on high ground to make way for developers.
And blue tarpaulins are still common all over New Orleans, cars are piled up by the thousand all over the waste grounds, and average peoples houses are either missing or still damaged there.
Go check out Google Earth and see what the state of NO is in 2008, still grim.
Introducing the
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION DRINKING GAME!
In order to truly enjoy the RNC convention, invite some friends over and follow these simple rules:
1) Every time a major speaker avoids even mentioning George Bush or Dick Cheney in their speech to avoid reminding people that McCain is of the party who brought you the last eight years, take 1 drink.
2) For every major speech that includes a reference to McCain having been a POW in Vietnam (because, you know, you may not have heard...), take 1 drink. *NOTE: PLEASE JUST 1 DRINK PER MAJOR SPEECH; WE DON"T WANT TO KILL ANYONE!
3) For every major speech that FAILS to harp about family values to avoid reminding voters that Obama is still married to his first wife and is devoted to his kids while McCain is an adulterer divorced from his wheelchair-bound wife, is estranged from his children, and married to his home-wrecking mistress...take 1 drink
4) For every major speech that STILL tries to blame Clinton for problems eight years later, take 1 drink
5) For every major speech that trumpets McCain's support of "The Surge" but fails to mention ANY of his previous positions that: A) Iraq will be an easy conflict; B) We'll be greeted as liberators; C) Iraq presents a WMD threat to the U.S. D) Afghanistan needs no further attention because we've won; E) A timeline for troop withdrawal would be disastrous F) Getting troops out of Haiti soon is more important than establishing peace or democracy (why isn't this all over Obama ads: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6509571026846389675&ei=SDG3SLyt...)...take 1 drink
6) Every time McCain flip-flops and espouses a different stand on an issue than he's held before (Examples: Bush's tax cuts; overturning Roe vs. Wade; climate change, immigration, etc.) take 1 drink
7) Every time a former critic reverses his position to praise, take 1 drink. Scratch that; that might kill you, too. For every five reversals, take 1 drink.
8) Finally, for every ten times someone calls Obama "inexperienced" just like they did Clinton, take 1 drink.
I promise 2 things: 1) by the end of each night, you'll be hammered. 2) You'll be so, so glad.
-Pass it on!
"What we have here is a perfect corruption machine. All it does is
start wars, trash the Constitution and torture people".
Hey REthug trolls (you know who you are): how many spooge points did McSame offer you to come trolling tonight?
Scott @ 42:
and have your phone set to autodial the local ER room and have a stomach pump and adrenaline injection ready.
anybody playing this game would be passed out or puking after an hour.
dejah @ 44:
its keeps them off the streets and in their basements.
plus the 'TeenyGopper' trolls all vanish by 9pm, they have to be in bed and up early for school the next day.
Vladimir Putin accuses Bush of provoking Georgia conflict to help John McCain
Bush: “Powell, I looked into Putin’s eyes and I saw his soul”
He must have looked into yours too.....
Dreyfus corrected:
"I think
the Republican party isboth parties are corrupt through and through. ... I think that they have all been in office too long. I think that they all are too adept at thievery, at moving the Constitution into places it never meant to go. I think that they all have an extraordinary ability to divide rather than unite. And I think that I’m tired of being called a traitor, because I like my flag and I support the troops.DUH.
Next time someone says that no Hollywood star should voice an opinion, here's the response: Is it valid to listen to the opinion of a person who is the head of a multi-million dollar corporation, who has built their corporation from scratch? And whose single product is the head of the corporation?
Anyone who makes it in Hollywood is an entrepreneur. They have employees, contractors, agents, etc.. They pay taxes. They usually own real estate of value and pay property taxes. They generate revenue in the millions and sometimes billions, and, unlike many of our other multinational corporations, they frequently return profit back into their community and country.
Why shouldn't they have the right to have their opinion heard anymore than Steve Jobs?
solid @ 39:
nah, lets open up relations with Cuba, and send Bushco and the neocons off to spend their remaining days in one of Castro's prisons,
I bet theres a few grudges held against the ones who did all the bio attacks and sabotage missions against Cuba over the decades.
the 'jaws' movies? dreyfuss was never in the bond films.
Maybe even God is sick of the Repugs. I just heard that Hurricane Gustav is probably going to hit NOLA about the time of the Convention in Minnesota. The Repugs say they don't want to be seen partying while that happens. It would be a good time to run the picture of Shrub & McSame with his Birthday cake on the day Katrina hit.
The so-called Christians are praying for torrential rains in Denver tonight. Their prayers seem to have gone awry. Irony everywhere.
roooth @ 49:
correct, Hollywood is thousands of people, some working in companies large and small, plus myriad contractors,
the thing that defines them all, is the love of cinema and art, and entertaining the world.
Yes they do produce some garbage, but a lot of it is a labor of love by intelligent people.
Debby Hussain @ 52:
it would be three years to the day almost, and we will see what lessons FEMA and the Bushcons have learnt, I expect the worst.
They didnt give a rats for the common people in 2005, ditto for 2008.
Nora ODonnell, Republican Propagandist.
constituent @ 15:
Haha, indeed it may be inherent to mankind...But my Brush stroke is not that broad. I didn't include the multiple parties that have to deal with lawsuits year in and year out because they can't get their names on the ballet. But what to do about the 2 party deadlock? Maybe we listen to Jefferson and understand it's about time to fertile the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
BrokenArrow @ 21:
Don't forget The Boss....I hear he's performing tonight too!!!
Peter G @ 19:
maybe for some PR photo shoots, then the reality hit home and we saw what a bunch of uncaring Rethugs looked like,
five days to get help to the Superdome, 1000s drowning while rescue helicopters were grounded so VIPs could go walkabout,
Then there was local LE shooting people who dared to try and walk to safety.
Then Blackwater on its mission to eradicate the staybehinders , its claimed that at least 300 people were executed,
people who woundnt surrender to LE, according to people that were there doing FEMA type work.
Bush WILL leave America "trashed" and will waltz off stage into a lucrative speech circuit gig without so much as a backward glance at the destruction misery and despair he has caused the world to suffer through.
No words are adequate to describe the contempt I feel for this sick depraved M.F.
Debby Hussain @ 52:
K-A-R-M-A.
Oh come on people. Put down the partisan Koolaid and actually think about it. Posters you call "trolls" are right and you all know it. Hell, even C&L admits it, and that is why they are advocating grassroots candidates. Corruption in Washington is NOTHING that was created AFTER Bushie was elected...it's just been magnified. And not all people with a D beside their name are worth any more than Republicans...grease their palms, and you will have a say in Washington.
Leadership @ 1:
That is a pretty retarded statement. Does the moral lapses of some entertainer change the criminal negligence of our elected officials? Truth is truth, no matter who is saying it.
Or do you think that Dreyfuss is being courted by Big Cocaine?
They didn't listen to Hooper either. "Well this is not a boat accident! It wasn't any propeller! It wasn'tany coral reef! And it wasn't Jack the Ripper! It was a shark."
"Ask not what you can do for this tragedy - ask what this tradegy can do for you."
-- Pissed Off Priscilla
/snark
Regardless of Dreyfuss' personal issues, (George Bush former coke head, still a drunk, Dick Cheney, poor aim, bedwetter), he makes a very valid point. Americans should consider Bush's response to Katrina as a national embarrassment and a "canary in the coal mine" kind of warning that things are starting to go badly.
Surely this was sign to the American public that Bush did not have his country's best interests at heart. Bush is merely a corporate chimp like most Republican (except Ron Paul) and far too many Democratic leaders (except Dennis Kucinich). With Bush, America is more about oil/exxon, WalMart and McDonald's than it is about its people.
The former "best" country in the world has been so badly screwed up in the last eight years, yet partisan party politics override the destruction, or at least de-construction, of what was the world's greatest democracy.
Leadership @ 1:
Ah you repugs...you wish you had some decent celebrities on your side...instead you have Cheryl Ladd and Fred Thompson.
Dreyfuss totally owned Cavuto yesterday, only that douchebag was too dense to realize it.
Here comes talk radio, Faux News, Robert "Hit And Run" Novak, Cal Thomas, Sick Willie Kristol, Lucianne Goldberg's Little Boy, and John P. Normanson with the "Hollywood elite" schtick.
The GOP's gonna need a bigger boat...
The Bushes and the Cheneys came in and trashed the place. And it wasn't theirs to trash!
Here's some movie time irony...Richard Dreyfus played Senator Bob Rumson in the movie "An American President" which also starred Michael Douglas and Annette Bening (I fell in love with her because of this movie). Senator Rumson was a crotchety, old, conservative senator who wanted to run for President. (Do you see where this is going?) Near the end of the movie, The President (played by Douglas) gives an impassioned speech about patriotism and running for office, and calls the Rumson character out. There were many parts of Obama's acceptance speech that reminded me of this movie. I'm not saying the speech writers lifted anything from the movie, but then I don't know for sure.
Naomi Kline? Who's that? ;)
capitalism is self destructing
has to about profits not people
so few americans understand this
reagan put capitalism on steroids
sped up the destruction process
reagan treated as a great pres by both demos and repubs
much to learn in america about the ill effects of capitalism
we borrow from communists socialists and kings to keep it afloat
yet no one dares challenge it as an economic system
the power of paradigms again
we blame politicans and people like rove for system failures
typical thing to do common practice in organizations
few in america understand a word I have just written.
capitalism benefits the few at the expense of the many
the we whine without realizing most americans support this economic system as the best in the world
easier to blame others rather than look into a mirror
peace
.
I'm just dismayed that Dreyfuss didn't call out the U.S. media.
.
If former coke heads arent allowed to have an opinion then why is the current president still around?
Great job by Richard. Witty, eloquent and passionate without ranting.
Scott @ 42:
You forgot Ronnie Raygun
mjULTRA @ 12:
I did say it five years ago, and 6, and every day since '05; but you hear what you want to hear because you're a successful lab experiment for those who want to prove we are just too stupid for democracy, because it makes our heads hurt. It requires some training and thoughtfulness, of which the Powers that Be are petrified. So they experiment with idiots like you, and prove the saddest possibility, that you guys prate about patriotism but no longer know how to think thinks thru, and therefore you're a traitor to your children. You don't believe in teaching civics, or don't care, or don't know. You don't believe that Due Process is not selective. You only half listen to celebrities who are are damned if they care and damned if they don't. By the way, this is Richard, and try not to irritate me all the time with thoughtlessness and stupidity. I could lose my sense of humor. Since if you listened I said as much for the dems, I have to conclude that you only have the brain you were born with, with no improvement since. Maybe they are right; we're not up to Democracy.
I know Richard and can say he has devoted most of his time to bringing civics education back to the classroom.
He loves this country and is trying to make a difference. He definitely has every right in having an opinion!!
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/research/civiceducation.htm
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