Celebrity - Thy Name is Cowardice

So, who really gives a rat's ass that celebs are afraid to visit our troops; either by fear of harm, or fear of the impression that they support the war? As John Stossel says, "Gimme a Break!"

According to Drudge today, many "celebs" (read = mostly cowards) are refusing to go tour with the USO. This from a story in the Guardian U.K. front page:

"It is a far cry from the days following the September 11 2001 attacks, when some of the biggest names in show business, from Jennifer Lopez to Brad Pitt, rallied to the cause. "After 9/11 we couldn't have had enough airplanes for the people who were volunteering to go," Wayne Newton, the Las Vegas crooner who succeeded.

Bob Hope as head of USO's talent recruiting effort, told USA Today. "Now with 9/11 being as far removed as it is, the war being up one day and down the next, it becomes increasingly difficult to get people to do."

Newton said many celebrities have been wary of going because they think it might be seen that they are endorsing the war. "And I say it's not. I tell them these men and women are over there because our country sent them, and we have the absolute necessity to try to bring them as much happiness as we can."

Fear is also a factor.

"They're scared," country singer Craig Morton, who is in Iraq on the USO's Hope and Freedom Tour 2005, told USA Today. "It's understandable. It's not a safe and fun place and a lot of people don't want to take the chance."

The USO was founded in 1941 as a way of boosting morale for the military. For most of that time Bob Hope, who made his first appearance in 1942 and his last in 1990, was its most recognisable face, famed for putting on Christmas extravaganzas on aircraft carriers and American bases during the Vietnam war. Thousands of performers signed up to play the "foxhole circuit" during the second world war, but the USO has a much smaller list.

Some of the entertainers still willing to travel are die-hard true believers - rock musician Ted Nugent carried a Glock handgun to shows in Iraq last year and said in a radio interview that he manned a machine gun on a Humvee.

But many of the USO's regular performers are fierce critics of the war, among them the comic and star of Good Morning Vietnam, Robin
Williams, who told USA Today he would like to return to the Middle East in the spring for what would be his fourth tour since 2002.

"I'm there for the [troops], not for W," he said in a reference to the president. "Go, man. You won't forget it. You'll meet amazing people," is his message to stars that ask him about the tours.

But the comedian said he mostly tries to keep politics out of the show after he did a few jokes about Bush's brainpower at a base in 2003 and got a chilly reception.

Other critics of the war who regularly perform include the leftwing comedian Al Franken (who is headlining the current tour along with Christian hip-hop group Souljahz) and the punk legend and actor Henry Rollins, one of the Bush administrations most vocal critics.

The tradition of beautiful women thrilling the troops has continued - although while Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell showed up in Korea and Vietnam could boast Raquel Welch, in Iraq they have had to make do with sometime pop singer and reality TV star Jessica Simpson."

And here is the history of the USO "heroes" (it just keeps going down, down, down...):

Wartime entertainers

Second world war 1941 - 1945

Bob Hope

Duke Ellington

The Marx Brothers

Judy Garland

Korean war 1950 - 1953

Bob Hope

Marilyn Monroe

Jane Russell

Vietnam war 1961 - 1975

Bob Hope

John Wayne

Raquel Welch

Gulf war 1990 - 1991

Bob Hope

Steve Martin

Iraq war 2003 - present

Robin Williams

50 Cent (wow, what a boon!)

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders

ROCK ON TED! Let the lib bed-wetters cower in their comfy Beverly Hills & NYC homes and lofts, completely unaffected by the world events surrounding them. Remember the mantra: "If I don't think/talk about it, it isn't really happening." Meanwhile, manly men & brave women continue the work that cowards refuse to do - entertain our troops in a time of war.

Bob Hope must be rolling over in his grave. Yes, they can condemn, opine, judge, decry, demonize, oppose our presence in Iraq; however, when it comes to having the balls to really support those who are PROVIDING their freedom to dissent, they are chickenshi* cowards as always.