Who's Smarter?

A good friend just sent me an interesting email. Called "Who's Smarter" by Cindy Osborne, it compares the educational and some other accomplishments of the current administration with those of the Hollywood stars who belittle them.

I don't know where this is from or if the author is real. I looked on Snopes.com and it seems that the factual information checks out, though they cannot confirm an author or any publication. Click on "Continue" to read the whole piece.

Who's Smarter?
By Cindy Osborne

The Hollywood group is at it again, holding anti-war rallies,
screaming about the Bush Administration, running ads in major
newspapers, defaming the President and his Cabinet every chance they
get, to anyone and everyone who will listen. They publicly defile
them and call them names like "stupid", "morons", and "idiots".
Jessica Lange went so far as to tell a crowd in Spain that she hates
President Bush and is embarrassed to be an American.

So, just how ignorant are these people who are running the country?
Let's look at the biographies of these "stupid", "ignorant",
"moronic" leaders, and then at the celebrities who are castigating
them:

President George W. Bush: Received a Bachelors Degree from Yale
University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as an
F-102 pilot for the Texas Air National Guard. He began his career in
the oil and gas business in Midland in 1975 and worked in the energy
industry until 1986. He was elected Governor on November 8, 1994,
with 53.5 percent of the vote. In a historic re-election victory, he
became the first Texas Governor to be elected to consecutive four-
year terms on November 3, 1998 winning 68.6 percent of the vote. In
1998 Governor Bush won49 percent of the Hispanic vote, 27 percent of
the African-American vote, 27 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of
women. He won more Texas counties, 240 of 254, than any modern
Republican other than Richard Nixon in 1972 and is the first
Republican gubernatorial candidate to win the heavily Hispanic and
Democratic border counties of El Paso, Cameron and Hidalgo. (Someone
began circulating a false story about his I. Q. being lower than any
other President. If you believed it, you might want to go to
URBANLEGENDS.COM and see the truth.)

Vice President Dick Cheney: Earned a B. A. in 1965 and a M. A. in
1966, both in political science. Two years later, he won an American
Political Science Association congressional fellowship. One of Vice
President Cheney's primary duties is to share with individuals,
members of Congress and foreign leaders, President Bush's vision to
strengthen our economy, secure our homeland and win the War on
Terrorism. In his official role as President of the Senate, Vice
President Cheney regularly goes to Capital Hill to meet with Senators
and members of the House of Representatives to work on the
Administration's legislative goals. In his travels as Vice President,
he has seen first hand the great demands the war on terrorism is
placing on the men and women of our military, and he is proud of the
tremendous job they are doing for the United States of America.

Secretary of State Colin Powell: Educated in the New York City public
schools, graduating from the City College of New York (CCNY), where
he earned a Bachelor's Degree in geology. He also participated in
ROTC at CCNY and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant
upon graduation in June 1958. His further academic achievements
include a Master of Business Administration Degree from George
Washington University. Secretary Powell is the recipient of numerous
U. S. and foreign military awards and decorations. Secretary Powell's
civilian awards include two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the
President's Citizens Medal, the Congressional Gold Medal, the
Secretary of State Distinguished Service Medal, and the Secretary of
Energy Distinguished Service Medal. Several schools and other
institutions have been named in his honor and he holds honorary
degrees from universities and colleges across the country. (Note: He
retired as Four Star General in the United States Army)

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: Attended Princeton University
on Scholarship (AB, 1954) and served in the U. S. Navy (1954-57) as a
Naval aviator; Congressional Assistant to Rep. Robert Griffin (R-MI),
1957-59; U. S. Representative, Illinois, 1962-69; Assistant to the
President, Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Director
of the Cost of Living Council, 1969-74; U. S. Ambassador to NATO,
1973-74; head of Presidential Transition Team, 1974; Assistant to the
President, Director of White House Office of Operations, White House
Chief of Staff, 1974-77; Secretary of Defense, 1975-77.

Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge: Raised in a working class
family in veterans' public housing in Erie. He earned a scholarship
to Harvard, graduating with honors in 1967. After his first year at
The Dickinson School of Law, he was drafted into the U. S. Army,
where he served as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, earning the
Bronze Star for Valor. After returning to Pennsylvania, he earned his
Law Degree and was in private practice before becoming Assistant
District Attorney in Erie County. He was elected to Congress in 1982.
He was the first enlisted Vietnam combat veteran elected to the U. S.
House, and was overwhelmingly re-elected six times.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice: Earned her Bachelor's
Degree in Political Science, Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the
University of Denver in 1974; her Master's from the University of
Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph. D. from the Graduate School of
International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981. (Note:
Rice enrolled at the University of Denver at the age of 15,
graduating at 19 with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science (Cum
Laude). She earned a Master's Degree at the University of Notre Dame
and a Doctorate from the University of Denver's Graduate School of
International Studies. Both of her advanced degrees are also in
Political Science.) She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences and has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from Morehouse
College in 1991, the University of Alabama in 1994, and the
University of Notre Dame in 1995. At Stanford, she has been a member
of the Center for International Security and Arms Control, a Senior
Fellow of the Institute for International Studies, and a Fellow (by
courtesy) of the Hoover Institution. Her books include Germany
Unified and Europe Transformed (1995) with Philip Zelikow, The
Gorbachev Era (1986) with Alexander Dallin, and Uncertain Allegiance:
The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army (1984). She also has
written numerous articles on Soviet and East European foreign and
defense policy, and has addressed audiences in settings ranging from
the U. S. Ambassador's Residence in Moscow to the Commonwealth Club
to the 1992 and 2000 Republican National Conventions. From 1989
through March 1991, the period of German reunification and the final
days of the Soviet Union, she served in the Bush Administration as
Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European
Affairs in the National Security Council, and a Special Assistant to
the President for National Security Affairs. In 1986, while an
international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, she
served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. In 1997, she served on the Federal Advisory Committee on
Gender -- Integrated Training in the Military. She was a member of
the boards of directors for the Chevron Corporation, the Charles
Schwab Corporation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the
University of Notre Dame, the International Advisory Council of J. P.
Morgan and the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors. She was a
Founding Board member of the Center for a New Generation, an
educational support fund for schools in East Palo Alto and East Menlo
Park, California and was Vice President of the Boys and Girls Club of
the Peninsula. In addition, her past board service has encompassed
such organizations as Transamerica Corporation, Hewlett Packard, the
Carnegie Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The
Rand Corporation, the National Council for Soviet and East European
Studies, the Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition and KQED, public
broadcasting for San Francisco. Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham,
Alabama, she resides in Washington, D. C.

So who are these celebrities? What is their education? What is their
experience in affairs of State or in National Security? While I will
defend to the death their right to express their opinions, I think
that if they are going to call into question the intelligence of our
leaders, we should also have all the facts on their educations and
background:

Barbra Streisand : Completed high school Career: Singing and acting

Cher: Dropped out of school in 9th grade. Career: Singing and acting

Martin Sheen: Flunked exam to enter University of Dayton. Career:
Acting

Jessica Lange: Dropped out college mid-freshman year. Career: Acting

Alec Baldwin: Dropped out of George Washington U. after scandal.
Career: Acting

Julia Roberts: Completed high school. Career: Acting

Sean Penn: Completed High school. Career: Acting

Susan Sarandon: Degree in Drama from Catholic University of America
in Washington, D. C. Career: Acting

Ed Asner; Completed High school. Career: Acting

George Clooney: Dropped out of University of Kentucky. Career: Acting

Michael Moore: Dropped out first year University of Michigan. Career:
Movie Director

Sarah Jessica Parker: Completed High School. Career: Acting

Jennifer Anniston: Completed High School. Career: Acting

Mike Farrell: Completed High school. Career: Acting

Janeane Garofelo: Dropped out of College. Career: Stand up comedienne

Larry Hagman: Attended Bard College for one year. Career: Acting

While comparing the education and experience of these two groups, we
should also remember that President Bush and his cabinet are briefed
daily, even hourly, on the War on Terror and threats to our security.
They are privy to information gathered around the world concerning
the Middle East, the threats to America, the intentions of terrorists
and terrorist-supporting governments. They are in constant
communication with the CIA, the FBI, Interpol, NATO, The United
Nations, our own military, and that of our allies around the world.

We cannot simply believe that we have full knowledge of the threats
because we watch CNN! We cannot believe that we are in any way as
informed as our leaders.

These celebrities have no intelligence-gathering agents, no
fact-finding groups, no insight into the minds of those who would
destroy our country. They only have a deep seated hatred for all
things Republican. By nature, and no one knows quite why, the
Hollywood elitists detest Conservative views and anything that
supports or uplifts the United States of America. The silence was
deafening from the Left when Bill Clinton bombed a pharmaceutical
factory outside of Khartoum, or when he attacked the Bosnian Serbs in
1995 and 1999. He bombed Serbia itself to get Slobodan Milosevic out
of Kosovo, and not a single peace rally was held. When our Rangers
were ambushed in Somalia and 18 young American lives were lost, not a
peep was heard from Hollywood. Yet now, after our nation has been
attacked on its own soil, after 3,000 Americans were killed, by
freedom-hating terrorists, while going about their routine lives,
they want to hold rallies against the war. Why the change?

Another irony is that in 1987, when Ronald Reagan was in office, the
Hollywood group aligned themselves with disarmament groups like SANE,
FREEZE and PEACE ACTION, urging our own government to disarm and
freeze the manufacturing of any further nuclear weapons, in order to
promote world peace. It is curious that now, even after we have heard
all the evidence that Saddam Hussein has chemical, biological and is
very close to obtaining nuclear weapons, there is no cry from this
group for HIM to disarm. They believe we should leave him alone in
his quest for these weapons of mass destruction, even though it is
certain that these deadly weapons will eventually be used against us
in our own cities.

So why the hype out of Hollywood? Could these celebrities believe
that since they draw such astronomical salaries, they are entitled to
also determine the course of our Nation? That they can make viable
decisions concerning war and peace? Did Michael Moore have the
backing of the Nation when he recently thanked France, on our behalf,
for being a "good enough friend to tell us we were wrong"? I know for
certain he was not speaking for me. Does Sean Penn fancy himself a
Diplomat, in going to Iraq when we are just weeks away from war? Does
he believe that his High School Diploma gives him the knowledge (and
the right) to go to a country that is controlled by a maniacal
dictator, and speak on behalf of the American people? Or is it the
fact that he pulls in more money per year than the average American
worker will see in a lifetime? Does his bank account give him clout?
The ultimate irony is that many of these celebrities have made a
shambles of their own lives, with drug abuse, alcoholism, numerous
marriages and divorces, scrapes with the law, publicized temper
tantrums, etc. How dare they pretend to know what is best for an
entire nation! What is even more bizarre is how many people in this
country will listen and accept their views, simply because they liked
them in a certain movie, or have fond memories of an old television
sitcom!

It is time for us, as citizens of the United States, to educate
ourselves about the world around us. If future generations are going
to enjoy the freedoms that our forefathers bequeathed us, if they are
ever to know peace in their own country and their world, to live
without fear of terrorism striking in their own cities, we must
assure that this nation remains strong. We must make certain that
those who would destroy us are made aware of the severe consequences
that will befall them.

Yes, it is a wonderful dream to sit down with dictators and
terrorists and join hands, singing Cumbaya and talking of world
peace. But it is not real. We did not stop Adolf Hitler from taking
over the entire continent of Europe by simply talking to him. We sent
our best and brightest, with the strength and determination that this
Country is known for, and defeated the Nazi regime. President John F.
Kennedy did not stop the Soviet ships from unloading their nuclear
missiles in Cuba in 1962 with mere words. He stopped them with
action, and threat of immediate war if the ships did not turn around.
We did not end the Cold War with conferences.

It ended with the strong belief of President Ronald Reagan...

Peace through Strength

Posted by jk at March 28, 2003 10:57 AM