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Piece of S**t Actor Sean Penn. |
It is utterly astounding that Time magazine published an op-ed
by clueless actor Sean Penn, lecturing President Trump on compassion
and justice in Latin America and the Caribbean. Who is Sean Penn to
lecture anyone about compassion?
After all, it is Sean Penn who enabled and befriended
the repressive and ruthless Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, using his
Hollywood clout to lend credibility to Chavez and to spread lies about
the “successes” of Chavez’s disastrous socialist revolution.
Of course, Penn was not alone.
Actor Danny Glover and filmmaker Michael Moore also lavished Chavez and
his successor, Nicholas Maduro, with praise and support as Venezuela
spiraled into chaos and poverty.
So did Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sanders’ website once stated
that the American Dream was dead and more likely to be found in
Venezuela than the U.S. He has since quietly removed this passage from
the site.
What has Sean Penn said about the
horrible indignities and abuses suffered by the Venezuelan people?
Nothing. Where is his “compassionate” op-ed to show concern for the
victims of Venezuelan socialism and repression?
Under Chavez and Maduro, Venezuela went from being the
economic envy of Latin America – rich in oil and with a vibrant economy –
to being one of its poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Today, thanks to the nationalization of oil production
and government-imposed price controls, Venezuela is a country of hunger,
deprivation, food shortages and humiliations that proud Venezuelans
never thought they would be forced to endure. As a result of terrible
food shortages, 75 percent of Venezuelans lost an average of 19 pounds
last year.
The Miami Herald, in one of the saddest articles
I have ever read, chronicled the plight of Venezuelan mothers with
degrees in medicine and engineering prostituting themselves in
neighboring Columbia to afford groceries for their families. Others are
eating their pets or have to give away children they can no longer feed.
The political repression in Venezuela is equally
alarming. Hundreds of dissidents have been imprisoned, including
Maduro’s most threatening competitor – the handsome, young and
courageous former mayor of Caracas, Leopoldo Lopez. Lopez was sentenced
to 14 years in prison on trumped up charges, though he is currently
under house arrest due to health concerns.
On top of all this, Venezuela’s brave citizens risk
being attacked or killed by their own government when they protest
against elections and institutions rigged by the regime.
So what has Sean Penn said about these horrible
indignities and abuses suffered by the Venezuelan people? Nothing. Where
is his “compassionate” op-ed to show concern for the victims of
Venezuelan socialism and repression? Silence.
Meanwhile, President Trump – whom Penn calls “an enemy
of compassion” over his reported use of vulgar language to describe some
parts of the world in a closed-door Oval Office meeting – has been
unequivocal in voicing his support for the Venezuelan people.
President Trump has condemned
Venezuela’s socialist oppressors and made the quest of the Venezuelan
people for freedom and prosperity one of his top three international
concerns, behind North Korea and Iran.
I do agree with Penn on one thing. Immigrants and
refugees who have escaped the corrupt, dysfunctional, crime-ridden,
socialist and communist regimes of Latin America are precisely the kind
of hard-working and grateful people we should be welcoming to the U.S.
They truly appreciate the blessings that Penn takes for granted.
Unlike Penn, these immigrants understand that it is
democracy and American free-enterprise that have made our country the
best and most prosperous in the history of the world. They know that
nothing has lifted more people out of poverty than entrepreneurial
capitalism. And they resent the ignorant complicity of members of the
Hollywood elite, like Sean Penn, in the destruction of their country and
the misery and poverty it has wrought.
A few months ago I attended the graduation ceremony of a
group of Latin Americans who had attended an English language course
sponsored by the LIBRE Initiative, a nonprofit that educates Hispanics about how to achieve the American Dream.
A Venezuelan man stood up. He told us he was one of the
lucky ones who was able to leave that nation. He expressed deep
gratitude to America and to the LIBRE Initiative, which was empowering
him with language skills to succeed in his new home.
Holding a small American flag in one hand and a
Venezuelan flag in the other, he addressed this small group of
immigrants gathered inside of a cramped Honduran restaurant. He didn’t
mince words.
“We need to educate our children to be wary of those
who promise us ‘free’ things,” the man said. “I don’t care if it’s a bag
of rice or a washing machine. Nothing is worth your freedom. It’s
priceless.”
This new immigrant knows more about America, freedom,
and the fruits of free enterprise than Sean Penn and socialist Hollywood
pals will ever know.
Rachel Campos-Duffy is a FOX News Contributor and a mother of
eight. Her debut children’s book – inspired by real life events - is a
story about a little girl’s adventure inside the US Capitol where she
learns lessons about patriotism, courage and her immigrant father’s
journey to citizenship. It will be released by Regnery Kids in Spring
2018.