Sean Penn Letter to Washington Post
Did Sean Penn publish a letter to the President in the Washington Post?
Claim: Actor Sean Penn published a letter to President George W. Bush in The Washington Post.
Status: True.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002]
This appeared in yesterday’s Washington Post. Sean Penn paid $56,000 to have this appear. It took almost an entire page. An Open Letter to the President of the United States of America Mr. Bush: Good morning sir. Like you, I am a father and an American. Like you, I consider myself a patriot. Like you, I was horrified by the events of this past year, concerned for my family and my country. However, Many of your actions to date and those proposed seem to violate every defining principle of this country over which you preside: intolerance of debate (“with us or against us”), marginalization of your critics, the promoting of fear through unsubstantiated rhetoric, manipulation of a quick comfort media, and position of your administration’s deconstruction of civil liberties all contradict the very core of the patriotism you claim. You lead, it seems, through a blood-lined sense of entitlement. Take a close look at your most There can be no justification for the actions of Al Qaeda. Nor acceptance of the criminal viciousness of the tyrant, Saddam Hussein. Yet, that bombing is answered by bombing, mutilation by mutilation, killing by killing, is a pattern that only a great country like ours can stop. However, principles cannot be recklessly or greedily abandoned in the guise of preserving them. Avoiding war while accomplishing national security is no simple task. But you will recall that we Americans had a little missile problem down in Cuba once. Simply put, sir, let us re-introduce inspection teams, inhibiting offensive capability. We buy time, maintain our principles here and abroad and demand of ourselves the ingenuity to be the strongest diplomatic muscle on the planet, perhaps in the history of the planet. The answers will come. You are a man of faith, but your saber is rattling the faith of many Americans in you. I do understand what a tremendously daunting task it must be to stand in your shoes at this moment. As a father of two young children who will live their lives in the world as it will be affected by critical choices today, I have no choice but to believe that you can ultimately stand as a great president. History has offered you such a destiny. So again, sir, I beg you, help save America before yours is a legacy of shame and horror. Don’t destroy our children’s future. We will support you. You must support us, your fellow Americans, and indeed, mankind. Defend us from fundamentalism abroad but don’t turn a blind eye to the fundamentalism of a diminished citizenry through loss of civil liberties, of dangerously heightened presidential autonomy through acts of Congress, and of this country’s mistaken and pervasive belief that its “manifest destiny” is to police the world. We know that Americans are frightened and angry. However, sacrificing American soldiers or innocent civilians in an unprecedented preemptive attack on a separate sovereign nation, may well prove itself a most temporary medicine. On the other hand, should you mine and have faith in the best of this country to support your leadership in representing a strong, thoughtful, and educated United States, you may well triumph for the long haul. Lead us there, Sincerely, |
Origins: The letter quoted above did indeed appear in the pages of The Washington Post as a paid advertisement. Numerous news stories have reported that it cost actor Sean Penn $56,000 to run the ad, which took up most of a page in the first section of the
Is Sean Penn right? It doesn’t matter — the point is every American always has opinions about the government, and this condition exists no matter who is in the White House or what he’s doing. There are going to be people on both sides of any issue, and at times some of them will be famous and/or wealthy. There’s a larger question here: Should the opinions of celebrities or the
Most folks don’t have the requisite $56,000 to ensure their views get printed in The Washington Post and instead have to make do with a 37¢ stamp and their faith in the
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1999 the median income for American households was $41,994. In other words, the wage earners in a statistically typical American family would have to work at least
Barbara “money talks” Mikkelson
Additional information:
![]() | Sean Penn’s newspaper ad |
Last updated: 2 December 2007
Sources: