Saturday, August 04, 2007
Caption this!
Sean Penn hit the campaign trail with Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chavez, and the New York Times was there:
The Grey Bitch's Lady's official caption reads:
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela held a picture of Che Guevara as he drove with the actor Sean Penn through western Venezuela on Friday. Mr. Penn was planning to write about his experiences on the trip.
They're kidding, right? Somebody got paid to write that? Obviously, the Times is giving way too much responsibility to the interns from Barnard College.
Show them what a real caption looks like!
12 Comments:
By 
, at
Sat Aug 04, 08:48:00 AM:
Given Hollywood mentality, and given Sean Penn's previous stances, this is no surprise.
Commenters on some Venezuelan blogs ( Devil's Excrement (simple Logic piece) http://blogs.salon.com/0001330/ , http://daniel-venezuela.blogspot.com/ , ) have SPECULATED that there is a financial motive for Sean Penn's visit. Perhaps Chavez may be contemplating financing a Sean Penn movie on ....perhaps EL CHAVEZ. After all, EL CHAVEZ did throw millions to Danny Glover for a movie project. Others have pointed out that Sean Penn needs no $ from EL CHAVEZ for such a visit, that the visit alone to EL CHAVEZ will show Penn’s alignment with the political angels.
By , at
Sat Aug 04, 09:07:00 AM:
"Actress Jane Fonda smiles for the camera while sitting in a North Vietnamese antiaircraft battery."
By , at
Sat Aug 04, 10:28:00 AM:
Hmmm. I think you might be a bit hasty on the snark there. The article makes me feel sorry for Sean Penn - in fact, I think that Chavez (intentionally) comes off rather a buffoon more than anything else.
I even read a few parts of Penn's report from Iraq, and it didn't seem overtly partisan to me. Perhaps one should read the report before condemning the man?
But of course the Times can't do anything right on this blog, can it?
By 
TigerHawk, at
Sat Aug 04, 10:38:00 AM:
Well, the Times rarely does anything right, but I have definitely said something nice at some point. I'll look around for it later.
Actually, I agree that the underlying story is just fine. I also agree that Penn's dispatches from Iraq were better than I expected them to be, so let us see what he comes up with in Venezuela. Penn's buffoonery in New Orleans after Katrina, though, remains the standard to beat.
By , at
Sat Aug 04, 12:37:00 PM:
I think that Chavez (intentionally) comes off rather a buffoon more than anything else.
The key word here is INTENTIONALLY . The buffoonery is by and large a well-honed act. El Chavez is not an ineffective buffoon, but a master politician. In his nine years in power, El Chavez has been VERY effective at taking control of the institutions of Venezuelan society. Consider PDVSA, the national oil company, then and now. It was once the locus of opposition to El Chavez; now it is rojo/rojito (red/red, like the shirts El Chavez wears). After his failed and bloody coup in 1992, El Chavez was elected as a democrat. In 2007, showing his democratic roots, El Chavez celebrated his 1992 coup. Also in 2007, the assembly passed an enabling law by which El Chavez could create laws by decree.
By the way, the historical record shows another person who years after being jailed and later freed for a failed coup, became head of government by legal means and got an enabling law passed for his use: Adolf Hitler.
There is plenty of information out there about Venezuela. Find it out, and weep. Perhaps I am biased because I have worked w Venezuelans in the US and in Venezuela.
By , at
Sat Aug 04, 12:38:00 PM:
"But of course the Times can't do anything right on this blog, can it?" - Phrizz11
Ah, Phrizzy, if only you knew how wrong you are. Not only has TH very recently DEMANDED we read a NYT piece, but claimed we were all-but fools if we didn't. Don't believe me? Skim down the main page to the "Credibility" article:
"Excerpts below, on the remote chance that any of our readers are fool enough not to read the whole thing."
So, here you are claiming that the big guy is biased against the NTY, while he's telling us we're fools if we don't read it!
It is such things that make the blogs such a fun, rewarding experience. :)
Now, as to alternate captions, unfortunately, TH, the picture doesn't lend itself to much mischief-making. About the best I could come up with was this:
"In a last act of defiance on their way to the gallows, convicted strongman Hugo "The Caracas Corleone" Chavez and his main hit man Sean "The Knife" Penn, hold up a picture of their hero, a young Charlton Heston from his hit movie "Caesar Chavez: Lettuce King" (1962). The local Our Sister of Mercy church will hold a memorial service on Tuesday morning, should anyone bother to attend."
By Purple Avenger, at
Sat Aug 04, 12:42:00 PM:
Ummm...didn't things end rather badly for comrade Che?
By , at
Sat Aug 04, 03:06:00 PM:
"a little more to the left sean, yes, yes, that's it, now ride like the wind"
By , at
Sat Aug 04, 06:41:00 PM:
SEAN PENN PREPARES FOR HIS ROLE AS BENIDICT ARNOLD IN A REVIONISTS VERSION OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
By , at
Sun Aug 05, 02:49:00 PM:
Gringo, mi amigo,
Look around you. Am I not larger than life itself? Am I not the most powerful man on earth? Think what I can do with a mere snap of my fingers and please, for your own sake, do not say to me that you can't find it.
By Georg Felis, at
Mon Aug 06, 09:48:00 AM:
“In a parade today, Hugo Chavez (D. Ven.) shows off his two prized possessions: An autographed photo of Che and an American Movie Puppet”
Admittedly I’ll agree with Phrizz that this is a bit harsh of a headline if Penn is writing in the same mode as his report from Iraq. But if he’s down there just to kiss up to a rich communist for cash and a movie deal, my line stands. Perhaps his report from Iraq ruffled a few feathers that he is attempting to sooth. “See, I’m still a good socialist. See me next to Hugo? I even slumped down in the car so you can’t see my ‘I’m With Stupid’ shirt.”
By , at
Mon Nov 03, 03:31:00 PM:
Sean Penn is a Leftist A$$ and should be given the beating of his life over this association.
