July 06, 2004

REBECCA MEETS THE "REDNECKS"

Anti-army actress Rebecca Romijn-Stamos visits Iraq and changes her mind:

It was unbelievable and I'll never forget it. I grew up in Berkeley, California, which is the most liberal, left-leaning place you could ever find and I had zero contact with our military.

So I had a pre-conceived notion they would all be rednecks who were only there because their daddies had been in the army. But I was wrong and I met the most amazing people over there.

It was 130 degrees [Fahrenheit] and they were walking around in full fatigues and we'd get there to find out they'd been waiting in that heat for three or four hours. And they had so much perspective on it, they were really deep and smart and had a lot of opinions.

Visitors to Berkeley are unlikely to report similar findings.

Posted by Tim Blair at July 6, 2004 03:49 AM
Comments

Dear al Qaeda, if you are going to dirty bomb a city, please do it in Berkeley.

Regards

Posted by: Oktober at July 6, 2004 at 04:00 AM

Does this motion need a second. These are Roberts
Rules aren't they Oktober?

Posted by: Mike H. at July 6, 2004 at 04:10 AM

That's nice and all, but it still really bothers me that all these dipshits are "amazed" that their pre-conceived notions of military types are completely wrong.

"And they had so much perspective on it, they were really deep and smart and had a lot of opinions."

Someone get this woman an editor...

Still, I suppose if you have to entertain some halfwit celebrity, you could do a lot worse for than Ms. Romijn. At least she's easy on the eyes.

Posted by: Ryan W at July 6, 2004 at 04:11 AM

In other words, the hip, elite, trend setting, sophisticated and condescending know-it-alls have no idea what is going on.

Posted by: perfectsense at July 6, 2004 at 04:34 AM

Perfectsense

Do you really mean that CentCom doesn't maintain secret links to Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Alec Baldwin to run strategy options past them?

/sarcasm

Posted by: EddieP at July 6, 2004 at 04:49 AM

Pre-conceived notions = indoctrination by the bezerkley leftists.

Posted by: Bizzy Halder at July 6, 2004 at 04:51 AM

Welcome to the real world, Rebecca.

Posted by: Rebecca at July 6, 2004 at 05:11 AM

Geez...

Well give her credit for admiting she was wrong. Now spread the word to the other people in your world.

Posted by: Dash at July 6, 2004 at 05:56 AM

It was unbelievable and I'll never forget it. I grew up in Ulan Bator, which is the most centrist, moderate-leaning place you could ever find and I had zero contact with the granola types.

So I had a pre-conceived notion they would all be spoilt trust fund kids who were only there because their daddies had been in the SDS. But I was wrong and I met the most amazing people over there.

It was 75 degrees [Fahrenheit] and they were walking around in full neo-hippie regalia and we'd get there to find out they'd been waiting in that temperate climate for three or four hours. And they had so much perspective on it, they were really deep and smart and had a lot of opinions.

Posted by: Ger at July 6, 2004 at 06:09 AM

Well, stupid or no, my respect for her went up a notch for that.

It would be nice for all the elitist types to have at least the bare minimum intelligence and honesty to admit that they are wrong about their prejudices, even if they lack the upbringing or intelligence to grasp it fully.

Posted by: Mike A. in AR at July 6, 2004 at 07:07 AM

Actually, my respect for her went down upon hearing her opinions. It's so nice that her opinion of her fellow Americans is so low.

Posted by: lindenen at July 6, 2004 at 07:13 AM

Thank God she came around. I couldn't bear to dislike her.

Posted by: Pete at July 6, 2004 at 07:37 AM

Crikies, the most powerful military on the planet is comprised of rednecks? Who knew?

I said this over on ITM, but I'll say it here too. WTF did she think the Delta and Special forces were.. fictitious Hollywood characters? It takes a very special dumbass to think our military is nothing but rednecks. Thanks hon, but you can keep your praises to yourself.. they don't mean shit to me.

Posted by: Lydia at July 6, 2004 at 07:56 AM

When did leather-necks become red-neck?

Posted by: Michael in SC at July 6, 2004 at 08:53 AM

Let's see, my memories of my last trip to Berkeley are of a hairy man sitting on a wall at the edge of the university campus, using 10 gallon black Hefty bags for clothing, yelling at people walking past. Another memory is of not being able to walk out of any grocery store, fast-food chain, or bank without being hassled for "spare change". And I remember walking down Telegraph choking on the body odor eminating from the street vendors and the foul smells drifting out most of the restaurants.

Ahhh, memories . . ..

Posted by: Polly at July 6, 2004 at 09:23 AM

Dear al Qaeda, if you are going to dirty bomb a city, please do it in Berkeley.

That isn't possible, Oktober. You see, back in the '80s, Berkeley declared itself a "Nuclear-Free Zone" and so they are protected from such things....

Posted by: PapayaSF at July 6, 2004 at 09:35 AM

So the soft racism of low expectations applies to idiot lefties too?

We have to give her credit for changing her opinion when presented with facts. But really, that's something we'd expect of any functioning human being over the age of two. It's just that so many lefties (and a few righties too, it must be said) are simply unable to do so.

So, kudos to Rebecca for being both as cute and as smart as my two-year-old nephew.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at July 6, 2004 at 10:08 AM

Are they ALL Jessica Simpson clones/Stepfords?

Posted by: Fred Boness at July 6, 2004 at 10:19 AM

Rednecks, eh? Well, I suppose her changing her opinion is an improvement of sorts. However, I know quite a few "rednecks" (in and out of the military)......most of them can out think any Berkley graduate on practical matters, and not a few philosophical topics.

However, when the discussion enters the realm of Chomsky, them "rednecks" end the discussion and buy a beer to kill the pain.

Nope, "rednecks" aren't stupid, by any stretch of the imagination.

Posted by: The Real JeffS at July 6, 2004 at 10:44 AM

Hey why is everyone picking on her? Are you guys insane? This super-hot uber-babe is saying that the US military is composed of warrior-poets and you're BITCHING ABOUT IT????

Hell, at this point I'm seriously considering joining up! If it will get me a girl like that YEAH BABY! WHOO-HOO!!!!

Finally, for those of you who think we should nuke Berkely, keep in mind that half the cute girls in the country go there. If Berkely goes, that means a ton of ditzy gorgeous blondes go too. Now I understand that the ditziness can be annoying, but nothing in life comes free. Sometimes you'll find a girl that's top-notch and on her game, but for the most part you're only going to get one or the other.

Now maybe you guys prefer to go out with ugly girls who think the right way, and I can respect that, but hey, not all of us feel that way OK?

:)

-ron

Posted by: ballantrae at July 6, 2004 at 11:09 AM

Besides, in all seriousness, she's not an idiot. I've seen her in intervies and she's very down to earth and honest.

Furthermore, when was the last time any of us went down to hang out with the troops in 135 degrees of heat (100 degrees when she's not around of course, hehe)?

She's also taking a blow to her career by saying things like that. The cultural mindset in Hollywood is very anti-war, as everyone knows. What she did took about as much guts as anything I've heard of. She's taking a real stance against a lot of what people around her say and that isn't easy.

It also isn't easy to challenge one's perception and preconceived notions. I give her credit for her courage, her wit, her heart, and her all around babeliciousness.

:)

-ron

Posted by: ballantrae at July 6, 2004 at 11:16 AM

Touche', ballantrae, especially on her taking a professional hit from anti-war Hollywood.

I just wish she sounded a little less surprised, is all.

Posted by: The Real JeffS at July 6, 2004 at 11:21 AM

It was actually pretty nice of her to go on a USO tour IN IRAQ, and then say nice stuff about the troops. She didn't have to, after all, GO TO IRAQ to help keep MORALE up. I'm just saying...

Posted by: J. Case at July 6, 2004 at 11:24 AM

seems all the rednecks have become leftoids and moved to Holywood.
Why are the streets of Holywood Squeeky clean?
Because M Moore sweeps up the rubbish daily and turns it into 'Documentaries".

Posted by: davo at July 6, 2004 at 11:25 AM

Although I'm tempted to agree with the comments above about how annoying her surprised reaction is, I can't be too harsh with her (and not just because she's cute). Reason being:

There's this certain outlook at the world that I tend to think of as "lefty by default"...it seems much more pervasive over here in Europe and perhaps also in Canada (although US public schools are doing their damndest to make you guys catch up), in that large numbers of people simply never were forced to question the lefty orthodoxy they've been inundated with since childhood. I imagine that growing up in Berkeley is exactly like that, and then some.

I don't think I've ever been a "real" lefty (I've certainly been right-of-center on many economic matters since my teen years), but even then, some lefty-by-default positions were always with me, e.g. that environmental protection is always a good thing, that the UN is a force for good, etc.

What changed me was 9/11 in combination with the run-up to the Iraq War, especially the shameless obstruction by leftists worldwide, the French, and (sadly) my own country. It's not easy to break out of the lull induced by years or decades of lefty indoctrination, and I was in a vastly better starting position that Romijn-Stamos. So, kudos to her for having enough of an open mind to recognize that her preconceptions about the military were wrong, even if she seems a bit stunned by it. Who knows, maybe we'll yet make an RWDB out of her in the future.

Posted by: PW at July 6, 2004 at 12:32 PM

She could have at least done me the favor of coming here to Afghanistan to have her epiphany...
Maybe she'll talk a little sense into some of her Hollywood friends. All in all, I must admit to getting a good chuckle out of this whole story.

Posted by: Major John at July 6, 2004 at 01:21 PM

Well said PW.

Many thanks for your service Major John.

Posted by: Kerry Is Unelectable at July 6, 2004 at 02:06 PM

I have long ceased to give a rat's arse what Hollywood "celebrities" have to say about anything not directly connected with movies, popcorn and choc-bombs.

Posted by: Pedro the Ignorant at July 6, 2004 at 02:18 PM

Oktober,

I do want to keep Lawrence Berkley Labs and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. People there have their heads on straight.

Posted by: Eric Jablow at July 6, 2004 at 02:41 PM

The USMC probably fucked some sense into her.

Posted by: Dog at July 6, 2004 at 05:39 PM

California?
Only steers and queeers come from California.

Posted by: carlos at July 6, 2004 at 09:53 PM

Apart from being just another hyphenatorTM, who is she?

Posted by: Joe at July 6, 2004 at 11:58 PM

Just don't think this means I forgive you for marrying that Stamos creature, Becky.

Posted by: mojo at July 7, 2004 at 01:45 AM

> Finally, for those of you who think we should nuke Berkely, keep in mind that half the cute girls in the country go there.

What country would that be?

Berkeley doesn't even have half of the cute CA coeds.

Posted by: Andy Freeman at July 7, 2004 at 02:18 AM

Femme Fetal

Posted by: aaron at July 7, 2004 at 04:05 AM

I take exception to that California comment. I was raised in the military so I agree that our men and woman are pretty exceptional.

Posted by: Kyla/California at July 7, 2004 at 06:41 AM

FYI joe, she played mystique in X-Men, and is married to that joey guy from full house

Posted by: RhikoR at July 8, 2004 at 12:09 PM