John Cusack On What He Wants In A President

Same old same old.

Cusack does not sufficiently praise Obama and damn Clinton, so he gets slimed here. People who don't even know his politics slam him because he didn't take the opportunity to go after Hillary. Then they go after Maher because he said something about Obama's promises that were true but didn't praise them. What John Cusack said is more important than anything either of the two candidates have said about the war. But that doesn't matter here.

You can't say you're not a cult if you act and think in cult like ways.

Hillary Clinton stated she would go after the contractors and sponsored the bill to stop permanent military bases in Iraq. Unfortunately few on this blog, and even the Bill Maher show will listen.

who cares what a rich hollywood elitist thinks.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I never, ever choose who to back in a presidential campaign until after Hollywood weighs in.

This is a weird, kind of meaningless clip. But I do think Cusack makes a good point about the responsibility people have to place demands upon their politicians. It's easy to forget that democracies like ours are all about playing to the center. If you're a politician you have a responsibility to do what the average person wants, rather than what the smartest or most compassionate people want. Conceding to that responsibility is not just important in politics, but is necessary for survival, and increasingly so the higher up you get on the food chain. That's why we get Obamas or Clintons as the perennial democratic nominees, rather than people like Kucinich or Gravel. I like Obama's Hopi sound bite about how "we are the ones we've been waiting for," but that of course does not mean Obama. It truly does mean us. Obama's just a politician, and he's going to disappoint us all like Clinton has. I hope we are all prepared for that, and also to continue fighting for change in a manner that exceeds our fantasy candidate.

Is this an important actor?
Who cares what he thinks?

Political thoughts are just that. Why must we talk about entertainment and politics getting blurred?
What if I as an ex Pipefitter have political thoughts? Just because he has a stage to give his thoughts does it make them wrong?
I may, or may not agree with his thoughts, just as I may or may not agree with the thoughts of many people that are interviewed both in print and on the screen.
I, may also listen to their comments or I may not.
It is showing your ignorance and hatred for those you may or may not agree with.
Being socially and politicly correct is not a requirement to have a thought. Hust listen or not, agree or not. Do not blame the occupation of a person with a thought for your support or hatred.
Please can we use some thoughtfullness and dignity in our conversations about our and others beliefs?

The only candidate that proposed to get out of Iraq. I mean literally do u-turns with the Navy and pull all the troops out, was Ron Paul. And you see how he was treated. Apparently, unless your a movie star or you look like a Ken doll, it doesn't matter. BO in 08!

DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB, PAL.

I have often found when studying the point of privatization one of two things to be true: 1, it is an attempt to cut the wages of government employees. Government employees earning a fair wage are cut and slave labor is hired at a lower cost.; or we find 2. The contract to do the work is handed off to a friend of a politician and there is a large profit to be made. I think Iraq is the latter not the former; where Blackwater and Haliburton are making obscene amounts of our tax dollars.

Cusack said, get the private contractors out of Iraq. What Maher responded to was, getting out of Iraq in general. Maher missed the point.
Cusack is right, I think. The contractors answer to private corporations and are not in the military chain of command. Also, Bremer made contractors immune to Iraqi law. Meanwhile American military are being prosecuted.
The invasion was wrong, but the planning and implementation were FUBAR beyond belief. Bush-Rumsfeld outsourced the use of force and the contractors are outside the rule of law. In some places, our own military was tasked to protect contractors who are paid ten times their salaries.
Many employees of the contractors need the money. They aren't bad people. But relying on private contractors for military use of force as the US and Britain are doing is undermining our own military in a dumb war.

Lay off Cusack, at least he gives a damn. I don't see Britney, Brad and Angie weighing in on anything but their scales.

I really appreciate what he has to say about Naomi Klein and the corporacracy that is running this country. Read Free Lunch about how the government is feeding the corporations on the carcasses of the working class... How much more can they squeeze out of the dying middle class... before we decide to throw the bums out..

I do have serious reservations about our lite democrats and the campaign funding... Both of them need to be more populist and go after McCain as the straw man that he is. At this point attacking each other is pointless, we need to bury the republicans not just for the White House but also Congress and the Senate and get serious about FRaud and Abuse....and tranparency

Sen. Gravel said he would end Blackwater etc with an executive order. He said the only cutting edge industry America has now is the arms industry. Around the world, people are choosing colleges in other countries to send their kids to now instead of America. Earlier he advocated legalizing marijuana and ending the failed war on drugs that puts so many behind bars and gave rise to the international drug cartels. All in all, a candidate I wanted to hear more from. Too bad his comment about Hillary ("I'm ashamed of you, Hillary") last fall re her Iran-war-enabling vote got him canned from the debates by the MSM. (Her answer: "Ha ha ha.") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3gQfz8GC0o

This is a good sign. Celebrities are not getting shut down...yet. When we stop hearing from celebrities and certain members of the press, then we should worry. If we get the right person in office, we won't have to worry about our constitutional rights. Remember John Lennon. As much as some of you might think this is hokey to say, do your research.

I'm glad to see this posted for one reason only, and that's Cusak's reference to George's Palace. It is quite concerning that for all of their talk about getting our troops out of Iraq, Obama and Clinton don't appear to have the guts to talk about that damned $500M+ affront to the middle east AND American taxpayers. It's an outrage that this monstrosity is larger than Vatican City, that it signals a 100 yr. presence and is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's greatest glory.

Why do we care who actors and film stars want as president?

He hit the nail on the head as far as the main problem in Iraq. At least our army helps keep the peace. The private contractors have done nothing but undermine any sense that we are really trying to help the Iraqi people.
I grew up in a Brown & Root family. When I heard they( KBR now) were going to Iraq, I knew this "war" was a sham. My dad used to joke that he worked for Lady Bird Johnson. She owned most of Halliburton, and they owned Brown & Root. I don't think most people know that Brown & Root was the main private contractor in Vietnam during that war. They also built many of the offshore oil platforms and undersea pipelines around the world. At least until the late 80's.
And what is with the size of our embassy? Why would we build one that big and ever leave? That's if we ever leave the Green Zone.

I guess for some, a spoonful of sugar helps the politics go down....who cares what he wants?

Maybe this belongs in entertainment. Not that I don't respect John Cusack, but one of the reasons I read the Huffington Post is because I'm trying to get away from television.

Cusack means to ingratiate himself with the dying "peace movement" in calling on us to put "pressure" on candidates. I've been a part of that same movement since 1967 and I can't stand to watch another crowd of really great people get sucked into another generation of uselessness. The entire idea of "fighting" war has to stop. It's like Ralph Nader's endless presidential campaign: it's pointless. If people want to end war, they need to see it for what it is:

an ECONOMIC and SOCIAL JUSTICE catostrophy.

War isn't awful because it kills people, it's awful because it makes LIFE IMPOSSIBLE.

Read Samantha Power.

Obama-Webb (Gore, McKaskill, Nepolitano, Richardson, Edwards) '08

BTW: Thanks to Tavis Smiley for calling out Pat Buchanan for what he is: "a racial arsonist." (that's what I call "poignant" imagery)

Who the heck is John Cusack? I really don't have a clue, tho I've heard the name. Apparently he's some kind of actor.

Is there some reason I should listen to his opinions about anything whatsoever? Or any celebrity's opinion? Celebrities like to speak out on politics because it gives them more media exposure. They are self-centered camera hogs who make very good money by keeping their names and faces in front of the public. But most if not all operate and pay taxes as private corporations. Oprah comes to mind. Isn't it illegal under McCain-Feingold for heads of corporations to publicly endorse candidates? Would you take political advice from the president of General Motors?

As much as I like John Cusack's acting, I don't think he can influence my vote either way. I guess you have a right to publish this stuff as infotainment, but still....
Cable coverage is bad enough - it looks like we are voting on an "American Idol" instead of a national leader.