Donald Sutherland: patriots are spawners of hate, inventers of slogans

I don't know why everyone is so upset with Donald Sutherland's interview on BBC. First of all, he's Canadian so who cares about his opinions on US global politics? I think the fair reaction to Sutherland's comments should be the same as a Canadian's response to criticisms of his government by, oh, Omar Sharif. And secondly, how much stock does one put in the opinion of a fellow who names a son, "Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Trevor Sutherland"? What's wrong with a simple "Jim Bob"? The son himself says,

I think my father had a lot of debts and I think he kept saying, "Thank you very much for lending me this money. I'll name my first son after you!"

And what do some Canadians say about Donald Sutherland?

Like so many film stars who would lecture the rest of us, this actor in Commander in Chief lives in a world of pretend.

Donald Sutherland

Oh, he's not too smart, either.He was so convinced of ANIMAL HOUSE (1978)’s lack of potential, that, when offered a percent of the gross or an upfront payment of $40,000, he took the upfront payment. Had he taken the gross percentage he would have been worth an additional $30-40 million. He did, however, manage to bed Jane Fonda for about three years when they were heavy into the anti- Viet Nam circus and their 1972 "F.T.A." stageshow and documentary by the same name (F.T.A. was an acronym for "Fuck the Army"). The Socialist Worker quotes a Sutherland passage from F.T.A.,

"Remember this well, you people who plan for war," proclaims a somber Sutherland. "Remember this, you patriots, you fierce ones, you spawners of hate, you inventors of slogans...We are men of peace, we are men who work, and we want no quarrel...But if you try to range us one against the other, we will know what to do. If you tell us to make the world safe for democracy, we will take you seriously...

We will use the guns you forced upon us...to defend our very lives, and the menace to our lives does not lie on the other side of a no-man’s land set apart without our consent. It lies within our own boundaries...Put the guns into our hands, and we will use them...Give us the slogans, and we’ll turn them into realities...And we will live."

Whoopee.

Rotten Tomatoes describes the film thusly:

"FTA," a documentary produced by and starring Jane Fonda, was the rare film which bluntly addressed the Vietnam War and the policies behind the U.S. involvement. But unfortunately, it was a little too rare: the film was abruptly withdrawn after only one week in release and has never been made available for re-issue, either in theaters or TV or home video. (This review is based on a bootleg video copy which the writer recently received as a birthday gift!)

Whoopee twice.

TAGS: Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda, F.T.A.