"No wise man ever thought that a traitor should be trusted.” Cicero
April 10, 2013
By: Linda Case Gibbons
It’s not easy to earn the nickname "Hanoi Jane,” but Jane Fonda did.
In 1972, Fonda, an anti-war activist, visited North Vietnam at the height of the Vietnam War to express her solidarity with the Viet Cong.
While there she sat on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun and did radio broadcasts branding U.S. leaders as "war criminals.”
The broadcasts were later played for American Prisoners of War being tortured by the Viet Cong, the POWs she later dismissed as "hypocrites and liars" when they spoke about their torture, and "careerists and professional killers.”
In a 2005 Sixty Minutes interview, Fonda said she had no regrets about making the trip to North Vietnam, but did regret that somebody took a picture.
Now, 40 years later, Fonda has had to come face to face with her Hanoi past again. Cast as Nancy Regan in "The Butler,” Fonda has drawn the ire of Vietnam vets. And she is still virtually unrepentant.
Her response to vets boycotting this casting decision? "Get a life. If it creates hoopla, it will cause more people to see the movie.”
So, it makes you wonder. Does everyone deserve a second chance?
I’d say yes, if and only if you learned a little something from whatever you did wrong.
Take former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner. He delighted in taking and sending women lewd pictures of his genitals on Twitter while he was supposed to be doing his job representing we the people. (I guess he had time on his hands, while most of us struggle to get our laundry done.)
After making a series of denials, claims of his mail being hacked, yelling and protesting at bizarre press conferences, pigheadedly lying to keep his job, Weiner finally brushed away a tear and stepped down -- but, I might add -- only because Andrew Breitbart called his bluff and his "lying wiggle room" evaporated.
What a guy.
Now I ask you, despite the crocodile tears: does this sound like remorse to you?
You’ll get the answer if you listen carefully. It‘s a distinctive rumble emanating from uptown New York. What is it?
It’s former Mayor Ed Koch turning in his grave.
Yes, despite Weiner’s lack of ethics, morals and devotion to doing his job, two years out of Weinergate, Anthony Weiner is ready to run for mayor of New York City with his wife and son by his side.
But just because Huma Abedin and Hillary bought a bill of goods from their sweeties, doesn’t mean you have to turn off your powers of discernment with this guy, because if it smells, it’s usually rotten.
And just because the Democratic Party has welcomed bad boys Bill and Ted back into the fold as titular heads, go further. Ask what you would do if you were fortunate enough to become president of these United States. Ask what you would do if you were fortunate enough to be elected to Congress in the House of Representatives.
Would you spend time in the gym, the bathroom and your office taking pictures of yourself, or fooling around with a young intern in the Oval Office?
I hope your answer is no. But somehow with all the work that needs to be done in our country, somehow Weiner had time to spare for his hobby.
So is Weiner sorry? Is Jane? Doesn’t look like it from here.
Maybe if Fonda had sat astride a German Panzer tank, she might have "gotten it," that these were enemies of her country, but I don’t think so.
After her many incarnations as Roger Vadim’s Barbarella, as Tom Hayden’s right hand activist and as the decidedly eccentric Ted Turner’s buddy, Fonda has put the past behind her and all that matters to her is the box office revenues from the October 2013 release of her film.
Would that the 50,000 soldiers who lost their lives in Vietnam were able to have the life choices Fonda has.
And what are the ramifications for these two for messing up?
For Fonda it’s a new flick.
For Weiner, it means quitting his job in Congress, albeit kicking and screaming, going for mental counseling for a while and then putting in his bid to be mayor of New York.
Call me crazy, but to me the word "traitor” has a place somewhere in both their stories.
So Tony. New York doesn’t need a mayor like you just because you want to take pictures of yourself in Gracie Mansion.
And Jane, we probably won’t be seeing you in a film about the real- life butler who served eight presidents of the U.S., including Ronald Reagan, featuring you in a prominent role.
Americans are a forgiving people, but we ain’t stupid.
Hold the line, America.