Jane Fonda

[SoDesuKa]

I think it's cowardly to blame Jane Fonda because we lost the Vietnam War. Even if she had arrived in Hanoi at a critical time, it's difficult to believe she was that significant. But by 1972, the year of Fonda's visit to Hanoi, the war was over.

The consternation over Jane Fonda is another example of right wing misogynism. Manly right wingers can't admit we lost fair 'n square, so they have to blame a woman.

[Ruffhowse]

1. And she's shockingly good looking for her age.

[Richard Steele]

4. Can you say "facial surgery"?

Her latest apology is nothing but an attempt to generate some 'controversy' for her new book, IMHO.

Putting it kindly: She was a second-rate ACTRESS, not a scholar.

The 'AA gun' incident was a STUPID thing, done by a second-rate actress.
If there were any REAL justice for it, Jane would be well into her 3rd decade of OBSCURITY by now.

[BuyingThyme]

2. The people who blame her have to blame her

...or admit to themselves what they are.

[Syrinx]

3. she was slightly less wrong than the assholes that still harp about it.

edit: take out "slightly"

[maveric]

5. She'll turn 68 this year.

Wow!

[Elwood P Dowd]

6. Hard to believe she is 68

Barefoot In The Park one day and suddenly 68. I'm getting old. :(

[LdyGuique]

7. We didn't lose fair N square, but Jane had nothing to do with that

Vietnam was never fought as a war to be won -- its very nature is exactly at the core of much of the disillusionment and anti-war sentiments from the veterans. Vietnam was the product of American anti-Communist sentiments that go back to Eisenhower. The U.S. supported the French in Indochina and was opposed to Vietnam's freedom from colonial rule, primarily because Ho Chi Minh was not only the revolutionary leader, but because he was an avowed communist.

The U.S. forced the partition of Vietnam and was in the middle of some of the most grotesque policies of the Cold War era.

Check out the timeline on the PBS site for its VietNam series. Its sparse, but it gets the job done for an overview.

Jane has admitted to being a foolish young woman with passionate beliefs who was taken advantage of -- and many will accept her apology and many won't. I can understand both points of view. Just as lies circulate throughout the political scene today, so do lies circulate from that time. Politics in the Vietnam era were devisive and filled with propaganda. Depending on where one bought into a position, it determined and still determines one's POV on a highly emotional topic.

Those who lived through those times remember the vocal and violent arguments that overtook many a family's holiday dinner gathering. Our family was no different as the drinking would wend its way through the threads of conversations that became progressively more belligerant and dogmatic. The women folk had to break up more than one fist fight.

[SoCalDem]

8. We "knew" the war was wrong in 1966

What she did was stupid, and she was "used" (even if willingly).. The young soldiers were also used (not so willingly).

There is a saying.. "Desperate times call for desperate actions".

At the time, she probably believed that she could actually help end the war..she did a dumb thing, and was lucky that some nutcase did not shoot her in all these intervening years.

She made a bad choice (something that ALL young people do) and she has paid for it.

The damage that Kissinger and McNamara did was far worse, and yet they received awards for their "service"..

[SodoffBush]

9. What are the chances we'll get an apology from Bush (1 & 11)

Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice, Powell, Pearle et al?

[Botany]

10. Jane Fonda is all about Jane Fonda ......

Talking on Al Fraken 4-6-05 ..........
"I was talking with Hillary Duff, on the View the other day."

Go away Jane.

[lies and propaganda]

11. it just blows that she is caving....

There just doesnt seem a need to publicly decree you feel guilty about anything.

[Conservativesux]

12. "Barberella" just wants to see her name in lights again before she goes...

...the way of her dad, in the film, "On Golden Pond".

Sorry, Jane, but we all make mistakes we can't undo, no matter how hard we try.

You made your bed and now you have to sleep in it.