March 18, 2009
R.I.P
I was away last weekend and I had no idea Ron Silver died! That's awful. Steve Silver (no relation) :
Silver's real-life political views were even more idiosyncratic. The New York native who grew up as a staunch liberal – traveling to more than 30 countries and considering a career as a spy – Silver co-founded the Hollywood advocacy group the Creative Coalition, and spent the 1990s supporting President Bill Clinton as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In early 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported that, at the time, Silver stood up during a dinner panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, defending America from charges of imperialism while citing the Kosovo intervention.Posted by Karol at March 18, 2009 10:25 AM | TrackBackBut his politics began to drift rightward following 9/11, frequently appearing on talk shows to defend the Iraq War and other Bush Administration policies, and even speaking at the Republican National Convention in 2004. While remaining an unabashed social liberal, Silver took the idea of liberalism to what some, in those days, saw as its logical conclusion – that the most illiberal force on Earth, Islamic terrorism, must be confronted and defeated.
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I don't know if you've seen it, but he narrated a fantastic documentary produced by MEMRI several years after the Sept. 11th massacres. It's really a shame that he was taken at such a young age when he had so much more to contribute to our world.
Requiascat in Pace
Posted by: Gerard at March 18, 2009 03:24 PMIt made a small headline over here. He was always good even when the film wasn't so good. In an era when Brits are too often cast as the screen villain, he was always able to put in a suitably ominous turn.
Posted by: bryan at March 18, 2009 03:43 PMI thought you'd really enjoy this:
**I recently asked my friend's little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day.
Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do? ' **
She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.'
Her parents beamed.
'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. *
*
Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house. '
She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, ' Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?
I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'
Her parents still aren't speaking to me.*
"....that the most illiberal force on Earth, Islamic terrorism, must be confronted and defeated."
That's what separates classical Liberals from social (small 's') Liberals; classical Liberals believe in Liberty, social Liberals believe in hanging with the the cool crowd.
RIP, Ron Silver; it seems you were pretty much always on the side of the Enlightenment, and you will be missed.
Posted by: Mark Poling at March 19, 2009 01:14 PMn.b. it is possible to be a liberal and feel that "Islamic terrorism...must be confronted and defeated."
I'll say it again, calling the opponents terrorists will no longer ensure the other side wins the elections.
Ann Coulter's column today is a tribute to her friend Ron Silver. Worth reading.
Posted by: KS at March 19, 2009 04:40 PM
