Sean Penn Sums Up the Left

Jonathan F. KeilerExtrapolate

As many know, actor Sean Penn recently revived interest in his career by interviewing notorious Mexican outlaw Joaquin Guzman for Rolling Stone magazine shortly before the murderous drug lord’s arrest.  About a year before Penn’s article about Guzman, in a fawning Esquire magazine interview, Penn defended several similar “journalistic” endeavors up to that time. These had come under criticism as little more than vanity projects for a privileged Hollywood star, largely focused (like the Guzman piece) on glorifying Latin American caudillos and/or bandits who are heroes of the left. Penn’s distillation of his motivation for the projects was remarkably revealing. “I’m just another asshole trying to feel good about himself” said Penn. “And why shouldn’t I?  That’s what everybody should try to do.”

Though Penn threw the line out in an obvious attempt to be both humble and funny it actually pretty succinctly describes the left/liberal attitude toward life....... The Esquire quote reveals the utter emptiness of Penn’s value system and that of the Western liberal elites as a group. While it pretends to be a frank and self-deprecating remark on his supposed accomplishments, Penn is actually admitting that all of his “good works” are just an attempt to make himself feel better.

There is no intrinsic value or motivation for Penn’s various causes, progressive adventures, or caudillo social circle. If it made him feel better to dig oil wells, hang out with the brothers Koch, or hunt endangered African animals he would do that. Those latter options are likely odious to Penn only because they are not things of which media elites, and his fellow travelers in Hollywood approve. And since garnering that approval, and the wealth and adoration that goes with it makes the Penn feel good, that’s what he does.........
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