A Small Victory: Georgia Refuses to Honor Jane Fonda
Jim Kouri, CPP
March 18, 2006
Leave it to a Red State to do the right thing. A effort by the Georgia's liberal-left establishment to honor actress and anti-war activist Jane Fonda for her recent charity work was defeated because of her infamous support of America's enemies during the Vietnam war in the early 1970s.
State senators in Fonda's adopted home state of Georgia voted 38-1 against a proclamation praising Fonda for her charity work. They were reacting to the thousands upon thousands of phone calls and e-mails demanding they not "stoop to honoring someone who willingly provided aid and comfort to the enemy."
Many Americans continue to view her as a bona fide traitor after her widely covered trip to the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in 1972. While there, she donned a North Vietnamese military helmet and sat smiling ear-to-ear atop an enemy aircraft gun for all the world to see.
While her defenders say she apologized for that "lapse in judgement" other believe she did so in order to plug her book being released at the time. In addition, most military vets will not forgive her visiting a gun site used to shoot down US planes and killing US pilots and flight crews.
Republican Senator John Douglas said it best when he said Fonda -- who picked up the nickname "Hanoi Jane" -- was "guilty of treason."
"I can think of no living American who is less worthy of this honor," he said.
The resolution was initiated by Democrat Senator Steen Miles, who said Fonda's "charity work should make up for past mistakes." But even she voted against the motion after Fonda herself tried to have it withdrawn to avoid controversy.
The Republicans, however, forced a senate floor vote, saying GOP members wanted to go on record against it.
Fonda once acknowledged to newswoman Diane Sawyer that her visit to the Hanoi gun site was a "betrayal" of the US military
It was the "largest lapse of judgement that I can even imagine," she told Sawyer, during the interview designed to create interest in Fonda's book, which ended up being a flop.
While she may be sorry for her little "lapse of judgement," it hasn't stifled Hanoi Jane from again taking an active role against her country's military -- this time in Iraq, said a former Marine who fought in Korea, Sid Francis.
"She tried to pull one of those anti-war celebrity bus tours, but it never materialized. She hasn't changed a bit. She just doesn't want to go down in history as Jane Fonda, Traitor, so she apologizes before her book tour."
Perhaps there is some justice in the world. For all of her acting achievements -- she won the coveted Academy Award for Best Actress as a hooker in the movie "Klute" -- Hanoi Jane Fonda will be remembered as someone who escaped being charged for treason. If you're against war, that's understandable. However, Ms. Fonda chose sides in a war -- she chose the enemy of a nation that was more than generous to her. The shame is on her.
State senators in Fonda's adopted home state of Georgia voted 38-1 against a proclamation praising Fonda for her charity work. They were reacting to the thousands upon thousands of phone calls and e-mails demanding they not "stoop to honoring someone who willingly provided aid and comfort to the enemy."
Many Americans continue to view her as a bona fide traitor after her widely covered trip to the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in 1972. While there, she donned a North Vietnamese military helmet and sat smiling ear-to-ear atop an enemy aircraft gun for all the world to see.
While her defenders say she apologized for that "lapse in judgement" other believe she did so in order to plug her book being released at the time. In addition, most military vets will not forgive her visiting a gun site used to shoot down US planes and killing US pilots and flight crews.
Republican Senator John Douglas said it best when he said Fonda -- who picked up the nickname "Hanoi Jane" -- was "guilty of treason."
"I can think of no living American who is less worthy of this honor," he said.
The resolution was initiated by Democrat Senator Steen Miles, who said Fonda's "charity work should make up for past mistakes." But even she voted against the motion after Fonda herself tried to have it withdrawn to avoid controversy.
The Republicans, however, forced a senate floor vote, saying GOP members wanted to go on record against it.
Fonda once acknowledged to newswoman Diane Sawyer that her visit to the Hanoi gun site was a "betrayal" of the US military
It was the "largest lapse of judgement that I can even imagine," she told Sawyer, during the interview designed to create interest in Fonda's book, which ended up being a flop.
While she may be sorry for her little "lapse of judgement," it hasn't stifled Hanoi Jane from again taking an active role against her country's military -- this time in Iraq, said a former Marine who fought in Korea, Sid Francis.
"She tried to pull one of those anti-war celebrity bus tours, but it never materialized. She hasn't changed a bit. She just doesn't want to go down in history as Jane Fonda, Traitor, so she apologizes before her book tour."
Perhaps there is some justice in the world. For all of her acting achievements -- she won the coveted Academy Award for Best Actress as a hooker in the movie "Klute" -- Hanoi Jane Fonda will be remembered as someone who escaped being charged for treason. If you're against war, that's understandable. However, Ms. Fonda chose sides in a war -- she chose the enemy of a nation that was more than generous to her. The shame is on her.
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