Sean Penn: Journalist/Diplomat/Dunce

From E&P:

NEW YORK Actor Sean Penn, reporting from Iran this week for the San Francisco Chronicle, snared a scoop worthy of a Broder or Brownstein, interviewing Muslim cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who leads the opinion polls in the coming elections.

Penn also told Iranian film students that those chanting “Death to America” were only hurting their cause.

Penn, 44, asked Rafsanjani about a panel of religious hardliners barring hundreds from running in tomorrow's presidential elections.

Rafsanjani replied that Iran is allowing eight candidates to run for president -- certainly a greater number than American voters faced last November. "If the number of candidates is a proof of democracy, we are ... better than the Americans in this regard," newspapers quoted Rafsanjani as telling Penn.

The actor caused a stir when he attended Friday prayers last week and heard the “Death to America” chants. But on a visit to Iran's Film Museum in Tehran this week he told a student that those oft-heard chants hurt Iran-U.S. relations.

"I understand the nature of where it comes from and what its intention is," he said. "But I don't think it's productive because I think the message goes to the American people and it is interpreted very literally."

Although Penn is sympathetic to the Iranians chanting anti-American slogans, he points out that the American people don't understand the nuance behind it, making it counterproductive in terms of Iran-U.S. relations. He says we don't get the message and aren't capable of interpreting it correctly.

Gee, why would the American people take chants like "Death to America" literally?

MAYBE BECAUSE ELEMENTS OF THE ARAB WORLD HAVE BEEN WAGING WAR ON AMERICA AND MURDERING ITS PEOPLE FOR DECADES.

I think Penn was married to Madonna in October of 1985. He may have missed this while he was busy beating up photographers.

Four heavily armed Palestinian terrorists in October hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, carrying more than 400 passengers and crew, off Egypt. The hijackers demanded that Israel free 50 Palestinian prisoners. The terrorists killed a disabled American tourist, 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer, and threw his body overboard with his wheelchair.

"Death to America."

Throughout the 90s, under Clinton's watch, there were numerous terrorist attacks that killed Americans.

"Death to America."

On September 11, 2001, Penn seems to have forgotten the joy some in the Arab world, and specifically Iran, felt when they learned of the murder of thousands in America.

Yes, Americans might take those death chants literally, and with good reason.

Penn seems to think he can save the world by pretending to be a journalist/ diplomat.

I think first he needs to save himself. He could start with a history course.