Sean Penn writes ...
Then there's Newt Gingrich, who commented on the Chavez greeting as being approached wrong. He suggested that the meeting itself may not be improper, but that it should have been handled with a cold demeanor. This is a pattern of bad acting advice from bad actors. (All wimps think playing a tough guy is done in one-note coldness.) With a friend, or an enemy, our president will gain greater strategic position with a smile.
I know President Chavez well. Whether or not one agrees with all his policies, what is certainly true of Chavez is that he is a warm and friendly man with a robust sense of humor. To treat such a man coldly is akin to spitting on him. As a country we've done enough of that. Say what you will, but it has only resulted in the self-celebration of our smirking spitters, while costing us international respect, American lives, and left wounds in the hands of our children's future. The Cheneys, down to the O'Reillys and Hannitys and Limbaughs, effectively hate the principles upon which we were founded. They are among the greatest cowards in all of American history. I applaud an American President who's tough enough...to smile.
First, a comment to all readers, I am a childhood friend of the Penn family. I went to high school with Chris, Sean's younger brother, he was one of my closest friends. And, further, I am a 35 year practitioner of Martial Arts, and I am originally from NYC, and so, although I may not have been a military leader, I know tough, and so does Sean. His brother, Chris was one of the toughest people I have known in my life, even as a kid, when we first met, he was tough. And their father, Leo Penn, was tough. But not in that false bravado "tough" ... but real tough, tough of character and heart. We're talkin' the kind of tough that would walk down a dark alley with you, yeah, Chris was that kinda tough. And Leo, yeah, well, he's the kinda tough that would stand up to McCarthy blacklisting trash. Like, for real, no matter what that did to him, he was a great man, a man of high honor. This is the clay from which Sean Penn was born and bred, and this is the character that forged his brilliance as an actor, as a father, and as a human being who had the courage, twice, to venture in to Iraq, at profound risk to his personal safety, to tell the real tale, to see for his own self, what was happening.
Now, do I agree with his politics, not always, given the fact that I have been a registered Republican for 25 years, up until Obama, but Sean is a man of honor and strength and rare courage and he has earned my respect, many times over. And, with regards to what is a true demonstration of "tough" with respect to Obama and the ability to be cordial and warm, I will tell you, folks, that after having personally trained with Navy SEALs, Green Beret, Special Forces, Secret Service, NYPD Detectives, former KGB, and countless others, over the years, what Sean says is absolutely true.
The ancient term in the SAMURAI - KO RYU - (ie, Warrior lineages) of Japan for this spirit is
** JI-HI NO KOKORO **
Which is considered to be *** THE ULTIMATE WEAPON ***
The sword that is "no-sword" ~
It is ***THE AFLAMED BENEVOLENT HEART***
True "tough" is the strength to smile and with a warm embrace, greet your enemy, as if he were your friend, to never reveal your anger or hatred, much less, dear students, your true intent. Yes, Obama demonstrates the true mastery of the craft, not that stiff false posturing which reveals an empty weak bravado, the likes of which we have all seen, as the teenager bullies in the school yard pick on the younger kids when no one is around to call their bluff and throw them a beating, which is exactly what Cheney strikes me as. Yeah, a weak bully, a wimp, who picked on kids when he was young, but couldn't hold a candlestick to anyone with true metal in their veins.
Yeah, when I listen to Cheney, and I hear him speak of "tough", I say to myself, "He don't know from tough, he don't know tough, he don't know the first thing about tough, he's never known tough, and he wouldn't know tough until it cracked him in the face."
BTW, Thanks Sean, and I miss Chris, too. I cried the day I heard the news. My brother called me and told me.
Arthur,
A Tribute, to a friend who was like a brother ...
[UPDATE: HT - Santa Susanna Kid]
I do have to chime in here...
Sean's mother, Eileen is truly an amazing down-to-earth person, whom I have met on several occasions. Those boys were raised right by incredible parents. Nice diary!
Forgive me, I was remiss, in not mentioning their mother, Eileen, who is a wonderfully warm and loving lady, true salt-of-the-earth strength, who cooked me breakfast, many a time, when I slept over their house when I was a teenager, (and they do have a third eldest brother, too, Michael, an amazing Goth musician) ...