Comrades.
Via Human Events:
It’s no surprise to find actor Sean Penn on the campaign trail these days. The two-time Academy Award winner is a strong backer of President Barack Obama with a history of putting his name and celebrity panache behind left-of-center causes.
But what is starting to raise eyebrows among Americans is Penn’s campaign blessings for another friend in another country: Venezuela’s Marxist President Hugo Chavez, who will face the voters of his country Oct. 7 in a race the whole world is watching. In the past week, Chavez’s strong-armed assaults against opponent Henrique Capriles — one of which resulted in the death of a Capriles campaign worker and the wounding of two others following a rally — has made the Venezuelan election particularly incendiary.
Coupled with Chavez’s own 14-year record of intimidating political enemies, denouncing U.S. opponents, and forging alliances with America-haters from Havanna to Tehran, his behavior in his re-election makes one wonder why any American would campaign for him. […]
The timing of Penn’s appearance to raise funds for Ruiz was particularly interesting, since it occurred days after he had returned from a campaign visit on behalf of Venezuela’s Chavez. Penn joined the Marxist strongman on stage at a mass rally in the Venezuelan town of Valencia.
“Thank you very much for visiting us again, dear friend,” declared Chavez, referring to his close friend from Hollywood who had embraced him before the cheering crowd.