BP Executives Make Brad Pitt a Believer in Death Penalty
Aug 23rd, 2010 by David Anderson
I used to be concerned about the environmental felony movement, now we are up to capital crime. I take it that Brad Pitt, who has a home in the New Orleans area, is incensed and is speaking in hyperbole. Even if he is not, he is speaking about a lawful penalty based upon what he perceives is great damage to the ecosystem and the human toll. It at least has some logic to it. I will pass on debating him and focus on the insane reporting in the fablife of it.
Ah, a cup of coffee and a celebrity death-threat. Just the way we had hoped to start the week! When discussing BP’s responsibility for the oil spill in the Gulf, Brad Pitt declared, “I was never for the death penalty before. But I am willing to look at it again.” Hoo boy! How we love it when A-list celebrities fly off the handle and start publicly plotting murder!
While we would have preferred an alcohol-fueled rant during the Academy Awards (fingers crossed for 2011!), Brad Pitt’s death penalty diatribe against BP instead comes as part of Spike Lee’s If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, the director’s new documentary about New Orleans and sequel to 2006’s When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Pitt and partner Angelina Jolie own a home in New Orleans, and Pitt even started a foundation to help rebuild homes following Hurricane Katrina. While Lee’s new documentary originally ended with the New Orleans Saints’ triumphant victory during the 2010 Super Bowl, the oil spill required Spike Lee to add almost an hour of footage to the film, including an ending with a decidedly less optimistic slant.
As much as we agree with Pitt’s sentiment, we can’t help but be surprised at how little thought he put behind it. Everyone knows the long-term effects of the oil spill are going to kill everyone anyway; why waste time and money sending BP executives to jail first?! Think, Brad Pitt, think!
How could someone who thinks a discussion of lawful penalties is a death threat and thinks an oil spill is going to kill everyone (oil leaks happen everyday as part of nature–oil won’t kill anyone in this context) tell anyone to think. Is the level of thought required for entertainment journalists less than that required in an eight grade writing standard? Do people take any of this a serious commentary? No wonder it is hard to discuss serious issues in an election.
What would you expect from a guy who admires Chavez and Castro?
Pitt is just lucky there’s no death penalty for bad acting.