I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Val Kilmer is getting national media attention for a potential gubernatorial run and local media attention for showing up to the Roundhouse and giving impromptu press conferences.
But one group is not amused, and that is Vietnam veterans.
In a blog post I wrote about Kilmer a couple of weeks ago, I excerpted part of an Esquire article where he made some comments about people who went to Vietnam. Kilmer was talking about how, as an actor, he understands the people he plays even better than they understand themselves. But his comments about those in Vietnam are not the most flattering.
Here is the exchange in the context it was placed in the 2005 article:
You understand how it feels to shoot someone as much as a person who has actually committed a murder?
I understand it more. It’s an actor’s job. A guy who’s lived through the horror of Vietnam has not spent his life preparing his mind for it. He’s some punk. Most guys were borderline criminal or poor, and that’s why they got sent to Vietnam. It was all the poor, wretched kids who got beat up by their dads, guys who didn’t get on the football team, couldn’t finagle a scholarship. They didn’t have the emotional equipment to handle that experience. But this is what an actor trains to do. I can more effectively represent that kid in Vietnam than a guy who was there.
From there, they go on to discuss whether Kilmer believes he actually knows what is like to be one of his characters or whether he just more effectively portrays the character.
I can tell you, my inbox recently has been lighting up with e-mails from outraged veterans, and they use some, well, interesting language at being called a “punk” who was “borderline criminal or poor.” The expletive-laden e-mails are the exception rather than the norm — most are well-thought-out and reasoned.
But they are unanimously against the idea of Kilmer becoming New Mexico’s next governor.
The Military Families Blog at the Web site Military Money Matters linked to the article and alerted the community to the fact that Kilmer is, in the opinion of one blogger, the “brass-balled moron of the year.”
Perhaps not the best way for Kilmer to start before he even answers whether he’s running.
