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| -Obits- | |
| Ron Silver | |
| 2009-03-16 | |
| Actor and longtime political activist Ron Silver died this morning, succumbing to a long battle with cancer, friends of the liberal Democrat-turned-GOP stalwart told The Post. "Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him this morning," said Robin Bronk, executive director of the Creative Coalition, which Silver helped create. "He had been fighting esophageal cancer for two years and his family is making arrangements for a private service." The steely-eyed, blunt-talking Silver, 62, enjoyed a long career on the stage, TV and in movies, and most recently hosted a public affairs talk show on Sirius satellite radio. Once a self-identified lifelong Democrat, Silver was a founding member of the liberal-leaning Creative Coalition in 1989. But he made a breathtaking political transformation, going from far left to radical right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York, enthusiastically backing a second term for President Bush. "Twelve years ago I was here for the Democratic convention. I was on the platform committee. Zell Miller was the keynote speaker. A lot's changed since then, I can tell you," a chuckling Silver told The Washington Post. "If you asked me on September 10, 2001, would I consider going to the Republican National Convention and speaking, I would have thought you were from another planet and didn't know who I was."
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 My reactionary former colleagues and friends were quite content with the status quo with Saddam in power in a post 9/11 world. I was not. Revolutionary, not reactionary. My friends sound a bit racist when they insist on Arab-Muslim incapacities to expand freedoms and maintain their faith. I believe the Arab world will work its way to achieve this. I know that it will most likely come about through internal Arab-Muslim struggles and not via external pressures, but I believe we are uniquely capable of helping it along. Uniquely, because our Founding scriptures declare, “all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights.” Revolutionary, not reactionary. ... So allow me to try to name, provide a reason and a justification for our fears. International Affairs 101 looks at intentions and capabilities. If my five-year-old son declares the United States his enemy and he intends to destroy it, call me crazy but I take it with a grain of salt. (Although I will monitor more closely what he’s watching on TV and check the parental controls on the computer.) If a group of people have the same intention as my son but they may represent the feelings of hundreds of thousands or more likely millions upon millions of people I take the threat more seriously. And when these folks have successfully attacked our military, our diplomats, and our cities and civilian population, well yeah, I take them at their word. Perhaps I didn’t when they officially declared war on us more than 10 years ago, but they’ve certainly got my attention now. Ron's Blog |
| Posted by: KBK 2009-03-16 21:11 |
| #4 RIP Ron. Check out Roger Simon about Ron. They were two of a kind in their political trajectories. Roger is now CEO of PJM. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-03-16 14:32 |
| #3 But he made a breathtaking political transformation, going from far left to radical right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. I guess he became "radical right" by seeing the enemy for what it is. The few times I saw him on TV outside of his performances, he was a thoughtful, incisive man. If he had transitioned from center-right to crazed lefty, his obits would saw he "grew." Instead his thinking matured following 9/11 (actually during the Clinton admin), and he's charactized as "radical right." |
| Posted by: regular joe 2009-03-16 10:01 |
| #2 Gary Levy had one cool beard. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2009-03-16 08:23 |
| #1 RIP: I've been wondering where he's been...he was a bright spot amongst the many dim-wits in Hollyweird. |
| Posted by: HammerHead 2009-03-16 08:08 |