Jane Fonda...what's not to love

Read this posting from The Desired last year, and this one to read the interview with Liz Smith (and some great commentary)...makes me feel something in my belly. It's sickening...

NY Post Interview with Liz Smith (from May '05 I think) :

LIZ: And here we continue our talk with the incredible Jane Fonda.

LIZ: Jane, many people are interested in your having become a Christian after being an agnostic most of your life. What kind of church do you go to in Atlanta?

Jane: I am searching for one, but have not found one yet. And, Liz, I am a feminist Christian.

Liz: So maybe you see Christianity in a broader sense than the fundamentalists?

Jane: I don't want to offend anyone. But I believe people have different ways of approaching The Word. For me, it's metaphor, written by people a long time after Christ died. And interpreted by specific groups. I read the gospels that aren't included in the Bible. These make me feel good about calling myself a Christian. What we are seeing today are policymakers who say they're Christians.

Budgets are a religious matter. War is. Poverty is. Health care is. Jesus said, "Look after the least of us." But there is a separation between professed faith and the practice, and I'm not seeing too many policies coming out of Washington that are, in my opinion, informed by the teachings of Jesus."

Liz: It seems Jesus surrounded himself with women and depended on them.

Jane: Real women . . . and prostitutes. Samaritans and outcasts.

Liz: Yes, publicans and sinners. Or was that Republicans and sinners?

Jane: (Laughter) I was at the White House correspondents' dinner the other night, and Laura Bush was really funny. Her approval rating is way up, as it should be.

Liz: Did you see the president's press conference before that; I thought he was floundering.

Jane: No, I thought he was very impressive. I don't know him, but I have always thought if I were alone in a room with him, I would really like him.

Liz: Well, many people do like him, and he has an informal appealing quality, they say. Jane, let's get back on you. What do you think of today's theory that the Vietnam war turned today's Vietnam into a flourishing Asian market economy Western style. Is that any excuse for the war that you protested?

Jane: I read that the other day. No, it's not an excuse. The tragedy is, the so-called enemy is running the country and we lost 3 million Vietnamese lives and 58,000 American lives. It never had to happen because they were offering this same kind of peace before the war started. But some Americans felt we had to fight to keep the "domino theory" from happening. No, I still protest the war. But if you could meet some of the veterans I meet in touring with this book . . . They are so great. They are amazing men.

Liz: The incident of your sitting on the gun, which you have apologized for — are you aware that even though it outraged a lot of people, it did not really affect your film career!

Jane: Not my career. It affected my heart. But I notice when I do radio shows, the interviewers tell the listeners that we're not screening calls. And I swear to you, all of the calls seem to be positive.

Liz: Jane, are you financially secure? Do you have to work and do movies to survive?

Jane: I'm OK, but I work to endow my organizations in Georgia. The Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, a statewide idea to help children against sexual abuse, poor parenting, school failure. Half my salary from "Monster-in-Law" went to that.

Liz: Will you do more movies?

Jane: Yes. I don't want to do a lot, but I will do some — both for money and because it is fun.

Liz: Would you ever act on the stage again?

Jane: I don't think so. I don't want to be away from my children.

Liz: With Jay Leno he said to you that you walked like a movie star, and you answered, "I wonder why." It was a great line. But do you think of yourself as a film star?

Jane: I think starring in films is one of the things I do. (Laughter) But it's not who I am. I am, among other things, a grandmother, an activist;

Liz: Will you stay in Atlanta?

Jane: It's manageable; it's a real place. People are very friendly. I have a life there with my work and my children. I'm very happy there. I spend other time in New Mexico at my ranch, and I like to fly fish. And I ride; I have eight horses. I like visiting New York. I like visiting L.A., but I wouldn't go back to live in Hollywood for anything.

Liz : So now you're a Southern girl?

Jane: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yep.
-end of interview-

That was painful to read. Jump forward to today...

Jane Fonda was in Australia today (February 28, 2006) promoting her new book and criticizing the war on terror in Iraq...and Bush in general.

Fonda said too many lives were being lost after an invasion of Iraq that was based on lies.

"I think it is a crime, a tragedy, disgusting and despicable," Fonda said in Sydney. (travelling abroad and spouting a holier-than-thou anti-american animosity is wonderful though.)

"It is almost beyond comprehension how we could have been brought into this war based on lies and continue to lose so many lives, both American and Iraqi."

"It makes my skin crawl ... my heart break." "We haven't learnt our lessons,"

"I have been spending time with Iraq veterans who have come back ... their voices are the most important because the Bush administration can't say they are unpatriotic."

"We have to support the ones who have been there who say this is wrong. What they are saying is, pull the troops out now."

Fonda's political activism, film career and personal life are covered in her autobiography, titled My Life So Far, which she is in Australia to promote.

"When I turned 62 and was once again single and had really gone through some profound personal transformation, I came to a place where I could see the themes of my life,"

"I knew that if I could write it honestly, that it would resonate with other people and provide a roadmap for dealing with things like self image, relationships, parenting and things like that."

"People identify with what I have to say which makes me very happy,"

"There is no way to be helpful to other people unless you are honest about yourself."

Fonda said she enjoyed the process of writing her autobiography so much that she was looking at writing a fictional novel.

"I feel something brewing in my belly, it might be a novel,"

"I like writing and I think I am good at it."

"I am going to be doing another film but it hasn't been announced so I can't say, but probably I will start in June,"

Michelle Malkin has had some great posts about Jane...click here to check them out.