The first part of Spike TV's mini-series, The Kill Point, on Sunday night featured a scene in which an Iraq war veteran bank robber holding hostages earned applause from a crowd outside the bank when he denounced the war. Walking outside the bank to meet the police negotiator, “Mr. Wolf” played by John Leguizamo (IMDb bio), a former Marine Corps Sergeant who served a year in Leavenworth for disobeying an order that apparently led to the deaths of other Marines, removed his shirt and pants to show scars from his war wounds. He proclaimed: “I didn't spill my blood for this country for freedom to have it taken away when I came home. I got some demands because they took everything away from me,” citing the loss of medical coverage for his wife after his conviction. “Wolf” shouted his demands: “I want a flak jacket for every soldier in Iraq! Because our stupid-ass government doesn't think that they're necessary. And I want the son of every Senator who voted yes for this war to sign up for active duty.” That led to applause from the civilians in the street watching the unfolding drama, with a few even jumping up and down in approval.
As detailed in July 18 and July 20 NewsBusters postings, the eight-hour mini-series is centered around a group of Iraq war vets who rob a Pittsburgh bank, but end up taking hostages when police arrive before they can flee. The CBS/Viacom channel mini-series about the siege began Sunday night with a two-hour premiere and will air weekly in one and two-hour installments on Sunday nights through August.
The rant from the bitter ex-Marine as he stood outside the bank addressing the negotiator, police snipers and the crowd, an event carried live on local television:
I love my country, man. I fought for my country and I would die for my country. Do you think I wanted to end up here? Do you think I wanted guns in my face again, man? No way. No freakin' way. But I came home to sickness and nightmares. You know when I close my eyes you know what I see? I see the faces of the soldiers and civilians that I killed, that's what I see. I spoke to my captain and he makes me talk to a shrink who doesn't know shit. Then the God damned government smokes me out with their lies and away goes my pension, away goes my medical. And if my wife gets sick, who's going to pay for it? Who's going to pay? I pay. We pay. I served my country, man. I served 15 years I gave, 15 years. Who's going to protect me? Who's going to protect me, huh, who?So I started this and look where I am, man, look where I am, back in the firing line. So maybe you should shoot me, go ahead, maybe you should shoot me. I'd rather die than go to jail, that's for damn sure. I didn't spill my blood for this country for freedom to have it taken away when I came home. I got some demands because they took everything away from me, okay.
I want antibiotics 'cause I got injured in there. And I want a flak jacket for every soldier in Iraq! Because our stupid-ass government doesn't think that they're necessary. And I want the son of every Senator who voted yes for this war to sign up for active duty. You get me those things! And I'll leave here. I'll ask for bus and a chopper and I'll disappear. Got that?
Spike's page for the mini-series.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
I switched channels
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 01:30 ET by PahlavanAs soon as John Leguizamo took off his shirt and pants to display
his scars and began his oh, so predictable rant, I switched channels.
BORING - Not every entertainment program needs to have a twisted hate Bush message.
It's porn for Democrats
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 12:56 ET by TruthMongerIt's porn for Democrats - very twisted bunch - it's just the bush bashing they get off on - not the shirt removal my friends:)!
Gay haters unite!
argumentum ad populum
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 02:18 ET by KC MulvilleIf the only reason you create a hero is to put political words in his mouth (or create a villain to espouse beliefs you dislike), then you don’t understand drama and don’t deserve a camera. Forget the clever angles or catchy music. Those TBS commercials are wrong. Drama isn’t just conflict. Drama is self-conflict. The events portrayed on the outside reveal the conflict within.
I’ll give an example. Clint Eastwood directed two movies last year about Iwo Jima. Although it was the same battle, the conflict was different. The Japanese on that island knew they were never going home. They fought for their own sense of honor. For the Americans, it was different. Were they willing to undergo horror to finish the job and go home? Eastwood gave us two completely different dramas, even though the events were the same. That's entertainment.
It’s cheap to use fiction to give your protagonist a false sense of authority, and then use your “hero” as your mouthpiece to blabber your own political slogans. The hero (i.e., the author) never challenges himself, so he has no right to challenge the audience. It doesn’t work as politics and it doesn’t work as drama. Why waste my time?
You give very good points
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 05:03 ET by nnptcgradYou give very good points about drama... But this is Hollywood.
Also, haven't the writers got on strike yet? I remember they were threatening to.
Mother nature is a bitch - Ninth Corollary of Murphy's Law
}}}----> Attica! Attica!
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 02:31 ET by Cool ArrowSeems like Pacino already played that part only he was trying to pay for a sex change for his life partner.
Grrrrr
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 04:50 ET by DontTreadOnMeThis makes me angry! >:(
They should add "My name is
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 05:51 ET by kgThey should add "My name is ________________ and I approve this message."
John Edwards
Hillary Clinton
Barak Obama
Another anti-war POS movie
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 06:03 ET by jdhawkAnother anti-war POS movie that is shamelessly using our fighting men to mouth their crap while making them out to be dufus nut ball cases.
Vests for every soldier in Iraq? Huh? Just to keep the record straight, all of our fighting men and women have flax vests. And, since the war began the initial vests that they went to war with have been scrapped and better ones issued. The Marine Corps is working on a still better vest and should have it to their men and women soon.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces have been an all volunteer force for a several decades. Maybe the producer, writer(s), and director missed the memo. Moms and Dads, even if they are Senators, don't volunteer their sons and/or daughters to enter the Armed Forces. That decision is theirs and theirs alone to make.
}}}----> Prison Break
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 06:10 ET by Cool ArrowPrison Break also has an Iraq Vet who is imprisoned falsely by our "corrupt government.
Both times I was sent to
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 09:05 ET by BDBoth times I was sent to Iraq, every soldier in my unit had the latest in Interceptor Body Army with the Small Arms Protective Insert (SAPI) plates designed to defeat .30 Caliber small arms rounds to the chest and back.
No unit deployed from Kuwait to Iraq during those time frames WITHOUT such body armor to my knowledge. If it was such a unit I would imagine it was a unit that was not expected to go beyond the wire of Camp Victory.
Just another generation of
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 07:45 ET by JacksonCalhounJust another generation of media types creating a perception that all war veterans will come back dysfunctional misfits.
I would guess that this series is aimed at the overgrown men-children who watch Spike for ultimate fighting and play war games on their Playstation, to try to turn them against the real thing, since they probably don't watch the other propaganda outlets.
But I came home to
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 08:43 ET by MidAmericaBut I came home to sickness and nightmares. You know when I close my eyes you know what I see? I see the faces of the soldiers and civilians that I killed, that's what I see.
Is the name of the movie "Son of John Kerry"?
And I want the son of every Senator who voted yes for this war to sign up for active duty.
Strange non-PC sexist phrasing. Guess they didn't want to say Chelsea should go fight in Iraq.
Correct on the John Kerry
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 09:07 ET by BDCorrect on the John Kerry comment.
He did more to damage the US military than ANY OTHER SITTING US Senator. He made it acceptable to condescend to the troops.