Sean Penn's Oscar Sneer: Conservatives Put 'Great Shame in Their Grandchildren's Eyes'

Sean Penn uncorked several liberal political messages in his Oscar acceptance speech on Sunday night. He started like this: "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns! I did not expect this, and I wanted it to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me, often. I am touched by the appreciation, and enough that I wanted to scribble down, so I had the names, in case you were commie, homo-loving sons of guns."After he thanked all his assistants and fellow Milk collaborators, he wrapped up:

Finally, for those – two last finally’s – for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect, and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone. (Wild applause)

I’m very proud to live in a country that is willing to elect an elegant man president. And a country who for all its toughness, creates courageous artists, and this is in great due respect to all the nominees.

He paid particular tribute to the acting comeback of his friend Mickey Rourke. In a speech of presenters celebrating his nomination, actor Robert DeNiro paid tribute to Penn’s radical political side:

Sean brings the same commitment to his off-screen life, you see it when he campaigns for human rights, respectfully advises world leaders, and gently, gently reasons with the paparazzi. Tonight, it’s important to be a great actor. In life, it’s more important to be a great human being. That’s my friend Sean Penn.

"Respectful" is not a term that should be used for Sean Penn's political style. In our report on "Huffington's House of Horrors," we recalled a Penn rant published on The Huffington Post about putting a "cum stain" on the flag if didn't impeach President Bush:

Accepting the Christopher Reeve First Amendment Award at a Creative Coalition gala in New York City on December 18, 2006, actor Sean Penn went on a rant calling for the impeachment of President Bush and insulting conservatives from Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity. In the text of his prepared remarks, posted by The Huffington Post hours before he spoke, Penn asserted:

They tell us we lost 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Is that enough? We’re about to match it. We’re within weeks, if not less, of killing 3,000 Americans in Iraq. I ask Speaker Pelosi, can we put impeachment on the table then? Without former FEMA chief Mike Brown being held accountable, post Katrina (scapegoat though he may have been) we’d have had the same chaos and neglect when Rita hit Houston. Think about it. And, the same people who trumpet deterrence as a justification for punishment when we speak of “crime and punishment,” will boast their positive thinking when dismissing the deterrent qualities of an impeachment proceeding....So...look, if we attempt to impeach for lying about a blowjob, yet accept these almost certain abuses without challenge, we become a cum-stain on the flag we wave.

     He concluded by pleading: “Let’s move forward and swiftly get out of this war in Iraq AND impeach these bastards.” Penn derided conservatives for complicity with Bush:

...it seems inconceivable that this country could’ve ever bought into this war. Who were those mothers and fathers believing in?! We know it’s not the administration alone, but a culture at large, cloaking itself in self-righteousness, religion, and adolescent hero-dreaming machismo. Would they have believed Rush Limbaugh if they’d known he was high as a kite on OxyContin? Would they have believed the factually impaired Bill O’Reilly if they knew he was massaging his rectum with a loofah while telephonically harassing a staffer? Hannity, had they known he was simply a whore to the cause of his pimps – Murdoch and Ailes? Or the little bow-tie putz, if they knew all he was seeking was a good laugh from Jon Stewart? Maybe our countrymen and women were listening to Ted Haggert [sic] while he was whiffing meth and boning a muscle-headed gigolo? Or Mark Foley seeking junior weenis [sic]? Joe Lieberman, sitting Shiva? And Toby Keith, singing about how big his boots are?

The only shocking thing here is that someone would think this is a speech of intellectual distinction worth reproducing.