This is an anti-pitting of Gary Sinise. This guy is always soft-spoken and low key, but he is constantly working for his community, or helping some charity.
Sinise has been a tremendous asset in the Iraq war. He has been to Baghdad three times to support the military, playing with his band or just visiting the troops. He has been documenting the good things that have been happening in Iraq, and he is now going around telling this other half of the story - the school that has put up a plaque in honor of the CPA “For Freeing the Iraqi People” - The gratitude from people in small towns throughout the country. The thousands of schools, mosques, and hospitals that are being rebuilt to better condition than before the war. A story that needs to told in order to make the picture of the Iraq war complete - and which is being almost totally ignored by the mainstream media.
Sinise has now started Operation Iraqi Children, a charity that is collecting donations of school supplies and shipping them to Iraqi schools through the U.S. military and donated freight from Fed Ex.
This is the kind of thing that, regardless of your stance on the war makes a lot of sense. We all want to be friends with Iraqis, to let them know that we want to help and hope for the best for them. Ultimately, this level of contact could make a big difference in the success of Iraq’s attempt at democratization. And, at the very least he’s helping a lot of children to get an education.
If you’ve got some school supplies to offer, why not send them over? My wife and I went shopping and bought a box full of stuff like solar calculators and pencils, along with a few toys like Hackeysacks and Yoyos, and sent it to Iraq through another military-organized toy and supply drive. This is a truly good charity, and whatever you give goes directly to kids who need it.
So big kudos to Gary Sinise, a guy who’s quietly doing an awful lot of good.
I confess I find myself obscurely disappointed that this isn’t a real pitting. Don’t get me wrong; I got nothing against Mr. Sinise. I was just strangely looking forward to reading a post in which someone tore him a new asshole.
I don’t think so, since the “anti-pitting” is based on the actor’s political involvement instead of his artistic endeavors. It’s kind of a spin-off/response to the numerous flames about vocally anti-war celebrities.
It isn’t really a rant or flame so it’s forum placement is a bit twonky right now but I’m guessing Sam’s underlying intent is to counter previous Pit threads. An opening shot for discussion, so to speak. It works for now.
Actually, I thought that the Pit was the correct place for it. Cafe Society is supposed to steer clear of politcal content, and this thread had a high probabilty of becoming a political discussion. And yet, it’s not a Great Debate, since I’m not offering up anything to argue or debate. I just wanted to post a public ‘well done’.
My wife and I saw him on Dennis Miller tonight and decided right away we’d add some items to our shopping tomorrow to send over. Great thread Sam, thanks for helping to spread the word.
Certainly, it’s high time that America got back to being looked upon by the rest of the world as a “great idea”.
Any opportunity for the citizens of the world’s wealthiest country to directly send generosity to the Iraqi generation of “tomorrow” is a wonderful thing.