Matt Damon Speaks Out

[ShikokuKichiguy]

Matt Damon Slams Obama, Democrats: 'One Term President With Some Balls Would Have Been Better'

Matt Damon, one of Barack Obama's earliest supporters and once one of his most staunch advocates, slammed the President in the new issue of Elle Magazine.

"I've talked to a lot of people who worked for Obama at the grassroots level. One of them said to me, 'Never again. I will never be fooled again by a politician,'" Damon tells the magazine. "You know, a one-term president with some balls who actually got stuff done would have been, in the long run of the country, much better."

Referring to the Occupy Wall Street movement, Damon continued: "If the Democrats think that they didn't have a mandate -- people are literally without any focus or leadership, just wandering out into the streets to yell right now because they are so pissed off ... Imagine if they had a leader."

That echoes the President's own words to Diane Sawyer in March of 2010 when he said, "I'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president... There's a tendency in Washington to think that our job description, of elected officials, is to get reelected. That's not our job description. Our job description is to solve problems and to help people."

The slam follows in the same vein as a number of other criticisms Damon has made of the President and the Democrats, including in March, when he criticized Obama's education policy.

"I really think he misinterpreted his mandate. A friend of mine said to me the other day, I thought it was a great line, 'I no longer hope for audacity,'" Damon told CNN host Piers Morgan. "He's doubled down on a lot of things, going back to education... the idea that we're testing kids and we're tying teachers salaries to how kids are performing on tests, that kind of mechanized thinking has nothing to do with higher order. We're training them, not teaching them."

Later that month, he hit Obama on his handling of the economic crisis.

"I think he's rolled over to Wall Street completely. The economy has huge problems. We still have all these banks that are too big to fail. They're bigger and making more money than ever. Unemployment at 10 percent? It's terrible," he told the Independent. Damon also criticized the President's inability to get transformative things done, saying, "They had a chance that they don't have any more to stand up for things. They've probably squandered that at this point. They'll probably just make whatever deals they can to try to get elected again."

Currently, Obama and the Democrats are fighting with the House GOP over passing a compromise two month extension of the payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits, amongst other things; they've already removed increased taxes on the wealthy from the deal.

Damon's criticism rings with disappointment after he so publicly lent his support to the then-Senator Obama during the 2008 election. He spent time campaigning for the then-candidate at rallies, promoting him through a MoveOn video contest and attending fundraisers for the man who would become the 44th President.

In August, the star ripped a cameraman and reporter from a conservative publication who challenged his stance on education at a Save Our Schools event in Washington, DC. He then moved on to economic policy criticism.

"The wealthy are paying less than they paid at any time else, certainly in my lifetime, and probably in the last century," Damon told a reporter at the same event. "I don't know what we were paying in the roaring 20's; it's criminal that so little is asked of people who are getting so much. I don't mind paying more. I really don't mind paying more taxes. I'd rather pay for taxes than cut 'Reading is Fundamental' or Head Start or some of these programs that are really helping kids. This is the greatest country in the world; is it really that much worse if you pay 6% more in taxes? Give me a break. Look at what you get for it: you get to be American."

Speaking of the then-protracted negotiations over the debt ceiling, he did show some sympathy for Obama.

"I'm so disgusted," he said. "I mean, no, I don't know what you do in the face of that kind of intransigence. So, my heart does go out to the President. He is dealing with a lot."

Scarlett Johansson, Damon's co-star in the upcoming film "We Bought A Zoo," recently said that she wanted Obama elected to another four year term. The President still enjoys support in Hollywood, having recently attended fundraisers in Los Angeles filled with stars.

Obama responded jokingly to Damon's criticism at his White House Press Correspondents Dinner in late April, saying, "It's fair to say that when it comes to my presidency, the honeymoon is over ... Matt Damon said he [has been] disappointed in my performance. Well Matt, I just saw the 'Adjustment Bureau,' so ... right back atcha buddy."

Earlier this month, Damon said he found the dig, which referenced his poorly reviewed sci-fi action film that came out last winter, pretty funny.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/...obama-democrats-one-term-balls_n_1162511.html

 

[LukeEl]

I remember when he was a kid he did a PBS science show called the Voyage of the Mimi he played a character based on one of my friend's but he never got royalty checks just a crummy PBS tote bag thanks Matt Damon.

 

[ragincaucasian]

I can't find anything wrong in Damon's view

 

[Rey C.]

I can't find anything wrong in Damon's view

To be honest, neither can I. Obama is (IMO) way too timid and tepid. Whether I agree with someone or not, if their views are presented with conviction, at least I can respect them for that.

As for another term, more Americans seem to be swinging Obama's way recently (I think for the first time this year, he's now ahead of ALL the likely GOPers in several polls). But not because he's done such a brilliant job (he hasn't), but because the Republican field more resembles a rerun of Lucy & Ethel in the candy factory with each passing day. It seems to be a case of sticking with the devil we know, rather than taking a chance on the clowns we don't WANT to know.

 

[DR. B]

Apparently he speaks out about Sarah Palin LOL

 

[DR. B]

Wilfred likes Matt Damon

 

[Will E Worm]

He is an actor, if you can call what he does acting. I don't care for his liberal whine or his political views.
He is not in politics nor should he ever be.

:hatsoff:

 

[ragincaucasian]

He is an actor, if you can call what he does acting. I don't care for his liberal whine or his political views.
He is not in politics nor should he ever be.

:hatsoff:

Yeah, God bless Reagan

 

[Will E Worm]

Yeah, God bless Reagan

Hmmm, I do not remember saying that.

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

Yeah, God bless Schwarzenegger! And Sonny Bono! And Clint Eastwood!

 

[feller469]

He is an actor, if you can call what he does acting. I don't care for his liberal whine or his political views.
He is not in politics nor should he ever be.

:hatsoff:

So, in a forum where any jackoff can voice his opinion, you slam him for voicing his opinion?

 

[Will E Worm]

So, in a forum where any jackoff can voice his opinion, you slam him for voicing his opinion?

Damon is not a member here. He's an actor, if he wanted to be a politician then he should have gone that way instead of Hollywood.

 

[STDiva]

Hey! I like his movies!! I agree with him!!

 

[BCT]

 

[ShikokuKichiguy]

Damon is not a member here. He's an actor, if he wanted to be a politician then he should have gone that way instead of Hollywood.

Did I miss the part where he said he wanted to be a politician?

 

[ragincaucasian]

Hmmm, I do not remember saying that.

And yet you did

 

[feller469]

Damon is not a member here. He's an actor, if he wanted to be a politician then he should have gone that way instead of Hollywood.

With that logic, unless you are a religious leader by trade, you shouldn't be preaching morality. And, as you are not a politician, you opinion on politics is null and void as well.

 

[xfire]

Hey! I like his movies!! I agree with him!!

I don't like his politics. His movies suck.

 

[Will E Worm]

Did I miss the part where he said he wanted to be a politician?

He is acting like he knows everything, like so many celebrities do.

Michael Moore asked Damon to run for President.

And yet you did

Not at all.

With that logic, unless you are a religious leader by trade, you shouldn't be preaching morality. And, as you are not a politician, you opinion on politics is null and void as well.

Wrong. You don't have to be a religious leader. Same on the other. Also, you do not know me.
I could have already ran or won an election. :elaugh:

I don't like his politics. His movies suck.

There we go.

 

[darkwarrior3007]

In other words Will E., what you're saying is that actors have no business in politics.