Depending on the political leanings of the speaker, it isn’t uncommon to see either the current White House residents or George W. Bush and Dick Cheney blamed for any number of problems that plague the world. One of the targets of such complaints relates to Islamic extremist group ISIS, which actor Sean Penn recently said was the fault of the George W. and Dick’s presidency.
While appearing on Conan O’Brien’s late night show Wednesday, Sean delivered a monologue tearing down the Bush administration and saying that it is their fault that ISIS exists in the first place. The speech was set off by an earlier mention of Cheney during the show.
“I saw backstage in your opening monologue that you mentioned Dick Cheney, this embittered bacteria of humanity. It’s always a surprise to me to remember that, through bionic technology and so on, this guy’s still here, and still not given the credit. And I want to give him the credit… these are the guys he and president Bush who invented Daesh, or ISIS. So I want to give him a shout, thanks for that.”
In his takedown of Dick and George W., Penn also made a reference to the character he had won an Oscar for portraying while the pair was still in office — gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Sean remarked that while men like Harvey were assassinated, figures like Cheney and Bush, who he believes have committed major crimes, are able to walk free.
“We have people like Harvey, who were beautiful, brilliant, impactful guys, and, you know — it’s just no good deed goes unpunished, and then you’ve got the Cheneys. This is just me musing.”
As an outspoken left wing advocate, this is far from the first time that Penn has publicly spoken out against George W. While the president was still in office, Sean appeared on Bill Maher to say that he felt Cheney and Bush should both “be in f***ing jail.” You can watch his entire speech in the uncensored video below.
Apart from the link to ISIS, Sean also spoke about two other topics fiercely debated when it comes to both the current and the George W. presidential eras: Cuba and illegal immigration. In reference to the former, Penn spoke positively about the opening of diplomatic relationships between the United States and the Caribbean island nation. His comments about the latter were much less political — Sean defended his joke about the director of Birdman needing his green card when he was announcing his win for best director at this year’s Oscars ceremony.
What do you think of Sean Penn’s comments about George W. Bush and Dick Cheney having a hand in ISIS’ creation?
[Images via Brendan Hoffman and Scott Olson/Getty Images]
