He who is not facile may cast the first Stone

Oliver Stone on the "slander" of celebrities:

"We're Hollywood wackos and all that stuff, left-wing... (It's) an easy and facile dismissal. I'm still a citizen, I've served my country as a veteran, I've had many jobs before the film business. I know something of life, having lived to this age. We have a right to speak and every time we speak: 'You're an actor, a showbusiness director,' we're making it up! This is not a way of dealing with people. This is slander."

I love the way these people throw around words like "slander". As one who has at least remotely studied the term, the first rule is that truth is a complete defense. So uh...if people are dismissing your comments by stating, as you say, "You're an actor, a showbusiness director", um, well that's pretty much true. So ix-nay on the ander-slay, please. Sheesh.

Silly actors and showbusiness director types...

Oh, and as for "facile dismissals"? How's this for an example?:

“Bin Laden was completely protected by the oil companies in this country who told President Bush not to go after him because it would piss off the Saudis.” -- Oliver Stone

Boy, there's an intellectual and incisive commentary about the war on terror, huh?

It might behoove Mr. Stone to look up the words that his publicist feeds him.

Note to Stone; Facile = thou.

To underscrore all of this in a way that I cannot, I give you Lileks:

I will never tire of actors speaking out, because it provides the same amusement of watching dogs walk on their hind legs. The sight itself is hilarious, and it always ends with the performer falling over.

(As a disclaimer, my good friend Tim Dunigan and another who is espoused to Dog of Stew are exempted)