Veterans for Peace Executive Director Michael McPhearson comment on Gwyneth Paltrow's poor comparison

Gwyneth Paltrow blasted for comparing mean Internet comments to war


Michael McPhearson, executive director of the organization Veterans for Peace, gave a more measured response.

"Ms. Paltrow like most people has never been to war or had her life in real danger so she does not know what it is like to face war," he told Yahoo. "But she does know what it is like to be afraid and to feel belittled. These are the emotions I'm sure she feels when being attacked on the internet … Because Ms. Paltrow has not been in war and she has not faced war conditions like soldiers and victims of war, she has nothing to compare her personal dehumanizing experience to other than what she imagines war to be like. Her frame of reference is extremely skewed."

McPhearson continued: "As a combat veteran and father of a son who served a tour in Iraq, I am not upset with Ms. Paltrow. I am more concerned with the flurry of attention she receives for what is really a foolish and uneducated comment, but harmless; while there is little real debate about our nation’s wars and our need to find a different way to solve conflicts so that we can stop forcing our children and children around the world to face war. Every soldier and victim of war is someone’s child. No, Ms. Paltrow has no idea what she is talking about and she unknowingly belittles the experience of service members and the victims of war. However, no one should have to face the horrors of war; yet, far too any people do, including innocent people who have done nothing wrong and have little if anything to say about why they are caught in the crossfire of U.S. war. Let’s have a flurry of controversy and debate about that"