At Univ of Maryland, 8 Feb 2008. By Justin Cousson.
It was announced today that actor Kal Penn, better known for his work as Kumar in the film series “Harold and Kumar” and Dr. Lawrence Kutner on TV drama “House,” will act as a liaison for the Obama administration.
According to White House spokesperson Shin Inouye, Penn’s position is to liaison between the Obama Administration and the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community and affiliated arts groups.
Penn will be an associate director and will work under the Office of Public Liaison. A start date for the “House” star, whose character off-ed himself in Monday’s episode, has yet to be announced.
According to TVGuide.com, Penn’s character was killed off so he could participate in his new political role.
Kal Penn, whose real name is Kalpen Suresh Modi, was a supporter of President Obama during his 2008 campaign. Penn spoke on Obama’s behalf at a rally at University of Maryland and is a member of Obama’s National Arts Policy Committee.
During the campaign, Penn got to know the president and several campaign staffers. He discussed his interest in working with the administration and a few months ago was offered the liaison position.
An ardent supporter of politics most of his life, he cites his grandparents march with Gandhi as the spark which ignited his political passion.
"I've been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while. It's probably because of the value system my grandparents instilled in me. They marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement, and that was always in the back of my head. So the past couple of years I thought about it a little more ... and I thought this might be the right time to go off and do something else,” he told TV Guide.com.
Read more of Kal Penn’s new position and what’s to happen to his acting career at TV Guide.com.
Comments
I was going to do this as satire, but figured that I couldn't make it any funnier.
I remember my first time of shock during a CIA murder. When the killed the car of guys.
It was shocking because i realized the government was killing people, even people whom were not even charged with crimes. That was not only just shocking for me but for other people whom thought the trend of government murder and exicutions as well as violating sovergnty of countries was totally against international law.
Amnesty International issued a press release saying, "If this was the deliberate killing of suspects in lieu of arrest, in circumstances in which they did not pose an immediate threat, the killings would be extra-judicial executions in violation of international human rights law." The organization warned that "the prohibition against the arbitrary deprivation of life cannot be derogated from in any circumstances, even in a time of national emergency."
Could the Yemen strike be interpreted by other nations and even non-state groups as a justification of their own preemptive attacks on perceived adversaries? Silliman thinks so: “We are basically opening up and crafting a new tool and tactic which is not [only] for the United States to use. . . . We may be putting our leadership at risk.” Assassination of a U.S. Secretary of State or another cabinet official cannot be ruled out. Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh expressed similar concerns: “Even terrorists must be treated according to international law. Otherwise, a nation can start executing those whom they consider terrorists.” Silliman mused, “if we does this outside the traditional combat area in Afghanistan . . . could we not do it in Germany, Ottawa, or even Cincinnati?”
These concerns were quickly silenced with the agressive war in Iraq and regard to human rights and international law went out the door. Also the Swedish Foriegn minister was assinated maybe as well by the CIA.
So anyways, this maybe an old point but i can see people in florida from the Law school teacher, to that reporter at howards party and others don't see things the same way as the international community does.
Both the reporter and the law school teacher said that it did not matter if those guys were murdered because they were hanging around terrorists. Which was a point how does anyone know that? There was no due process.
In regards to forced homosexual sex and tourchure which also the US practices in... This is much less of a crime then murder... Therefore, i believe then this type of people would have the same line of reasoning...
That the Muslims deserved to be forced to perform philatio and tourchured because according to the US government they were hanging around with terrorist.
When what we saw in the documentary the soldiers said many of these guys in guantanamo were bakers and mechanics and just regular guys because the USA was just picking up males and putting them in the prison.
I am not surprised at Richard's response because it is similar to the others. Muslims are not seen by American's as humans therefore they don't consider that they have rights or deserve respect or human dignity.
It could not be anymore apparent.
By making a comedy out of other people's suffering then hiring the guy who did that to represent usa is really just a slap in the face for muslims and i am sure the usa government did that on purpose, to antagonize the muslim community.
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