Political commentators on both sides of the aisle are taking Ed Asner to task after he narrated an eight-minute animated video that potrays the wealthy urinating on the poor.
Pundits have denounced the video, claiming it steps over the the boundaries of political debate into the offensive, according to the
Hollywood Reporter.
"The California Federation of Teachers are taking class warfare now to the extreme. The group put together a cartoon, it posted it on their website demonizing wealthy Americans for their success. And they got a little help from left wing radical Hollywood actor Ed Asner as he narrates this disgusting hit piece," Sean Hannity said.
“There’s really no overstating how dumb this is,” said pundit Tucker Carlson. “The idea that there are any California teachers currently in classrooms in charge of children who agree with that, is horrifying.”
Daily Beast columnist Kirsten Powers has also come out saying she found the video offensive.
“It was too much demonizing for my taste . . . to turn this into a ‘rich people are urinating on poor people’ kind of thing — it goes too far,” she said.
“Tax The Rich: An Animated Fairy Tale” claims that the wealthy have ripped off the middle class and bought off politicians to protect their financial interests.
The video, funded by and posted to the website of the California Federation of Teachers, goes on to claim that the 2008 economic crash was the fault of the rich.
Posted to the CFT website Tuesday, the video includes images of voter suppression, tax evasion, and sky-high piles of money literally crushing schools, police stations, libraries, and supposedly-middle class homes.
“In 20 years, rich people doubled their share of the land’s income. Schools, public safety, roads, parks libraries, public transportation all went into decline. The rich people didn’t care,” Asner says while narrating the cartoon. “They bought their own teachers, police, garbage collectors, and transportation.”
One part of the video drawing particular ire includes a “rich person” urinating on poor people as an explanation for trickle-down economics, explaining it away as one day being beneficial for everybody.
"When ordinary people wondered why rich people needed so much money," Asner says, "the One Percent said, 'Don't worry.This is good for you too. Because it will trickle down from us to you. Someday you'll be rich too and the rules we made for us will be your rules too.'"
CFT explains the video on its blog as an explanation of how the country arrived at “this moment of poorly funded public services and widening economic inequality. Things go downhill in a happy and prosperous land after the rich decide they don't want to pay taxes anymore. They tell the people that there is no alternative, but the people aren't so sure. This land bears a startling resemblance to our land.”
Asked about the video by a Fox News
Hannity producer, Asner raised eyebrows when he asked the producer if he could urinate on him.
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