ACTORS NEED TO ACT AND LEAVE POLITICS TO THOSE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING,THEY CAN EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS THATS FINE BUT DON'T SHOVE IT DOWN OUR THROATS AS BEING THE RIGHT THING.

It's amazing that some people think fame gives others credibility.  The high profile.  The famous name.  They must be right...right?

Not.

As soon as a Actor opens his/her mouth spewing their rhetoric I loose all respect for them. There are some Actors that I wont watch their movies because they think that their important. For me it takes away from the movie.

Trace Adkins ,Pat Boone, Alice Cooper ,Robert Duvall, Mel Gibson, Elisabeth Hasselback, Dennis Miller, Dennis Hooper, Kid Rock, Pat Sajak, Tom Selleck, Ben Stein ,Fred Thompson, Bruce Willis, Tiger Woods~ all entertainers for Bush( by no means a complete list) .

UNLESS ITS BEN STEIN

Ben Stein!  Now THAT'S funny! 

Sage..I'm not talking about endorsing candidates and I would never vote for one bases on what ANYONE else thought about them. I am talking about celebrities who think they are able to influence world events based on their opinions. When was the last time you heard a Conservative celebrity meeting with a head of a foreign state to denounce or endorse any foreign policy? Hey..If they want to play golf with some honcho, that's one thing, but the people I speak of(i.e. George Clooney)actually believe they have enough clout based on their celebrity to cause governments to change policy based on their opinions. It's ridiculous. Like I said, they are entitled to their opinions just as anyone else is, but they are just opinions and not some astute words of wisdom that nobody else has considered. The meetings between the leaders of nations hostile toward America and liberal celebrities is nothing new. I just wish the celebs would start to realize that those leaders are using them as pawns in anti-American propaganda. Castro, Hussein and the rest are surely thinking and putting out to their people the notion that "Hey, if a famous American comes here to disagree with the leaders of his government, WE must be right"!  It has never changed anything in global politics and it never will. It only creates more division in America and unification among those who would see us destroyed.

Moto~ I understand what your saying,yet look at it this way:would you rather have your teenager looking up to a Clooney type celeb or a Brittney type. I know the answer, not look up to any celeb..and I agree. But a Bono or a Clooney or a Jolie(the grown up version) help more than they hurt,,,just my opinion though..I sure don't know 'nothing.

Remember high school and the kids who were "into" drama?   I do.  I remember the actors and actresses in both high school and college as mis-fits who were struggling academically and socially.  Many barely made it through school.

Fast-forward many years and of my graduating class (1972) there were three who actually made it into main-stream show business.  After high school and college, these three worked in a donut shop, a fast food restaurant and as a nanny to children.  None of these three could hold down a job and would be homeless and destitute had they not "made it big in show business."

My Point?

Actors and actresses are in their current profession simply because they can't do anything else!  The regular workplace doesn't suit them.  While glib, many are social outcasts unable to "fit in" in either the workplace or in regular life.  Brittany Spears illustrates my point perfectly.  While not an actress per se, she is a hugely successful entertainer good at what she does but not much else.  

No one in their right mind would let Brittany Spears babysit their golden retriever so why would anyone in their right mind accept geopolitical advice from her?  The difference between Brittany Spears and the rest of the entertainment industry "stars" isn't much.  Some just cope with life better.  When any actor, actress or other entertainer opens their mouth and offers up political advice for the masses the person considering their advice should pretend it came from Brittany Spears and take the advice with a grain of salt.

That would include actors and actresses such as Danica McKellar, who played "Super Cooper" on the old show "The Wonder Years."   Poor dear, had to act until she got her degree in mathematics from UCLA.  Or poor Geena Davis, whose 140 IQ was barely enough to get her a Bachelor's in Fine Arts from Boston University.  Clearly an underachiever.  And since Mark mentioned Janeane Garofalo (one of my sweetheart-crushes) we might  give her journalism degree from Providence College a little consideration--tempered by her occasional poor judgement (what's with the tattoo?  And why on earth did she turn down the "Monica Gellar" role in "Friends"?)

.

But why stop with actors?  Let's separate the entire population into folks who are and are not allowed to comment on politics.  Where would you class someone who flunked out of college after two semesters (flunking even a ballroom dancing class) and subsequently avoided military service because of a boil on his butt?  Shall I add a documented history of serious substance abuse (including possession of prescriptions with someone else's name on them) to the list?   

And how about that actor with the film-documented marijuana use?  No college for him I could find, but at least he did serve in the military--apart from that AWOL episode.    An illegal alien in the US--got away with it, so let's not hold that against him--he has close ties to the Kennedy family, so I assume you'll want to deny him a voice in politics. 

Curt,we must base our assessment of all entertainers,which would include actors,writers,"stars" etc. on three kids you knew in school? Personally I need a larger base to make such a generalization.

Interestingly I was re!-watching the PBS special on Carole Burnett last night. She said a most interesting thing that struck a chord with me. Her childhood was hard,a alcoholic father, a mother with issues and a Grandparent who all tried their best and loved her deeply..but she,later in life reflected on her love of films and of comedy.She said home was what it was,but at the movies things always turned out right.Or at the least it turned out interesting,it gave her dreams and hope. That is no small thing for children who grew up ground down by family circumstances.End of speech on why films,really good ones with fine actors move me.

I believe that we each have different talents that we develop according to our natures~I am not the one to call when you need a operation but I like to think I have other worth while qualities.Perhaps the only thing your friends were driven to do,choose to pursue,was the craft of entertainment rather than "all they could do."

While acknowledging your point, an Clooney may make mistakes, but to further illustrate mine,he is at the minimum attempting to do "good" . Poor Spears is just "bad,...I rather have an involved fellow citizen,exercising their rights to speech than watching a pointless meltdown that only serves to drive magazine sales and an "opiate" for the masses.

I said nothing about anyone being allowed to voice anything. It was about celebrities believing their fame qualifies them to be diplomats. I couldn't care less who has a degree and who flunked out of school or used to get high(or still does, for that matter)and who has always been a straight arrow. I have no degree and spent 15 years spinning my wheels as a drug addict, so it's certainly not my place to judge anyone, but I am not, and should not be considered for any diplomatic position or be allowed to speak on my country's behalf. I am simply not trained for that role. If Clooney and Garafolo want to speak for a populace, then let them run for public office. I seem to remember an average "B" movie actor who made it all the way to the top doing just that! As I said, their opinions are fine even when I disagree with them, just leave it at that. It doesn't matter who is trying to do good deeds, and in some cases, that is NOT what they are trying to do, but rather they are trying to use their fame coupled with hostile governments to drum up opposition to elected leaders they don't like and disagree with. That is shameful and there is no way of spinning it to make it right.

Clooney doesn't seem to be doing that, but there have been those who have. George IS trying to do good, but the fact is that he is an actor who has shown no interest in office of any kind and I believe that is where the Russians took issue with his presence. I am not one of those people whi will not go see a film or or buy an album because I disagree with someones politics, but when they do something incredibly stupid or use their position to try and force their views down peoples throats, I will draw the line. Clooney has certainly NOT crossed that line, even though I have heard him say some really stupid things, but hey, I have heard Reagan and Bush say them too and I voted for them!

Bad day for self expression for me,Moto,sorry...I think we agree.