[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Davros: I just wonder how come actors are widely despised as being namby pamby social apologists that are weak on everything and not in touch with reality - except in the instance that they are running for office for the Republicans? In that instance they suddenly posess relevant commentary and public credentials - at almost every other time they find themselves dismissed by the comment "what would you know anyway - stick to makin films or singing songs you filthy unamerican". Just seems that there is a double standard in there somewhere - well to me it does. [img]smile.gif[/img]

This could be a separate thread all by itself, Davros, but you bring up a good point. I suppose the main reason actors/actresses are criticized for speaking out publicly on political matters is that it often seems like they are just jumping on the bandwagon of whatever topic is "hot". I don't really have respect for actors/actresses who suddenly have an opinion on a subject because it has become chic to do so. However, I do have respect for those who have actually spent time to learn the different sides of whatever issue they are arguing or supporting.

Example: I disagree a lot with the views of Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, but I still respect their views because I know they actually spend time learning about the situations they are commenting on rather than just providing sound-byte lip-service. The same goes for Dennis Miller. He can be very sarcastic in his criticism, but he has also done his research before hand. The ones that I dismiss are those like Alec Baldwin who pop off with comments like "If George Bush is elected President, I'll move out of the country" {he didn't} and George Clooney {who decided to make a very insulting and insensitive joke about Charlton Heston developing Alzheimer's because he doesn't like Heston being involved with the NRA}.

As for Ahnold, I also wonder exactly what qualifications he has to be governer and run a state - other than being very popular. Then again, Gray Davis supposedly was "qualified" and he hasn't done that well either (looking from the outside, anyway). Also, Jessie "The Body" Ventura was elected governer of Minnesota a few years back as an Independent. Prior to that, he was best known as a flamboyant pro wrestler. I don't know how good a job did as governer. He had a tremendous amount of public support the first couple of years, but that waned quickly after the first couple of years. Then many of the same people that elected him were making public outcries to get rid of him. In a rather ironic twist, there is a commercial featuring him that pokes fun at the various occupations of the candidates that signed up for the California Recall Race.