In A Media Obsessed Culture Maybe We Need An Actor. Nominations?

[DistressedAmerican]

It worked for Bonzo's daddy. It worked for Aaahnooolddd...

Yes, we are that shallow.



Not taking that as a premise you like but, merely as a premise for discussion, who would you run as a democratic presidential candidate from the ranks of the hollywood entertainment set?

I hereby nominate ROBERT REDFORD!

His politics are basically good, he seems smart, he is photogenic and well spoken.

That is four ways he beats Bush!


Other nominations?

[Tulum_Moon]

1. Great smile!

I kinda like Tom Hanks.

[unpossibles]

2. I think Redord or Clooney would be good

of course they would be attacked (without irony, naturally... :eyes: ) as being nothing but Hollywood liberal entertainers with no experience...

[DistressedAmerican]

3. Rush would lose the ladies!

[NYCGirl]

4. How about the movie star whose pic is on the cover of Entertainment Weekly

this week?

See my sig pic:

[ComerPerro]

6. That is an odd picture

[NYCGirl]

10. Really? I think he looks very handsome and wise. NT

[DistressedAmerican]

11. Gotta Go With ComerPerro on this one.

Creepy and plastic.

Coming to get you in your sleep!

[RaleighNCDUer]

21. He looks like a Klingon, from the original series that is.

Something about the camera angle, the arched eyebrow. Not a favorable picture.

Never mind that in real life he IS handsome and wise.

[soleft]

16. He looks like Jonathan Frakes

[ComerPerro]

17. sorta

[DistressedAmerican]

7. GOOD ANSWER!

And GREAT Movie!

[Greybnk48]

5. Tom Hanks

everyone loves him and he's intelligent and engaging (and liberal).

[TheWraith]

8. Martin Sheen. NT.

[ComerPerro]

9. Michael Douglas or Martin Sheen

as either of their presidential characters from An American President and The West Wing, respectively

[soleft]

12. John Cusack

[oberliner]

13. Oprah

I do not see any way that Oprah could possible lose if she ran for President.

Who is more popular than Oprah?

[Tikki]

14. I nominated Mr. Anthony Edwards.....

..an honorable person, a class act and a true activist.


Tikki

[KansDem]

15. Eli Wallach

Although at age 90, he may be a bit too old...

From http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?id=12498

--excerpt--
Paulson: You know, your career flourished at a time when the careers of some people collapsed, because it was during a period known as the Red Scare — blacklisting. Did you face that yourself in your career?

Wallach: Well, it was in the air. It was in the wind. We'd sit down to read through a script, break for lunch and come back, and there'd be three people missing. And I did — I didn't understand what was happening, basically. But there was a thing put out called Red Channels, which was a little booklet which listed all the — every time you signed a petition or if you went to a meeting, if you were objecting to something, your name appeared in that, and then you had to go and appear before a group called by — the House Un-American Activities Committee. And if you go and see the play now, which is brilliantly done by Arthur Miller, called The Crucible, you find that there's — we didn't originate it in the 1950s, that it went way back to the Salem witch hunts. I was doing a play in London called Teahouse of the August Moon, by John Patrick. In that play, the reason the English loved it — and we ran for a year — sold out. Because in that one, the Americans make fun of themselves trying to teach democracy to the natives. And the natives wind up, of course, teaching the Americans about living in the Far East. So I did the play in London, and then I went to New York, did it in New York. And was in Washington, DC, at the National Theater doing Teahouse. And I — all the hearings were going on, so I thought the second best show in town is right at the House Un-American Activities Committee. And I went, and I watched Arthur Miller, interestingly enough, testify. They didn't want to give him his passport to leave the country. I don't know why. He was no threat. He was a playwright. But he wouldn't accede to their demand to tell names of people and so on. They used a very interesting device. They said, "You don't have to name anybody. We know the names. All you have to do is nod, this way, and that's it.” And a lot of people did that. But you have to live with yourself.

Paulson: Right.

Wallach: And it's now coming back with the — September 11th made us all very cautious, nervous, and frightened. Now you find the CIA and the FBI conflicting. One doesn't want to tell the other, and so on. And you think, "Why is it happening again?” Why is it that a dark-skinned man with a little moustache or a beard gets on a plane and the captain comes and says, “Get off the plane”? He says, “Why?” He says, “Because we're having a problem. You can't — I won't fly with you.” And I think we repeat ourselves. In — right after Pearl Harbor, under the guise of defending the country, all the Japanese, citizen or non-citizen, a lot of 'em were put into prison. One of our units in France, in Nice, between — on the border between Italy and France, was this 442nd Japanese-American Brigade. They were not allowed to fight in the Far East. I used to give out the Purple Hearts. And these guys got more Purple Hearts than any unit in the Army, all to prove that they were loyal Americans. So we have to be very careful. We must defend the country. We must wipe out terrorists. But by the same token, we must be aware that we don't abuse the rights of people.

Paulson: You know, you talk about similarities between the 1950s and today. What's different?

Wallach: I hope that the press wakes up and really does more investigative journalism. You've got a man on television now who deserves the Academy Award and the best medal for investigative reporting, and that's Bill Moyers on the program called “Now.” Because “Now” says, "Wake up. This is what's happening. This man is doing this. This man is resigning.” You go back to Enron, and you go back to Anderson, and you go back to all the — global, and you go to all these companies and you find that we've been hoodwinked for a long, long time. So I hope America wakes up.

Paulson: You know, shortly after the — well, actually, in the middle of the Red Scare, your film career really took off in a big way. And your 1956 film debut was, again, in a Tennessee Williams work: Baby Doll, which was a dirty movie for the time. It was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency. What is your recollection of the controversy surrounding that film?

Wallach: I thought it was a biblical movie, because it dealt with revenge. The director, incidentally, was (Elia) Kazan, who was being attacked for various reasons. I had done my first Tennessee Williams play with his direction, called Camino Real, which, if you read Tennessee's life, you'll find he was a very progressive, liberal man.
--more--

[Drum]

18. I still want Christopher Walken.

Anybody that saw "Suicide Kings" would agree. If CW could cajole and negotiate himself out of utter powerlessness (as a mobster kidnapped and bound to a chair) to being back in charge, he could as President surely get very far without ever drawing us into armed conflict. I'd be terrified of some of those personae of his.
ibid: The Deer Hunter, &tc
And he's a good dancer!

[T Wolf]

19. Doncha know....

only Pukes are allowed to run (and elect) unqualified assholes from the "right" side of Hollywood. Just imagine what the corporate media would do to a Redford, Clooney, or Hanks? Did you ever see even one story about Arnold's lack of qualifications?

Here in PA, the Pukes put up a football player for Governor and he has not gotten any questions about qualifications from the toadies in the media. As long as the game is rigged, Dems will not be able to compete on an equal basis.

That being said, I would go with Redford. But in the past, I would have taken Butch over Sundance before Paul Newman got too old.

[ellenfl]

20. jeb bartlett (aka martin sheen) eom

[maveric]

22. Redford for prez. George Carlin as his running mate.

Secretary of State, Robin Williams.
Jeff Bridges as Press Secretary.

[dipsydoodle]

23. With the quality of your media

I guess the kid out of Deliverance would suitable for the job.