[Mo1]

a man who had recently been the star of a sitcom but who had seen his whole life crumble under the weight of some truly horrific family violence

The key word is "recently" been the star of a sitcom

The only one I can think if is Kelsey Grammer from Frasier .. but I believe he is a republican

[Quinotto]

Kelsey didn't have any horrific family violence, he has more money than Ben Stein and he is not hiding his Republican views. I don't think it's Frasier.

[txrangerette]

("Hmmm," said a man who had recently been the star of a sitcom but who had seen his whole life crumble under the weight of some truly horrific family violence. "Republican Jew. Republican Jew who's famous. Who lives in Beverly Hills. Republican Jew who has more stuff than I have. I don't like it." "It's a free country," I shrugged." "Maybe," he said. "Maybe.")

I included more of the text, and it puts the sitcom part in context, that this guy was mean and threatening towards Ben Stein, thereby revealing him as a liberal 'Rat. That leaves out guesses like Cosby and Grammer, it would seem.

Can you think of a sitcomer, with a family violence factor, who is a lib-Dem Republican hater?