Clooney vows to keep quiet about politics

Irish Examiner ^ | October 4, 2005 | Staff

[Millee]

Ocean's Eleven star George Clooney is urging his fellow Hollywood stars to keep quiet when it comes to politics, because he fears celebrity endorsements could wreck their favourite candidates' chances of victory.

Democrat Clooney and a number of screen stars have recently come under attack for voicing their political views.

And the actor, whose father Nick Clooney was recently defeated in his bid to be elected the congressional representative for Kentucky, has now vowed to be a lot more politically low-key.

He says: "My father ran for congress last year. I couldn't campaign for him and I knew I couldn't, because I'd hurt him. They tried to get me to get on the John Kerry train and I said: 'We'll hurt him. They'll use us as 'liberal'.'"Now, I would argue that (throughout) American history, it's pretty hard to find a time when liberals were on the wrong side of an issue. We thought that the conservative view was: 'Witches should be burned at the stake.' Moderate view was: 'Well, just in case,' and the liberal view was: 'There's no such thing as witches.'

"We thought women should be able to vote and blacks should be allowed to sit at the front of the bus and Vietnam was wrong. We haven't really been on a lot of wrong sides for us to be sort of used as this bad word.

"But we hurt candidates right now, so we can do fundraisers quietly and make some money. But I think it's dangerous to get up and talk about it."

[Millee]

"We thought women should be able to vote and blacks should be allowed to sit at the front of the bus and Vietnam was wrong. We haven't really been on a lot of wrong sides for us to be sort of used as this bad word.

I'm already tired of the "Stuck on Stupid" expression, but I believe it applies here.

[BulletBobCo]

That's right, Clooney....just shut up and act.

[conservativecorner]

Did he also promise to move away?

[Rummyfan]

Maybe George has figured it out: better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

[GreenFreeper]

"We thought women should be able to vote and blacks should be allowed to sit at the front of the bus

Oh reallllly? News to me!

[ZULU]

"Ocean's Eleven star George Clooney is urging his fellow Hollywood stars to keep quiet when it comes to politics, because he fears celebrity endorsements could wreck their favourite candidates' chances of victory. "

Is George Looney implying that the American voting public has awoken and that they finally realize that Hollyweird stars are no better at politics than they are at providing normal family role models?

[evets]

[jscottdavis_for_48th_district]

Yes, he already moved to Itay! Upon his arrival, his neighbors complained.

[SmithL]

he fears celebrity endorsements could wreck their favourite candidates' chances

And we thought they were completely unteachable.

[BipolarBob]

Yeah Clooney, liberals are always right huh? Abortion is murder and where do libs stand on murder? Libs are against the death penalty and for early release for the heinous criminals ever. Libs are for enticing people to get on welfare and are against big buisness which employs many employees. The list goes on and on.

[Piquaboy]

Keep quiet about politics when you are dumb as a post seems like the thing to do. Wish those other better than thou folks in La La Land would figure that out.

[jscottdavis_for_48th_district]

Allow me to correct my spelling. Yes, he's already moved to Itlay. Hopefully, Rosie will follow in his footsteps.

[wideawake]

George Clooney is a paragon of humility and detailed historical knowledge on a par with FReepers like markedman.

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

We thought...blacks should be allowed to sit at the front of the bus

Mr. Clooney has evidently never heard of Albert Gore, Sr., Robert Byrd, Fritz Hollings...

[RoseofTexas]

Bawhahhahaha...this is such a STUPID statement coming from CLOWNey!! Tell that to the writers and producers of The West Wing...yeah right! Hellywood is still...STUCK ON STUPID!!!

[Boundless]

Needlessly polarize and drive off half your movie audience,
AND effect political results opposite to those intended.
Priceless.

We may yet see a return to the days when performers were
smart enough to steer clear of politics, but the stench
left by the recent generation may have lasting effects,
and take a long time to dissipate.

[Carling]

Now, I would argue that (throughout) American history, it's pretty hard to find a time when liberals were on the wrong side of an issue.

Abortion

Welfare

Racial Quotas

Fighting terrorism

Hitler

North Korea

USSR

Whew, that's enough for now.

[LynnHam]

That's right, Clooney....just shut up and act.

Just shut up and act in a true blue conservative movie without smirking and maybe well start going to your movies again maybe

[ponygirl]

Liberal is as Liberal does....

John Kerry's not liberal? And Senator Byrd thought that blacks should have civil rights? Where did he come up with that information? "Mythological Liberal Fantasies 101?"

Clooney seems to have missed a few history lessons. Dumb@ss.

[jscottdavis_for_48th_district]

In vowing to keep quiet, more looney liberal comments have come out of his mouth. He didn't serve in the military himself, so he has this grudge against whatever the troops do.

Regarding allowing blacks to vote, that came into law well before we were born. Where did he come up with that looney liberal comment? In addition, Clinton and Carter never named a black American to a high level cabinet position (i.e. Dr. Condi Rice such as President Bush did).

Thank you,
Scott
P.S. The "T's" in Scott stand for tinsel town.

[GraceCoolidge]

I saw a news item recently about the possibility of Ben Affleck running for Senator from Virginia. Apparently he and his wife are looking at property in the Charlottesville area, and some of his followers think he can challenge George Allen!

[reagan_fanatic]

Now, I would argue that (throughout) American history, it's pretty hard to find a time when liberals were on the wrong side of an issue

*SNORT*

BWAHAHAAHAHA!!!!

Coffee on my keyboard - many thanks for the belly laugh, Georgie!

[Tennessee_Bob]

News to me!

No, no! It's true! Just ask Byrd! He'll tell you!

[dfwgator]

Clooney buys into this false notion that progressive ideas must change over time, i.e. become more radical.

Conservative principles are timeless, it promotes equality of opportunity, thus slavery was incompatable. But that does not mean they endorse forced equality of outcome. The liberals are always moving the bar.

[winner3000]

(it's pretty hard to find a time when liberals were on the wrong side of an issue.)
Here are a few George:

-Segregation now, Segregation forever (the South)
-Affirmative Action (poisons race relations, hurts blacks who go to schools they shouldn't be attending - and drop out instead of graduating from easier schools)
-School Choice - Liberals keep blacks and low income people in bad schools, then want affirmative action to be there so they can go to the most difficult colleges
-Socialism/Communism/Big government - Isn't there enough evidence by now throughout history that it doesn't work economically and that big government has been responsible for the biggest genocides?
-Welfare - Even Bill Clinton had to sign the law when the whole population rejected that it was helping more than hurting
-Gun Control - I'm sure that's not obvious to liberals yet, but in time it will. Suffice it to say that governments throughout history disarmed their population just before genocide. Also, western countries that recently disarmed their population have seen increases in gun violence
-Taxes - JFK, Ronald Reagan, and George W Bush have proved that lowering taxes helps the economy and increases revenue to the Treasury
-Who invented Political Correctness? Liberals!

I'm running out of time, but I'm sure these issues are just a few where liberals have been dead wrong.

[kitkat]

Thank you for your post #6. It says a LOT!

Looney Clooney statement:

***'There's no such thing as witches.' ***

Oh really? Then how come you liberals made it legal for witches' groups to exist?

[E Rocc]

Clooney's actually not nearly as arrogant as most of the Hollywood Left. When he got parodied in "Team America", he said he would have been offended if they hadn't included him.

-Eric

[Barb4Bush]

Clooney may be able to shut up, but he certainly can't act. Pretty Face, No talent and the face isn't so pretty anymore.

[whershey]

Lol. This is at least the second article where this idiot has opened his mouth and went on about politics in the past week. It doesn't seem like he can take his own advice as hard as he might try.

[Capt. Tom]

Lets go down his points, and then try to figure out if Clooney learned American History on opposite day.

Witches- Pre-dates Conservatism/Liberalism

It also predates the founding of this country by about a hundred years. (1692)- Tom .

[jscottdavis_for_48th_district]

.... keep in mind that Democratic Senator Byrd is a former KKK member (or should I say "Sheets" Byrd?).

[jp3]

I've come to believe that actors shouldn't speak unless they have a script to speak from...

Otherwise, when speaking for themselves, they speak a language I have never been able to comprehend. It's called STUPID! And I don't speak stupid, nor am I stuck on it.

IMHO

[dfwgator]

And just what was so wrong about fighting a war against an enemy that killed over two million of their own people. Yes, I know it was mainly in Cambodia, but had we stayed in Indochina and fought it to win, the "Killing Fields" would have never happened.

[proudofthesouth]

Hey George! In case you haven't heard, Al Gore's father voted AGAINST the Civil Rights Act!

[kitkat]

Thank you for your post #6. It says a LOT!

Looney Clooney statement:

***'There's no such thing as witches.' ***

Oh really? Then how come you liberals made it legal for witches' groups to exist?

[LynnHam]

Clooney seems to have missed a few history lessons. Dumb@ss

yep needs to go to a private school where real studies are taught history ... real American history quick...

[roylene]

"We thought women should be able to vote and blacks should be allowed to sit at the front of the bus and Vietnam was wrong."

This has been knows nothing of history - stuck on stupid - elevates him.

[dubyawhoiluv]

I think his head was overblown when he thought he really was a doctor on E.R. and knew everything, sorta like that martin sheen scumball; who thinks he knows how to be a president, they really are pathetic. They will forget in 2 yrs. and start their ravings at the moon with the concerts,fund raising galas,campaign appearances and their candidates will lose again.

[jscottdavis_for_48th_district]

George cLooney is not sexy! (lol)

[ManHunter]

I still fail to understand why we should take seriously the opinions of people who pretend to be someone else for a living...

[tumblindice]

That's odd: Just this morning `Gorgeous George' was talking about how proud he was to be a liberal, that he would shout it out to the roof-tops, et cetera.
Another brave actor courageously bucking the opinion of his peers and taking a solitary stand for truth, justice and, um,
Wait a second . . .

[sono]

Nice to see the new meds are kicking in ...

[TheBigB]

In the words of Tim Robbins, "There's a chill wind blowing..." ;o)

[uncitizen]

"We thought women should be able to vote and blacks should be allowed to sit at the front of the bus

Oh reallllly? News to me!

Hey Clooney! Here's a clue for ya: You're party is about 40 years behind the times. And you liberals are supposed to be the "progressive" ones. There are no NEW ideas in your party. Forget about Vietnam, and women's suffrage. But go ahead and shut up anyway.

[jscottdavis_for_48th_district]

The reason why the looney liberal left loses elections is because they use individuals who only hold high school diplomas to dictate Democratic Party policy. These scholars include Sean Penn, Martin Sheehan, and Michael Moore.

[LynnHam]

Clooney may be able to shut up, but he certainly can't act. Pretty Face, No talent and the face isn't so pretty anymore.

Don't matter would love to see him do a conservative movie ..... won't ever happen though

[loreldan]

Clooney: I'M NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT BEING A DEMOCRAT ANYMORE. I SWEAR IT. ALTHOUGH REPUBLICANS ARE STUPID, HOMOPHOBIC, AND RACIST I'M NOT GOING TO TELL THEM THAT. YOU ARE RECORDING THIS RIGHT? LIBERALS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT. YOU WILL MAKE SURE THIS IS IN THE PAPER TOMORROW, WON'T YOU? CAN I GET FRONT PAGE? SO ANYWAY, REPUBLICANS ARE DUMB, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO TELL ANYBODY.

[uncitizen]

He says: "My father ran for congress last year. I couldn't campaign for him and I knew I couldn't, because I'd hurt him. They tried to get me to get on the John Kerry train and I said: 'We'll hurt him. They'll use us as 'liberal'.'"Now, I would argue that (throughout) American history, it's pretty hard to find a time when liberals were on the wrong side of an issue. We thought that the conservative view was: 'Witches should be burned at the stake.' Moderate view was: 'Well, just in case,' and the liberal view was: 'There's no such thing as witches.' "We thought women should be able to vote and blacks should be allowed to sit at the front of the bus and Vietnam was wrong. We haven't really been on a lot of wrong sides for us to be sort of used as this bad word. "But we hurt candidates right now, so we can do fundraisers quietly and make some money. But I think it's dangerous to get up and talk about it."

That's a lotta talkin' for someone who's vowed to shut up.

[Reagan is King]

Now, I would argue that (throughout) American history, it's pretty hard to find a time when liberals were on the wrong side of an issue.

BWHAHAHAHA! The question is "have they ever been on the right side of an issue?" They must live in some kind of an alternate reality.