Don’t you just hate when an actor or singer who you really like talks about politics and sounds like a dope?
My latest disappointment is my favorite actor, John Cusack. On his Twitter page Sunday he wrote “I AM FOR A SATANIC DEATH CULT CENTER AT FOX NEWS HQ AND OUTSIDE THE OFFICES ORDICK ARMEY AND NEWT GINGRICH-and all the GOP WELFARE FREAKS.” (That is exactly the way he tweeted it. I purposely left in the typo. I think he meant OF DICK ARMEY.) As for the “GOP WELFARE FREAKS,” I have no idea what he is talking about.
I have never heard either former House Majority Leader Dick Armey or former Speaker Newt Gingrich ever say anything so mean or crazy, and they say mean and crazy things all of the time.
The tweet is just not the Lloyd Dobler I know and love. In my mind Cusack is driving in the rain somewhere saying into a bad tape recorder, “That was a mistake,” just like the character he played in Say Anything.
Celebrities have the same rights we all have to express their political views and support candidates. But often they sound so stupid when they do that they ruin our illusions and their image. And sometimes they are just so idiotic that they are funny. For instance, during the 2008 presidential campaign, Pamela Anderson said this about the Republican vice-presidential nominee: “Sarah Palin can suck it.”
What a poor choice of words from a woman known for an Internet sex video. There are just so many jokes I could write now that would get me in trouble, and that is why I choose to censor myself. If Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks and Kanye West could have shown the same kind of restraint, their careers wouldn’t be on life support.
My brother-in-law, Bill Logan, is a funeral director. When he lived in Yeadon, Delaware County, he was once approached about running for local office. He turned down then offer. When asked why, he said, “I want to bury both Republicans and Democrats.”
I would think that most performers would want both Republicans and Democrats to buy their tickets to their movies and concerts.
So here is my humble suggestion to all celebrities: Follow the lead of Sean Penn. He used to say stupid things too, but now you have to admire the work he is doing in Haiti. Brad Pitt is helping to rebuild New Orleans, and Bono has done wonderful things to raise money and awareness for Africa. They have all decided to let their actions speak for them.
If you really want to get involved in politics, you can run for office like Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Gopher from the Love Boat. Otherwise, just stick to the script or the song lyrics.
I just don’t think I can ever feel the same about John Cusack now that I have seen the man behind the keyboard. In my mind he is outside my window holding a boom box over his head, trying to win me back as a fan.
LARRY MENDTE writes for The Philly Post every Monday and Thursday. See his previous columns here. To watch his video commentaries, go to wpix.com.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:11 pm
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:48 pm
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:48 pm
“One of the great problems we have in the Republican Party is that we don’t encourage you to be nasty,” (NG)
And, Pam Anderson! Who is more qualified to say to Ms. Palin. I can’t anyone would disagree.
September 2nd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:18 pm
And what are you talking about with Kanye West and the Dixie Chicks? West’s last album sold more than 1.7 million copies in the U.S. in an era where nobody sells albums, and his new album comes out in November, and will likely be huge.
As for the Dixie Chicks, they won 5 grammys in 2007, including album of the year, have sold nearly 27 million albums in the U.S., and are the top selling female group in the U.S. during the Nielsen SoundScan era.
And Newt Gingrich, after cheating on his first wife with his soon to be second wife, visited with his first wife in the hospital after her cancer surgery so that he could finalize the details of their divorce. That’s not mean, right?
Do your homework, or learn to write about something you know something about, genius.
It takes quite the journalist to espouse the virtues of censorship.
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Dick Armey recently on Hardball told a well-respected female journalist and editor, “I am so damn glad that you could never be my wife, ’cause I surely wouldn’t have to listen to that prattle from you every day.”
I hope to see a follow-up column by you that includes what other people you deem not worthy of 1st Amendment rights.
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Then perhaps you should have chosen a topic with which you’re intimately familiar, instead of commenting on something you have no idea what someone else is talking about.
It seems to me to be pretty stupid to comment on something about which you’re clueless.
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:20 pm
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:18 am
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:53 am
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:48 am
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:54 am
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:53 am
September 9th, 2010 at 12:09 pm