Oct
25
Maybe There’s Hope for George Clooney
I like George Clooney… sometimes.
I liked his character on ER. His movies have been hit-n-miss, though, and there’s not much difference between a lot of the characters he plays. What I mean is, the characters may be different, but his acting range is… narrow. Still, he seems like an intelligent and affable guy. Perhaps a bit smarmy, at times, but generally likable.
What annoys me, though, is when he makes political statements that betray how much he has drunk of the Hollywood Liberal kool-aid. (Of course, he’s got plenty of company in that camp.) That’s when I want to rub that self-righteous smirk off his face.
But, he’s not the worst of the lot. And, there may be hope for him, yet.
In the video below, Bill Maher has George Clooney as his guest. Maher makes one of his typical, Left-blinded remarks about Conservatives’ lack of empathy for those “who are not like them at all”, to which Clooney then objects. (I’m going to bite my tongue and not comment further on Maher’s idiocy.) It seems that Clooney has seen the value of making “common cause” with those he may otherwise disagree with. In fact, he mentions having recently worked with Senator Sam Brownback and Senator Dick Lugar, both conservative Republicans, in supporting the efforts to resolve the bloody wars between North and South in Sudan. Clooney speaks favorably of the conservative Senators, even though “we don’t agree on a whole lot of stuff.”
It’s only one example, but this makes me think that Clooney ain’t so bad. He is (sometimes, at least) able to get past ideological differences and not immediately denigrate someone who has a different political worldview. Heck, he didn’t have to stand up to Maher. The audience was already clapping at Maher’s comments. But, Clooney defended those conservatives he has worked with, noting also that, not only can you “get a lot of conservative help” in fighting for such causes in Africa, but the Darfur conflict was “really, truly embraced by the Right, even moreso than the Left.” Take that, Maher!
If Clooney continues to associate with principled conservatives on common causes, even have dinner or a beer with them on occasion, perhaps he will gain a better appreciation for conservatives as people (as he seems to be). Maybe he’ll begin to have a less jaundiced view and better understanding of conservatism and the principles behind it.
Maybe, one day, George will see the light….
