On Sat, 06 Dec 2003 21:40:49 -0600, Rich Ahrens wrote:

:Eric Miller wrote:
: My take on entertainers and celebrities, whether they're actors, athletes,
: musicians or whatever is...
:
: They're not paid to think, they're paid to entertain us.
: They certainly have no business spouting off on political issues.
: They're trained monkeys.
: So shut up and do what you're paid to do!
: Dance for me, monkey, dance!
:
:I presume that goes for Charlton Heston as well?

Charlton Heston spoke out on one particular topic (gun ownership) that
he had a lifelong interest in and was VERY well informed on. On that
topic, I listened to him the same way I'd listen to anyone else - with
an open mind. I didn't think he was correct just because he was in
"Omega Man."

:Ahnooold?

The jury is still out on Arnold. He may be fine. He may be awful.
No matter what, he'll be better than the walking disaster we had
before. Any trained monkey would be. YOU would be, no matter who you
are. A random number generator would be a better gov. than Davis.

:Ronnie?

He worked his way up. 16 years as president of a large, powerful
union before he ran for office. Popular governor, successful
President (unless you think the end of communism was a bad thing.)
Awful actor. Not a major star, as far as I'm concerned. No more than
Fred "Gopher" Grandy.

Performers *can* make good politicians. So can lawyers, doctors,
carpenters, salesmen, writers and auto mechanics. But before they run
for office, why should we listen to actors more than any of the
others?

:Or just
:the ones whose positions on issues disagree with your own?

I don't think Bruce Willis OR Cher should have a significant influence
on public policy.