Michael Moore would back Matt Damon for president
As some progressives become increasingly vocal in their grumblings against President Obama, leftist moviemaker Michael Moore has decided to show his support for an unlikely candidate: actor Matt Damon.
Mr. Damon hasn’t expressed an interest in running for office, but Mr. Moore is lavishing praise on the liberal film star anyway.
“I think that he has been very courageous in not caring about who he offends by coming out and saying the things that need to be said here,” Mr. Moore said Sunday in a discussion hosted by the blog Firedoglake.
The “Dude, Where’s My Country?” author argued that the “Good Will Hunting” star could win the presidency simply through name recognition and his position among the Hollywood elite.
“And if you want to win,” Mr. Moore insisted, “the Republicans have certainly shown the way that when you run someone who is popular, you win. Sometimes even when you run an actor, you win.”
While it may be a stretch to compare Mr. Damon with former President Ronald Reagan, Mr. Damon’s political presence has been felt more in recent months.
At this year’s Save our Schools March in the District, Mr. Damon lashed out on education policy, calling the current American system “intrinsically paternalistic.” He went on to blast those who accuse teachers of becoming lazy once they have the job security of tenure.
“A teacher wants to teach,” Mr. Damon said at the July 30 event. “I mean, why else would you take a [bad] salary, and really long hours, and do that job unless you really love to do it?”
Baldwin to hit the books before run for NYC mayor
Rather than run for mayor of New York City in 2013 as some have speculated, “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin will be hitting the books.
According to the New York Times, the comedian plans to enroll in a master’s degree program for politics and government so he can familiarize himself with the issues before running for office in coming years. A 2013 run would be unlikely, Mr. Baldwin said.
The 53-year-old Huffington Post blogger told the Times that he has contacted top universities about their programs “to help me better understand what the fiscal imperatives of that job are. … What’s the reality of the city unions, of contracts, agreements, teachers, infrastructure, decentralizing, everything? And utilities, Con Ed, the MTA - how does it all work?”
At the start of the summer, Mr. Baldwin debuted his Twitter account and began tweeting heavily about politics, fueling rumors that he would seek office.
Before the New York University graduate returns to student life, however, he will finish up his work on “30 Rock.” Then, he’ll focus on his long-term political ambitions, which seem to include taking the job held by current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“All the Bloomberg supporters look at me and say, ’What do you got against Bloomberg?’ ” Mr. Baldwin told the Times. “Well, I don’t have anything against Bloomberg, but there are term limits. The whole point is, whether you liked him or didn’t like him, he’s got to go.”
Mr. Baldwin explained that he’s unhappy about Mr. Bloomberg’s rewriting of the term-limits law, a step that enabled the politician to serve four more years.
The “It’s Complicated” funnyman, who intends to establish a permanent New York City residence before running for office, said he prefers his Upper West Side apartment to a wealthy neighborhood.
“It is more real,” Mr. Baldwin told the Times. “There’s old people, it’s ethnic and it’s economically mixed. It’s not a little kind of jewel-box, privileged pocket of the city like some neighborhoods are. … I am more comfortable living where it seems more middle class, and I have lived there deliberately.”
Sheen ’honored’ by character’s gruesome death by train
Charlie Sheen will be more than just a personal train wreck in the next season of “Two and a Half Men” - the character he played, Charlie Harper, reportedly will be struck dead by a Paris subway train.
But Mr. Sheen, who was kicked off the sitcom earlier this year after going on public rants about the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre, reportedly isn’t torn up over his character’s brutal death. Au contraire, the comedian is delighted and “honored” that the series would grant Harper such a dramatic, over-the-top death.
“I am honored that it took something as large and violent as an oncoming train to terminate my character,” he told TMZ on Wednesday. “Anything less would have been an insult!”
Earlier this month, Deadline reported that Mr. Sheen’s character would be killed and the funeral would start the show’s upcoming season. Last week, TMZ reported that the fictional Harper’s demise would be gruesome and shocking, as the character would “slip” on the Paris metro platform, fall in front of an approaching train, and blow to pieces in a “meat explosion.”
• Compiled by Laura Donovan and Chris Goodnow © 2011 The Daily Caller
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