Sometimes I hate being such a romantic idealist. Every time I think that common sense has won a victory, I am cruelly slapped down by reality.
Last week, I applauded Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien for refusing to accept the resignation of a government official who, off the record, referred to George Bush as a moron.
I admit to having momentarily forgotten the lesson of the little boy who pointed out that the Emperor has no clothes. Emperor Bush may be bare-ass naked, but his deluded subjects cannot see it. And they will most assuredly kick the butt of the messenger.
Francoise Ducros, whose vision was unclouded, paid the price. The braying jackasses of American talk shows made such a mountain out of the molehill that she submitted a second resignation. Chretien doesn't have that much backbone. He accepted it this time.
It was painful to see the PM try to salvage the situation. He reluctantly claimed that Bushomatic was a friend of his and that he was not a moron. Methinks he doth protest too much.
The late president Lyndon Johnson, a master of political infighting, was once confronted by a staff member who had the temerity to suggest that an accusation Johnson leveled against one of his opponents was blatantly untrue.
"Of course it's untrue," Johnson said, "but let's make the sonofabitch deny it."
Bush didn't have to deny that he is a moron. The "liberal" media did it for him. And thereby confirmed the truth of the original accusation.
All of which leads me to the somewhat obscure point of this screed. I have been an actor for more than 50 years now. Show business is the bitch goddess that lures far too many of us to believe that we have what it takes to achieve stardom. As a veteran of the theatre, I know that there is a hell of a lot of talent out there.
Unfortunately, it is usually overwhelmed by the incessant thirst for mediocrity that fuels the entertainment industry. For every Nicholson or Streep or Pacino, there is an offsetting Madonna or Britney or Justin.
The no-talents know that if they fail at every other aspect of show business, they can always have their own talk show. A comforting thought, to be sure. Oprah and Conan and Larry have paved the way. How to succeed in show business by being an emotional parasite.
These are the people who are now setting our political agenda. These are the people who are telling us what to think. These are people who feed on our fear and use it to occlude our senses.
There is, of course, always the slight chance that you might even be able to screw up at being a talk show host. Have no fear, my darlings, you can always make a career with all of the other has-beens on Hollywood Squares.
12:07:12 AM 
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