Who asked you anyway, Matt Damon?

Matt Damon was in the news this week because he was pointing out certain problems that he has with the Sarah Palin nomination. Even though the video doesn't show it, I know he was asked about it before he started talking about it, because unless you're famous for talking ad nauseum, like Kevin Smith, you generally aren't just going to volunteer your personal thoughts on politics. And he didn't call a press conference to say to the world, "Sarah Palin's nomination is like a bad Disney movie. And her feet smell." No, nothing like that. He was asked a question and he answered it.

So now, Fox News and MSNBC are mad at Matty Damon and rightfully so, because who is Matty Damon to get on TV and answer questions asked of him about things outside the realm of key grips and personal assistants to the associate producer? Matty Damon is JUST AN ACTOR, not a pundit or a politician, so what could he possibly know about politics? What could he possibly bring to the civilized discourse that we have here in the right-wing media? Why, I think that all actors should just do their damn jobs and keep making movies! They all just need to keep the vaseline on their teeth and read from the script, because the only meaningful things that actors have ever said was prepared for them by a scriptwriter!

Something needs to be done about this and we need to follow the lead of the conservative media at Fox News and MSNBC in discounting the uninformed opinions of these celebrities. So next time an actor is on TV, talking about something that doesn't have to do with his next movie, we need to take action against them. Let's not coddle them by hearing them out, like CNN does. We need to rise up against these celebrities that believe that they have thoughts and opinions that need to be listened to or considered based on their own merit. What has Fred Thompson, Charlton Heston, Ben Stein, or Arnold Schwarzeneggar ever said that we needed to hear, anyway?

I'll tell you what they didn't say: "I am a talented actor." Not one a one of them.

The conversative media kills me because, even though he's bringing up valid points about Sarah Palin (he wants to know if she's going to start banning books as Vice-President, which she has apparently tried to do before), because he's not on their side, NOW he's just an actor. But when Charlton Heston wants to become spokesman of the NRA, he's a respected voice in the community. When Ben Stein wants creationism taught in schools, we need to consider his words in fairness. You can't pick and choose, Fox News and MSNBC, because if that's the case, Ronald Reagan was a C-level actor who should have never been heard from. If Ronald Reagan can get a glowing testimonial about how he dismantled the Soviet Union and punched down the Berlin Wall, despite his osteoporosis, in every history book in America, then I guess Kathy Griffin should be starting her Presidential Campaign from the D-List sometime soon.

Having Matt Damon or even Kathy Griffin comment on politics can't damage the political discourse anymore than Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly already have, and they blatantly try to destroy it on a day-to-day basis. At least Matt Damon will just speak his piece and go do whatever it is that Matt Damon does all day. Bill O'Reilly won't go away, no matter how badly I pray that a freight train will get lost and find its way through his studio during a live broadcast. Matt Damon's comments were clearly well thought out and it's not like he just got on TV and embarrassed himself, like the time Bill O'Reilly acted surprised that the black restaurant he had been to wasn't owned and run by poo-flinging monkeys.

Personally, I'd like to see Matt Damon's questions answered, because knowing if Vice-President Palin will ban books or if she believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old will go a long way towards me deciding whether or not I'm going to publicly respect her intelligence. Instead of trying to shoot holes in Matt Damon's credentials, why not just act like adults and say, "i disagree with his comments," and move on? Because if you want to go toe-to-toe on who deserves the right to speak, Rush Limbaugh's intellectual output includes mocking Michael J. Fox's bout with Parkinson's disease, while Matt Damon's includes not saying anything that fucking stupid.