"I'm a liberal. I'm confused when that became a bad word...." George Clooney told CNN's Larry King on February 16,2006.

Clooney continued, "....the liberal movement morally, you know, has stood on the right side of an awful lot of issues. We thought that blacks should be allowed to sit at the front of the bus and women should be able to vote, McCarthy was wrong, Vietnam was a mistake."

Since 1997, Clooney has acted in or directed seven major films with political themes. His two most recently-released films, Good Night, and Good Luck and Syriana, both dominated by political morality messages, were recognized for excellence by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences with 8 Oscar nominations. In 2006, George Clooney became the first person in Academy Award history to be nominated for directing one film, Good Night, and Good Luck, and for acting in another, Syriana, in the same year.

My favorite George Clooney stories though, are when he publicly took on arrogant big-mouth Bill O'Reilly of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor. Twice. (Can hardly wait for the inevitable round three...whenever that might be.)

Make no mistake about it: popular culture matters in forming public opinion. It matters greatly in 21st-century America. And liberal politics counts among its most avid supporters one of Hollywood's most powerful and appealing stars: the passionate, principled and very generous George Clooney.

In fact, Mr. Clooney generously donated his Oscar gift-bag to the United Way, to be auctioned off to benefit that humanitarian organization's programs. Clooney is a member of the United Way's Board of Trustees. The online auction of Mr. Clooney’s gift bag will begin tomorrow, March 22, 2006 and ends on March 28, 2006. You can bid for it here at the United Way website.

Who is George Clooney? What is his family background? Has he always been a liberal? And what really happened between him and Bill O'Reilly? I answer these questions and many more at The Politics of George Clooney, Actor and Liberal Activist.

In this dark era in United States history under George Bush, it's reassuring to have a widely listened-to public figure who gets it and is unafraid to speak out for what's truly right for all Americans. I love it that he told an interviewer in 2005....

"It's quite amazing that 'liberal' nowadays has become a swear word as in the history of our country it always meant to be on the side of justice. It started with the witchhunt in Salem, the conservatives' point of view was: 'Burn them at the stake', and the liberals' point of view was: 'There are no witches.'

And that's how it continued with the civil rights movement and womens suffrage. The liberals were always right in the end."
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--- The Politics of George Clooney, Actor and Liberal Activist
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