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The Liz Smith Column | 03/10/2009 11:00 pm

Liz Smith: Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of a Future Politico?

Also from Our Gossip Girl, Chris Isaak’s hot music stimulus and Kathy Ireland – a billionaire rings Wall Street’s bell!
© Getty Images
"Why don’t you … read the editorial pages of your local paper? It introduces you to opinion and can be terrifically provocative and perhaps a great motivating force for you to get involved in your community, regardless of your political ideology."

So says TV and movie’s ultimate modern miss, Sarah Jessica Parker, in the current Vogue. She is taking a page from that magazine’s fabled editor/arbiter, Diana Vreeland, who invented the famous “Why Don’t You?” suggestions.

SJP also suggests for every 20 e-mails, write an old-fashioned letter, and also, use your local library.

What – you expected something akin to Vreeland’s “Why don’t you bathe your child’s hair in dead champagne?”  That one always seemed vaguely creepy.

——————————

Brad Pitt! There, now I have your full attention. You saw him in Washington, DC, recently, meeting with Nancy Pelosi, Steven Chu and even The Big O. The real Big O – our president. (Some gene experts say that Brad is a distant cousin to the commander in chief.) The movie star was in the capital to work further on financing the New Orleans Housing Project.

So, now the inevitable rumors arrive that the very serious Mr. Pitt is pondering public office. A source says, "Angelina (well, you knew she’d get in!) feels Brad would make a great politician. He would also compliment Angelina’s own efforts on behalf of UNICEF.”

I’d say he’s doing enough, helping populate and adopt the world. 

More likely he will continue his public service, and in a similar manner to George Clooney – also often urged to run for office. Brad will not place his past life in the hands of the ravening investigative media. 

Mr. Pitt does have one political type who is encouraging him to change career: actor/producer William Carter. He worked in “Running With Scissors,” produced by Brad’s production company, and also served as a member of Sen. John Warner’s staff, post Elizabeth Taylor. You know – she is the woman who helped secure Warner’s Senate seat, back in 1978.

———————————

The last time I sat and chatted with singer Chris Isaak, we were in a restaurant, and during the conversation he kept glancing into his lap, rather affectionately. Just as I was beginning to wonder whether I should I be concerned or flattered, like a magician he produced an adorable white puppy. He managed to sneak a little carrier into the place. It was his manager’s pet, he explained, but he just loved it. In the new weekly series, “The Chris Isaak Hour,” a nifty mix of chat and music, you can catch an occasional glimpse of the now-adult, but still-small dog. It romps or lounges around while Chris interviews the likes of Stevie Nicks, Trisha Yearwood, Cat Stevens, Glen Campbell and other legends. (The show airs on the Biography Channel.)

So we’re talking again, this time on the phone, and he immediately says, “I just got out of the shower and changed my clothes. I’m on my way to Australia.” So many  alluring visuals to contemplate in that sentence! (Such as – Australia is a beautiful country. Yes, I’m winking.)

Chris – still smoking hot after all these years – is best known for steamy songs like “Wicked Game” and “Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing.” He is a friendly, quirky, self-deprecating guy, and these qualities, along with his passion for music, come through in his new show. He’s very respectful and encouraging of his guests. “I don’t look to ask embarrassing or rude questions. I hope I’m never intrusive. Really, I feel like I’m a high-school kid, meeting my idols.”

68 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

f p
Please not another actor in politics—wasn’t that airhead Reagan enough?
By f p on 03/11/2009 5:02 am
jules verne
I doubt Brad wants to focus on it ALL, but some pet projects. Calm down Beau…………
By jules verne on 03/11/2009 5:17 am
deber B
Our country loved Ronald Reagan! 
By deber B on 03/11/2009 6:49 am
f p
Not all of "our" country did Deber.
By f p on 03/11/2009 7:15 am
deber B
Oh, Beau, you know you liked Ronald Reagan!   Not even just a little bit?
By deber B on 03/11/2009 8:19 am
f p
I detested him and all he stood for Deber. 
By f p on 03/11/2009 8:58 am
Z ****
Wasn’t it really Nancy that was calling the shots with Ron as her front "man"?   And, I join those who did not love a bit all he stood for politically.
By Z **** on 03/11/2009 9:38 am
Frannie Em

Hey Beau,

Looks like Obama dropped  stop loss on Eric.  The DOD hasn’t been doing it, and recommended it be stopped, but word came down from command that Obama will keep it in effect for another year (Feb 2010).  It’s not the ‘Stan, it is Iraq.  Although the media is saying that 12,000 are coming home in Aug/Sep, they were already slated to come home at that time, their tours were up.  Word is that more than the 12,000 will be sent to Iraq to replace them, and Eric is one of them.  Guess what?  Because of his high science scores, they have put him in medical training.  He had a name for it, he said it was equivalent to a medic in Viet Nam.

As you can guess, I am not happy about this.  He wants to come home so badly.  To me it is just wrong wrong wrong.  The guy needs a chance at a regular life.  He hasn’t been in one place long enough to have a long relationship with a girl, and he really wants that, and wants to get married some day.  I am working things from my end, but since they put him in the training, looks like they won’t let him come home.  

They cannot continue to "use" these guys over and over again.  I was opposed to the draft, but if they are going to sustain this, I say, draft some more. 

By Frannie Em on 03/11/2009 3:08 pm
f p
Stop/loss is horrendous and just plain wrong—it’s time for the draft agin methinks—you can’t put men and women in this position without something breaking Frannie. PTSD must be extraordinarily high among many of them.  I hope Eric is going to be ok.  hugs kiddo. :-) 
By f p on 03/12/2009 7:06 am
Frannie Em

Thanks Beau

And you know why Beau Radley and To Kill a Mockingbird mean a lot to me. 

By Frannie Em on 03/13/2009 1:00 pm
f p
Not all of "our" country did Deber.
By f p on 03/11/2009 7:16 am
Jeannot Kensinger
Deber, I did not like him either. There must be more out there besides Beau and I.
By Jeannot Kensinger on 03/11/2009 8:46 am
Rain in Minneapolis

Nobody ever was held accountable for the HUD money that disappeared under his administration.  Millions of dollars for housing simply vanished.   In the 80s that was a significant amount of money for housing.   He preferred to see the poor and mentally disabled live on the streets.  He also went after the food stamp program.  What a bastard.

By Rain in Minneapolis on 03/11/2009 11:10 am
Jeannot Kensinger
Rain, (not snow?) my California in laws are still angry with him for his "work" as a governor and that was a hell of a long time ago.
By Jeannot Kensinger on 03/11/2009 2:40 pm
deber B
I don’t think so, Jeannot, you and Beau may be the only two.   Can  you handle it?  j/k
By deber B on 03/11/2009 12:02 pm