Bush's Secret Weapon: Bo Derek

April 9, 2004

President Bush will likely win reelection and here's one reason why: Bo Derek.

A few weeks ago, Bo made a surprise visit to Bush-Cheney headquarters in Arlington, Va. Staffers said she is more beautiful and lovely than ever, which makes sense. She doesn't ram her politics down anyone's throat. No, Bo is beautiful because she is poised and eloquent.

That got me to thinking about the other Hollywood celebrities.

Most are to the far left of the political spectrum, and they've been busy of late. When they're not weaving anti-Bush messages into television shows and movies, they're holding anti-Bush rallies and fundraisers for John Kerry. They're more united than ever in their burning desire to unseat Bush.

And in the process they lose their composure frequently.

During your standard Hollywood awards ceremonies, it's common for left-leaning awardees to make political proclamations. Their tone is usually angry, emotional and condescending: "I won this award, which means you need to do what I say because I FEEL really strongly about defeating Bush!"

You hardly ever see conservative celebrities do such things. You'll never see Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis or Arnie Schwarzenegger lose their composure. When Dennis Franz and Vince Vaughn explain their support of Bush's Iraq policy, they do so calmly. And Dennis Miller uses a sharp scalpel, not a meat hook, to dissect the wrong-headedness of liberal thinking.

In fact, I can recall only one recent incident in which a conservative celebrity, Mel Gibson, got emotional. Gibson was responding to comments in a New York Times review of his movie, "The Passion of Christ." He said of critic Frank Rich, "I want to kill him. I want his intestines on a stick… I want to kill his dog." Sure, Gibson lost his cool, but nobody really thought he'd put Rich's intestines on a stick.

But Al Franken really got emotional at a Howard Dean rally in January. Franken, who is a brilliant comedian UNTIL he talks politics, tackled - yes, tackled! - a man who was heckling Dean. A Republican might purposely drop an accounting ledger on a heckler's foot, but tackle? Republicans hire lawyers do such things.

The fact is the more emotional and nutty our Hollywood liberals get, the better off Bush is going to be. Because while they use their hatred to unite their troops against the president, they're convincing more Americans to vote for Bush.

The reason isn't hard to comprehend. Most Americans think many on Hollywood's left are overpaid, spoiled and not among the sharpest knives in America's drawer. We think such thoughts for good reason.

Was it not Barbara Streisand, who, according to the New York Post, suggested that Sen. Paul Wellstone's unfortunate plane crash was not an accident?

Was it not Tim Robbins who said Bush attacked Iraq in order to keep control of the House?

Was it not Ed Asner who said of all the historical figures in the world, he most respected Joseph Stalin? Asner said he'd like to play the role of Stalin because the guy was hugely misunderstood.

There is no end to the nutty thinking that is coming out of Hollywood, because thinking doesn't have much to do with it. In Hollywood, as in the rest of America, our liberal friends tend to react to issues and events based on how they FEEL, whereas the more conservative among us tend to respond based on how we THINK.

And with all the burning issues facing our country today, we need to think more clearly now than ever before. Most Americans are well aware of our challenges. And we're going to be drawn towards the candidates who are calm and poised and working hard to think things through, as opposed to those who angry and emotional - the politicians who shamelessly embolden our enemies in a time of war with the hopes of shaking our own emotions.

So keep at it, my liberal Hollywood friends. The more emotional you get, the more likely America will pick the party of Bo.

Tom Purcell

DISCUSS THIS IN THE FORUM!