From Lake Como to Radio Silence: As Trump federalizes D.C. police and Texas Republicans gut democracy, Hollywood’s loudest 2024 voices have nothing to say.
I suspect Clooney's and Reiner's silence is based more on throwing good money after bad--meaning the current state of the Democratic Party. I used to give what I could to the party and various candidates. Now I only fund protest actions, outfits like the Lincoln Project, and the voices of the resistance, especially in Substack, who are not afraid of taking on Trump and his regime. This is not to excuse the radio silence, just to offer a possible explanation. Once Dems start showing guts and grit, a plan of action and a willingness to go to the mat--like Governor Newsom--I think Hollywood will show up.
Network tv news sold out to GOP, I feel like this has attributed to Hollywood doing the same… chickens who are controlled by the oligarchy is my first guess…
Thank you so much! Funny, this joint venture they so giddily embarked on has all the earmarks of a Hollywood backlot remake of "Strike Up the Band," "Babes In Arms," or "Babes on Broadway." They all contain that famous line "Hey kids! Let's put on a show! A hallmark of the patented Judy Garland Mickey Rooney save the day for the public good. Except these two scions of Hollywood were exclaiming, "Hey kids! Let's destroy Biden's presidency and nomination! Let's strut our stuff and show the world how tuned in we are to American politics! Let's prove the only loyalty we have, is not to the country, not to the present administration. but to our status and superior knowledge of how politics work and how we can commandeer the most prestigious spot on the front page of a internationally renowned paper and on every major cabal network, no questions asked." "The debacle we cause? Ah well."
So here we are dealing with the aftermath of their disastrous ego trips. Are they around to rectify this mess in any manner, shape or form? No. Advice to that town and the scions of it, ie Hollywood. Stick to what you know. And it ain't politics.
A piece of advice to these two svengalis - you love this country? Then open your yaps the way you were so willing to last year and do something - like prove you are truly Americans and not provocateurs doing it for the renown and to burnish you standing.
“Don’t fall for the okey-doke”….Don Lemon, nightly BEFORE he got demoted and fired by CNN.
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‘Okey-doke’, indeed.
Yes. Absolutely. Thankyou, Don-for adding that word to
My vocabulary.
I am not crazy.
Clooney.
Reiner.
Ellen Degeneres-safely in the UK where she & her partner are busy behaving like spoiled brats and pissing off their neighbors in whatever 1%er neighborhood they’re cohabitating in.
Rosie O’Donnell-who at least speaks up-albeit from the safety of Ireland. Yesterday I saw a story about Richard Gere heading to Spain & not coming back.
Barbara Streisand was making noises even before the ‘24 election about heading to England for good.
Another item I’ve picked up: Ron Howard saying that he was ‘surprised’ by J.D. Vance, whom he no doubt enriched (along with himself) by producing the VP’s factually questionable so-called memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy’… ‘Surprised’?!?! Really, Dude?!?!
Come ON….
I’ll be blunt. At this point I’ll say ‘Capital F Fuck these people’….
There’s a line from a Steely Dan song: ‘Show bizness kids making movies ‘bout themselves-you know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else”….
Remember what Gavin Newsom said just the other day?
“WAKE UP AMERICA!”
Remember that?
Newsom’s one of the few adults with any guts in the room. So ironic thst there he is in that state that’s brought us the wonder world of Hollywood….
I’m thinking he’d better not be looking to Beverly Hills for a lot of support.
Folks, the late David Foster-Wallace called it right in his masterpiece’Infinite Jest’.
We are collectively well in our way to being entertained to death here.
So-somehow it’s big news that Hollywood is a morally opportunistic whorehouse?
You really think that these schmucks who parade around being inaccessible and flaunting their wealth constantly actually give a fuck about little YOU?
Oh, please.
Please keep covering this issue. Every one of these people who do the Lisa Murkowski / Squeaky Sue Collins ‘I’m afraid’-‘I’m devastated’-‘It’s too much’-‘I’m very concerned’ shuffle & skedaddle off to some gated community on another continent should be outed, shamed and hung out for the ridicule they deserve. Throw Oprah into the bag too. All the chummy horse shit interviews with Harry and Meghan selling you the circle jerk buzz that you’re being let in on some big ‘secret’-that you have ‘access’-that you’re ‘In Touch’-you’re an ‘insider’? Wake up, gang: it’s all bullshit. They’re giving you NOTHING.
And now more and more of them are taking their gold bars or whatever and going to hide away. Moro an eye in the exodus. I’m thinking he’d bettering this is only the beginning. I mean what the heck-Elon Musk wants to settle gated communities on Mars, for God’s sakes.
If you notice how much of Hollywood’s output nowadays is about ‘superheros’ with magical super powers, I’d say that’s a pretty fucking big clue as to how grownup this national consciousness of ours is right about now.
It’s sickening, but alas, utterly utterly predictable.
Then there’s pro sports.
Talk about radio silence.
Check the news release about the recently revealed NBA schedule. They’re doubling the TV coverage. There are gotta-watch games on Election Day. What’s that tell you?
Remember how LeBron James said something on the order of ‘STFU, Dumbass’ to Dump during his first term.m?
Christ you’d think the whole league was a silent religious retreat when it comes to social justice nowadays. Nobody wants to rock that big and gettin’ bigger gravy train.
My guess is: the guys at the top have laid down the law: ‘Shut up & ball’
That poke in money’s the one doing all the talking and if they know what’s good for them, there’ll be none if this ‘take a knee’ shit. That stuff didn’t happen here, right? Don’t forget. It’s just a ‘woke’ fantasy that Biden started.
I hope that the author of the article that prompted this will touch on THIS veil of silence that’s descended on the whole ‘Bread and Circuses’ industry, from MLB, thr NFL, the NHL, tennis, golf-all if it.
Hear that cracking noise?
That’s not LeBron’s knees squeaking under the strain of approaching-what?-his 23rd NBA season for a $50+ million payday? It’s the sound of a collective genuflection by the entire sports broadcasting world. They have a big job, along with Hollywood.
NEWSFLASH! It’s to keep you looking the other way.
Radio silence is the increasingly deafening silence from a growing sector of the entertainment industry.
So just remember, when you’re off to a movie, binging some show or watching 30 NFL or NBA games all at once, Russell Vought and the Heritage Foundation gang that brought us Project2025, Project Esther with more, no doubt, in the pipeline are sticking it to you, draining away liberty, your choices of who you can worship or love it to to school….all if that with additional factor of the gilded live and in color Humpy Dumpy clown show, cavorting it’s dick-swinging way across your consciousness every day with myriad new lies and forms of evasion disguised as ‘Breaking News’ or any manner of ‘Made Ya Look!!’ click-bait you can imagine.
So-one more time: all together now, kids:
“SHOW BIZNESS KIDS MAKIN’ MOVIES ‘BOUT THEMSELVES-YOU KNOW THEY DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE….”
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So-next time you take you out to the ballgame, stand, remove your hat-MAGA or otherwise-put your hand over your heart and sing:
“O-Oh say can you see?”
Just what exactly IS it, America-‘My country ‘tis of thee’-that you THINK you are ‘SEEING’-‘HEARING’-‘THINKING’-‘FEELING’- ‘COMPREHENDING’ or even ‘UNDERSTANDING’?????
Yes. Absolutely. Thankyou. I am not crazy. Clooney. Reiner. Ellen Degeneres-safely in the UK where she & her partner are busy behaving like spoiled brats and pissing off their neighbors in whatever 1%er neighborhood they’re cohabitating in. Rosie O’Donnell-who at least speaks up-albeit from the safety of Ireland. Yesterday I saw a story about Richard Gere heading to Spain & not coming back. Barbara Streisand was making noises even before the ‘24 election about heading to England for good.
Another item I picked up: Ron Howard-saying that he was ‘surprised’ by J.D. Vance, whom he no doubt enriched (along with himself) by producing the VP’s factually questionable so-called memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy’… ‘Surprised’?!?! Really, Dude?!?!
I’ll be blunt. At this point I’ll say ‘Capital F Fuck these people’….
There’s a line from a Steely Dan song: ‘Show bizness kids making movies ‘bout themselves-you know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else”….
I’ll quote Gavin Newsom:’WAKE UP AMERICA’.
Folks, we are being entertained to death here.
So-somehow it’s big news that Hollywood is a morally opportunistic whorehouse? You really think that these schmucks who parade around being inaccessible and flaunting their wealth constantly actually give a fuck about little YOU.
Oh, please.
Please keep covering this. Every one of these people who do the Lisa Murkowski / Squeaky Sue Collins ‘I’m afraid’-‘I’m devastated’-‘It’s too much’-‘I’m very concerned’ shuffle off to some gated community on another continent should be outed, shamed and hung out for the ridicule they deserve. Throw Oprah into the bag too. All the chummy horse shit interviews with Harry and Meghan selling you the circle jerk buzz that you’re being let in on some big ‘secret’-that you have access-that you’re ‘In Touch’-you’re an insider? It’s all bullshit. They’re giving you NOTHING. And now more and more of them are taking their gold bars or whatever and going to hide away.
If you notice how much of Hollywood’s output nowadays is about ‘superheros’ and magical powers, I’d say that’s a pretty fucking big clue as to how grownup this national consciousness of ours is right about now.
It’s sickening, but alas, utterly utterly predictable.
Then there’s pro sports.
Talk about radio silence.
Check the news release about the recently revealed NBA schedule. They’re doubling the TV coverage. There are gotta-watch games on Election Day. What’s that tell you?
Remember how LeBron James said something on the order of ‘STFU, Dumbass’ to Dump during his first term.m?
Christ you’d think the whole league was a silent religious retreat when it comes to social justice nowadays. Nobody wants to rock that big gravy train. All of them are in it for the money.
I hope that you will touch on THIS veil of silence that’s descended on the whole ‘Bread and Circuses’ industry, from MLB, thr NFL, the NHL, tennis, golf-all if it.
Hear that cracking noise?
That’s not LeBron’s knees squeaking under the strain of approaching-what?-his 23rd NBA season for a $50+ million payday? It’s the sound of a collective genuflection by the entire sports broadcasting world. They have a big job, along with Hollywood.
NEWSFLASH! It’s to keep you looking the other way.
Radio silence is the increasingly deafening silence from a growing sector of the entertainment industry.
So just remember, when you’re off to a movie, binging some show or watching 30 NFL or NBA games all at once, Russell Vought and the Heritage Foundation gang that brought us Project2025, Project Esther with more, no doubt, in the pipeline are sticking it to you, draining away liberty, your choices of who you can worship or love it to to school….all if that with additional factor of the gilded live and in color Humpy Dumpy clown show, cavorting it’s dick-swinging way across your consciousness every day with myriad new lies and forms of evasion disguised as ‘Breaking News’ or any manner of ‘Made Ya Look!!’ click-bait you can imagine.
So-one more time: all together now, kids:
“SHOW BIZNESS KIDS MAKIN’ MOVIES ‘BOUT THEMSELVES-YOU KNOW THEY DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE….”
-
“O-Oh say can you see?”
America, what exactly IS it that you THINK you are ‘SEEING’-‘HEARING’-‘THINKING’-‘FEELING’-‘UNDERSTANDING’?????
It has been ever thus. You may also look to some of the revered ones of politics - There's Timothy Snyder - nicely telling those of us who still believe in democracy and this country how we should "fight and stand up to autocracy." Bravo!
He has an endowed chair at Yale, he writes books on freedom and..... oh wait.....when the going gets rough? He scutters across the border to Canada, to the University of Toronto - I'm sure Yale will hold that chair for him. He said he didn't feel "safe" and he has a family, Guess the rest of us and our families can fight the fight. I'm sure he will return when we give the all clear signal and he will continue to write his books on democracy and freedom in central Europe and here.
Thomas, you’re not crazy at all—you’re clocking exactly what’s going on. Clooney, Reiner, Ellen, Rosie, Gere, Streisand… they’ve all found ways to keep their distance while still floating above it all. And you’re right, even when they “speak up,” it’s often from the safety of another country or the comfort of their gated lives. That distance makes their sudden silence on democracy now feel even louder.
Ron Howard saying he was “surprised” by J.D. Vance is another perfect example—it’s almost willful blindness when the rest of us could see exactly what Vance was from the start. That kind of shrugging passivity, especially from people who profit off these narratives, is worse than useless.
And I’m with you on the broader point: we really are being “entertained to death.” These figures aren’t heroes—they’re opportunists who want the cachet of activism without any of the sacrifice. Hollywood’s moral opportunism is nothing new, but in a moment this urgent, it’s infuriating.
Thanks for reading and laying it out so bluntly. I’ll keep covering it, because as you said, folks need to wake up and see through the performance.
Still Bummed Cheeto: A Nazi Russian Kiss Ass and American Traitor
It’s been known that Cheeto since the 1980’s has been in the back pockets of the KGB/GRU(https://bit.ly/4fIdQmj) and shamelessly received lots of money from Russian oligarchs through real estate transactions(https://bit.ly/4188w5B) A case of Russian Kompromat a term that was circulated in the 2017 media when Russiagate was prominent is all too obvious
In Anchorage Cheeto continued to show his Russian fealty and that he is the first American President to be an American traitor in which he takes another country’s needs over that of his own country(https://bit.ly/4mJbshd) Cheeto lost another bout as Putin continues killing innocent civilians, showing no sign of capitulation for a ceasefire and Cheeto continues to be the Benedict Arnold of the 21st century with no sanctions or demands
In essence Putin played Cheeto like a fiddle Russia is celebrating with wall to wall media coverage The EU and NATO better get ready to go it alone and adopt a massive aggressive approach against the Russian invasion because Cheeto might as well be a Russian citizen and resident of Moscow but he’s such an immoral abomination even the Russians wouldn’t take him
Dr. Bill, you laid this out with precision. Trump has been tangled up financially and politically with shady Russian networks since the 1980s, and the kompromat angle has always loomed large. The real estate transactions and oligarch money you mention aren’t rumors—they’re documented patterns that made him uniquely vulnerable.
What’s wild is how little it even takes to bend him. Putin figured out a long time ago that you don’t need blackmail or some master plan to disarm Trump—all you need is flattery. Stroke his ego, and he’ll fold America’s interests in favor of anyone who makes him feel important. That’s why his so-called “fealty” to Putin feels less like strategy and more like weakness being exploited.
And you’re right—this isn’t just about foreign policy. The larger danger is how that weakness translates into betrayal of his own country, putting innocent lives at risk while he plays Benedict Arnold cosplay with no accountability. Appreciate you laying it all out here, and thanks for reading and engaging.
Thanks for your thoughtful and summarizing comments It will be interesting to see how European and Ukrainian leaders play the ego flattery....2 groups one the aggressor and the other trying to stop the aggression....each trying to move the TACO Cheeto goal posts which actually don't exist
Beautifully written, as usual, but I don't fully agree with your premise. Yes, very wealthy entertainment celebrities who believe in democracy should consistently and generously help fund the resistance at the least and, I presume, these two are. Yes, anyone other than family and close friends who attended the obscene Bezos wedding should be ashamed of themselves.
But I do see a distinction between the obligation to speak out consistently of lawyers, university presidents, scientists, and military people, for example, vs. the necessity and even advisability of entertainers to do so. The former groups are directly in the fray of our institutions being threatened and we need them to sound the alarm about what's happening. Unless an entertainer intends to run for office, and with the barrage of zone flooding happening now, consistent comments from Clooney and Reiner would end up having the impact of, let's say, Michael Moore. Nothing new to say here, nothing but the expected opinions of any one of us horrified by the moment. Their speaking out regularly in this "off year" then would just weaken their voices, ultimately.
I don't like how the Biden thing was handled; I was a fan of Biden for his whole career. But I think we need to drop any ill feelings we have about the past and stop attacking fellow democracy-loving Americans as that only weakens us. Save your ammunition for the Republicans who are blithely taking us down the road to fascism. Clooney and Reiner are not the problem here.
Barbara, I appreciate your thoughtful pushback. You make a fair point about the different obligations between elected officials, scientists, lawyers, and military leaders versus entertainers. I agree those directly in the fray bear the heaviest responsibility to sound the alarm. That said, the only reason I’ve been responding to Clooney and Reiner specifically is because they stepped in it.
In Clooney’s case, he didn’t just stay quiet—he wrote a full-page op-ed in the New York Times only a few weeks after hosting a fundraiser where he was asking people to come up off their money. That’s not just another celebrity opinion floating out there; that’s stepping into the political arena in a very direct, high-profile way. And once you do that, you don’t get to act like a bystander later.
As I’ve said before, I do think Clooney was nudged by Pelosi and other Democratic figures, but ultimately, he made the choice to take that path. And when you take it, accountability comes with it.
Calling them out isn’t about division—it’s about strengthening the fight for democracy. I would love to treat Clooney as an ally, but I don’t ever want him writing another op-ed like that and expecting silence in response. Thanks for reading and engaging with this in good faith.
Thank You Kristoffer for your article & the "heads-up" reminder of the Celebrities that have chosen to "pick & choose" to speak out when they believed Democracy is at risk...But now seem to be silent. Maybe they are doing something quietly, behind the scenes?? I don't know, but, can hope.
OR, they don't want to be the next target of tRump or Corporations, who are afraid of tRump...so they will be afraid to contract with them...or lose fans? I think on 1 level this was maybe your point.. when the personal cost could be great, they are now silent. I do have to thank you though, because in deciding to write a comment I realized the anger I have felt...for the silence, and the words below are what I really wanted to speak out about. So thank you Kristoffer.
I would just add 1 suggestion, that would also help the "average American", who maybe took the time to read this piece. How about giving credit to the Celebrities who have NOT stopped speaking out on behalf of American Democracy...when the cost could be great? The contrast would be helpful, & thought provoking.
Robert De Niro, Bruce Springsteen, Jane Fonda, Richard Gere and even Taylor Swift... to name a few. I realize that Springsteen is a singer/songwriter, & not an actor, as is Taylor Swift... but, can certainly qualify as a "Celebrity."
Also : Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart (no stranger to speaking out on politics & our lack of benefits for our Veterans). Case in Point: Colbert is paying a personal price for his Standing up for American Democracy....Rosie O'Donnell...has taken public hits for a very long time in her stance against tRump.
I could then go to Athletes... many who have spoken out on the state of our Country & Democracy...First that comes to my mind: Colin Kaepernick's protests during the national anthem in 2016 & has paid quite a personal price. LeBron James...for another. I am sure that there are others, that I am neglecting to list here...BUT, I think the "average American", struggling to get by, and takes the time to read your article... should be given the contrast of the Americans who happen to also be Celebrities... who haven't stopped speaking out on behalf of Democracy....
I guess I made my point...which is to give those who continue to speak up... a thank you for continuing to stand up for the Country, Democracy, & Freedom...which provided them the "backdrop" to be able to become a Celebrity, show their talent... instead of having to be concerned about bombs like Ukrainians, Starving like Gazans,( those who couldn't get out of the country they were born in) being hung in public like young Iranians protesting in the streets. My point here... to the American Celebrities: you were born in a Country that provided the Freedom to flourish....in contrast to other Countries where it is not possible....THANK YOU, for recognizing it and for the courage to speak out, stand up.
So, to those Americans... who happen to have a platform because of their art, talent, athleticism,
on behalf of all the "average Americans", trying to survive in tRump's attempt to destroy American Democracy.... THANK YOU!
To the Average American.... we have to do what we can, do our part as well, unless we want to be like the silent Celebrities.....that Kristoffer is speaking to in this article. Ask yourself Americans... are you afraid, are you silent out of fear, or exhausted... so was George Washington and the 1st Army...BUT THEY stood up....and America was Born.
An Average American, Lover of Democracy, WHO WILL NOT BEND to tRump.... in Oregon
Jan, thank you for the kind words—and for engaging this so thoughtfully. You’re right on a few fronts:
• Some folks may be doing quiet work behind the scenes. If so, great. But when you have a megaphone, silence in public still matters—narratives, turnout, and fundraising all ride on visible leadership.
• Fear is real: the MAGA mob, corporate blowback, lost contracts, boycotts, audits—the personal cost can be high. That’s exactly why courage is needed most now, not just when it’s easy.
I also love your suggestion about crediting the celebrities who have kept speaking up when it’s costly. De Niro, Springsteen, Jane Fonda, Richard Gere, Taylor Swift, Colbert, Jon Stewart, Rosie O’Donnell, D.L. Hughley, LeBron James—and of course Colin Kaepernick—deserve that recognition. And I really hope Kap now understands just how critical voting is in this fight, because protest and policy have to go hand in hand.
Really appreciate you naming what so many are feeling: the anger at the silence. That’s the point of the piece—to push for accountability where it counts. Thanks again for reading and for adding something constructive to the conversation.
I must admit I haven't given much thought to Clooney or Riener. But you got it. Clooney opened his mouth back 2024 and then went silent. Did he even support Vice President Harris in her run for President? Reiner is a nothing to me. Even waiting for Republicans to speak out now is like waiting for hell to freeze over. Democrats in Congress are starting to speak up but need to be louder. They all need to call it out for what we have. A dumb and dumber dangerous autocracy. As Joe Trippi recently pointed out: We have a Presidency of Fired Really. All need to speak out at the danger that is surrounding us. In fact, it is sitting on us.
I like the photo of Clooney's zipped mouth. Don't normally see him with a zipped mouth. What a fresh prospective on the "closed" mouth community. Thanks, Kristoffer. As always keep writing. Take care.
Maxine, this cracked me up: “the closed-mouth community” might be the biggest club in Hollywood right now. 😂 And yep—you’ve got it. Clooney made a big splash in 2024 and then went full Lake-Como Wi-Fi: weak signal, lots of buffering. If he supported Harris, it sure wasn’t in a way that helped once the heat turned up. Reiner? Plenty of noise when it’s effortless, crickets when it counts.
Waiting for Republicans to “find their voice” is like waiting for hell to install central air. I’m with you—Democrats in Congress have started speaking up, but it needs to be louder and more relentless: hearings, floor speeches, state races, voting-rights muscle—the whole toolkit. Because this “Fired-Reality” autocracy you describe isn’t theoretical; like you said, it’s sitting on us.
And credit where it’s due—the zipped-mouth image came straight from the creatives at Lincoln Square. They nailed the visual. Thank you for your continued support and for always keeping the focus sharp.
The Resistance has changed since last year. It has become more diverse, less dependent on star power. Its a big complicated subject, not just about famous people. And no one, knows the whole pictue. Case in point- Young lawyers founding new firms after leaving the firms that capitulated, public health networks emerging, and much more. I am currently writing about America's democratic civil society- based on organizing and networking, not just individuals.
Julie, totally with you. The resistance has shifted—more diverse, more decentralized, and far less dependent on star power. You’re right that it’s bigger than famous people and that none of us sees the whole picture. Your examples nail it: young lawyers spinning up new firms instead of staying at shops that folded, public-health and civic networks rebuilding local capacity, and a lot of quiet organizing that never makes headlines.
My piece isn’t saying celebrities are the center of the story—only that when they insert themselves loudly and then disappear, it sucks oxygen from the folks doing the unglamorous work you’re describing. The real engine is exactly what you’re writing about: organizers, legal defense groups, voting-rights coalitions, labor, mutual aid, local media—networks, not personalities.
I’d love to read your piece on America’s democratic civil society when it’s out. Thanks for adding depth here and for the thoughtful push.
Great to hear back from you, and thanks for your ability to respond positively. I do agree with what you wrote about celebrities. I would love to send you a draft when I get to that point. Maybe you will have some suggestions as to where to post it- probably in a shorter version. Simon Rosenberg of Hopium Chronicles is encouraging my effort. Would love to connect more closely with Lincoln Square. In the meantime, take a look at my website, where you can get a complimentary copy of my book on civil society in South Africa, Tajikistan and Argentina, now a bit dated, as well as a more recent update on Tajikistan.
I am far more concerned that, even after our "celebrities" came out in support of Harris, she lost. And lost big time, even the Blue Wall. Were I a celebrity, what would that have told me? That celebrity political activism does not result in massive votes. Except maybe if you're Joe Rogan and you're appealing to young males. Note: Rogan seems to be wavering right now, time to double down on wooing him out of Trump's camp. Epstein, Epstein, Epstein. Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine. Telling that, despite Rubio's bluster, to the surprise of Trump and his cadre, European leaders are getting in their jets tomorrow morning and turning up at the White House along with Zelenskyy. Ding dong, freedom and democracy calling.
So it doesn't really bother me that Clooney or Reiner (who? asked my 19 year old grandson about the latter) aren't talking. What bothers me far more is the complicity by so many in the legal profession, by the judiciary, by the BILLIONAIRES to Trump's crimes. The universities giving in and handing over donor money, students' money, for which they are thousands of dollars in debt, to line, ultimately Trump's coffers. Not the country's, Trump's (and the other billionaires.)
In my books celebrities are a non event. Let's put the focus back on the billionaires who are building their compounds: Zuckerberg in Hawaii, $270 million for "self sufficiency and security." Bezos, so far, $273 million in Los Angeles. And so on. While we tut tut over the homeless camps being a blight on DC, let's spare a though for people who are losing their homes and farms because they can't afford them only to see them snapped up, torn down, gobbled up, by people and corporations making money from the current economy. There's a little monitor on the top of CNN's Business web page that tracks what is currently driving the economy. Surprise, surprise, it's well into "greed" territory right now.
Valerie, this is a sharp read—thank you. I’m with you on several fronts:
• You’re right that celebrity activism rarely translates into votes. Endorsements can shape narratives, juice fundraising, or set an agenda, but they almost never move large numbers at the ballot box. Harris’s support from famous people didn’t save the Blue Wall; organizing and economic reality decide that.
• Where celebrities do matter is when they jump in loudly (Clooney/Reiner), help create a media narrative, and then vanish. That whiplash sucks oxygen away from the people doing the unglamorous work. My piece is aimed at that accountability gap—not at making celebs the center of the story.
• I agree the bigger, more dangerous story is the power structure you name: billionaires walling off compounds, the legal profession and judiciary laundering impunity, universities and media ecosystems that normalize greed and look away from predation. That’s the architecture that makes authoritarianism durable.
• On the foreign-policy pageant and “freedom/democracy calling” photo-ops—I hear you. It’s spectacle. Meanwhile, housing, wages, and corporate consolidation are crushing people while the homeless crisis becomes a profit center. That’s the battlefield, not the red carpet.
So yes: let’s keep the spotlight on concentrated wealth, a captured legal system, and an economy designed for extraction. Calling out Clooney/Reiner is about cleaning our own house while we fight the larger fight—not a substitute for it. Appreciate your insights and the push to keep the focus where it does the most good.
Harris did not lose "big time"; she lost by 1.5% of the vote--and that's with many Democrats staying home and many culturally adverse to voting for a woman, much less a woman of color. While the consequences of her loss are surely "big time", the primary reason for it can be demographically pinned on certain male subsets.
I agree Barbara. But she lost big time with certain male subsets who came out to vote when others didn't. As I said in my first paragraph about Joe Rogan. I literally watched what happened on streaming video on election night here in Arizona where news media were at the U of Arizona and they kept interviewing young men wearing MAGA hats. We were on a roll to win here until Trump got the young males out to vote and esp persuaded the "macho" believing portions of the population to get out and vote as well.
Sadly, this article extends to the whole of America as we used to know it. Many in the legal profession bent the knew as have major universities, mainstream media and corporate America. Silence means that donald and his entourage will not attack you. I am hopeful that the individual citizen sees the state of affairs correctly and votes in the next election. 1/3 of the electorate stayed home in 2024. Voting has consequences as does not voting. Silent Majority arise!
Jack, I completely agree with you. What you’re saying about the silence across legal, media, and corporate America is spot on—and I’ve actually been thinking about writing an article that digs into this very issue. The tricky part is that since my day job is as a professor, I have to navigate carefully around potential conflicts of interest and academic boundaries. Still, your point about how silence only protects people from Trump’s wrath really resonates. I also share your hope that more citizens will recognize the stakes and show up next election, because as you said, voting—or not voting—has consequences. Thanks so much for reading and for adding such a thoughtful perspective.
It's not as though an inconsequential election is coming up just next year or something. Which, you'd THINK, requires the engagement of everyone on the pro-democracy side of the house. But apparently people like Clooney and Reiner, like far too many Democratic voters, only show up in presidential election years, and too many, not even then. We're living with the consequences of that right now, so I'll thank Clooney, Reiner and all the other disengaged Dems to put up or shut up. For good.
Jane, I completely agree. An election “next year” should light a fire under everyone on the pro-democracy side—not just every four years. You’re right that too many Democrats (and too many high-profile voices like Clooney and Reiner) only show up in presidential cycles, and we’re living with the consequences of that drop-off now. This is exactly the moment when their words and actions could actually make a concrete difference—organizing down-ballot, boosting state races, funding legal/voting-rights work—something real, not the performative pile-on they aimed at Biden. If they want to lead, this is the test: put up or step aside. Thanks for reading and for saying it plainly.
I suspect Clooney's and Reiner's silence is based more on throwing good money after bad--meaning the current state of the Democratic Party. I used to give what I could to the party and various candidates. Now I only fund protest actions, outfits like the Lincoln Project, and the voices of the resistance, especially in Substack, who are not afraid of taking on Trump and his regime. This is not to excuse the radio silence, just to offer a possible explanation. Once Dems start showing guts and grit, a plan of action and a willingness to go to the mat--like Governor Newsom--I think Hollywood will show up.
Network tv news sold out to GOP, I feel like this has attributed to Hollywood doing the same… chickens who are controlled by the oligarchy is my first guess…
Kicking ass and taking names!
We need leaders out there marching with us. Our rallies and protests would grow wildly if the big names showed up,
Thank you so much! Funny, this joint venture they so giddily embarked on has all the earmarks of a Hollywood backlot remake of "Strike Up the Band," "Babes In Arms," or "Babes on Broadway." They all contain that famous line "Hey kids! Let's put on a show! A hallmark of the patented Judy Garland Mickey Rooney save the day for the public good. Except these two scions of Hollywood were exclaiming, "Hey kids! Let's destroy Biden's presidency and nomination! Let's strut our stuff and show the world how tuned in we are to American politics! Let's prove the only loyalty we have, is not to the country, not to the present administration. but to our status and superior knowledge of how politics work and how we can commandeer the most prestigious spot on the front page of a internationally renowned paper and on every major cabal network, no questions asked." "The debacle we cause? Ah well."
So here we are dealing with the aftermath of their disastrous ego trips. Are they around to rectify this mess in any manner, shape or form? No. Advice to that town and the scions of it, ie Hollywood. Stick to what you know. And it ain't politics.
A piece of advice to these two svengalis - you love this country? Then open your yaps the way you were so willing to last year and do something - like prove you are truly Americans and not provocateurs doing it for the renown and to burnish you standing.
Re: Celebrity absenteeism…..
“Don’t fall for the okey-doke”….Don Lemon, nightly BEFORE he got demoted and fired by CNN.
-
‘Okey-doke’, indeed.
Yes. Absolutely. Thankyou, Don-for adding that word to
My vocabulary.
I am not crazy.
Clooney.
Reiner.
Ellen Degeneres-safely in the UK where she & her partner are busy behaving like spoiled brats and pissing off their neighbors in whatever 1%er neighborhood they’re cohabitating in.
Rosie O’Donnell-who at least speaks up-albeit from the safety of Ireland. Yesterday I saw a story about Richard Gere heading to Spain & not coming back.
Barbara Streisand was making noises even before the ‘24 election about heading to England for good.
Another item I’ve picked up: Ron Howard saying that he was ‘surprised’ by J.D. Vance, whom he no doubt enriched (along with himself) by producing the VP’s factually questionable so-called memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy’… ‘Surprised’?!?! Really, Dude?!?!
Come ON….
I’ll be blunt. At this point I’ll say ‘Capital F Fuck these people’….
There’s a line from a Steely Dan song: ‘Show bizness kids making movies ‘bout themselves-you know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else”….
Remember what Gavin Newsom said just the other day?
“WAKE UP AMERICA!”
Remember that?
Newsom’s one of the few adults with any guts in the room. So ironic thst there he is in that state that’s brought us the wonder world of Hollywood….
I’m thinking he’d better not be looking to Beverly Hills for a lot of support.
Folks, the late David Foster-Wallace called it right in his masterpiece’Infinite Jest’.
We are collectively well in our way to being entertained to death here.
So-somehow it’s big news that Hollywood is a morally opportunistic whorehouse?
You really think that these schmucks who parade around being inaccessible and flaunting their wealth constantly actually give a fuck about little YOU?
Oh, please.
Please keep covering this issue. Every one of these people who do the Lisa Murkowski / Squeaky Sue Collins ‘I’m afraid’-‘I’m devastated’-‘It’s too much’-‘I’m very concerned’ shuffle & skedaddle off to some gated community on another continent should be outed, shamed and hung out for the ridicule they deserve. Throw Oprah into the bag too. All the chummy horse shit interviews with Harry and Meghan selling you the circle jerk buzz that you’re being let in on some big ‘secret’-that you have ‘access’-that you’re ‘In Touch’-you’re an ‘insider’? Wake up, gang: it’s all bullshit. They’re giving you NOTHING.
And now more and more of them are taking their gold bars or whatever and going to hide away. Moro an eye in the exodus. I’m thinking he’d bettering this is only the beginning. I mean what the heck-Elon Musk wants to settle gated communities on Mars, for God’s sakes.
If you notice how much of Hollywood’s output nowadays is about ‘superheros’ with magical super powers, I’d say that’s a pretty fucking big clue as to how grownup this national consciousness of ours is right about now.
It’s sickening, but alas, utterly utterly predictable.
Then there’s pro sports.
Talk about radio silence.
Check the news release about the recently revealed NBA schedule. They’re doubling the TV coverage. There are gotta-watch games on Election Day. What’s that tell you?
Remember how LeBron James said something on the order of ‘STFU, Dumbass’ to Dump during his first term.m?
Christ you’d think the whole league was a silent religious retreat when it comes to social justice nowadays. Nobody wants to rock that big and gettin’ bigger gravy train.
My guess is: the guys at the top have laid down the law: ‘Shut up & ball’
That poke in money’s the one doing all the talking and if they know what’s good for them, there’ll be none if this ‘take a knee’ shit. That stuff didn’t happen here, right? Don’t forget. It’s just a ‘woke’ fantasy that Biden started.
I hope that the author of the article that prompted this will touch on THIS veil of silence that’s descended on the whole ‘Bread and Circuses’ industry, from MLB, thr NFL, the NHL, tennis, golf-all if it.
Hear that cracking noise?
That’s not LeBron’s knees squeaking under the strain of approaching-what?-his 23rd NBA season for a $50+ million payday? It’s the sound of a collective genuflection by the entire sports broadcasting world. They have a big job, along with Hollywood.
NEWSFLASH! It’s to keep you looking the other way.
Radio silence is the increasingly deafening silence from a growing sector of the entertainment industry.
So just remember, when you’re off to a movie, binging some show or watching 30 NFL or NBA games all at once, Russell Vought and the Heritage Foundation gang that brought us Project2025, Project Esther with more, no doubt, in the pipeline are sticking it to you, draining away liberty, your choices of who you can worship or love it to to school….all if that with additional factor of the gilded live and in color Humpy Dumpy clown show, cavorting it’s dick-swinging way across your consciousness every day with myriad new lies and forms of evasion disguised as ‘Breaking News’ or any manner of ‘Made Ya Look!!’ click-bait you can imagine.
So-one more time: all together now, kids:
“SHOW BIZNESS KIDS MAKIN’ MOVIES ‘BOUT THEMSELVES-YOU KNOW THEY DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE….”
-
So-next time you take you out to the ballgame, stand, remove your hat-MAGA or otherwise-put your hand over your heart and sing:
“O-Oh say can you see?”
Just what exactly IS it, America-‘My country ‘tis of thee’-that you THINK you are ‘SEEING’-‘HEARING’-‘THINKING’-‘FEELING’- ‘COMPREHENDING’ or even ‘UNDERSTANDING’?????
Celebrity absenteeism.
Yes. Absolutely. Thankyou. I am not crazy. Clooney. Reiner. Ellen Degeneres-safely in the UK where she & her partner are busy behaving like spoiled brats and pissing off their neighbors in whatever 1%er neighborhood they’re cohabitating in. Rosie O’Donnell-who at least speaks up-albeit from the safety of Ireland. Yesterday I saw a story about Richard Gere heading to Spain & not coming back. Barbara Streisand was making noises even before the ‘24 election about heading to England for good.
Another item I picked up: Ron Howard-saying that he was ‘surprised’ by J.D. Vance, whom he no doubt enriched (along with himself) by producing the VP’s factually questionable so-called memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy’… ‘Surprised’?!?! Really, Dude?!?!
I’ll be blunt. At this point I’ll say ‘Capital F Fuck these people’….
There’s a line from a Steely Dan song: ‘Show bizness kids making movies ‘bout themselves-you know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else”….
I’ll quote Gavin Newsom:’WAKE UP AMERICA’.
Folks, we are being entertained to death here.
So-somehow it’s big news that Hollywood is a morally opportunistic whorehouse? You really think that these schmucks who parade around being inaccessible and flaunting their wealth constantly actually give a fuck about little YOU.
Oh, please.
Please keep covering this. Every one of these people who do the Lisa Murkowski / Squeaky Sue Collins ‘I’m afraid’-‘I’m devastated’-‘It’s too much’-‘I’m very concerned’ shuffle off to some gated community on another continent should be outed, shamed and hung out for the ridicule they deserve. Throw Oprah into the bag too. All the chummy horse shit interviews with Harry and Meghan selling you the circle jerk buzz that you’re being let in on some big ‘secret’-that you have access-that you’re ‘In Touch’-you’re an insider? It’s all bullshit. They’re giving you NOTHING. And now more and more of them are taking their gold bars or whatever and going to hide away.
If you notice how much of Hollywood’s output nowadays is about ‘superheros’ and magical powers, I’d say that’s a pretty fucking big clue as to how grownup this national consciousness of ours is right about now.
It’s sickening, but alas, utterly utterly predictable.
Then there’s pro sports.
Talk about radio silence.
Check the news release about the recently revealed NBA schedule. They’re doubling the TV coverage. There are gotta-watch games on Election Day. What’s that tell you?
Remember how LeBron James said something on the order of ‘STFU, Dumbass’ to Dump during his first term.m?
Christ you’d think the whole league was a silent religious retreat when it comes to social justice nowadays. Nobody wants to rock that big gravy train. All of them are in it for the money.
I hope that you will touch on THIS veil of silence that’s descended on the whole ‘Bread and Circuses’ industry, from MLB, thr NFL, the NHL, tennis, golf-all if it.
Hear that cracking noise?
That’s not LeBron’s knees squeaking under the strain of approaching-what?-his 23rd NBA season for a $50+ million payday? It’s the sound of a collective genuflection by the entire sports broadcasting world. They have a big job, along with Hollywood.
NEWSFLASH! It’s to keep you looking the other way.
Radio silence is the increasingly deafening silence from a growing sector of the entertainment industry.
So just remember, when you’re off to a movie, binging some show or watching 30 NFL or NBA games all at once, Russell Vought and the Heritage Foundation gang that brought us Project2025, Project Esther with more, no doubt, in the pipeline are sticking it to you, draining away liberty, your choices of who you can worship or love it to to school….all if that with additional factor of the gilded live and in color Humpy Dumpy clown show, cavorting it’s dick-swinging way across your consciousness every day with myriad new lies and forms of evasion disguised as ‘Breaking News’ or any manner of ‘Made Ya Look!!’ click-bait you can imagine.
So-one more time: all together now, kids:
“SHOW BIZNESS KIDS MAKIN’ MOVIES ‘BOUT THEMSELVES-YOU KNOW THEY DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE….”
-
“O-Oh say can you see?”
America, what exactly IS it that you THINK you are ‘SEEING’-‘HEARING’-‘THINKING’-‘FEELING’-‘UNDERSTANDING’?????
It has been ever thus. You may also look to some of the revered ones of politics - There's Timothy Snyder - nicely telling those of us who still believe in democracy and this country how we should "fight and stand up to autocracy." Bravo!
He has an endowed chair at Yale, he writes books on freedom and..... oh wait.....when the going gets rough? He scutters across the border to Canada, to the University of Toronto - I'm sure Yale will hold that chair for him. He said he didn't feel "safe" and he has a family, Guess the rest of us and our families can fight the fight. I'm sure he will return when we give the all clear signal and he will continue to write his books on democracy and freedom in central Europe and here.
As long as we do as he says and not as he does.
Thomas, you’re not crazy at all—you’re clocking exactly what’s going on. Clooney, Reiner, Ellen, Rosie, Gere, Streisand… they’ve all found ways to keep their distance while still floating above it all. And you’re right, even when they “speak up,” it’s often from the safety of another country or the comfort of their gated lives. That distance makes their sudden silence on democracy now feel even louder.
Ron Howard saying he was “surprised” by J.D. Vance is another perfect example—it’s almost willful blindness when the rest of us could see exactly what Vance was from the start. That kind of shrugging passivity, especially from people who profit off these narratives, is worse than useless.
And I’m with you on the broader point: we really are being “entertained to death.” These figures aren’t heroes—they’re opportunists who want the cachet of activism without any of the sacrifice. Hollywood’s moral opportunism is nothing new, but in a moment this urgent, it’s infuriating.
Thanks for reading and laying it out so bluntly. I’ll keep covering it, because as you said, folks need to wake up and see through the performance.
Thank you. I am honored by your reply and feedback and grateful for your work. I look forward to what you bring forth next.
Thank you again.
Still Bummed Cheeto: A Nazi Russian Kiss Ass and American Traitor
It’s been known that Cheeto since the 1980’s has been in the back pockets of the KGB/GRU(https://bit.ly/4fIdQmj) and shamelessly received lots of money from Russian oligarchs through real estate transactions(https://bit.ly/4188w5B) A case of Russian Kompromat a term that was circulated in the 2017 media when Russiagate was prominent is all too obvious
In Anchorage Cheeto continued to show his Russian fealty and that he is the first American President to be an American traitor in which he takes another country’s needs over that of his own country(https://bit.ly/4mJbshd) Cheeto lost another bout as Putin continues killing innocent civilians, showing no sign of capitulation for a ceasefire and Cheeto continues to be the Benedict Arnold of the 21st century with no sanctions or demands
In essence Putin played Cheeto like a fiddle Russia is celebrating with wall to wall media coverage The EU and NATO better get ready to go it alone and adopt a massive aggressive approach against the Russian invasion because Cheeto might as well be a Russian citizen and resident of Moscow but he’s such an immoral abomination even the Russians wouldn’t take him
Dr. Bill, you laid this out with precision. Trump has been tangled up financially and politically with shady Russian networks since the 1980s, and the kompromat angle has always loomed large. The real estate transactions and oligarch money you mention aren’t rumors—they’re documented patterns that made him uniquely vulnerable.
What’s wild is how little it even takes to bend him. Putin figured out a long time ago that you don’t need blackmail or some master plan to disarm Trump—all you need is flattery. Stroke his ego, and he’ll fold America’s interests in favor of anyone who makes him feel important. That’s why his so-called “fealty” to Putin feels less like strategy and more like weakness being exploited.
And you’re right—this isn’t just about foreign policy. The larger danger is how that weakness translates into betrayal of his own country, putting innocent lives at risk while he plays Benedict Arnold cosplay with no accountability. Appreciate you laying it all out here, and thanks for reading and engaging.
Thanks for your thoughtful and summarizing comments It will be interesting to see how European and Ukrainian leaders play the ego flattery....2 groups one the aggressor and the other trying to stop the aggression....each trying to move the TACO Cheeto goal posts which actually don't exist
Beautifully written, as usual, but I don't fully agree with your premise. Yes, very wealthy entertainment celebrities who believe in democracy should consistently and generously help fund the resistance at the least and, I presume, these two are. Yes, anyone other than family and close friends who attended the obscene Bezos wedding should be ashamed of themselves.
But I do see a distinction between the obligation to speak out consistently of lawyers, university presidents, scientists, and military people, for example, vs. the necessity and even advisability of entertainers to do so. The former groups are directly in the fray of our institutions being threatened and we need them to sound the alarm about what's happening. Unless an entertainer intends to run for office, and with the barrage of zone flooding happening now, consistent comments from Clooney and Reiner would end up having the impact of, let's say, Michael Moore. Nothing new to say here, nothing but the expected opinions of any one of us horrified by the moment. Their speaking out regularly in this "off year" then would just weaken their voices, ultimately.
I don't like how the Biden thing was handled; I was a fan of Biden for his whole career. But I think we need to drop any ill feelings we have about the past and stop attacking fellow democracy-loving Americans as that only weakens us. Save your ammunition for the Republicans who are blithely taking us down the road to fascism. Clooney and Reiner are not the problem here.
Barbara, I appreciate your thoughtful pushback. You make a fair point about the different obligations between elected officials, scientists, lawyers, and military leaders versus entertainers. I agree those directly in the fray bear the heaviest responsibility to sound the alarm. That said, the only reason I’ve been responding to Clooney and Reiner specifically is because they stepped in it.
In Clooney’s case, he didn’t just stay quiet—he wrote a full-page op-ed in the New York Times only a few weeks after hosting a fundraiser where he was asking people to come up off their money. That’s not just another celebrity opinion floating out there; that’s stepping into the political arena in a very direct, high-profile way. And once you do that, you don’t get to act like a bystander later.
As I’ve said before, I do think Clooney was nudged by Pelosi and other Democratic figures, but ultimately, he made the choice to take that path. And when you take it, accountability comes with it.
Calling them out isn’t about division—it’s about strengthening the fight for democracy. I would love to treat Clooney as an ally, but I don’t ever want him writing another op-ed like that and expecting silence in response. Thanks for reading and engaging with this in good faith.
Thank You Kristoffer for your article & the "heads-up" reminder of the Celebrities that have chosen to "pick & choose" to speak out when they believed Democracy is at risk...But now seem to be silent. Maybe they are doing something quietly, behind the scenes?? I don't know, but, can hope.
OR, they don't want to be the next target of tRump or Corporations, who are afraid of tRump...so they will be afraid to contract with them...or lose fans? I think on 1 level this was maybe your point.. when the personal cost could be great, they are now silent. I do have to thank you though, because in deciding to write a comment I realized the anger I have felt...for the silence, and the words below are what I really wanted to speak out about. So thank you Kristoffer.
I would just add 1 suggestion, that would also help the "average American", who maybe took the time to read this piece. How about giving credit to the Celebrities who have NOT stopped speaking out on behalf of American Democracy...when the cost could be great? The contrast would be helpful, & thought provoking.
Robert De Niro, Bruce Springsteen, Jane Fonda, Richard Gere and even Taylor Swift... to name a few. I realize that Springsteen is a singer/songwriter, & not an actor, as is Taylor Swift... but, can certainly qualify as a "Celebrity."
Also : Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart (no stranger to speaking out on politics & our lack of benefits for our Veterans). Case in Point: Colbert is paying a personal price for his Standing up for American Democracy....Rosie O'Donnell...has taken public hits for a very long time in her stance against tRump.
I could then go to Athletes... many who have spoken out on the state of our Country & Democracy...First that comes to my mind: Colin Kaepernick's protests during the national anthem in 2016 & has paid quite a personal price. LeBron James...for another. I am sure that there are others, that I am neglecting to list here...BUT, I think the "average American", struggling to get by, and takes the time to read your article... should be given the contrast of the Americans who happen to also be Celebrities... who haven't stopped speaking out on behalf of Democracy....
I guess I made my point...which is to give those who continue to speak up... a thank you for continuing to stand up for the Country, Democracy, & Freedom...which provided them the "backdrop" to be able to become a Celebrity, show their talent... instead of having to be concerned about bombs like Ukrainians, Starving like Gazans,( those who couldn't get out of the country they were born in) being hung in public like young Iranians protesting in the streets. My point here... to the American Celebrities: you were born in a Country that provided the Freedom to flourish....in contrast to other Countries where it is not possible....THANK YOU, for recognizing it and for the courage to speak out, stand up.
So, to those Americans... who happen to have a platform because of their art, talent, athleticism,
on behalf of all the "average Americans", trying to survive in tRump's attempt to destroy American Democracy.... THANK YOU!
To the Average American.... we have to do what we can, do our part as well, unless we want to be like the silent Celebrities.....that Kristoffer is speaking to in this article. Ask yourself Americans... are you afraid, are you silent out of fear, or exhausted... so was George Washington and the 1st Army...BUT THEY stood up....and America was Born.
An Average American, Lover of Democracy, WHO WILL NOT BEND to tRump.... in Oregon
Jan, thank you for the kind words—and for engaging this so thoughtfully. You’re right on a few fronts:
• Some folks may be doing quiet work behind the scenes. If so, great. But when you have a megaphone, silence in public still matters—narratives, turnout, and fundraising all ride on visible leadership.
• Fear is real: the MAGA mob, corporate blowback, lost contracts, boycotts, audits—the personal cost can be high. That’s exactly why courage is needed most now, not just when it’s easy.
I also love your suggestion about crediting the celebrities who have kept speaking up when it’s costly. De Niro, Springsteen, Jane Fonda, Richard Gere, Taylor Swift, Colbert, Jon Stewart, Rosie O’Donnell, D.L. Hughley, LeBron James—and of course Colin Kaepernick—deserve that recognition. And I really hope Kap now understands just how critical voting is in this fight, because protest and policy have to go hand in hand.
Really appreciate you naming what so many are feeling: the anger at the silence. That’s the point of the piece—to push for accountability where it counts. Thanks again for reading and for adding something constructive to the conversation.
I could not agree more! Gold plated hypocrites
I must admit I haven't given much thought to Clooney or Riener. But you got it. Clooney opened his mouth back 2024 and then went silent. Did he even support Vice President Harris in her run for President? Reiner is a nothing to me. Even waiting for Republicans to speak out now is like waiting for hell to freeze over. Democrats in Congress are starting to speak up but need to be louder. They all need to call it out for what we have. A dumb and dumber dangerous autocracy. As Joe Trippi recently pointed out: We have a Presidency of Fired Really. All need to speak out at the danger that is surrounding us. In fact, it is sitting on us.
I like the photo of Clooney's zipped mouth. Don't normally see him with a zipped mouth. What a fresh prospective on the "closed" mouth community. Thanks, Kristoffer. As always keep writing. Take care.
Maxine, this cracked me up: “the closed-mouth community” might be the biggest club in Hollywood right now. 😂 And yep—you’ve got it. Clooney made a big splash in 2024 and then went full Lake-Como Wi-Fi: weak signal, lots of buffering. If he supported Harris, it sure wasn’t in a way that helped once the heat turned up. Reiner? Plenty of noise when it’s effortless, crickets when it counts.
Waiting for Republicans to “find their voice” is like waiting for hell to install central air. I’m with you—Democrats in Congress have started speaking up, but it needs to be louder and more relentless: hearings, floor speeches, state races, voting-rights muscle—the whole toolkit. Because this “Fired-Reality” autocracy you describe isn’t theoretical; like you said, it’s sitting on us.
And credit where it’s due—the zipped-mouth image came straight from the creatives at Lincoln Square. They nailed the visual. Thank you for your continued support and for always keeping the focus sharp.
The Resistance has changed since last year. It has become more diverse, less dependent on star power. Its a big complicated subject, not just about famous people. And no one, knows the whole pictue. Case in point- Young lawyers founding new firms after leaving the firms that capitulated, public health networks emerging, and much more. I am currently writing about America's democratic civil society- based on organizing and networking, not just individuals.
Julie, totally with you. The resistance has shifted—more diverse, more decentralized, and far less dependent on star power. You’re right that it’s bigger than famous people and that none of us sees the whole picture. Your examples nail it: young lawyers spinning up new firms instead of staying at shops that folded, public-health and civic networks rebuilding local capacity, and a lot of quiet organizing that never makes headlines.
My piece isn’t saying celebrities are the center of the story—only that when they insert themselves loudly and then disappear, it sucks oxygen from the folks doing the unglamorous work you’re describing. The real engine is exactly what you’re writing about: organizers, legal defense groups, voting-rights coalitions, labor, mutual aid, local media—networks, not personalities.
I’d love to read your piece on America’s democratic civil society when it’s out. Thanks for adding depth here and for the thoughtful push.
Great to hear back from you, and thanks for your ability to respond positively. I do agree with what you wrote about celebrities. I would love to send you a draft when I get to that point. Maybe you will have some suggestions as to where to post it- probably in a shorter version. Simon Rosenberg of Hopium Chronicles is encouraging my effort. Would love to connect more closely with Lincoln Square. In the meantime, take a look at my website, where you can get a complimentary copy of my book on civil society in South Africa, Tajikistan and Argentina, now a bit dated, as well as a more recent update on Tajikistan.
www. importingdemocracy.org
I am far more concerned that, even after our "celebrities" came out in support of Harris, she lost. And lost big time, even the Blue Wall. Were I a celebrity, what would that have told me? That celebrity political activism does not result in massive votes. Except maybe if you're Joe Rogan and you're appealing to young males. Note: Rogan seems to be wavering right now, time to double down on wooing him out of Trump's camp. Epstein, Epstein, Epstein. Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine. Telling that, despite Rubio's bluster, to the surprise of Trump and his cadre, European leaders are getting in their jets tomorrow morning and turning up at the White House along with Zelenskyy. Ding dong, freedom and democracy calling.
So it doesn't really bother me that Clooney or Reiner (who? asked my 19 year old grandson about the latter) aren't talking. What bothers me far more is the complicity by so many in the legal profession, by the judiciary, by the BILLIONAIRES to Trump's crimes. The universities giving in and handing over donor money, students' money, for which they are thousands of dollars in debt, to line, ultimately Trump's coffers. Not the country's, Trump's (and the other billionaires.)
In my books celebrities are a non event. Let's put the focus back on the billionaires who are building their compounds: Zuckerberg in Hawaii, $270 million for "self sufficiency and security." Bezos, so far, $273 million in Los Angeles. And so on. While we tut tut over the homeless camps being a blight on DC, let's spare a though for people who are losing their homes and farms because they can't afford them only to see them snapped up, torn down, gobbled up, by people and corporations making money from the current economy. There's a little monitor on the top of CNN's Business web page that tracks what is currently driving the economy. Surprise, surprise, it's well into "greed" territory right now.
Valerie, this is a sharp read—thank you. I’m with you on several fronts:
• You’re right that celebrity activism rarely translates into votes. Endorsements can shape narratives, juice fundraising, or set an agenda, but they almost never move large numbers at the ballot box. Harris’s support from famous people didn’t save the Blue Wall; organizing and economic reality decide that.
• Where celebrities do matter is when they jump in loudly (Clooney/Reiner), help create a media narrative, and then vanish. That whiplash sucks oxygen away from the people doing the unglamorous work. My piece is aimed at that accountability gap—not at making celebs the center of the story.
• I agree the bigger, more dangerous story is the power structure you name: billionaires walling off compounds, the legal profession and judiciary laundering impunity, universities and media ecosystems that normalize greed and look away from predation. That’s the architecture that makes authoritarianism durable.
• On the foreign-policy pageant and “freedom/democracy calling” photo-ops—I hear you. It’s spectacle. Meanwhile, housing, wages, and corporate consolidation are crushing people while the homeless crisis becomes a profit center. That’s the battlefield, not the red carpet.
So yes: let’s keep the spotlight on concentrated wealth, a captured legal system, and an economy designed for extraction. Calling out Clooney/Reiner is about cleaning our own house while we fight the larger fight—not a substitute for it. Appreciate your insights and the push to keep the focus where it does the most good.
Harris did not lose "big time"; she lost by 1.5% of the vote--and that's with many Democrats staying home and many culturally adverse to voting for a woman, much less a woman of color. While the consequences of her loss are surely "big time", the primary reason for it can be demographically pinned on certain male subsets.
Actually she, as leader of the Dems, did lose big time. Lost the House, lost the Senate. And that is big time as we have seen from the last 7 months.
I agree Barbara. But she lost big time with certain male subsets who came out to vote when others didn't. As I said in my first paragraph about Joe Rogan. I literally watched what happened on streaming video on election night here in Arizona where news media were at the U of Arizona and they kept interviewing young men wearing MAGA hats. We were on a roll to win here until Trump got the young males out to vote and esp persuaded the "macho" believing portions of the population to get out and vote as well.
Sadly, this article extends to the whole of America as we used to know it. Many in the legal profession bent the knew as have major universities, mainstream media and corporate America. Silence means that donald and his entourage will not attack you. I am hopeful that the individual citizen sees the state of affairs correctly and votes in the next election. 1/3 of the electorate stayed home in 2024. Voting has consequences as does not voting. Silent Majority arise!
Jack, I completely agree with you. What you’re saying about the silence across legal, media, and corporate America is spot on—and I’ve actually been thinking about writing an article that digs into this very issue. The tricky part is that since my day job is as a professor, I have to navigate carefully around potential conflicts of interest and academic boundaries. Still, your point about how silence only protects people from Trump’s wrath really resonates. I also share your hope that more citizens will recognize the stakes and show up next election, because as you said, voting—or not voting—has consequences. Thanks so much for reading and for adding such a thoughtful perspective.
It's not as though an inconsequential election is coming up just next year or something. Which, you'd THINK, requires the engagement of everyone on the pro-democracy side of the house. But apparently people like Clooney and Reiner, like far too many Democratic voters, only show up in presidential election years, and too many, not even then. We're living with the consequences of that right now, so I'll thank Clooney, Reiner and all the other disengaged Dems to put up or shut up. For good.
Jane, I completely agree. An election “next year” should light a fire under everyone on the pro-democracy side—not just every four years. You’re right that too many Democrats (and too many high-profile voices like Clooney and Reiner) only show up in presidential cycles, and we’re living with the consequences of that drop-off now. This is exactly the moment when their words and actions could actually make a concrete difference—organizing down-ballot, boosting state races, funding legal/voting-rights work—something real, not the performative pile-on they aimed at Biden. If they want to lead, this is the test: put up or step aside. Thanks for reading and for saying it plainly.
Thanks for raising issues like this, Kristoffer. You're one of the few voices calling out performative Democrats, and lots of us appreciate it!