Sean Penn Pontificates From Cannes; Obama Cringes

Not many actors depart from the DNC's talking points, and Sean Penn illustrates why it's dangerous to go off-script.

Speaking from the Cannes Film Festival, where he has been appointed "president of the jury," Penn called Barack Obama's voting record “phenomenally inhuman and unconstitutional.” It's true that Obama has the most liberal voting record in the Senate. If anyone can explain how it is inhuman or unconstitutionall, let me know.

Penn grew more confused, or confusing, as he continued to opine on Obama:

"I hope that he will understand, if he is the nominee, the degree of disillusionment that will happen if he doesn't become a greater man than he will ever be,” Penn said.

What? How does Obama "become a greater man than he will ever be"? This is why the writers' strike shut down Hollywood: actors like Penn cannot write their own material.

To the extent that Penn is calling Obama an empty suit, I disagree. Obama is highly intelligent. His refusal to tell us what he actually thinks -- as opposed to relying on vacuous platitudes like "change" and "hope" -- is downright deceitful. Obama knows exactly what he'd like to do as president, but he also knows that if he ever actually tells us, he won't win.

Consequently, Penn is correct that some, maybe many Obama supporters will become disillusioned if Obama ever gets an opportunity to "change" who knows what. Obama's campaign has been a Rorschach test; voters see whatever they want, because he has never provided any substance to contradict their fantasy of who he is.

When You Go to Vote, Don't Forget to Wear Shoes

"Kentucky Republicans tend not to be the brightest bulbs or outside-the-box thinkers. " So pontificates DitchMitchKy.com blogger Matt Gunterman. In the words of Thurston Howell III, "he must be a Yale man, Lovie."

Gunterman, who says he is "a doctoral student in the history of medicine and teaching fellow" at Bill and Hillary's Alma mater, can hardly restrain himself from singing "Boola, Boola" given the Democrats' prospects in tomorrow's election. (Speaking of restraint, or the lack thereof, Gunterman today wrote a bizarre piece about Governor Fletcher and Robbie Rudolph that takes political, or should we say Freudian, projecting to a new level.)

Gunterman also reports that "Soon-To-Be Gov. Steve Beshear can transform how the world sees Kentucky and how Kentuckians see themselves." Gunterman should do his part first by scrubbing his blog, where expletives and name-calling substitute for facts and logic. (You may need to disable your parental control settings to access the link, given the profanity.)

Yesterday Gunterman's colleague, Shawn Dixon, criticized singer Pat Boone's phone message endorsing Governor Fletcher, complaining that we don't need "California friends calling us to talk about Kentucky values." Note that Dixon claims he "will matriculate this fall in the JD program at New York University School of Law, where he has been awarded the prestigious AnBryce Scholarship." (Congrats!)

Thank goodness these philosopher kings have deigned to enlighten us Kentucky rubes from their perches in Greenwich Village and New Haven.

For local flavor, their comrade Jim Pence's offering boils down to "Liar, liar, pants on fire," and various You Tube videos, one of which features a hillbilly with a shotgun offering dim-witted sexual innuendo about Republicans. (Is this a hate crime?)

If this level of argument is the best that Kentucky liberals -- a/k/a "progressives" -- can muster, then conservatives should take heart, even though elephants may seem to be endangered species in the Bluegrass tomorrow.