Natalie Portman arrived in Toronto on Wednesday to support her lead role in the film Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. It’s a dramedy about “a woman’s difficult relationship with her stepson”. I think it must be a really, really low-budget film, and it might not even have a distributor yet. In any case, Natalie walked the red carpet in this fuchsia-pinkish dress for the screening of the film. While I always think Natalie is one of the most beautiful women on any given red carpet, this dress… is not one of her best. I’d like to see the dress without that papery-looking flower on her boobs. But isn’t it remarkable that even in a less-than-average dress, she’s still stunning?

During the press conference for the film, Natalie was asked, as a dual Israeli citizen, how she felt about the Toronto International Film Festival’s inclusion of Tel Aviv in the “City to City” program. Background: Before TIFF was even underway, the host committee announced a 10-film spotlight on Tel Aviv, using predominantly Israeli artists. Every year TIFF chooses one city, but with the selection of Tel Aviv as the city, many high-profile artists protested, calling it a way to spotlight “”the Israeli propaganda machine”. Several artists pulled out of TIFF, complaining of Israel’s politics and the lack of corresponding Palestinian spotlight, and suggesting that including this spotlight would be, in effect, the artistic community’s endorsement of those Israeli policies.

When asked about the controversy, Natalie showed off her intelligence and class, I think:

In a roundtable interview yesterday morning for her new film Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Natalie Portman explained why she signed a letter in support of Tel Aviv’s inclusion in TIFF’s City to City program – a choice that sparked a protest from other filmmakers.

“I just think the protest was very poorly considered,” the Jerusalem-born actress said.

“I’m not saying Israel is beyond criticism, because there’s plenty in Israel’s politics that you can criticize. It’s just, why boycott artists? It’s ridiculous. If you want to talk about applauding places that are built on suffering, the United States was built on the genocide of 40 million native Americans. Are we going to boycott American films?”

“How about those slavery years?” Don Roos, the film’s writer-director, piped in.

“Yeah, that slavery was awesome too,” Portman said.

“Also there’s so much dissent in Israeli and Palestinian art, and that’s part of the spotlight. I wonder – because those people [who signed the protest letter], I respect their work – I wonder if they hastily signed that, because it seems not well thought through.”

[From The Canadian Globe & Mail]

I think Natalie’s best argument is “Why punish the artists?” If you don’t like a particular country’s politics or policies, fine. But don’t try to censor or protest the artists from that country. As far as Natalie argument about America and genocide… well… I just hope the Fox News people don’t get ahold of this transcript. Some people could really twist her words.

Here’s Natalie at TIFF last night. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Madonna has taken her Jesus to Israeli. Wasn’t something like this described in Revelations? Anyhoodle, Madonna is in the Holy Land to perform two “Sticky & Sweet” concerts in Tel Aviv. Does anyone think Madonna should have renamed the tour at this point? Let her call it “Hip Displacement & Crotchety” or perhaps “Man Arms & Grundle”. Before Madonna’s big Tel Aviv performances, she took her baby Jesus (Luz) to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. I’m pretty jealous. I’m not even that religious, and I’ve always wanted to go to Jerusalem and touch the Wailing Wall. Sigh. I love the History Channel - they did an “Inside Jerusalem” special that rocked. I bet Madonna saw it too!

Madonna also went out to dinner with Israel’s opposition leader Tzipi Livni last night – in interviews, Livni comes across as the smart, tough former Mossad officier she is, but I’m really disappointed she had dinner with Madonna. Bad call, Tzipi.

Madonna sparked a media frenzy when she visited the Jewish faith’s holiest site today.

Wearing high heels, blue jeans and a black jacket, the singer was accompanied by her Brazilian boyfriend Jesus Luz and several bodyguards when she visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Dozens of onlookers tried to get a glimpse of the diva while a crowd of photographers snapped away as the 51-year-old ducked into one of the tunnels near the pilgrimage site, which is also known as the ‘Wailing Wall’.

Madonna landed in Israel earlier today aboard a private jet. She is due to give two concerts in Tel Aviv as part of her Sticky and Sweet tour. During her visit, the star will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Tzipi Livni.

A fervent practitioner of Kabbalah, Madonna is also due to attend a conference on the study of Jewish mystic discipline along with fellow Kabbalists, actress Demi Moore and her husband Ashton Kutcher.

In an article published in the popular Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, last month, Madonna recounted the long spiritual search that led her to Jewish mysticism.

‘I was raised a Catholic and my father was very religious, but none of my questions ever got answered,’ she said.

The Queen of Pop’s spiritual search led her to practise yoga and study Buddhism, Taoism and the Art of War – a 16th century military treaty – and to read about the early Christians. She said her search was over after she turned to Kabbalah.

In 1997, Madonna discovered a Los Angeles-based centre that teaches an eclectic mix of Orthodox Jewish tradition and positive thinking aimed at spiritual well-being. In 2004, she took the Hebrew name Esther but has not converted to Judaism.

From the point of view of Orthodox Jews, her studying the Kabbalah is sacrilege as they consider it should be reserved for married men over 40 who have pored over Talmudic texts for years. Madonna has previously visited Israel in 2004 and 2007 on private trips.

[From the Daily Mail]

Do Israelis take Madonna seriously at all? In most of the pictures I’ve seen from Madonna’s Excellent Holy Land Adventure, she’s being totally swarmed. But I always thought that orthodox and/or conservative Jews thought the whole Hollywood Kabbalah thing was a big joke. Come to think of, most everyone thinks it’s a big joke. Perhaps the Israelis were just excited to see the new love of Madonna’s life, the baby Jesus? That could be it.

Former Miss California (and Perez Hilton bête noire) Carrie Prejean is so mad! She’s so mad she’s going to throw a little temper tantrum through the California court system. She’s going to wail and cry and stomp her feet, and if that doesn’t work, she’ll probably drop to the floor of Wal-Mart and start rolling around, sobbing loudly. As you might have guessed, no one was paying attention to Carrie Prejean anymore, and she’s decided to sue the Miss California pageant. The charges include libel, infliction of emotional distress (she got a boo-boo on her psyche) and religious discrimination.

This is happening after most of us forgot about the insanity that is this whack-job’s martyr complex. After she got dissed by the pageant committee for being an insolent, unprofessional, lazy, hypocritical liar, her ass was saved by Donald Trump, who called her “strong, tough, smart and very beautiful.” Less than a month later (the second week of June), Carrie was fired, for good this time. When Carrie made some vague lawsuit threats when she was first fired, the Miss California pageant struck back quickly, giving a laundry list of reasons for why Carrie had not fulfilled her contract. They accused Carrie of “churlish insolent misbehavior,” “intolerable misbehavior,“ and “hostile communications.” They also had a record of Carrie turning down 39 pageant related appearances in one month. Of course, Carrie still thought she was persecuted and “set up” because of her conservative views. And now she’s got “evidence”:

Former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean has filed a complaint against pageant officials, Keith Lewis and Shanna Moakler, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The complaint, filed in the Superior Court of California, cites damages to Prejean including libel, public disclosure of private facts, religious discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

“To us it’s outrageous what happened,” Prejean’s attorney, Charles S. LiMandri, told RadarOnline.com exclusively. “There’s no doubt in our minds, that if she had answered that question at the Miss USA pageant differently she’d probably still be Miss USA right now, but she’d definitely still be Miss California.”

In a statement obtained by RadarOnline.com, Limandri explained: “Over the past two months we have worked hard to provide overwhelming evidence that Carrie Prejean did not violate her contract with Miss California USA and did not deserve to have her title revoked by Keith Lewis. We will make the case that her title was taken from her solely because of her support of traditional marriage. Keith Lewis has refused to clear her good name or even to admit any wrongdoing. Therefore, Carrie Prejean is left with no alternative but to take her case to court where she expects to be fully vindicated.”

A comment call to Shanna Moakler’s rep was not returned.

[From Radar]

Is it just me or does Carrie’s lawyer make it sound like the idea of proving that Carrie might have a legal leg to stand on is really, really difficult? I think it’s the way he says “…we have worked hard to provide overwhelming evidence that Carrie Prejean did not violate her contract…” (emphasis mine). Look, if you want to know what a liar this girl is, just see all of the crap she’s said over the past six months. She’s insane. And as far as the religious discrimination stuff… good Lord! Get off the cross, people need the wood. It’s an insult to the genuine religious persecution that goes on in the world.

In a recent issue of Playboy, Alec Baldwin was interviewed about everything from 30 Rock to his political ambitions. When asked if he was serious about running for office one day, Alec told Playboy, “The desire is there.” Here’s more, via HuffPo:

Playboy: Will you run for office?
Baldwin: I’ll put it this way. The desire is there; that’s one component. The other component is opportunity. A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read, “Mr. Baldwin, here’s who we represent, the kinds of cases we handle, our credentials in Ohio state politics. We want you to move to Ohio and run for governor. We will launch your career.”

Playboy: Could you live in Ohio?
Baldwin: I have sometimes thought I could move to New Jersey or Connecticut and run. I’d love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him. But it’s all fantasy. I’m a carry-me-out-in-a-box New Yorker. Here, anything can happen. Who thought Eliot Spitzer would go down the way he did? Senator Hillary Clinton left to serve as secretary of state. Two of the biggest forces gone. Maybe Andrew Cuomo will run for one of their old seats. How much longer will Chuck Schumer stay as senator? After 2013 Bloomberg will be gone. What happens then?
Do I run for Congress on Long Island? What’s Tim Bishop going to do? He represents my district. People get sick, die. They’re offered lucrative deals and want to cash in and make money for their retirement. People misstep. Unfortunately, an opportunity for me may mean bad things for someone else. I don’t wish that.

Playboy: Did you turn down any (SNL) sketches for being too outrageous?

Baldwin: Probably a few. It’s hard to remember. I’m often asked if I think about going into politics. If I do, these guys will have a field day. I’ve given them so much crap to use against me… I’m thinking, If I run for political office, they’ll have a forest of material to kill me with.

[From the Huffington Post]

When Sen. Lieberman appeared on CNN’s State of the Union with John King yesterday, King asked Lieberman about Alec’s comments. The senator was all “bring it on”. Actually, his words were “make my day.” Eh. You, senator, are no Dirty Harry. But Lieberman acted with some grace:

John King: Question to Senator Lieberman. In the latest issue of Playboy Magazine, Alec Baldwin is quoted as saying “Maybe I’ll move to Connecticut. I would love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him.” [to Sen. Lieberman] You’re not up for three years. Do you want to run against Alec Baldwin? You had a good one last time.

Lieberman: [laughing] First, let me say… when you started with the Playboy interview reference, I’m glad you ended with Alec Baldwin. And not with one of the centerfolds. Ah… second, uh… make my day, I mean, you know. I must say, I have respect for Alec Baldwin as an actor and a comedian, and if he wants to run, that’s his right.

[Transcribed from CNN’s State of the Union 8/23/2009]

You know what would have been an even more graceful exit for Sen. Lieberman? If he had started talking about Tina Fey. He should have said something like, “Alec is a talented actor and comedian, but he’s no Tina Fey. Now, if she was going to run against me in Connecticut, I would get slaughtered.” But Lieberman couldn’t say that. Because it’s the truth. Fey for Preznit!

Here’s Alec Baldwin at the annual Artists vs. Writers charity softball game in East Hampton, New York on August 15th. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Elizabeth Edwards on CNN vs. Tommy Thompson on Health Care. The John Edwards part is not in this video

Last night, Elizabeth Edwards appeared on Larry King Live to talk about the health care debate currently raging all over the country. They set it up so it was Elizabeth versus former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. The bulk of Elizabeth’s appearance was her talking about the need for health care reform and her support for the public option.

Later in the interview, once Thompson was gone, Larry managed to get in a few questions about the Rielle Hunter scandal (video at Radar). The National Enquirer has run two covers in a row about John Edwards and Rielle. Last week’s story was that John had been confirmed as the father of baby Frances, via a DNA test. This week’s story, that we covered yesterday, was about how John is moving Rielle and Frances closer to him so he can be involved as a parent. Elizabeth pretty much denies these stories, insinuating that the paternity test hasn’t happened yet. Elizabeth says that she “expects” that the test will happen, “in a quiet way.”

One week after a report claimed that John Edwards was going to admit fathering the 18-month-old daughter, Frances, of his ex-mistress Rielle Hunter, Elizabeth Edwards says she expects her husband to take a paternity test.

“My expectation is that, at some point, something happens,” Elizabeth said on a Wednesday night appearance on Larry King Live. “And I hope for the sake of this child that it happens, you know, in a quiet way.”

Earlier this month, Hunter testified at the federal courthouse where a grand jury is investigating whether campaign funds were illegally used to buy her silence. John could admit he’s the baby’s father before the investigation concludes, according to North Carolina CBS affiliate WRAL.

Despite reports of martial discord (The National Enquirer says she packed her bags angrily after John moved Hunter and the baby into a nearby home), Elizabeth told King “things are going fine” with John.

“We’re getting the children ready for a new school year,” she said. “Everything seems to be going pretty smoothly at my house.”

Elizabeth, who was diagnosed in 2007 in incurable breast cancer, also opens up about her health.

“The numbers don’t look that optimistic, but I feel good,” she says. “And I’ve had recent tests that show me to be in pretty good health, all things considered. I’m still out here fighting.”

[From Us Weekly]

Ugh. I don’t even know what to say about this. Is it weird that I think Elizabeth is lying? I actually think the Enquirer might be more reliable on this scandal than Elizabeth. After all of this time, I believe John has already taken a paternity test – although it was probably unnecessary, because I think John knew he was the father of Frances from the beginning. That’s why he initiated this mangled, sketchy cover-up. It wasn’t just a cover-up for the affair, it was for the baby. It’s just so sad, because in the first part of the interview, Elizabeth is kicking ass talking about health care. She’s such a strong, informed, educated advocate, and it makes me sick to see her still out there defending her douche husband.

Brad Pitt on Bill Maher Part 1: Mostly about Make It Right NOLA, architecture

Brad Pitt on Bill Maher Part 2: Religion & smoking weed

To promote Inglourious Basterds, Brad Pitt stopped by Real Time with Bill Maher Friday night. Brad barely spoke about the film, though, instead taking some time to talk about marijuana, politics, religion, and Make It Right NOLA. You Tube has the interview in two parts, above. The first half of the interview is mostly about New Orleans and architecture, Part 2 is about religion and smoking the reefer.

One of my favorite parts of the interview was when Maher asked Brad about his recent comments to Ann Curry, that he doesn’t “have a chance” if he decided to run for New Orleans mayor, because his platform would include “gay marriage, no religion, legalization and taxation of marijuana platform.” Brad told more to Maher:

Bill Maher: What is about religion that you don’t like?
Brad Pitt: I grew up in a religious family, in a religious community, and it just doesn’t make sense … for me. It doesn’t work for me in the long run. I never wanted to step on anyone else’s religion, beliefs, that’s what’s great about our country, until I started seeing it defining policy. Like gay marriage. You have a group of people telling other people how to live their lives, and you can’t do that. In fact, I’m talking like there are actually Christians watching your show…
Maher: No, there are. You’d be surprised.
Pitt: Well, to the three that are watching, I just say you have to, you really have to check what country you’re living in because the freedom that allows you to practice religion is the same freedom you’re stepping on. That’s not right. And I want to add… if there was a nation of gay married couples that were telling you you couldn’t practice your religion, I’d be speaking up for you, too… So, let’s stop the nonsense.

[Transcribed from Real Time with Bill Maher]

Also, when Bill Maher tells a story about how he and Brad were at a New Year’s party years ago, Bill saw Brad rolling “the most perfect” joints he had ever seen. Brad joked, “I’m an artist!” Maher asks why Brad gave up smoking weed, as Brad admitted to in his recent Parade interview, and Brad replied, “I’m a dad now. You want to be alert and my eyes used to glaze over when I did that.”

It was an interesting interview, and I was happily surprised by how much respect Maher and Pitt seemed to have for each other. Bill Maher is not a man who tolerates fools, and he seemed happy enough to let Brad talk for five minutes about Make It Right NOLA, and both Pitt and Maher seemed to hold back from making some harsh comments about various politicians. Maher did roll his eyes and groan a little when Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s name was mentioned, but Brad tamped it down.

Ann Curry sat down with Brad Pitt for yet another exclusive interview this morning in a pre-taped piece from New Orleans. Brad was in New Orleans last Friday with sons Pax and Maddox, so I would assume that’s when he did the interview. I’m a little shocked Ann Curry got the “get” from Brad again, considering there were rumors he was none too happy about her Brangelunatic fondling during their interview in Cannes this year. Still, Brad likes to do dual promotion when his films come out – he often brings Ann or whoever else to New Orleans so that he can bring some focus to Make It Right NOLA as well as whatever film he’s promoting.

This interview was a lot like the others Brad has done in New Orleans. Brad gave Ann a tour of the lower 9th Ward, where the Make It Right homes are going up. Ann’s voiceover also claims that some world-class architects (like Frank Gehry) have signed on to make some of the homes for the project. Brad says that the lower 9th Ward is now “the greenest neighborhood in America”. Ann tries to push Brad into saying rich people should be giving up their money big time, but Brad shoots it down, saying, “Really, I don’t know what people’s personal situations are so I hesitate to even speak about it.” Ann keeps going, and Brad hedges, “Listen! We’ll take donations! I’ll use them. Make it Nola dot com. Oh! Dot org! I‘ll take them, I don‘t want to discourage people.” Meanwhile, Ann jokes, “Get it right!” and tries to touch him again. Crazy Brangelunatic.

Then Ann asks Brad if he’s “seen the t-shirts”. She’s referring to the “Brad Pitt for Mayor” t-shirts that someone in new Orleans has been making and selling. There’s been a movement the past year or so within new Orleans that Brad should run for mayor in 2010. Brad confirms that’s he’s seen the t-shirts, and he laughs.

Ann asks, “If chosen, would you run?”

Brad replies: “Yeah, yeah… yeah….I’m running on the gay marriage, no religion, legalization and taxation of marijuana platform.”

Ann: “Okay…” She then keeps asking.

Brad: “I don’t have a chance… I don’t have a chance, that’s my answer.”

After that, Ann manages to get personal, although Brad seems uncomfortable. She asks him about the Parade interview, where Brad talked about what love meant to him, that it was about putting the interests of his family before his own. Brad says, “I stand by that… someday it won’t always be there, so…I don’t look forward to that day, so… it comes with it, the greater the love, the greater the loss.” Dude. This was a little heavy for this early in the morning.

Alec Baldwin has admitted in the past that he’s considered going into politics, and apparently the desire is still there. Baldwin, a staunch liberal, has received offers of help from all sorts of folks, and says he was recently approached by a law firm in Ohio that wants him to run for their state’s governor.

Alec Baldwin, a regular Huffington Post contributor, has been talking about running for political office for years now. It seems he’s still considering switching careers someday. “The desire is there,” Baldwin said in an interview with Playboy magazine this month. Last year, Baldwin told CBS’ 60 Minutes that running for office is “something I might do one day.” He was even more candid in his latest comments. The “30 Rock” star said that an Ohio law firm has already contacted him about a gubernatorial run, and he added that he would “love to run against Joe Lieberman.”

Playboy: Will you run for office?

Baldwin: I’ll put it this way. The desire is there; that’s one component. The other component is opportunity. A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read, “Mr. Baldwin, here’s who we represent, the kinds of cases we handle, our credentials in Ohio state politics. We want you to move to Ohio and run for governor. We will launch your career.”

Playboy: Could you live in Ohio?

Baldwin: I have sometimes thought I could move to New Jersey or Connecticut and run. I’d love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him. But it’s all fantasy. I’m a carry-me-out-in-a-box New Yorker. Here, anything can happen. Who thought Eliot Spitzer would go down the way he did? Senator Hillary Clinton left to serve as secretary of state. Two of the biggest forces gone. Maybe Andrew Cuomo will run for one of their old seats. How much longer will Chuck Schumer stay as senator? After 2013 Bloomberg will be gone. What happens then?

Do I run for Congress on Long Island? What’s Tim Bishop going to do? He represents my district. People get sick, die. They’re offered lucrative deals and want to cash in and make money for their retirement. People misstep. Unfortunately, an opportunity for me may mean bad things for someone else. I don’t wish that.

If he does decide to enter the political fray, however, Baldwin says his competitors will have a plenty to use against him.

PLAYBOY: Did you turn down any (SNL) sketches for being too outrageous?

BALDWIN: Probably a few. It’s hard to remember. I’m often asked if I think about going into politics. If I do, these guys will have a field day. I’ve given them so much crap to use against me… I’m thinking, If I run for political office, they’ll have a forest of material to kill me with.



[From the Huffington Post]

I think Baldwin is right about the forest of material. As much as I normally admit to liking the guy, I think it’s just because of how much I adore him on “30 Rock.” He’s got a legendary temper that can lead to fiery dramatics. Great for reporters, but I doubt he could actually get much done politically unless he could tone it down. Big egos are common in politics so I don’t really think that would hurt him – but you’ve got to earn it, and though actors have obviously gone into politics before, I’m not sure that Baldwin could make the transition.

Update: This post previously had photos of a man that the photo agency claimed was Alec Baldwin. The photos were not Baldwin and have been replaced.

Alec Baldwin is shown grabbing Marci Klein, a producer on 30 Rock and one of his bosses, on 3/30/09. Credit: Fame Pictures

Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin resigned as the governor of Alaska on Friday before the holiday weekend in the US. Palin said she was resigning because she wanted to avoid the “lame duck” status she would have held before the next Gubernatorial election in November, and transferred power to her Lieutenant Governor. She easily could have run for re-election, but it’s thought that she’s choosing to enter politics on a national level again, and there’s speculation that she might run for President in 2012. Still, it makes you wonder what motivated her to quit, seemingly abruptly.

Palin’s father-in-law told People Magazine that he had “no idea” that Sarah was going to resign. This is a kind of cute story about how he caught the biggest salmon of his life on Friday, yeah right, and then got the unexpected news.

On the night before Sarah Palin resigned as governor of Alaska, her husband Todd Palin dialed the cell number of his father, Jim. “Sarah’s making an announcement tomorrow. Can you be there?”

Jim Palin was more than 200 miles away in Kenai, preparing for a salmon fishing trip with friends. He had no clue why his son was calling, or the nature of the announcement. “I didn’t know what was coming and I didn’t ask,” he said. “I couldn’t get back because I had a commitment. If I had been home, I would have been there,” he says.

Early the next morning, Jim went fishing and landed his biggest salmon yet – a 60-lb. King. Then a little after 11 a.m. he got another whopper – news that his famous daughter-in-law was quitting her job as governor of Alaska. “Wow!” he said after reading the bulletin on his email. “We had no idea it was coming. Nobody seemed to know; they’re extremely private people.”

Jim, who along with his wife Faye, joined Todd and Sarah on the campaign trail last fall when Palin was running for vice president on the GOP ticket with John McCain, says he wasn’t privy to the details that went into Sarah’s decision.

“Obviously, Sarah and Todd had thought it through and as far as the future lies, and based on what she said, I feel confident they have several options available to them and we will support them in whatever they do,” he says. At the very least, he says, Palin will have the freedom to speak without the specter of ethics complaints lingering. “If she’s not in office, they can’t file frivolous ethics complaints against you. That becomes a waste of time and money,” he says.

[From People]

That last line, “frivolous ethics complaints,” may explain why Palin resigned so suddenly, but we’ll have to wait and see if there’s more than just the investigation into her dismissal of the Public Safety Commissioner. Celebrities usually announce divorces and breakups on Fridays because we’re all anxious to go home and they get the least coverage. Add a holiday weekend in there and people are even less likely to talk about your announcement. It seems uncharacteristic of Palin to time something for the least amount of publicity, especially if she plans a return to national politics. She was upset over that joke by David Letterman about her daughter, but that was a few weeks ago and it’s all died down now. Palin didn’t shy away from the controversy and went on the Today Show denouncing the joke. Is this going to be all we’ll hear about Palin’s resignation, or will more information come out soon?

Brad Pitt’s younger brother Doug is often the spokesperson for the Pitt family, so it’s a given that Doug knows a lot about being diplomatic, dealing with the press, and knowing when to keep his mouth shut. Coincidentally, those are great qualities for a politician. When the Missouri state Republican Party was thinking and talking about who should run in Missouri’s seventh congressional district. That seat is currently being held by Rep. Roy Blunt, who is the front-runner for the Republican nomination for the 2010 Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Kit Bond. So the state party is looking for someone young, good-looking, family-oriented, with great name-recognition for the congressional seat. Guess who they wanted? None other than Doug Pitt! Doug is a successful local Springfield businessman and philanthropist, and he apparently is quite the local Republican, unlike his brother Brad, who is quite the liberal Democrat. It’s sort of like a John Steinbeck novel.

Anyway, when Doug’s name came up, Brad apparently convinced his little brother not to run. This is according to the National Enquirer - they claim Brad has “big plans” for the work he and Doug will be doing together, and they wouldn‘t be able to do their work if Doug ran for Congress. Just in the last six months, Doug and Brad (and Angelina Jolie, through the Jolie-Pitt Foundation) have given away more than $2.5 million to Missouri-based charities and causes. There was the $1 million donation to a children’s charity just before Christmas last year; then the $600,000 to Drury University for environmental technology (in the name of their father); and just a couple of weeks ago there was the $1 million donation to a pediatric cancer ward in honor of Jane Pitt. It seems Brad has successfully convinced Doug that there are better ways to help people rather than running for Congress:

Brad Pitt killed his brother Doug’s political career before it even got started.

Instead of a job in Washington, Brad wants Doug to work by his side. Doug, 42, a respected businessman and philanthropist in the family’s hometown of Springfield, Mo. He recently saw his name emerge as a leading choice to run for Congress in Missouri’s conservative 7th district.

But with firm prodding from Brad, Doug put the kibosh on entering his name on the 2010 ballot, a source told the Enquirer.

“Brad has big plans for him and Doug,” the source says. “They’ve already worked on a few charitable projects together, and Brad wants to see them become even more involved as a team.”

“Brad felt if Doug was serving in Congress, anything they tried to do would smack of political cronyism.”

While Brad, 45, is a well-known liberal, Doug would have run as a Republican, says a friend. Doug jokingly needled his brother: “Is this your way of trying to keep another Republican out of Congress?”

Doug was intrigued with the idea of a political career, said the friend. “And with the respect that he has, and that famous last name, he would have been a shoo-in.”

“But Brad helped him see that there are other things he can do to help make the world a better place.”

The Pitts have worked together on community projects, but Brad wants Doug by his side not just for humanitarian reasons. He values his business experience and wants him to help with his film production enterprise.

“There’s no one on earth Brad trusts more than his brother,” said the source. “It Doug had headed to Washington as a politician, brad would have lost a trusted business partner.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, July 6 2009]

Honestly, I sort of believe this, and I sort of don’t. I’m not even sure Doug Pitt is really a Republican, but it’s conceivable. What I also find conceivable is that Doug might have had political ambitions. What I don’t buy is that Brad wouldn’t fully support whatever Doug wanted to do – and I don’t think Brad would refuse to support his brother just because of a “cronyism” charge. It doesn’t make much sense to me – but then again, I don’t live in a Steinbeck novel.

Photos are from Brad Pitt’s visit to the capital on 3/5/09. Credit: WENN>com