Actor and activist George Clooney has already brought his plea for peace in Darfur to the White House. In separate meetings last month, he pressed both President Obama and Vice President Biden to resuscitate diplomatic efforts to end the atrocities and starvation in war-torn Sudan.
Now the 47-year-old actor is blogging about his experiences on a recent trip to the region. Arguing that “there’s nothing new to report,” Clooney says in his Daily Beast blog that not much has changed from his last trip. And, in a candid moment of confession, the Academy Award winner acknowledges that activists working in a 24/7 media echo chamber are always looking for fresh outrage.
“Finding a new outrage is the only way to catch the world’s attention,” he wrote. “You spend your time looking for (and even secretly hoping for) something or someone tragic to report. A good personal story to get the attention away from what dominates our days and nights. The economy. Iraq. Ponzi schemes. The Oscars.”
Clooney is not the only Hollywood figure to enjoy access to Washington’s political powers, or express interest in political causes. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were in town last week.
She was filming the movie “Salt,” about a CIA agent racing against the clock to disprove charges she is a Russian sleeper spy. And he was making the rounds on Capitol Hill for his charity, the Make It Right Foundation, which helps build environmentally-sustainable housing for Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward.
