Newsday: West (tv)Wing article re: Ron Silver (gag)

(from email)

TV art imitates politics, or vice versa?
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Actor whose 'West Wing' character joined GOP is appointed to think tank board by President Bush

BY DANIEL WAGNER
WASHINGTON BUREAU

October 14, 2005

Around office watercoolers across the nation, fans of TV's "The West Wing" are wondering whether former Bartlet staffer Bruno Gianelli, played by the New York actor Ron Silver, was wise to jump Democratic ship and begin working for Alan Alda's Republican presidential candidate.

If Silver's real life is any indication, he made the right call. Last week, President George W. Bush nominated the self-described "9/11 Republican" to the board of directors of the United States Institute of Peace, a congressionally funded think tank charged with promoting international peace and conflict resolution.

Silver, who spent decades advocating liberal and Democratic causes, surprised the entertainment community last year by speaking on behalf of Bush during the Republican National Convention.

Following recent accusations - citing former Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Michael Brown, Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers and others - that the Bush administration values partisan loyalty over substantive experience, does Silver's resume support his nomination to this select group?

Institute directors are required by law to have "practical or academic experience in peace and conflict resolution." Institute spokesman Gary Matthews said he is unaware of any director who had not spent a career in academia, international development, nonprofit work, or government.

Silver declined to comment.

He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, White House spokeswoman Erin Healey said, and has been involved with various international think tanks.

Silver is one of 4,200 members of the Council of Foreign Relations and serves on its Independent Task Force on Public Diplomacy. Council members are admitted based on peer recommendation. Task force members discuss issues and prepare reports.

He also sits on the Wilson Council, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' private-sector advisory group, and once presented a photography exhibit in China under the auspices of the State Department's CultureConnect public diplomacy program.

"So we feel as though he's qualified," Healey said.

But a State Department source who asked not to be identified said this activity hardly represents substantial experience in peace and conflict resolution.

"To the extent that public diplomacy is always working toward , you could make that stretch," she said. "But in terms of conflict resolution as the State Department normally sees it? Not really."

Copyright (c) 2005, Newsday, Inc.

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This article originally appeared at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-ussilv144468685oct14,0,642872.story?coll=ny-homepage-mezz

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6 months ago or so and next to Ron Silver was the only available seat in a packed dining area. I chose to stand rather than gag on my food sitting next to that asshat.

What happened to Dennis Miller, and why did he get passed over from BushCo ?

Miller is a comedian?

He talks too fast?

What's the difference, I say... they're both just opportunistic and a bit desperate.

how Janeane Garofolo has been dealing with him during the filming of the show. I know she has made no bones about the way she feels about him in real life!

ET should do a bit on that topic, but that might pierce the carefully-crafted bubble of illusion.

There's bloody cucumber sammitches on the moon but Hollywood cable infotainment news focuses our attention on the slit skirts of celluloid goddesses instead.

Silver's a moon man, that's for sure.

when she returns to the Majority Report. She is not one to hide her thoughts or feelings. Thank goodness.

He wreaks of it.
:hide:

Down 37% from last year in viewers. All I could think of is ROVE?

LOL, the campaign storyline is just too normal, that is, with a "normal" republican candidate with a conscious..heh.

where, I am sure, many loyalists missed it. Also, if "60 minutes" is late because of football (for east coast and midwest) viewers have to choose. I suspect that the audience for both is the same.

Seriously, I think the Keith Olbermann fans keep Keith on air because we demand it, in our letters and emails to the show and the MSNBC network. Otherwise he would have be yanked long ago for his "liberal" spin :)

I'm surprised West Wing isn't required viewing for every History and Political Science 101 class in high school and college...in the WORLD!!!

Otherwise the terrorists win <snork>.