Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Ron Silver R.I.P. (1946-2009)

He died of cancer. I didn't know he had cancer.

Apparently he went from political Lefty to Centery. Which is interesting, because I best knew him as Bruno Gianelli on "The West Wing," where he went from supporting the liberal democrat in one election to supporting the liberal republican in the next.

I don't know a lot of his work, but I was a fan of his work on "Wing," and that means a lot in my book.

Here's a great quote from Bruno Gianelli (probably written by Aaron Sorkin):
... I'm tired of working for candidates who make me think that I should be embarrassed to believe what I believe, Sam! I'm tired of getting them elected! We all need some therapy, because somebody came along and said, "'Liberal' means soft on crime, soft on drugs, soft on Communism, soft on defense, and we're gonna tax you back to the Stone Age because people shouldn't have to go to work if they don't want to!" And instead of saying, "Well, excuse me, you right-wing, reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun, Leave It To Beaver trip back to the Fifties...!", we cowered in the corner, and said, "Please. Don't. Hurt. Me." No more. I really don't care who's right, who's wrong. We're both right. We're both wrong. Let's have two parties, huh? What do you say?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not to speak ill of the dead, but there's a reason why Hollywood turned their backs on Silver. After 9/11 he became VERY uptight about U.S. security and publicly ripped on Islam. His right entirely, but he was less than gracious in attributing his social isolation to his having become a Republican.

DiscordianStooge said...

I publicly rip on Islam and care about U.S. security too. It doesn't make me a republican.

I didn't much know his politics. Unlike most righties, I don't care much about my entertainers' politics.