OMG, now Matt is interviewing movie stars . . .

But this was an interview with an unusually intelligent and thoughtful public figure. Thank you for that, Matt. And also for showing us how there are, in fact, a few intelligent and thoughtful people in Hollywood. Oh, I suppose the distribution of intelligent and thoughtful people is similar in Hollywood to any other industry, it's just that more Hollywood people are out there saying brainless stupid shit than, say, dentists or computer salesmen. So it colors your thoughts, establishes prejudices.

I never paid much attention to Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon's politics over the years. I knew they were some variety of ultra-lefty, but I don't recall them ever saying stupid shit. Maybe they have said a lot of stupid shit, but I've never seen it. And I do remember that about them, so I always had a sort of charitable view of them, some respect. We might disagree about how we achieve this or that objective, but that's all it is, a disagreement. It's not stupid shit. So I'm pleased, so far as I can tell from this interview, Robbins really is that intelligent and thoughtful Hollywood guy I suspected he might be. And there is nothing he said in this particular interview that I disagree with. At all. That was nice.

Ralph Nader is an impressive person, I admire him greatly. I am pretty sure I disagree with almost all his political prescriptions, but I recognize a thoughtful, honest and courageous personality. I suspect we would like to see many of the same outcomes, he and I, but we disagree on how to get there. But that's all it is: I disagree with a fine man. It wasn't so long ago it wasn't weird to say that out loud.