Ed Asner
Posted on 10/10/2003 12:54:25 PM PDT by kimmie7
In the news this week are several reports of an exchange between syndicated talk-show host Mike Gallagher and actor-turned-leftist-poster-child Edward Asner.
The account goes like this: Mike Gallagher approached Asner at a recent cocktail party promoting the new film "Elf" in which Asner stars as Santa Claus. As Gallagher introduced himself, Asner asked his profession. When Gallagher replied "radio talk-show host," Asner replied, "I love going toe-to-toe with you guys.''
''I know,'' Gallagher replied. ''I've heard you on Sean Hannity's show.''
''Hannity's next, you know,'' Asner responded.
''Huh?'' said Gallagher.
''Hannity's next,'' said Asner. ''We're going after him just like we went after Limbaugh. And you saw what happened to Rush this week, right?''
I can attest to these news reports because I was there. Standing not more than 10 feet from where the conversation was happening. Shortly afterward, as Mike and I were exiting the party, we were chatting on the elevator of the Empire State building.
"Kevin, did you hear what he said?" Mike exclaimed, "That was a truly strange experience." And he then proceeded to relate the story to the rest of the folks riding with us in the elevator.
The following day, as a part of the same film junket, I found myself sitting in a room with Mike and several others waiting for Mr. Asner to field his questions from us regarding the release of "Elf" – a movie that I believe will be huge at the box office this holiday season.
As Mr. Asner walked in, he saw both Mike and me sitting at the end of the table closest to him and quickly quipped, "What is this? The Salem witch trials?" This, of course, being a play on words alluding to Mike being a syndicated talk-show host for Salem Radio Network (and heard on better than 200 stations), and that I had just taken over as the host on the legendary New York's WMCA 570 "Home of the Good Guys," also a Salem property.
Upon seating himself at the end of the table and making small talk about cookies and cupcakes – he did seem to be in a particularly jovial mood – he asked point blank: "Does anyone at this table hate me? Hate my work as an activist or in any other way?"
It was such an odd question that the room fell dead silent for a moment before breaking into the short amount of time he had for questions about the film.
As he answered questions about the film, he often broke into stories about his days gone by, and even his reasons for getting involved in left-wing politics. He even talked somewhat reflectively about one of his first acting gigs, playing Santa for the downtown Chicago Marshall Field's store.
"It was the worst job I ever had," said Asner. "All I could do was put these poor – extremely poor – kids on my lap and say to them, 'Well Johnny, well Susie, Santa's gonna see what he can do about getting that for you. Knowing full well that these kids' parents were so poor that more than half these kids had no chance of ever seeing the gifts they asked for. It was just awful.'"
By the end of his time with us, I had not asked him a specific question yet, and in my mind I could not get away from the scene from the party of the night previous.
"Mr. Asner, I do have a question – unrelated to the film," I said. "In your long and distinguished acting career, going back to your earliest days in Chicago all the way up to present days working with Will Farrell on 'Elf', you have had the chance to do almost anything you could ever wish to do. But if you had the chance to play the biographical story of a historical figure you respected most over your lifetime, who would it be?"
Remembering the sad story he had told about the poor kids in Chicago, I half expected him to come out with a political name of some sort.
"I think Joe Stalin was a guy that was hugely misunderstood," said Asner. "And to this day, I don't think I have ever seen an adequate job done of telling the story of Joe Stalin, so I guess my answer would have to be Joe Stalin."
Suddenly the time had run out, and for the third time in less than 18 hours, Ed Asner had puzzled the room he was in, into a stunned and disbelieving silence.
Mr. Hannity ... I don't think you have anything to worry about.
No, the bad actors get accolades so they aren't losing out on anything for their "mistakes".
So, if certain readers want to call us Rush fans hypocrits, go ahead; we will not stop supporting him.
Assner, like 99% of Hollywood actors, think that 90% of Americans are easily swayed by the rhetoric spit forth from them. We might have been some years ago - pre-Clinton era - but most of us have had it with them. If Assner, Sarandon, Madonna, Sheen, et al, actually believed that us commoners clasp our hands together and ooh and ahh them, I wouldn't be surprised.
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