Is it just me or can anyone else see a link between acting ability and political view point?! to give some examples consider: Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Ben Affleck and Robert Redford on one side of the political landscape and on the opposing side we have: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Chuck Norris. I know there must be exceptions however I do definately see a trend......anyone else see this?

Why would anyone care about theese actors political views ? do they know more about politics than, let's say, mechanics ?

Well given the number of Hollywood Actors who go on to hold political posts up to an including the most powerful i.e President USA, I think people should care. Also since hollywood actors/TV personalities are well known and are often in the limelight their views reach a vast global audience as opposed to say your mechanic at the local garage Famous actors also often have the resources which can and do make a difference....for example not many mechanics have the means to post an article like this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-p...2_b_44172.html

IMO the nature of an actors job also means that they have a lot more knowledge and understanding of other countries/cultures around the world since they often have to travel to many locations for filming etc and therefore can see and experience things first hand for themselves rather than through TV or Radio.

BTW - I believe the cost for sean penn to publish his open letter was around $58,000 !!

One would think that out of 58,000 $ at least some would go to fact checking and style/grammar check...

When actors are running for office, then we need to discuss their political opinion. until then it's nothing but light entertainment.

What I consider light entertainment is the US mainstream media like the famous Fox News Channel or CNN. I do agree with you about the grammar of the piece by penn, however I couldn't figure out much factually incorrect about it. It's a real shame but it seems that some of these actors ask more questions and have more of a reaction to major events than the Mainstream Media......and it also strikes me as pretty obvious that since many of these actors are idolized by the entertainment driven mass populace (especially in the US) that their opinions/rants/writings do make an impact.

Does it, therefore, also strike you as being pretty obvious that the people of the United States are more stupid than the people of France, China or Zimbabwe, for example?

Any person in the public eye who portrays coolness or beauty will have a massive impression on all the people that are not happy being themselves.