Here's a picture of Jon Voight

Jon Voight has some advice for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama: get out of politics and become an actor. Voight, one of the rare Hollywood stars who staunchly supports the Republicans, offered a tirade Tuesday to several reporters covering the party's convention in St. Paul. In a rant ripped from the pages of a movie script, the actor questioned Obama's experience, slammed the "lunatic fringe" protesting outside the convention and accused the media of generating the controversy surrounding the 17-year-old unmarried pregnant daughter of vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. "You're going to try to make it a distraction, perhaps," Voight said to members of the media. "I suggest that we think - all of us here and the people listening to me perhaps - think about what that little girl is going through ... she's going through a lot of hell and we can make it worse, or we can take care of her." The 69-year-old, Oscar-winning actor is no stranger to problems within the family. He's been estranged from his own daughter, movie star Angelina Jolie, for many years after his divorce with actress Marcheline Bertrand. Voight also delivered a stinging broadside against Obama's bid for the White House. "Obama has a nice way of speaking. He can read a television monitor. He'd be terrific in my part of the world ... and if he didn't want to be in front of the camera, he could get a job doing voiceovers. He's got a wonderful voice," Voight said. "But he's being manipulated guys. He's got a speechwriter writing every speech, hitting every note that the American people want to hear. It's a science, and we think that that's a guy who can take care of our country?" Obama has "never made a major decision in his life," he added. "I want to know who can attest to this guy's character, except his wife." As expected, the Republican convention has lacked the celebrity wattage of the Democratic gathering in Denver, where stars including Spike Lee and Chevy Chase mingled with delegates on the convention floor. Celebrity has been a key theme in the Republican party's attacks against Obama. Presidential nominee John McCain launched an ad earlier this summer, which portrayed Obama as being the "biggest celebrity in the world," likening his ability to lead America to the vacuousness of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Voight also expressed his support behind President George W. Bush's war in Iraq and gushed at the prospect of meeting Palin, who is scheduled to address the convention Wednesday. "I think she's a magnificent choice," he said. "I can't wait to meet her." Voight is also promoting his upcoming movie An American Carol, a satire about an anti-American filmmaker who is visited by three ghosts who try to show him the true spirit of the country.

September 2, 2008  Like