The hardest thing is trying not to correct everything on the Internet.You know we had some protesters last night when we pulled up in San Francisco – and they’re right to protest, they’re absolutely right. ... It’s ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics.
Murrow taking onMcCarthy was one of the great high points in broadcast journalism, along withCronkite stepping out from behind his desk and talking about howVietnam doesn't work were two moments in broadcastjournalism that you could point directly to and say actually changedAmerican policy... I don't know a reporter that doesn't want to break a bignews story. It is constantly the battle betweencommerce and news, or keepingentertainment from pushing the news off the air... I was looking to open a debate, to have a discussion, to be able to talk about issues that I think are important. It's simply saying, as Murrow says in the film, we have to find a way to find a safe place between the protection of the individual and the protection of the state at the same time.
I'm terrified of waking up at 65 years old, which is getting closer, and to wake up and say I didn't do the things that I was supposed to do... as a citizen... As someone who is well-known, I... can help bring focus... And I try to, as a son of a journalist, when I take on those causes, to be really well informed so that they can't marginalize you or make you an idiot along the way.
The hardest thing is trying not to correct everything on theInternet. It'd be night and day—wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. So you just have to say, "All right, I'll take it, bring it on."
"The 9:10 to Crazyland: George Clooney searches for George Clooney" by A.J. Jacobs,Esquire (April 2008), pp. 104–105
We’re very generous people, Americans. We gave a billion a year with theSudan to protect and help people after these tragedies. We’re going to be involved one way or another; we’re going to be there. It would be a lot better without spending a single dime, without costing any American lives — to get in there now with robustdiplomacy, hard-corediplomacy,freezing assets, freezing bank accounts, doing everything we can to protect the people who want to vote for the right to freedom... If you knew atsunami orKatrina or aHaiti earthquake was coming, what would you do to save people?
Yes, I think it’s an obscene amount of money. You know we had some protesters last night when we pulled up inSan Francisco – and they’re right to protest, they’re absolutely right, it’s an obscene amount of money. TheSanders campaign, when they talk about it, is absolutely right, it’s ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics, I agree.
I like theCoen brothers. Theirfilms are smart and disturbing. I am very impressed by what George Clooney is doing now. He is very political. I like the fact that he didOceans Eleven andOceans Twelve, made all that money and then leveraged the money and his success into interesting projects.Johnny Depp has also set up a production company and is showing an interest in risky projects that will not be easy. I am sorry that it is hard for the average person, and even for an above-average person, to see a film that is not aHollywood production. You see those films only in the festivals. There are few people there. That is worrying. People don't think. My goal in work is to make them think. Themedia do the opposite.
