4.12.2006
Sheen Puts His Education Before Real-life Politics (Independent.co.uk)
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Published: 11 April 2006
The US President has had enough. He is leaving the White House and will instead concentrate on improving his education - something he readily admits is lacking. As a sign of his new-found dedication to learning, he will travel to Ireland and enrol at university. Philosophy and English literature will be his thing.
Yes it is true, gentle reader. But only in that parallel world of Washington politics known as the West Wing. With the final season of the popular television series drawing to a close and with a successor having been elected to succeed (fictional) President Josiah Bartlet, the actor who plays him has decided to go back to school.
In that odd interface of reality and entertainment, Martin Sheen, 65, who has played President Bartlet for a full seven seasons, was urged by figures within the Democratic Party to make a real-life run for the Senate seat in his native state of Ohio. "I'm just not qualified," he reportedly said. "You're mistaking celebrity for credibility."
Some would argue that Sheen's strident opposition to the war in Iraq and championing of human rights would make him an ideal Democratic candidate in autumn's Congressional elections. But Sheen, who says he only barely managed to complete high school, has instead decided to study at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway. In addition to literature and philosophy, he hopes to study oceanography.
(More ... Independent Online Edition > Americas) ¶ 21:29
Published: 11 April 2006
The US President has had enough. He is leaving the White House and will instead concentrate on improving his education - something he readily admits is lacking. As a sign of his new-found dedication to learning, he will travel to Ireland and enrol at university. Philosophy and English literature will be his thing.
Yes it is true, gentle reader. But only in that parallel world of Washington politics known as the West Wing. With the final season of the popular television series drawing to a close and with a successor having been elected to succeed (fictional) President Josiah Bartlet, the actor who plays him has decided to go back to school.
In that odd interface of reality and entertainment, Martin Sheen, 65, who has played President Bartlet for a full seven seasons, was urged by figures within the Democratic Party to make a real-life run for the Senate seat in his native state of Ohio. "I'm just not qualified," he reportedly said. "You're mistaking celebrity for credibility."
Some would argue that Sheen's strident opposition to the war in Iraq and championing of human rights would make him an ideal Democratic candidate in autumn's Congressional elections. But Sheen, who says he only barely managed to complete high school, has instead decided to study at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway. In addition to literature and philosophy, he hopes to study oceanography.
(More ... Independent Online Edition > Americas) ¶ 21:29
