Two reader responses:
Reader A—”Pitt is a southerner. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a
closet conservative. I’ve never seen or read him say anything out of Left
field.
There are more conservatives in Hollywood than you’d think but they have the
good sense to keep their mouths shut.”
[Me—If he’s a Southerner, shouldn’t he be chewing the stuff?]
Reader B—”C’mon John, that’s an easy one. I can answer it in four words,
not my words, but Lenin’s words: ‘vanguard of the proletariat’. The
’vanguard’ gets excused a few non-PC excesses (eg, smoking) because of the
extreme effort involved in leading the rest of us talent free idiots to
Utopia. They are essentially redistributionists, class warfare proponents
and environmentalists when it comes to you and I. But none of them are
beckoning the ‘losers of life’s lottery’ to live in their mansions (or even
on the grounds), eat their food, etc. They’re sending their kids to private
schools, but crappy public schools are good enough for the likes of us. We
need to ride a bike or drive an econobox death trap to save the planet’s
resources, they take limos or private jets, build massive houses on
disappearing beachfronts, have 20 cars, indulge in private ownership of what
would otherwise be a national park or job producing forest, etc, etc, etc.
Because of their access to a public forum, they get to harangue us about our
uncompassionate political views (‘Republican, right between reptile and
repugnant in the dictionary’…) So a little smoking surprises you?
Anyhow, you asked for a theory. KBO.”
[Me—I love it when people drop subtle references to my past columns. That
valedictory “KBO” refers to this ]