One of the nice things about Barack Obama is that he doesn’t seem as starstruck in the face of Hollywood celebrities.

He seems relatively free of the unseemly manner that consumed the previous Democratic president when in the presence of famous faces. For all the flaws of an Obama presidency, it would seem we would at least avoid Markie Post jumping on the bed in the Lincoln Bedroom, Barbra Streisand complaining about the President spending too much time with Sharon Stone, a president meeting in his first 125 days with Billy Crystal, Streisand, Sharon Stone (twice), Richard Gere, Richard Dreyfuss, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Quincy Jones, Sinbad, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Sam Waterston, Hammer, Lindsay Wagner and Judy Collins…

So far, the grittier, urbane, worldly Obama seems immune to the seductive charm of Hollywood glamour, indifferent to the… what?

[Scarlett Johansson] e-mailed him after some of the Democratic debates, offering her thoughts on his messages and performance. “After the silliness of the last ABC debate,” she said of the highly criticized event co-hosted by Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, she wrote to congratulate him on “holding his ground.”
His replies have been thoughtful, she said, more than a brief line or two; on the ABC debate, he responded that the questioning was “difficult” and he was being pounded on “one silly question after another.”Johansson is somewhat shocked that he keeps up their back-and-forth correspondence. “You’d imagine that someone like the senator who is constantly traveling and constantly ‘on’ — how can he return these personal e-mails?” she asks. “But he does, and in his off-time I know he also calls people who have donated the minimum to thank them. Nobody sees it, nobody talks about it, but it’s incredible.” She adds, “I feel like I’m supporting someone, and having a personal dialogue with them, and it’s amazing.”
He has followed her career as well, telling her that his favorite performance was her turn in “Lost in Translation.” He’s a “huge movie lover” and “knows who every actor is,” she said.

I love Johansson’s incredulity that a blonde bombshell starlet gets personal e-mails returned. Of course, I’m sure the senator responds to a lot of e-mails from supporters, not just those who look like this:

(Okay, I admit, I used to respond to Scarlett’s e-mails, until she filed that restraining order.)

Well at least he’s not hanging around with Streisand as much as… oh, wait:

Streisand’s personal spokeswoman, Marge Tabankin, says talks are underway with the campaign in Chicago to decide what exact role Streisand will play in the presumptive Democratic nominee’s efforts to win the White House.

UPDATE: I didn’t see this earlier, but the guys at Expressio Unius are on the same wavelength…

ANOTHER UPDATE: Oh, no. Now Jennifer Lopez wants in on the act.