Simple. The party line in Hollywood is even clearer than in the MSM (where some veneer of objectivity, however thin, is still used). Penn knows perfectly well what it takes to be seen as a "serious" and "committed" activist type, which will get him major brownie points in his Bizarro world. Two hours with Chavez won't trump Spielberg's infamous 8 hours with Castro, but it will certainly impress all of Sean's little friends. He the Man, all right.

The saddest thing is not what Penn is doing, which is basically the same old shit, but rather the fact that ANYBODY pays even the slightest attention to ANY celebrity when they step outside their area of competence (assuming they have one).

Did you all know that Penn's father was a very well known communist party operative?

Yes. He was exposed during the Army-McCarthy hearings if I'm not mistaken. As I've said before, McCarthy may have been an asshole, but he wasn't wrong about the influence of commies in Hollywood.

Apparently Venezuela is just one of the stops on the Celebrity Axis of Evil Tour.

That picture of chavez and Penn is great; dumb and dumber.