Clooney Meets With Obama on Darfur

How can you tell the Democrats are back in office? George Clooney is influencing major policy decisions.

Monday night, the Academy Award-winning actor, director and producer known for his unprecedented two terms as People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive," emerged from the Oval Office and announced that President Obama had agreed to "appoint a full-time, high-level envoy" to war-ravaged Darfur. According to Politico, Clooney told reporters. "This would be a huge policy step."

Mr. Clooney, who has traveled frequently to the region, is known for being a strong advocate of peace in Darfur, both producing and appearing in documentaries about the Sudanese region beset by ethnic and tribal conflicts that have cost an estimated 300,000 lives. The timing of his visit, he said, coincided with the International Criminal Court's expected indictment of Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir.

Reporters asked Clooney if he'd discussed any other matters with the president or vice president. "No, I'm not there as some policy nut," he said. "I was just there to tell them what I saw and hope that there was some way that I could amplify anything that they were doing."

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