Melanie Morgan

Sean Penn, who lives just a couple miles down the road from me, and who hates 'the right-wing" with a passion, is now on the defensive about mainstream media reporting on his trip to Venezuela and his huggy-cuddly visit with Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, speaks with U.S. actor Sean Penn, both seen through the window shield of a vehicle, as they ride together near La Grita, Venezuela, Friday, Aug 3, 2007. (AP Photo/Howard Yanes)

Doesn't he read the newspapers? Cindy Sheehan's photo with Chavez turned American opinion against HER.

Maybe he doesn't care.

Even major Hollywood liberals are saying Sean Penn "went too far" in letting himself be used by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to again bash the United States. It was all part of a very anti-American and anti-Hollywood propaganda pitch to boost various Venezuelan causes -- including a visit to a filming site project that is being launched specifically to snare moviemaking away from Hollywood.

Asking not to be identified, one major Hollywood producer -- himself a big contributor to liberal causes and Democratic candidates -- told this column Sunday, "It's no secret that Sean is very left-wing, even in a town where liberal or even radical politics have long been common. But as much as many people here despise [President] Bush, a lot of us think this trip to Venezuela by [Penn] was wrong.

"Danny Glover did it too. ... It isn't the proper thing and only gives ammunition to conservatives who like to point to Hollywood as being anti-American."

Last week the Oscar winner visited a number of poor areas in Caracas and traveled inland to the site of a big film production facility Chavez is creating to compete with North American filmmaking studios.