I'd say it looks like Harkin showed himself to be a rude individual. If you have ground rules laid down for a meeting ahead of time, you can either be a gentleman or not. Harkin, apparently, is not. That his office publicized his rude behavior is certainly puzzling.

hilarious!

Bullshit, good for him. While he was at it, did he give him a good talking to about marital vows? Pitt and Jolie deserve each other!

john p..................... eh?

I don't know what Ms Manner's planet John P comes from, but on my planet, arrogant, self-important folks who claim more standing that they merit are to be taken down a notch.

Three cheers to Senator Harkin, and a big ol' Bronx cheer to Brad Pitt.

Who's Brad Pitt?

I agree with John P. I don't know how I feel about Pitt, or anyone, laying down conditions for a meeting with a Senator. But your agreement to meet is a tacit agreement to the conditions. Harkin was not a gentleman.

AMEN for Senator Harkin......who the hell does Pitt think he is laying out groundrules for ANYBODY? Puhlease.

hillarious, even!

normally, yes, something like this might be construed as rude,
but narcissistic hollyword stars cum do-gooders sometimes
need to be taught it's not all about them.

good for senator harkin, i say!

I think John P is right... If you don't think the person is worthy of following their conditions for the meeting then don't take the meeting. Its disingenuous to invite someone into your "home" turf and then refuse to treat them as they have asked to be treated.

Maybe you think Pitt is a jerk for his demands but do YOU have people salivate over you every day? Do YOU have people so desperate to get a piece of you that they wil lliterally rip your hair out? No you don't so your perspective on the world is a little different to his. Am I saying he is right or that he didn't ask for it by being a star? No but judge not lest ye be judged.

It is not Harkin's place, despite my usual support for him, to "teach lessons" to movie stars. Pitt made his guidlines clear and they were accepted implicitly, otherwise the meeting should have been canceled - Harkin should be embarassed by his lack of class in this matter...

And by " narcissistic hollyword stars cum do-gooders" you natrually mean anyone who either actually or in possibility might not align with your side of the political spectrum, right?

Laying down ground rules to meet with a senator was rude; the senator, of course, could have refused the meeting. Agreeing to the terms and not abiding by that agreement is rude.

While I've never met Mr. Pitt, I know several people who've worked with him on charitable projects, and they all invariably describe him as polite, personable and down-to-earth.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, my guess is that he didn't want a serious talk to be overshadowed by the usual disruption and excitement that a celebrity visit can trigger. Hardly an outrageous request.

Um, sweeties --

You might not have heard about this government thing, but Senator Harkin makes laws. Brad Pitt makes films.

Senator Harkin is more powerful than Brad Pitt, in the non-fanboy world. Centuries of protocol say that a Senator must respect a citizen, but ideally no citizen is respected more than any other. Mr. Harkin schooled Mr. Pitt in that same lesson -- his staff is worthy of the same respect as he and his title.

Did no one go to civics class?

Good for Harkin. I worked for the recall campaign in California and I met Arnold. He was a complete asshat. I was working on a webpage at the time and he walks in and starts making little "suggestions" while my boss is standing there. I don't criticize my mechanic because I don't know shit about cars. Since Arnold knows nothing of politics or web design, he shouldn't criticize.

Actors are the scum of the earth. At least lawyers do paperwork. They are somewhat useful to society. An actor is somebody who's only natural given ability is lying and pretending to be something they are not. They should not be rewarded or respected at all.

To hell with Brad Pitt. Good for Harkin, though he probably imposes in much the same way whenever he goes somewhere, but hey, at least he has a job that takes more thought than being good-looking (which Harkin definately isn't).

Harkin acted like a right wing ass.

If one doesn't agree to the terms, don't take the meeting. Easy enough. You can always make fun of the terms later.

harkin had the upper hand and used it. brad pitt doesn't deserve anyone's sympathy. go senator go.

John P is wrong. There was no "agreement." Pitt made demands. He was ignored like a petulant child. When you demand something, and it's ignored, there is no agreement. End of story. Good for Harkin.

As a public interest lobbyist, I have spent countless days in meetings with members in the House and Senate. We always felt lucky to meet with the member rather than jr. staff. Pitt is on Harkin's turf, requesting a meeting. I hardly think he is in a position to dictate the terms. It is not rude of Harkin, rather it is imperious and rude of Pitt, although I expect the decision was driven by Pitt's staffers rather than him. Handlers are the one's who think they are so self-important....

I want to publicly declare that if Angelina Jolie requests a private visit with me, I will immediately clear my office, apartment and calendar.

Kudos, Senator! Mr. Pitt and I are both American Citizens. I would make no extraneous demands if able to meet my Senator in HIS office, nor should Pitt be allowed to dictate terms that are different. If a meeting was in a public space, of course, certain preconditions might be neccessary, but a private meeting in the Senators office? C'mon man...

I do suspect that Mr. Pitt probably got a good laugh out of it though...it was probably his publicists or managers idea..

A cat may look at a king, and a movie star who ditched his wife for another may be treated just like every other citizen.

Sounds like Harkins is an asshole to me. He didn't have to agree to the conditions or the meeting. He could have said no, no meeting. Instead, in effect, he lied.

I hate liars, especially politicians that are liars.

the dear abby responses on this thread are comic gold.

Wow, if ever there was a who-gives-a-crap story, this has to be it.

Reminds me of the old joke: Q: What did the Pope say to the Prime Minister of Canada?

A: Who cares?

he got the meeting because he's a celebrity.
so he had to meet a bunch of people... big deal.
I'd like to think it was "his people" who made the demands, and that he was reasonable about it when he did... it's called compromise!

I personally met Sen. Harkin. He's a stand up guy and I'm proud to see that he gave his staff the opportunity to meet one of the top stars in Hollywood. To hell with ground rules, its a US Senator.

Like Roscoe said above there probably was no agreement. The Senator's office probably got a call that said "Brad Pitt is coming for a visit and HERE'S what you're going to do..."

I don't really blame Pitt for what happened. It was probably his handlers that made the demands. The handlers are usually the most arrogant people you will ever meet. I do however applaud Senator Harkin for not being stepped on just for a photo opportunity. It really grates me how a lot of celebrities take issues like poverty in Africa and use them for their own publicity without ever really caring about the issue.

WHO SAYS HARKIN AGREED TO THE CONDITIONS?

Just because Pitt's "people" made them doesn't mean Harkin agreed to them. And it clearly looks like he did not.

If Pitt is going to meet with a politician to talk about charitable public service work shouldn't he approach the endeavour campaign!)?

How DARE Tom Harkin not abide by the rules of Hollywood Royalty? Who does he think he is?

But seriously....anyone calling Harkin a "right-wing asshole" has absolutely no clue who he is, one of the last great old-school Iowa Democrats. I think he handled it very well.

Now the question is what the hell does all this matter unless we build a robot to distribute all worldly resources according to binary code??
LONG LIVE UNIKRON! DEATH TO THE FASCIST INSECT! BEGIN THE ROBOT INTIFADA!

Your father-in-law calls and says he is coming to your home to discuss "family matters".
Have his favorite meal of homemade lasagna prepared and waiting, but for God's sake don't use any of that cheap cottage cheese. Only the real ricotta will do. Bow down and kiss his ringed hand as he enters but don't look him in the eye until he gives you permission. If you must speak to him make sure to call him sir or master. Have Frank Sinatra's greatest hits playing at a medium-low volume. And do make sure you've sent those pesky children away for the evening so he doesn't have to put up with any whining, snot nosed little brats begging him for a hug or something worse.
Looking forward to the visit? Or are you locking the door and turning off the lights.

Mr Pitt got off easy if you ask me.

Needless to say, this is amusing but not important. But there's a lesson here: you don't dictate to senators on their own turf; tends to make 'em tetchy.

Brad Pitt is, I assume, a CA resident. Harkin is an IA senator. Unless Pitt's primary residence is in Council Bluffs, he really doesn't have any right to demand an audience with Harkin. To put it another way, he's a lobbyist, not a constituent, and shouldn't expect to be able to bigfoot his way around a senator's office. As it is, I doubt that Pitt was making any demands himself, but maybe his advance team learned something: Washington may be Hollywood for ugly people, but it still wants to be treated like Hollywood.

all the snarky comments about Mr. Pitt see to be a bit whiny stereotyping. While it may seem demanding for some ... I could easily see this as an attempt to not make a big deal of the visit. Just an effort to not be used for a photo-op or mobbed by fans when all he wanted to do was talk about some issues.

Would somebody please tell me who Brad Pitt is?

Lobbyists bigfooting their way around Senators' offices? Well, I never. Good thing Sen. Harkin showed Mr. Pitt how things really work in Washington, DC. There'll be no more of that!

I think what some of the "Harkin is Rude" people are missing is that Harkin was standing up for his staff. Demanding that his staff be cleared out is tremendously insulting, implying that they are unprofessional and not really doing anything important--at least not as important as Mr. Pitt's visit. I'm thinking that this led to Harkin's response and I commend him for standing up for his staff.

As noted, it doesn't seem like Harkin ever agreed to anything either.

kickass, way to go Harkin. Yet another reason I'm proud to be an Iowa Democrat.

I worked on Capitol Hill for years, and whether the request came from Pitt or the handlers it would have been rightly perceived as inappropriate and slightly histrionic. People in DC work with the rich and powerful every day, though they use a different set of customs than their brethren in hollywood. You're riding elevators with Presidents of foreign countries and sitting next to Supreme Court Justices for dinner and yes, Hollywood types aren't infrequent visitors.

This does not faze the typical staffer. Smart hollywood people observe the customs of teh country they are visiting. Pitt's request would have been seen as comical at best and disrespectful of the staff's professionalism. The blurb says only that he was introduced to staff, not that they made him sign autographs.

Jigglebilly - yes I agree actors pretend to be something they are not. Ronald Regan - case in point!

Who is John P harkin anyway. I wouldnt know him if i was sitting right next to him. But Brad Pitt I would know him no matter where he was or what he looked like.

Who do these hollywood actors thing they are to go around making rules when on a Senator's own turf?
Most of us ordinary citizens would feel fortunate to even meet with a senator and wouldn't dare to set the rules.
Actors are so over-rated and over-paid in our society. I am glad the senator put his staff before this over-rated hollywood actor.
His constituents in Iowa should be proud!!!

Brad (Mr. Pitt)
Not trying to waste you're time....All I want to say is whatever anybody says about anything dealing with your life, I just want to tell you you're a terrific entertainer....you have made me laugh, cry, and any other emotion possible, has come from you....I love every movie you've done....and I'm picky....I believe you're in same catagory in MY favorite list with: Al Pacino, Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood, and even the action and sense of humor digs as Will Smith. I have my own way to see what and who I like....and I bet there are a TON of people out there that would surrly agree with me...please keep making great movies....my favorite two of yours are Legends of the Fall (you were the last one of them to live after you killed the bear), and The Mexican....but I love ALL your movies....signed, Biggest Fan Bayonne

First of all the senator may have said he is not making these arrangements, but Brad Pitt felt his issue was important enough to go through with the meeting anyway. Secondly, sometimes Hollywood feels that they should get royal treatment. Some people resent that. I think its unfair that people with Hollywood clout are able to express their opinion forceably because they have access to the media. Sometimes I guess you just have to be a down to earth person like most of us and go through the channels.

Anyone concerned why Brad Pitt called a meeting to discuss poverty in Africe instead of helping the people in his own country? How abut adopting an American kid? There are plenty of poor and orphan children right here in this country

Who even cares about the both of them??? Blah Blah Blah the no-name actor and the BS senator getting together.......

I really think it is rude to make demands of someone like that, but Senator Harkin's team had the right to deny Brad Pitt his meeting if they didn't like the terms. They didn't, and they violated his trust, and for those who say that the good Senator was right for doing that is very questionable in my eyes. That's pretty much saying that it's ok to break promises, which is definitely not what I vote for in my politicians. Thank god he's not my state Senator.

LOUIE
wow! first of all to come out and call sen harkin a right wing ass. are you a left wing dipstick? how do you make this a partisan event? Pitt as with all actors think theyre better than everyone else. Dont look him in the eye oooh nooooooo. Hes just angelinas lap dog about africa and aids and whatever other causes her rich little ass is into..flavor of the day. LOL you must be a liberal hate monger cause you make everything political.

All I have to say is let any of us try to get a private meeting with any Senator and see how far we get. Why do these celebrities get special treatment. We pay taxes like they do. Maybe more. Pitt has Attorneys and CPAs protecting his butt from the IRS.

If Brad Pitt thinks he knows how to solve all of Africa's problems, then perhaps, he needs to meet with their leaders and dicate to them what needs to be done. I think it is naive and arrogant to believe that the United States can solve every problem in the world. It is amazing to believe that just because some actor gets involved in a cause that the whole world is somehow going to change and become one happy family and take care of one another. If I were the senator, I would have not wasted one minute on Pitt and his idealistic viewpoints.

Pitt was probably wanting to talk about the situation in Darfur and where the United States stands on it. But the impression I seem to get from celebrities and their causes is that they do not understand the extreme problems Africa face and the barbaric leadership causing the problems. I doubt if Pitt would be willing to put on a military uniform himself and go into this area to defend the people of Darfur, yet he has no problems expecting the United States and our soldiers to do the same.