George Clooney Dating a Bhutto?

Rumor has it -- and hopefully it's just a rumor -- that George Clooney might be seeking higher love, so to speak, in the form of Benazir Bhutto's niece: the poet, journalist and outspoken critic of Benazir, Fatima Bhutto.

Fatima, unlike her aunt -- so far -- has a pretty clean slate when it comes to the rumor-mill. Having witnessed the aftermath of her father's assassination at the hands of Pakistani security forces when she was only 14 years old (her father was Benazir's younger brother Murtaza Bhutto who is not without his own critics) young Fatima (she'll be 27 this May to Clooney's 48) got an early start on critical political analysis and has tread with focus on a path toward educating herself.

Her biggest break on the international scene was, arguably, her widely read opinion published in The Los Angeles Times in November 2007, shortly after Benazir returned for her triumphant comeback to political power, in which Fatima noted that her aunt's "political posturing is sheer pantomime" and that "to this day her role in [Murtaza Bhutto's] assassination has never been adequately answered."

The daughter of a Bhutto son and an Afghan woman who moved to the US when Fatima was a
toddler, Fatima considers her step-mother Ghinwa, a Syrian-Lebanese woman whom Murtaza married after he divorced Fatima's mother, to be her true mother.

So what does George Clooney see in Fatima? Well, maybe this ol' Obama supporter is out with the old and in with the new not just in politics but in women. Maybe Georgie Porgie is caught up in the spirit of the times and is keen to take a step in a new direction, with a new kind of woman who appears to be striving toward a greater good (unless she takes on the family business, that is -- and we all know what politics does to a Bhutto). Maybe, just maybe, little boy George is maturing.

Or maybe this is just a grand rumor. A magnification of a few casual communications among participants at an international conference. Which would leave Fatima -- just as she was building herself a reputation as a literary talent and someone with political courage -- rather farther down on the dignity ladder.

Say it ain't so, George -- Syriana was impressive, and Michael Clayton eventually was worth it -- but your international political credentials are rather outweighed by your international flings. If you really care about Fatima, you'll let her go...

Comments

[BrnPhil]

I would stay away George.

[dru]

I don't understand this post at all. You are worried about a celebrity hooking up with a celebrity? Being a Bhutto carries more dignity than being a successful, hard working, politically aware actor? So he is a playboy; who cares? If Fatima wants to hook up, with whomever, good for her.

[Pip1860]

No I did not say "being a Bhutto carries more dignity" compared to a "politically aware actor". I said that Fatima Bhutto risks losing her poltical candidacy if she marries out of her race and background in a militant and narrow-minded country like Pakistan.

Hope that makes sense now.

[dru]

I was directing my question to the writer of the blog; I understood your point, not hers. Thank you, though!

[Pip1860]

Wow, I think George is a good guy but how would Fatima Bhutto reconcile her marriage with him if she has torun for the officein Pakistan?

[fishX2]

I'm glad someone is cautioning Fatima, I think it's hilarious that George Clooney tries to come off as a do-gooder celebrity who reads books when all his love interests seem to be individuals who don't even own books !

[Tim Byrd]

Share the hilarity. Name someone he's dated who doesn't own books.