The Hollywood actor is a prominent donor to the Democratic Party in the United States. In recent years, that has regularly led to criticism from President Trump, who has called him a “second-rate movie star,” among other things. According to Clooney, it didn’t bother him much. “It’s not my job to keep the President of the United States happy.”

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[–] 316 points 10 months ago (18 children)

The American dream is now to escape America.

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  • [–] 172 points 10 months ago (6 children)
  • [–] 24 points 10 months ago (7 children)

    It's harder than you think to renounce American citizenship.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)
    • Extensive forms;
    • approval by the U.S. Department of State;
    • In-person interviews with U.S. consular officer abroad (at least one in person).
    • Renunciation in person;
    • Exit tax for renouncing citizenship, on top of existing U.S. tax liabilities;
    • Retain Selective Service obligations;
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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah I don't think that helps them make the point they thought they were making lol.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    At least 3 of those things are kinda the same and would be covered in one visit.

    The selective service won’t apply to people over 50 I don’t think.

    The exit tax is probably the sticking point for many, I’m not sure how that works for mega rich like Clooney, but it might be really easy for a poor like me.

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago

    If you are rich, Europe, the poor struggle with visas and thw rise and rise of the far right there is America redux :) as an Australian, I gave up on my French dream

    If you are poor, SE Asia. eg Cambodia, neaely anyone can be there, YT is awash with retired Americans who can no longer afford to live in the US and burnt out tech guys making a new life. Sinilarly, The Philippines for retirees . Vietnam and Thailand have visa issues

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  • [–] 179 points 10 months ago (8 children)
  • [–] 7 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah I'm in the process of moving to France as well. Have been planning it before the current state of affairs and for work reasons but things like ICE and the Thought Police EO are expediting things.

    Ultimately my family came here from Europe generations ago for better economic opportunities, more freedom, and virtually every one of us have served our country in some compacity. I no longer see anything on the list that is true anymore. Europe, and France, have their own problems but in the next 60-100 years they seem much more stable and democratic than the US.

    I'm contemplating just going on our 90d visa, WFH with my American business, and simply renewing until I get a 1y long-term visa (which you can renew every year with proof of income and NOT working for a EU company). A lot of people on r/digitalnomad and r/getout do a variation of this in Fr.

    If things get worse I genuinely think seeking political asylum may be on the table for some people. But I make enough money to not really consider that.

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  • [–] 106 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    And they still let him in after that Louvre heist?!

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  • [–] 141 points 10 months ago (19 children)

    ITT: people not realizing his wife was born in Lebanon. Are they safer than your average non-pure-white family? Absolutely. But they have legitimate reasons to be scared.

    Also apparently she's a human rights lawyer so she's bound to have pissed off republicans one way or another already.

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  • [–] 96 points 10 months ago (6 children)

    She was a key part of the team prosecuting the war crimes case against Israel

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  • [–] 59 points 10 months ago (5 children)

    Yeah I get hating rich people, because fuck inequality, that's true, but the Clooneys seem like pretty decent people to me as far as rich celebrities are concerned.

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  • [–] 22 points 10 months ago*

    He for sure has too much money(Google said $500 mill) but he’s small time compared to the richest and the corporations that are doing the most damage to the future. I doubt more than a few folks interested in eating the rich are champing at the bit to get at Clooney.

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  • [–] 12 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    George Clooney did a pretty good job (just like all the other actors) in the 2000 Coen Brothers film "O Brother Where Art Thou". Seriously!

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago (8 children)

    Well VP Vances wife is an immigrant, as is Trump:s wife

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    Yeah I imagine Vance's wife might have an unfortunate accident any day now.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    I imagine she will be divorced and have a slur campaign ran against her as Vance remarries Erika.

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  • [–] -3 points 10 months ago* (2 children)

    What does her wife being from Lebanon has anything to do with this? She has British and French citizenship so it is easy for him to get the citizenship and I bet she is safe from ICE on virtue of having shit ton of money, other 2 nationalities and being an international lawyer.

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    What does her wife being from Lebanon has anything to do with this?

    That she's obviously not safe in the country and people are mad that they decided to uproot their family and leave?

    I bet she is safe from ICE on virtue of having shit ton of money, other 2 nationalities and being an international lawyer.

    I'm sure that being part of the team that being one of the authors of this article makes you popular with Netanyahu's sock puppet's pet anti-immigration criminal organization lmao. She's also represented other people that the US government doesn't exactly agree with. There are a LOT of good reasons for Trump to disappear her. She did exactly the one thing that the shit ton of money allowed her to do: Escaped. I hope everyone else who can and needs to, does as well. The bigger the brain drain, the better - Trump's empire won't last as long.

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  • [–] 44 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    “It’s not my job to keep the President of the United States happy.”

    That's Jeffery Epstein's job

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  • [–] 41 points 10 months ago (9 children)

    Wish I had the money to escape the United States too

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (8 children)
  • [–] 21 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

    More than just a plane ticket. You need a marketable skill that is easily transferred, rent, food, utilities, new transportation, new licensing, and coverage for enough months until you can get the job. Also, the immigration fees. Basically, immigration is for the rich who can use money as a cushion or for the impoverished who have nothing to lose by assuming the risk.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Maybe you’ll need to learn and get proficient in a new language too

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago* (1 child)

    Go to a big city in the Netherlands or the Nordics if learning a new language is too hard. People there are fluent in English. And in many companies there who hire expats they speak English on the work floor.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago

    Sure, you can work in English, but ‘live’ in English? Not so much.

    As a local in a city that gets its quota of English-speaking expats, I kinda hate the guys who pretend we locals to switch to their language just because. I have no problem speaking English to visitors (aka tourists), but permanent-ish residents should make an effort to speak our language. Unless they plan to keep themselves in an isolated island of expats.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    More than just a plane ticket. You need a marketable skill that is easily transferred, rent, food, utilities, new transportation, new licensing, and coverage for enough months until you can get the job. Also, the immigration fees.

    You'll need a marketable skill, rent, food, and transportation if you stay, too. I'm not sure what you mean by licensing. Immigration fees is something that I haven't looked into before, but it appears to be something like 800€ in here Denmark.

    As for language, if you pick the Netherlands, Scandinavia or larger German cities, then English will be OK.

    I'm not saying that I think it's a walk in the park, nor that'll be free, but it may be easier, and less expensive, than people think. Start by going on an extended vacation to the countries that you're interested in. Maybe talk with potential employers. Then make plans afterwards.

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago

    You’ll need a marketable skill . . . if you stay, too.

    Fair, but some skills are inherent to your placement within the home country, and transferring that skill to another country would actually add to the expense. A great example of this would be an American lawyer relocating to France. They go through law school and learn the American/English common-law system, then they relocate to France, which bases all its laws in a statutory context. So, not only would they handicapped by this new legal mantra, they'd have to then go to school again and pay to pass the bar again. So, there's another cost.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago*

    This is at the heart of a scandal he triggered in France. A lot of people would have prefered him not to get fast-tracked when he doesn't qualify for the minimum requirements ( this is from his own confession) when so many are getting bumped out when they are more "worthy" ( not in financial or influence terms).

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  • [–] 108 points 10 months ago (17 children)

    If you’re NOT on a government watch list by now, you should be ashamed of yourself.

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  • [–] 13 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    If I check to see if I'm on any lists, does that put me on a list?

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  • [–] 15 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    They removed me from it: They lost too many agents due to boredom.

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  • [–] 7 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    It's funny you say that, because even just finding out whether you're on a list is nearly impossible.

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  • [–] 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    There are certain magical household chemicals that makes them appear if you stockpile enough of them.

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  • [–] 34 points 10 months ago (5 children)

    Anyone would have a better life in France instead of the US but good for him. Glad to see there’s still some backbone in Hollywood.

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  • [+] -3 points 10 months ago (4 children)
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