Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Dr. Kutner to work for Obama?

I thought April Fool's Day was over. No, seriously when I saw this posted on Jezebel I thought it was a joke but sure as shit Kal Penn is "leaving House to work at the White House."

I was incredibly honored a couple of months ago to get the opportunity to go work in the White House. I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I'm going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison. They do outreach with the American public and with different organizations. They're basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House. It's similar to what I was doing on the campaign.

I've been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while. I love what I do as an actor. I couldn't love it more. But probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service. I went to a performing arts high school, but I still took a bunch of those dorky political science classes. It's probably because of the value system my grandparents instilled in me. They marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement, and that was always in the back of my head. So the past couple of years I thought about it a little m...ore. And in '06 I started this international studies program at Stanford, where they actually let you do most of the course work online. So it was something I could do while I was acting. And I thought this might be the right time to go off and do something else.
So there you have it. You can read the full account at the Huffington Post. Say goodbye to Kal Penn, Dr. Kutner and hello to Kal Penn Associate Director in the White House Office of whatever the f*ck. I'm sure you'll do a great job in the Obama Administration, but you will be missed at Princeton-Plainsboro.

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