Those trips to Venezuela and Cuba weren’t what you think. Who else could have drawn attention to the plight of formerly prosperous nations that have suffered greatly under socialist and communist dictatorial rule?

That famous photo of Mr. Penn in post-Katrina New Orleans in a boat pouring water from a plastic cup? While the rest of the media blamed the federal government for the Category 4 hurricane and its aftermath, that picture made clear that the real damage was done well before the storm hit when billions of dollars were wasted by kleptocrats. The photo artistically conveyed that the hardship was caused by Mother Nature and a corrupt Louisiana Democratic Party machine.

There was also the time that the mighty liberal reported his car stolen – in it were not flowers and granola but a Smith & Wesson and a 9mm Glock handgun. This incident happened not long after his wife, Robin Wright Penn, and their children were threatened by armed carjackers in a separate incident. Nothing better tells the young and cynical that a man’s first obligation is to protect his family – and that there’s a pretty important amendment that comes right after the first one.

Move over, Charlton Heston, the NRA has a cooler-than-thou spokesman.