During the June 9th episode of Netflix’s Chelsea, titled “To England with Love,” Chelsea Handler travels to the United Kingdom. Her celebrity guest interview is with comedian and actor Eddie Izzard. Izzard professes to be a straight transgender guy, but “I’m a wannabe lesbian.”
If, like me, Izzard’s statement confuses you, it is understandable. Eddie Izzard came out as gay in 1985, he says. It wasn’t a choice to be gay, he says, and blames the “whole right-wing” for saying it is a choice. He and Handler are paddling in a boat as this conversation is happening and she accepts everything he says without question. Then he spoke about working in Russia. Why? He wanted to make friends with Russians because – wait for it – he’s going into politics with 2020 in mind. What could go wrong?
Originally, Izzard thought about running for Mayor of London but now thinks he’ll run for a seat as a Member of Parliament. He sees himself as an English Al Franken, the liberal Democrat senator from Minnesota, also with a history of show biz: “His politics are very similar.” Maybe Izzard sees himself as, potentially, a Lion in Parliament.
Izzard doesn’t like walls and wants a fair world. He didn’t offer any solutions but that is his idea.
The simplistic stuff does not work. Building walls doesn’t make it work. We have to learn to live together, work together, in some shape or form. I think we have to get a world where it’s a fair world for all seven billion people on earth, all of them. And I think despair is the fuel of terrorism, hope is the fuel of civilization. We’ve got to be constantly putting more hope into the world than despair.
How’s that for liberal pie-in-the-sky mumbo jumbo? He sounds like a politician already, doesn’t he? And the old canard of despair fuels terrorism? Please.
Later Chelsea talks to some British school children and asks them about Donald Trump. One little boy says, "I know he doesn't like people with brown skin." "That's right," Chelsea encourages and tells the kids that's called racism.
There was one interesting segment when, while visiting a farm in Wales, Chelsea played midwife to a lamb giving birth. It is hard to imagine a more vocally anti-child, pro-abortion celebrity than Chelsea Handler so her joy in helping bring a new life into the world – though it was a little lamb – was a bit unusual. I guess she just prefers animals to humans when it comes to babies.
