Countdown to Crawford: Tracking the final days of the Bush administration

News flash: Not all Hollywood stars shun White House

It's sort of a given in American politics that Hollywood tilts left.

After all, it is located on the Left Coast.

And a lot of its denizens -- Barbra Streisand and Alec Baldwin come to mind -- famously threatened to leave the country if George W. Bush was elected. Twice.

But now comes word from the White House that several actresses have agreed to serve the Bush administration, albeit in a feel-good cause on one of those commissions that any White House uses to reward its social friends.

So it is not that surprising that American Idol Jordin Sparks and Bo Derek of "10" fame have been tapped by the White House to serve on a commission that encourages volunteerism.

Called the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, the group tries to make good on President Bush's call, just after 9/11, for Americans to give two years or 4,000 hours of their lives to volunteer service. The council members' nickname: ambassadors for service.

Looking at the list of appointees announced this week, it seems not much of a secret how one gets to be an ambassador for service. Be a philanthropist (Evern Cooper Epps of Georgia). Be a NASCAR driver (Kasey Kahne of Washington), a songwriter (Michael "I Will Be Here For You" Smith of Tennessee) or a football player (Daniel Wuerffel of Florida.)

Or be an actress who uses her given name, Janine Gauntt, of "Northern Exposure" fame, otherwise known as Janine Turner.
-- Johanna Neuman