From Patriot Post:

Ron Silver, R.I.P
Ron Silver, a rare Hollywood liberal-turned-conservative, died Sunday of cancer. He was 62. Silver was perhaps best known for his role as a political consultant on the television series "The West Wing," but he also won a Tony Award in 1988 for his role in "Speed-the-Plow," written by another former liberal, David Mamet. Like Mamet, 9/11 changed Silver's opinions about politics -- he called himself a "9/11 Republican." After his change of views, he spoke at the Republican convention in 2004, saying, "This is a war we did not seek. This is a war waged against us. This is a war to which we had to respond." Silver's career suffered for his "traitorous" patriotism. After his RNC speech, he said, "It's affected me very badly. I can't point to a person or a job I've lost, but this community is not very pluralistic. I haven't worked for 10 months." One job he did find was narrating "Fahrenhype 9/11," which deconstructed Michael Moore's Bush-bashing "Fahrenheit 9/11." The Wall Street Journal wrote, "His brother, Mitchell Silver, [said] that Silver's politics 'were not shared by anyone he knew.' His politics, in other words, were born of conviction, not convenience, which is one way to describe an honest patriot."

BTW "The Unit" on CBS Sundays is Mamet's series about a US Army anti-terroism, well, unit. It really rocks. Denis Haysbert stars with Scot Foley and Regina Taylor as Molly Blaine, Haysbert's wife.