Actor Martin Sheen was approached by Ohio Democratic officials in 2006 about running for office in his home state. He declined. (Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images)

In 2006, when actor-activist Martin Sheen was approached by Democratic officials and encouraged to run for office in his home state of Ohio, he politely demurred. “I’m just not qualified,” he said. “You’re mistaking celebrity for credibility.”

Ten years later, whenever ugly events summon headlines about “our divided nation,” our celebrity class thrusts itself headfirst and wholeheartedly into the debate. They conflate celebrity for credibility. They conflate activism with typing (or is it with self promotion?) And trapped in a rudderless, flopping shipwreck of a summer — seeking guidance from the beautiful people if we can’t have it from the ones we elected — we conflate it, too.

Nation, let us turn to LeBron James, who tweeted, “We are all hurting tonight. More violence is not the answer,” after the killings of five police officers in Dallas. The well-intentioned, if self-evident, comment was liked or retweeted more than 100,000 times.

Let us turn to Mischa Barton, or on second thought, let us not. Barton, an actress best known for her starring role on “The O.C.” posted on Instagram a “heartbroken” call for “unity” after the shooting death of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La. — but paired it with a photo of herself in a bikini, standing on a yacht, holding a glass of wine.

As could be expected, Beyoncé was both the most provocative and the most action-driven in her response. “It is up to us to take a stand and demand that they ‘stop killing us,’ ” she wrote on her website, after Sterling’s death but before the Dallas shootings. “We must use our voices to contact the politicians and legislators in our districts and demand social and judicial change.” She provided links to help readers find their representatives’ phone numbers.

Emily Strayer and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks perform onstage during the DCX World Tour MMXVI Opener on June 1, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for PMK)

[Beyoncé urges action in response to the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling]

Some angry commenters argued that she had overstepped the bounds of an entertainer, but by doing what? Expressing an opinion? Reminding Americans that there are politicians huddling in D.C. on the taxpayer dime, who have working telephones? She is a performer with tremendous social power and absolutely zero political power, unless she starts funding political campaigns or runs for office herself. (Washington, do not make Beyoncé come down here).

And yet her missives are gobbled up and reposted, because she is Beyoncé, and because, in an era where federal government approval ratings are abysmally low — in June, 80 percent of polled Americans told Gallup they thought Congress was doing a bad job — is it any wonder that celebrities are our new first responders, the ones we turn to for wisdom in times of crisis? We recently nominated one of them to a 50/50 shot to becoming the next leader of the free world.

Our elected officials bicker unproductively over the right way to address women’s pay and health — so let us turn instead to Emma Watson, who’s Hermione Granger-ish speech on women’s equality to the United Nations was viewed nearly 8 million times after she made it in the fall of 2014.

[Emma Watson: Feminism too often is seen as ‘man-hating’]

Our Twitter feeds are clogged with the action-free “thoughts” and “prayers” of politicians who never seem to know what else to do after another senseless act of American violence. But there’s Amy Schumer writing pointed pro-gun control commentary for her television show, and vocally partnering with her senator cousin (Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.) to pass reform. One might not have agreed with her position, but at least she had a position. At least it wasn’t another mealy “we mourn for the victims” uttered by one of the representives we have sent to the Capitol specifically to do something.

Help us, Amy Schumer. You’re our only hope.

Even if her actions don’t do anything. Even if none of the celebrities’ actions do anything.

Fame comes with an intrinsic confirmation bias. Actors and singers have, after all, made careers of convincingly making us believe them. Retweeting one of their statements provides a sense of community that writing one’s own statement does not. Maybe the only way this fractured nation knows how to unite is by joining in a retweet of LeBron James. Maybe in these troubled times, we don’t know exactly what to do but we know that Mischa Barton did it wrong.

Celebrities have a long-standing relationship with activism, of course: John and Yoko’s famous bed-ins, or, Harry Belafonte, whose singing career was accompanied by a legacy of civil rights activism and who was a friend and confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. He made appearances at rallies and marches, he bankrolled protest movements, he traveled around the world supporting left-wing causes. Today, most celebrities make their speeches from behind keyboards rather than podiums — one notable exception being Jesse Williams, the “Grey’s Anatomy” actor who made Black Lives Matter a cornerstone of a recent BET Awards speech, who has been cited as his generation’s Harry Belafonte.

[Jesse Williams was fighting for racial justice long before his stirring BET speech]

Maybe “consciousness raiser” is part of a performer’s job description now, if one is so inclined to pick up the mantle.

In 2003, the Dixie Chicks made headlines after a member criticized President George W. Bush onstage. They received death threats, one telling them they had better “shut up and sing.”

They broke up for a while. But now they’re back and touring again.

Don’t shut up, Dixie Chicks. Don’t shut up, Stacey Dash, Alyssa Milano, Patricia Arquette or any of the other celebrities currently fumbling their way awkwardly to some kind of dialogue. You didn’t know what to say, but heaven knows practically nobody else does either.