Posted on 12/24/2003 3:14:01 PM PST by webber
By James Hirsen
A NewsMax Report
1. Rob Reiner Picks a New Dean for Hollywood
It looks as if celebrity politics on the national front are getting bigger by the minute. In the 2002 election, guess who provided the fifth-largest source of dollars for federal candidates? It was none other than little old Hollywood. And as you might expect, 83 percent of Tinseltown's cash went to Democrats. So says Center for Responsive Politics.
Maybe this explains why there was such a big buzz when Rob Reiner announced he was placing his fund-raising talents behind East Coast presidential candidate and former Vermont governor Howard Dean. After all, Reiner raised more than $4.5 million dollars for Al Gore in 2000.
"Meathead" already hosted a power lunch for Dean with some of the largest contributors in Tinseltown, including film producer Steven Bing, producer Norman Lear, writer/filmmaker Nora Ephron and mogul Michael King. Martin Sheen has also thrown his support Dean's way.
The Left Coast Report routinely hears the naive ask, why should we care about what a Hollywood star or starlet says or does? Well, here's the big, fat moolah-soaked reason. When celebrities decide to lend their support to a candidate, the move can change a rarely recognized backbencher into a well-known frontrunner overnight.
2. Pistol-Packin' Penn
Sean Penn's car, a black 1987 Buick Grand National, was stolen in broad daylight while the actor was having lunch.
The crime took place on a busy street a block away from U.C. Berkeley. Penn's vehicle was found in Richmond, nine miles from where it was stolen.
Interestingly, a couple of Penn's guns were missing as well. Yeah, that's right. This peace activist had a permit to keep a semi-automatic and a revolver.
Inside the vehicle that was taken, Penn had a loaded 9mm Glock handgun and an unloaded .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver.
The Left Coast Report wonders aloud: Hmm ... a Glock semi-automatic and an S & W revolver? These anti-war pacifists sure seem to have good taste in firearms.
3. Barbra Streisand Borrows Phrase From Michael Savage
Barbra Streisand might not have done it intentionally, but the title and theme of her latest Web site ditty was previously popularized by ace talk show host and master wordsmith Michael Savage.
After a seething tirade about Bush's "lies," Streisand explains on her site how the president's action can "trickle down to the culture as a whole.
Streisand writes: "The president is our leader, the figurehead of the country, a father figure. Are the 'children' supposed to follow his example? Are we in an era of trickle-down immorality, like trickle-down economics? The country sees their leader not telling the truth.
These actions send a message that you don't have to mean what you say, that you don't have to care about other people, that you can do whatever you have to do or say whatever you have to say to get ahead. Is that the message we want to impart to our children? Is that the culture we want to live in?"
The Left Coast Report wonders whether Streisand inadvertently left out the word "former" in her description of the president. Not only does the tattered shoe fit the ex-prez perfectly, we'd feel better about Babs if she admitted that worrying about trickle-down immorality was warranted all those years when her favorite compartmentalizer was dropping drawers in the Oval Office.
4. Dennis Miller Is Just Right
Dennis Miller has slowly journeyed to the conservative side of the political spectrum. Now he has also become an important celebrity feature of President Bush's re-election effort.
In California, a state where in the 2000 presidential election he trailed Al Gore by 12 percentage points, Bush can use all the celebrity help he can get. As it turns out, he has gotten something else from the Golden State that every candidate dreams of: $5.1 million in campaign money.
While Bush was on the stump in California, his supporters got to hear some choice words from Miller.
He referred to himself as "a Rat Pack of one for the president in Hollywood."
He gave fuel to the recall Gray Davis forces when he observed that California was "now buying energy at mini-bar prices."
He teased earthquake-prone California by explaining that the state no longer had a San Andreas Fault. "It's Gray Davis' fault," chimed the comedian.
Applying some of his patented political humor to an appraisal of the Democrat slate of presidential wannabes, Miller said, "I haven't seen a starting nine like that since the '62 Mets."
His comment about Sen. Robert "KKK" Byrd of West Virginia drew a few moans. "I think he must be burning the cross at both ends," Miller wisecracked.
Proving the growing prominence of Howard Dean, Miller took a shot at the former Vermont governor. "He can roll up his sleeves all he wants at public events, but as long as we see that heart tattoo with Neville Chamberlain's name on his right forearm, he's never going anywhere," Miller quipped.
The Left Coast Report thinks now more than ever, it's Miller time.
5. Christina Aguilera Stymied by Styrofoam
Christine Aguilera has apparently acquired a new sense of eco-awareness.
Known to be a bit of a temperamental diva, Aguilera had a run in with a glitzy Hollywood restaurant over some leftovers.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the singer had finished her meal at a trendy eatery and had requested that the waiters place her uneaten food into a doggy bag. When she was brought the leftover food in a Styrofoam box, Christina purportedly blew her cork.
Aguilera was livid that this kind of environmentally unfriendly material was being used and began to give the waiter a lecture on the evils of the polystyrene plastic. Christina allegedly ended up storming out the door leaving her Styrofoam doggie box behind.
The Left Coast Report says Christina shouldn't worry too much about the biodegradability of Styrofoam. After all, parts of her body could last several thousand years longer than the little plastic food box.
6. Liz Hurley and Johnny Depp Go Commie Chic
Ernesto Guevara, a.k.a. Che, is hardly associated with the powder-puff lifestyle of Hollywood's rich and famous. No, Guevara is more often thought of as a guerilla warrior, ardent communist and advocate of the armed overthrow of the U.S. system.
But as reported by the New York Post, Elizabeth Hurley was recently walking around the streets of London dressed in a shirt with Che Guevara's face prominently displayed on it.
There was a problem, though. Hurley had accessorized the commie attire with a $3,000 Louis Vuitton bag. How unrevolutionary of her.
Johnny Depp, who says he no longer wishes to call America his domicile, apparently wears a medallion with an image of Guevara around his neck.
If these two examples aren't enough of a lefty love display, filmmaker Terrence Malick might direct Benicio Del Toro in a movie that's unimaginatively called "Che."
The Left Coast Report hears that some shops in Beverly Hills are now stocking up on Stalin shoes with matching Hitler handbags.
That would make Joe Lieberman into Richie Ashburn and Howard Dean as Choo-Choo Coleman.
On the other hand, you have....MEL!
ALRIGHT!! FESS UP! What't this all about?
Ouch! Heh.
She doesn't have to dress as a nun, but maybe more like, say, Alicia Keys.
Mike Farrell, Co-Chair Robert Greenwald, Co-Chair Gillian Anderson Edward Asner Rene Auberjonois David Bale Kim Basinger Ed Begley, Jr. Theo Bikel Barbara Bosson Jackson Browne Peter Buck (REM) Diahann Carroll Eugene J. Carroll, Jr., Rear Adm. U.S. Navy (Ret.) Kathleen Chalfant Don Cheadle Jill Clayburgh David Clennon Jack Coleman Peter Coyote Lindsay Crouse Suzanne Cryer Matt Damon Dana Daurey Ambassador Jonathan Dean (U.S. Rep. to NATO Warsaw Pact) Vincent DOnofrio David Duchovny Olympia Dukakis Charles S. Dutton Hector Elizondo Cary Elwes Shelley Fabares Mike Farrell Mia Farrow Laurence Fishburne Sean Patrick Flanery Bonnie Franklin John Fugelsang Jeananne Garafalo Larry Gelbart Melissa Gilbert Danny Glover Elliott Gould Samaria Graham Robert Greenwald Robert Guillaume Paul Haggis Robert David Hall Ethan Hawke Ken Howard Helen Hunt Anjelica Huston LaTanya Richardson Jackson Samuel L. Jackson Jane Kaczmarek Melina Kanakaredes Casey Kasem Mimi Kennedy Jessica Lange Tea Leoni Wendie Malick Camryn Manheim Marsha Mason Richard Masur Dave Matthews Kent McCord Robert Duncan McNeill Mike Mills (REM) Janel Moloney Esai Morales Ed O'Neill Chris Noth Peter Onorati Alexandra Paul Ambassador Edward Peck (former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq) Seth Peterson CCH Pounder David Rabe Alan Rachins Bonnie Raitt Carl Reiner Tim Robbins Steve Robinson, Sgt., U.S. Army (Ret.) Mitch Ryan Susan Sarandon Tony Shalhoub Jack Shanahan, Vice Adm. U.S. Navy (Ret.) William Schallert Martin Sheen Armin Shimerman Gloria Steinem Marcia Strassman Michael Stipe (REM) Susan Sullivan Loretta Swit Studs Terkel Lily Tomlin Blair Underwood Dennis Weaver Bradley Whitford James Whitmore James Whitmore, Jr. Alfre Woodard Noah Wyle Peter Yarrow Howard Zinn
This was pretty racy for a ten year old boy in 1964.
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