Whoopi raises hackles at Kerry fundraiser

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[Happy2BMe]

Whoopi raises hackles at Kerry fundraiser

    July 09 2004 at 09:06AM

By Peter Mackler

New York - The Democratic presidential ticket netted a cool $7.5-million (about R50-million) at a star-studded concert but had to squirm through a wickedly irreverent monologue from comic Whoopi Goldberg to do it.

Aides to presidential candidate John Kerry exulted that the gate from Thursday night's extravaganza at the historic Radio City Music Hall was the biggest single take ever for a Democratic event.

But while the party was raising cash, Goldberg was clearly raising some hackles by repeatedly referring to Kerry's boyish vice-presidential running-mate John Edwards as "kid."

'He looks like he is about 18'

"He is really youthful. He looks like he is about 18," said the comedian, one of a dozen headliners who turned out to boost the Democrats' drive to unseat Republican President George Bush in November.

Such words were undoubtedly music to the ears of the Republicans who have wasted no time in attacking the 51-year-old Edwards, picked by Kerry for the ticket on Tuesday, as unready for the White House.

The North Carolina senator's high-wattage smile seemed to fade a bit more each time Goldberg called out to him. When Kerry later spoke, he took pains to make it clear he had no kid on his team.

"I have a man, Whoopi," the Massachusetts lawmaker said.

Goldberg, a devout Democrat, did not spare Bush in her monologue: "Anybody who could wave to (blind singer) Stevie Wonder isn't fully there," she said to howls from the audience.

'I have a man, Whoopi'

But she also produced a few embarrassed grimaces with an unsubtle anatomical double-entendre enjoining voters to "keep Bush where it belongs and not in the White House."

The performance, which overshadowed appearances by stars ranging from hip-hop idol Wyclef Jean to actor Paul Newman, highlighted the awkward mix of strait-laced politicians and the volatile artists they routinely court.

The 54-year-old Goldberg was unapologetic to the crowd of about 6 200 people who paid up to $25 000 a ticket for the gala.

"This is what I try to explain to people," she said. "Why are you asking me to come if you don't want me to be me?"

The comic said concert organisers had asked to see her material beforehand but she sent them a photocopied image of her behind with a kissmark on it. "I wasn't sure I was going to get the phone call," she said.

Other stars were more orthodox in their Bush-bashing.

Newman took off on his fiscal policies, saying, "I think that tax cuts for worried, wealthy thugs like me are borderline criminal," and the notion they produce trickle-down benefits for the poor is "rubbish."

Actress Jessica Lange branded the Bush administration "a self-serving regime of deceit, hypocrisy and belligerence," while comic Chevy Chase heaped scorn on Bush's intellect: "This guy is as bright as an egg-timer."

Also on the bill were rockers Jon Bon Jovi, the Dave Matthews Band and John Fogerty, singer John Mellencamp, hip hop artist Mary J Blige, comic John Leguizamo, and actresses Meryl Streep and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Kerry spokesperson Allison Dobson said the concert brought in $7.5-million, surpassing the $6.8-million raked in with a similar event in Los Angeles two weeks ago.

Approximately $2-million of the receipts from the New York production will go to the White House campaign and the rest to the Democratic National Committee, Dobson said.

The Democrats have been increasingly successful in raising money for their drive to unseat Bush in the November 2 election.

The campaign said last week it had pulled in $180-million, compared to $210-million for the Republican incumbent. Kerry took in $34-million in June alone.

The candidates and their wives addressed the gathering on Thursday with their standard stump speech before closing with a sing-a-long version of This Land Is My Land, Kerry strumming along somewhat awkwardly on a guitar.

Edwards, relentlessly upbeat, made no reference to Goldberg's maternalistic mutterings to him. But the senator, who openly lobbied for the number two spot on the ticket, appreciated her remark about waiting for a phone call.

"I can relate to that," he said. - Sapa-AFP

[Happy2BMe]

The John-John Manboy Love Association and their motley crew of Hollywood supporters.

[Diogenesis]

John Leguizamo? WOW!!! ALL the clowns, even the evil ones,
are for Kerry.

[BlessedBeGod]

I just love to see arrogant Hollyweirders waste their money! ;-)

[Happy2BMe]

"The North Carolina senator's high-wattage smile seemed to fade a bit more each time Goldberg called out to him. When Kerry later spoke, he took pains to make it clear he had no kid on his team."

________________________________________________

This fool's large and even louder mouth once again makes infamy.

I recall in the 80's when Whoopi stood up at a rally in California and foamed over the microphone "F- You, Ronald Reagan!"

Her words are coming back to haunt her - WAY TO GO WHOOP - KEEP PUMPING UP THE JOHN-JOHN MANBOY LOVE ASSOCIATION!

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

But she also produced a few embarrassed grimaces with an unsubtle anatomical double-entendre enjoining voters to "keep Bush where it belongs and not in the White House."

Clinton preferred his "bush" in the White House.

Now we've got the real thing.

[Izzy Dunne]

Anybody who could wave to (blind singer) Stevie Wonder isn't fully there,

What's THIS about ?
I hadn't heard this tidbit.

[Happy2BMe]

"The candidates and their wives addressed the gathering on Thursday with their standard stump speech before closing with a sing-a-long version of This Land Is My Land, Kerry strumming along somewhat awkwardly on a guitar."

________________________________________________________

How appropriate . .

_______________________________________________________

This Land is My Land, This Land Is My Land From The Callie Queerland, To The New York Spyland From The Red Commie Party, To The Gulping Interns, This Land Was Made For Me and Me

________________

(Posted in honor of PrimeChoice)

[Just mythoughts]

"I just love to see arrogant Hollyweirders waste their money! ;-)"


These perverts are not using their money, they get their money from people who pay to see and hear their rot, unfortunately that includes tooo many Republican's money.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

The comic (Whoopi Goldberg) said concert organisers had asked to see her material beforehand but she sent them a photocopied image of her behind with a kissmark on it.

That should be enough to dissuade anybody.

[new cruelty]

Newman took off on his fiscal policies, saying, "I think that tax cuts for worried, wealthy thugs like me are borderline criminal," and the notion they produce trickle-down benefits for the poor is "rubbish."

Sufferin' cats, paul, so give a whole lot more of your money to the IRS or to any and all charities; go out and buy some really expensive stuff; invest in small businesses.

[OpusatFR]

I suppose Whoopi is on a comeback attempt.

Seeing, of course, how her sitcom on NBC flopped with a resounding splash.

[OXENinFLA]

DORK!!!

---

Yeah, THIS will strike fear into the hearts of our enemy's.....

[Happy2BMe]

Hillary would have loved to sniff it.

[Just mythoughts]

This bunch have the same goal as America's enemy. They are the enemy within.

[RobFromGa]

from www.snopes.com

Claim:   Hoping to attract the singer's attention at the March 2002 Presidential Gala, George W. Bush waved at Stevie Wonder.

Status:   False.

Example:   [Collected on the Internet, 2002]

When Stevie Wonder sat down at the keyboard center stage, President Bush in the front row got very excited. He smiled and started waving at Wonder, who understandably did not respond. After a moment Bush realized his mistake and slowly dropped the errant hand back to his lap.

I know I shouldn't have," a witness told us yesterday, "but I started laughing."

Origins:   This

story appeared in the pages of The Washington Post in early March 2002. Because it was such a juicy tidbit ("The Prez is such a dolt, he waves at blind folks!"), it was subsequently picked up by numerous talk radio hosts who gleefully fed it to their listeners and reached an even larger audience through the medium of television via Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Saturday Night Live.

Was it true? Well, not really. Although Stevie Wonder did perform at the 3 March 2002 Presidential Gala held at the Ford Theatre in Washington where President Bush was in attendance, the "wave" was both far less than initially made out to be and appears to have been directed at someone else.

After running the item as true and being challenged upon it by the Ford's Theatre Artistic Director, who was seated by the President that night and didn't at all recall this incident, Washington Post writer Lloyd Grove delved further into the story. Editors working on turning film of that event into a television special (which is scheduled to air April 12) went frame by frame through the video captured by the "presidential isocam" (as the camera trained on Bush is called). At the point where Wonder was getting settled behind his keyboard, Bush briefly raised his palm and smiled. The gesture was not the excited, enthused wave it is now comically portrayed to be; it was a small motion of the sort one routinely makes to an acquaintance across a crowded room. Moreover, the motion appears to have been directed at Kelsey Grammer, the emcee of the evening.

Stories that showcase blockheadedness stick to George W. Bush like feathers to a tar-coated chicken because they seemingly confirm what much of the public already holds as true about this public figure, that he's not the brightest fellow that's ever been. It is human nature to revel in yarns that the hearer at some level agrees with, thus tales of this sort will always fall upon appreciative ears. Witness the excitment with which the false story about presidential I.Q., as Bush's ranking upon this list was greeted as another example of this phenomenon in action.

And yet, even if the story had been true, even if President Bush had waved at a blind man, hard-up comics might have seen that as fodder for their "Bush is so dumb!" routines, but most folks would have seen such a gaffe as something that can -- and does -- happen to anyone.

People who can see and who have good hearing react with the world around them in the manner they are accustomed to. Our methods of greeting those we encounter are so deeply ingrained that the sighted and hearing don't think twice about them -- a hand goes up or a name gets called out while we're still on autopilot. The realization that the person being waved to couldn't have seen the gesture only begins to sink in when the one offering the greeting fails to get the expected wave in return and starts wondering if his friend is peeved with him. Likewise, only when "Bob, hey Bob; over here!" fails to provoke a response does the shouter remember that his friend is deaf.

George W. Bush may or may not be a brilliant man, but this "waving at Stevie Wonder" anecdote would fail to prove anything, even if it were true. However, like the "Hilary throws a lamp" tale (which supposedly offered confirmation that she was an evil-tempered virago via an illustrative story about her pitching a lamp at Bill's head), this story is likely to trail after President Bush for as long as he's in office and for years beyond that. We like our caricatures drawn with simple lines, after all.

[Carolinamom]

My list of "actors" not to view grows longer by the day. I have lost my power to "suspend disbelief" while watching any movie they are in.

[OXENinFLA]

This pic is from yesterday.

Take a look at the lady who's face is about to split down the middle.

Now look at the expression on Edwards face...

U.S. Democratic vice presidential candidate, Senator John Edwards (news - web sites) (D-NC), greets supporters at a rally in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, July 8, 2004. Edwards and presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) vowed on Thursday to fight for 'real people' and portrayed President Bush (news - web sites) as a patron of 'a few at the top.' REUTERS/Jim Young US ELECTION

[palmer]

Snopes is your friend: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/bushwave.htm

Claim: Hoping to attract the singer's attention at the March 2002 Presidential Gala, George W. Bush waved at Stevie Wonder.

Status: False.

[new cruelty]

No, whoopi, my dear... he's no boy... what I have here in front of me is all man... oh yeah... 1000% pure corn pone american male... right here.. right now... right in front of me... and he's all mine... I found him... I get to keep him... he's my fiesty little tiger, the ying to my yang... and he's almost as manly as thereeeeeza.

[palmer]

ok, it's early and I'm a little slow.