July 10, 2004
THAT'S A FAST FOLD EVEN FOR HIM:
Kerry Camp Cautious About Celebrities' Anti-Bush Remarks: Performers at a Kerry benefit concert were expressing personal views, Kerry's campaign manager says (Mark Z. Barabak and Matea Gold, July 9, 2004, LA Times)
Performers at the event were unstinting in their attacks on the administration.Comedian Chevy Chase accused the president of invading Iraq "just so he could be called a wartime president," and quipped that the most recent book Bush had read was "Leader of the Free World for Dummies."
In a song called "Texas Bandido," John Mellencamp sang: "He's just another cheap thug that sacrifices our young. … You're going to get us killed with your little white lies."
And Meryl Streep bemoaned Bush's frequent invocation of religion, saying, "I wondered to myself through the shock and awe, I wondered which of the megaton bombs Jesus, our president's personal savior, would have personally dropped on the sleeping families in Baghdad."
Goldberg, who repeatedly referred to Edwards as "Kid" throughout the night, delivered the most inflammatory performance of the show in a comedy bit that involved a sexual pun playing off the president's name.
As the audience roared with embarrassed and horrified laughter, she retorted: "C'mon, you knew this was coming. It's what I'm trying to explain to people: Why you asking me to come if you don't want me to be me?"
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt noted that Kerry told CNN's Larry King earlier in the day that he had not had time to get briefed about reports of possible new terrorist threats.
Yet, Schmidt said, "he found time to attend a Hollywood fund-raiser, filled with enough hate and vitriol to make Michael Moore blush."
Kerry spokesman David Wade said the two Democratic candidates did not agree with all the sentiments expressed at the event, produced by Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Ms Goldberg is right, of course, if the Kerry campaign is going trolling in the gutters for money they can't complain about the dirt. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 10, 2004 12:05 AM
Robin Williams did the same thing in 2000, during a Washington D.C. fundraiser with Al Gore and Bill Clinton in the audience, and before all the supposed anger that has built up in Democrats over the Florida recount and the "stolen" election. The press tut-tutted for about half a day and then dropped the issue.
If this one gets more air time, it's only because Kerry was stupid enough to go there after telling Larry King he didn't have time to get a terrorism briefing, since the world is more serious now. Back in 2000, all our problems had been solved, it was the end of history and it was OK for Al and Bill to go watch an NC-17 rated performance to raise some bucks for the party.
Posted by: John at July 10, 2004 9:19 AMIn John Kerry and Whoopi Goldberg's world it's still September 10, 2001.
Posted by: Mike Morley at July 10, 2004 11:02 AMAh, Jann Wenner, he is a piece of work. What, he left his wife of many years for a young guy who worked at his Rolling Stone mag. That plays well with Southern voters.
Posted by: pchuck at July 10, 2004 11:17 AMIf I were a republican op with a bag full of money, I would let it be known that I was willing to pay the asking price for a copy of the full tape of the performance.
If I had a copy of the tape, I would mpeg it, post it on several offshore servers under concealed domaines, and spread the word via usenet and annoymous postings on blogs.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2004 12:39 PMA sign the Dems are probably going to lose: they are only against Bush, not _for_ anything.
Posted by: John Doe at July 10, 2004 7:16 PM