Drudge is naturally making a big to-do this morning about the mega fundraiser at the Beverly Wilshire tonight:
OBAMA BOOM ECONOMY: RECORD BANK IN BEV HILLS, $28,500 A PLATE
As most of us in the media know, “anti-Hollywood” sells, just as “Hollywood sells.” And with La Barbra singing – all the better. [Don't tell me you are about to launch into your personal Streisand stories just to hype your book Blacklisting Myself. It's not even published yet.-ed. I will restrain myself. Yeah, right.]
Still it is rather unseemly that a 28K-a-plate fundraiser is going on amidst a (relative) stock meltdown and (not so relative) mortgage crisis. If the event does reach the trumpeted single-day record of 9-million dollars, that could have kept a lot of folks in their houses. I doubt any of the people at the event have that problem, though there are, as always, exceptions.
In the midst of this, of course, is the assumption that all of Hollywood is in the tank for Obama. Not so. The majority may be, but there are, again, many exceptions, including the man I consider the finest American film actor and our best director. Some of the best younger talent is said to be in the McCain column as well. The problem in this town is that people further down the food chain face pressure that Clint and those others on the A-list would never see. Those rank-and-file show biz people are the ones who have to go along (with the pervasive liberalist ethic) to play along (work). But, like gays in the eighties, more and more are beginning to come out.
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25 Comments
1. Jamie Irons:Roger,
With Duvall, Eastwood, and Robert Downey, Jr. taking a moderately conservative position, I think we should be very much heartened.
I heard your interview of Jon Voight on the PJM broadcast on satellite radio, and enjoyed it very much. Mr. Voight seems extremely modest and likable.
Jamie Irons
Sep 16, 2008 - 9:07 am 2. A Clay:Thank you for popularizing the closeted meme. Living in San Francisco, the most totalitarian of American cities, I am constantly pressured to bite my tongue. I remember when this used to be one of the most free places in the world – this was also the time when Northern California reinvented the world. Correlation, perhaps?
Sep 16, 2008 - 9:15 am 3. tess mcneil:Roger, your suggestion that Obama shouldn’t raise money for his campaign on account of the mortgage crisis seem somehow disingenuous.
Meanwhile, any comments on the repeated lies told by Sarah Palin, or does that not fit the narrative?
Sep 16, 2008 - 9:15 am 4. Steve:It is interesting isn’t it that some of the most respected artists in Hollywood are conservatives? Do you think being a conservative in Hollywood is a little like being an artist in a communist country? They have to be careful about style and subject matter, and to express certain viewpoints, they have to be more creative?
Sep 16, 2008 - 9:20 am 5. hermie:There are things about Hollywood which I shake my head and say “Don’t these people get it?”.
They raise millions for a guy whose goal is to take more from their own pockets and subsidize those who have no incentive to work.
They belong to an industry which openly practices ageism and sexism, even a degree of anti-semitism, as well as censorship and bigotry. Has tremendous ‘carbon footprints’ and winks at unfair accounting practices; yet blames those ‘evil Republicans’ for the world’s ills.
Sep 16, 2008 - 10:18 am 6. Promoguy:Hermie, live with it as I do and you’ll get a better understanding. It is there way of assuaging their guilt of amassing more money than any normal person should have by voting for a black man. It has nothing to do with the the Dems taking money out of their pocket which they readily give to again lessen their guilt. The conservatives I know in the industry, work hard for their money and are very charitable. They are comfortable and don’t feel like they have to prove anything.
So yesterday, I’m in our local San Fernando Valley off leash park sitting amongst a collection of Jewish liberal women trying to understand this phenomena called Palin. When one one women turned to another and said, she just can’t understand why anyone would vote for a Republican unless they were rich. She continued to say, that she just couldn’t understand how a working stiff could vote that way. Taking my life in my own hands I turned, smiled and told her only that I was a working stiff. They went quiet.
Sep 16, 2008 - 10:37 am 7. Roy Lofquist:Dear Roger,
I agree wholeheartedly on Duvall.
The best single acting performance I have ever seen was Paul Newman, George C. Scott, Piper Laurie and Jackie Gleason in “The Hustler”.
Regards.
Sep 16, 2008 - 11:35 am 8. LSD:Roy
How many hollywood celebrities does it take to convey the message that Obama represents the proletariat?
Sep 16, 2008 - 11:46 am 9. Bugs:tess: It’s not the fundraising per se. The ostentatious display of wealth during multiple financial crises might cause people to think Obama’s people are out of touch with the rest of the country. I know – how could anything think Barbra Streisand doesn’t have her finger on the emotional pulse of America. But you know how people (especially Republicans) get crazy ideas in their heads. Like that whole Bill Ayers thing…
Sep 16, 2008 - 1:26 pm 10. ricpic:Gee, based on Eastwood’s recent directorial efforts I could have sworn he’d “grown” into a full fledged liberal.
Sep 16, 2008 - 1:48 pm 11. hermie:“LSD:
How many hollywood celebrities does it take to convey the message that Obama represents the proletariat?”
The same number it takes to fly in on private jets and take SUV limos to ‘Fight Global Warming’ parties.
Sep 16, 2008 - 1:53 pm 12. Banjo:I wonder who gets a bigger boost from a fundraiser attended by big-spending media mandarins that is headlined by a Barbra or Oprah — BO for the cash or McCain for the votes?
Sep 16, 2008 - 3:23 pm 13. jaimeshawn:Being on the working end of the spectrum myself, I would say every time we interact with the government for a permit to own a car, or cut some brush, or fix a retaining wall, it is a lesson in why more government is not the answer….
Sep 16, 2008 - 4:27 pm 14. Jay:“Still it is rather unseemly that a 28K-a-plate fundraiser is going on amidst a (relative) stock meltdown and (not so relative) mortgage crisis.”
Perhaps Mrs. McCain could fly in on her personal plane (http://tinyurl.com/56v3me) while Senator McCain repeats his recent stump speech claiming that the “fundamentals of the economy are strong.”
And Tess, of course Roger and his fans have a narrative; it fits their-dare I say it?-ideology of “Vote GOP or we will all die in a terrorist attack.”
Sep 16, 2008 - 4:51 pm 15. The Caterpillar Causation: An Election Year Time-Travel Parable « docweaselblog:[...] Roger L. Simon:Obama at the Wilshire: Hooray for Hollywood (money)! [...]
Sep 16, 2008 - 5:00 pm 16. Barry Dauphin:And Jay is gloriously free of ideology, he has no narratives, no biases, delightfully objective in every way, unless repeating himself endlessly counts as a narrative. The parrot narrative, not to be confused with the parrot sketch. Vote for the Dems or the GOP will take away every freedom, steal your money, ban sex, heat the earth, censor your library books, hunt moose using ACLU workers as bait, fire your ex-brother-in-law, and make you live in a small town with no Starbucks or much of a nightlife to speak of.
Sep 16, 2008 - 5:38 pm 17. Vinny Vidivici:Thanks, Barry.
Sep 16, 2008 - 6:00 pm 18. Godzilla:OT: THIS IS BIG!!! McCain wanted a commission for Fannie and Freddie in 2005!
The Article!
Sep 16, 2008 - 10:02 pm 19. Colette:>Perhaps Mrs. McCain could fly in on her personal plane (http://tinyurl.com/56v3me)<
Sep 16, 2008 - 10:17 pm 20. California Dreamer:Unless Barbra wants to put politics aside for the sake of the planet and give Cindy a ride on HER personal plane. They could jetpool and decrease their carbon footprints… Oh, I forgot, Jay, only Democrats care about the environment. If you put together Barbra’s Malibu spread, John Edwards’ South Carolina manse, Al Gore’s Tennessee estate, you could house a big chunk of Hurricane Ike refugees. It’s not the money or the conspicuous consumption, Jay. To paraphrase James Carville, “it’s the hypocrisy, stupid.”
I’m fine with Barbra asking $28,500 per plate for dinner with BO, but Fox is reporting that diners had to spring another $2,500 if they wanted to stay to hear her sing! Ouch! Is that anyway to solidify the base? I wonder if that incremental $2,500 is also subject to reporting rules? Or is Barbra reporting it as taxable income? Wanna bet we will never know?
Sep 16, 2008 - 11:21 pm 21. Terrye:tess:
Actually I think that Obama is a snob and a liar and I would not vote for him if you put a gun to my head.
As for Palin, she is a breath of fresh air and she has not told lies, so much as she has been lied about.
The woman has an approval rating of more than 80% in her state of Alaska. She has an approval rating of 75% among Democrats in that state. She has governed from the center and she did kill the Bridge to Nowhere. Obama and Biden on the other hand voted for it. Twice.
So now we have Obama doing his power to the people schtick at a mansion in Hollywood. I wonder if he made the same kind of stupid comments there about poor rural folk clinging to guns and religion..that he made in San Francisco on Billionare’s Row? I bet he did. I doubt he can help himself when he is a room of mindlessly adoring and very wealthy people.
Sep 17, 2008 - 4:11 am 22. Bugs:It would be nice to get hold of a transcript of all the speeches given at this soiree. Especially if any comedians spoke – they tend to say what’s really on their minds.
Sep 17, 2008 - 8:41 am 23. cedarford:I don’t normally get a vicarious emotional involvement from celebrity lives, but I have exceptions. I greatly admire Bono and Gary Sinease quietly doing great work for people – well away from the camera, same with tennis great Roger Federer and his Foundation.
As opposed to Sean Penn showing up after Katrina with a film crew to get footage of him (trying) to get in a leaky boat to “save” NOLA residents…
Another person I really root for out there is Robert Downey, Jr, who was among the greatest young talent – nice and very intelligent to boot – and the one people worried would be dead far too early or unemployable because of substance abuse. He has seemed to have gotten through that, and seems to have gained grace and fearlessness from that battle and knowing that he can work through just about anything because he has the perspective of experiencing rock bottom and perservering.
Sep 17, 2008 - 8:50 am 24. Pajamas Media » Obama’s Trickle-Up Economics:He is my age within a few days.
I root for that guy!
[...] “eat-the-rich” tax rhetoric play in the heartland when they hear about the $28,500 per plate fundraising dinner in Beverly Hills this week with the Hollywood elite (complete with the obligatory Barbara Streisand [...]
Sep 19, 2008 - 12:20 am 25. Hope:Frankly, I can’t take another moment of this deluge of lies in this torturous campaign. It’s becoming so painful I’m ready just to slip into a warm bathtub and slit my wrists….but hurray for Hollywood. At least being unemployed and have hundreds of used thrify store videos, it keeps me safe. What’s going on between the parties? Well, that’s their business. I figure I’ll just vote between movies.
Sep 19, 2008 - 7:31 pm