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What's funny is these are the same folks not in the least perturbed if Islamofascist terrorists profess faith in Allah.

Nor do you read in the mainstream media the Arab newspapers call Nadar "our man." No one prints a word about Nadar's heritage - it is as if he was born out of the front of a covair!

Yeah those "tolerant" folks seem to be very intolerant of Christianity, but very tolerant of ANY other religion. It's only those stupid dangerous Christian ideas that have to be censored.

Wednesday, April 21, 2004
By Roger Friedman

Gere Not Fond of Bush

Richard Gere: Don't Trust Bush

An erudite and relaxed Richard Gere got plenty of ovations last night as the American Museum of the Moving Image's man of the year.

Gere brought wife Carey Lowell, plus his mom and lots of relatives from the Syracuse area, to see him get gently roasted by friends and receive the prestigious award.

It wasn't a solemn night at all — Gere regularly interrupted speakers like Garry Marshall and Denzel Washington from the floor to add his own opinions and observations.

After a clip from his forthcoming tango movie with Jennifer Lopez — a remake of "Shall We Dance?" — Gere stood up on his seat and put a white napkin in his mouth in lieu of a rose.

You'll see the whole thing soon on USA Networks, which taped the star-studded event. Among Gere's friends who showed up were Sharon Stone, Laura Linney, Matthew Modine, Hector Elizondo, Marisa Berenson, Kim Cattrall, Winona Ryder, Tim Robbins, Louis Gossett, Jr., Marty Richards and Liam Neeson.

But it was Gere's last remark that USA may have a little trouble with.

"Trust is so important," Gere said, and I paraphrase a little here. "I've learned not to trust anyone who thinks he has God exclusively on his side." Pause. "Not even the president."

During that pause I thought he meant Mel Gibson, who, like Gere and Washington, is agented by ICM's Ed Limato, was also in the audience. But Gere told me after the dinner, "'The Passion' is just a movie."

He hasn't seen it, by the way. "No, anyone who knows me knows it was a political statement."

It will be hard for USA Networks to clip out the comment considering it's the culmination of Gere's lovely acceptance. Perhaps they will be courageous enough to keep it in.

Another controversial comment that will also probably make it into the show was from Gossett, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar opposite Gere and Debra Winger in "An Officer and a Gentleman."

Said Gossett of his relationship with Gere: "We never had a cross word or a tense moment. Debra Winger took care of that."

Winger was one of the few Gere co-stars noticeably absent.

Also not at the dinner were some who had legitimate excuses because of work or illness: Susan Sarandon, Queen Latifah, Diane Lane and Julia Roberts. Latifah and Lane sent video messages.

But the most glaringly absent were Uma Thurman and her parents. Gere and the Thurmans — once thick as thieves — had a falling out some time ago over Tibet and the Dalai Lama.

There were a lot of film clips shown last night from Gere's many, many films. Some are best forgotten; a few are excellent.