Posted on 07/10/2004 12:18:41 PM PDT by CPC
NEW YORK - Hollywood stars at a Democratic Party fund-raiser ripped President Bush as a liar, "another cheap thug" and a killer in a night of Bush bashing that put John F. Kerry, the party's presumed presidential candidate, and John Edwards, his running mate, on the defensive and provoked widespread criticism. Both senators were on stage late Thursday night in Radio City Music Hall as the stars uttered their remarks. Neither one rebuked them. Kerry, in fact, said that every performer "conveyed the heart and soul of America." On Friday, Republicans called on the Kerry campaign to repudiate the remarks and to release a videotape of the concert so people can judge for themselves. Kerry aides reacted by saying that the stars' attacks didn't represent the candidate's thinking. The concert raised $7.5 million for the campaign. "If John Kerry is going to praise last night's star-studded hate-fest and characterize it as the "heart and soul' of America, he should share these values with voters everywhere," said Ken Mehlman, Bush campaign manager. Even a song written for the event captured the vehemence of the night. In "Texas Bandido," John Mellencamp wrote, "He's just another cheap thug that sacrifices our young . . . You're going to get us killed with your little white lies." In a statement Friday, Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., said he was saddened, but not surprised that Kerry, D-Mass., didn't challenge the commentary. "Last night John Kerry held a fund-raiser in New York that featured performers in a time of war calling the president of the United States a killer, a cheap thug and a liar. John Kerry just sat there, grinning like a mule eating briars," Miller said. The controversy erupted as the struggle to define the mainstream values at the center of the campaign intensified. Bush was in Pennsylvania on Friday to counter Kerry's claim last week that he represented the "conservative values" of the heartland. Kerry and Edwards, D-N.C., have argued that fighting for the middle class is a truer measure of moral values than what they call the divisive social issues used by Republicans. But at the gala concert, attended by 6,000 people, many of the stars of political Hollywood weren't so diplomatic. Actress Meryl Streep attacked Bush's frequent references to his religious faith. "I wondered to myself through the shock and awe, I wondered which of the mega-ton bombs Jesus, our president's personal savior, would have personally dropped on the sleeping families in Baghdad," Streep said. Actress Jessica Lange called the Bush regime a "self-serving regime of hypocrisy and belligerence." Comedian Whoopi Goldberg caused nervous laughter, and uncomfortable looks from Kerry and Edwards, when she repeatedly referred to the new vice presidential candidate as "kid" - and made off-color sexual puns on the president's name. Kerry campaign officials said they wouldn't release a videotape of the concert, but they also sought to distance themselves from the spicier remarks and tone of the event, while defending the First Amendment rights of the performers. "The performers last night were speaking for themselves," said Mary Beth Cahill, Kerry's campaign manager. "He (Kerry) does not approve of some of the remarks, and he has made that clear."
Oh yeah? you sure about that?
John Kerry just sat there, grinning like a mule eating briars," Miller said
Release the video John Effen Kerry ~ BUMP!
BTW, whatever happened to her?
Mary Beth, you're a liar like all the other demonrats. John Effin' Kerry has NEVER made ANYTHING clear and he is not going to start now.
Oh? Really? So "conveyed the heart and soul of America" really means "I don't approve." Of course. RATSpeak.
Sorry, not my values,nor the values of anyone I care to know.
Trash begets trash.
Dear Ms Streep,
I sit here wondering just what it is that makes you and yours so morally bankrupt and bereft of truth.
Two million dead in the fields of Cambodia, perhaps another million in Iraq and untold dead in Rwanda. Just what number would get you off your fat ass to drop bombs on the bad guys?
Remember "Never Again"?
Actors who had made these types of remarks about Roosevelt during WWII would have been hung.
Unbelievable. Now it's not appropriate for a person to talk about his faith. These people are way over the top, and need to be reined in. God, how I loathe these people!
Yeah, and he doesn't have the BALLS either!
But he has the hair!
Bald GUYS for BUSH!!!
Not as far as I know, you lying POS bitch.
FMCDH(BITS)
That's a great slogan, considering I went bald 10 years ago. :)
The follow up question would be "And which, specifically, are the remarks Mr. Kerry does not approve of?"
No objection to the frequent photo ops of Klinton coming out of some church waving his 5 pound Bible--they knew he was a hypocrit.
Exactly! In fact, I'm sure she didn't have a problem with the 78-day aerial bombardment of Serbia. A war, were numerous Geneva Convention violations took place as civilian infrastructure and utilities were targeted...oh...and no UN resolution, either. Freakin' hypocrites.
Since Kerry doesn't approve of some of the remarks he's giving back the seven million dollars, right ?
Great point. I hadn't thought of that. That stage-prop Bible always made me laugh.
NOte the ending of Kerrys commercials where he now states, "I approve this message". Again, a man with no vision nor inventive genes inside of him. He steals other peoples innovations, no originality- BLAH.
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