Free Republic

DENVER (AP) — How does Barack Obama lure wealthy donors to a big-money fundraiser in Hollywood? Bring in Barbra Streisand as the headline performer. The Oscar-winning singer and actress was to perform Tuesday night on Obama's behalf in Beverly Hills. It was to be a two-step evening with a reception and dinner costing $28,500 a person followed by a later event featuring Streisand at $2,500 a ticket. Obama was flying to Los Angeles after an appearance Tuesday morning in a Denver suburb. The wealthy fundraiser comes on a day when the crisis in the U.S. economy remained an urgent issue...

Actress, singer and hard core liberal Barbra Streisand is jumping on the bandwagon to slam presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain over his nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. The staunch Democrat is furious over the idea that McCain would deign to choose a woman as his running mate. Streisand said McCain’s choice of Palin is a ploy to simply grab voters who supported Hillary Clinton, who sought the Democratic nomination for the White House against Barack Obama the nominee. Obama chose long-time Washington insider Joe Biden, a Senator from Delaware, as his running...

TEHRAN, March 6, 2003. /from RIA Novosti correspondent Nikolai Terekhov/. - Iraq has dropped bombs hitting 2,500 oil fields that cover a vast area. According to the IRNA agency, the bombing near Sharjeh resulted in the explosion of an oil refinery near Kirkuk. Some oil-bearing wells were mined with antitank mines. The Iraqi Army units are ditching around near Baghdad and Kirkuk round the clock to resist the US Army.

The singer. The actor. The empty vessel. Many pundits believe celebrities are frivolously easy targets unworthy of our scorn. They must realize, however, that a single voice of a celebrity reaches more common Americans than a busload of think tank intellectuals. The influence of that voice is debatable. The necessity to oppose it is not. Apparently, something extraordinary happens when one becomes a celebrity. With all the attention, money and adoration, the narcissistic pop idol is too easily convinced that intelligence is a by-product of fame. Shooting faxes off to congressman as if they were political advisors, penning opinion pieces...