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February 27, 2007, 0:00 a.m. The Convenient LieGeffen hit a nerve. By Rich Lowry While Al Gore was winning an Oscar for his film An Inconvenient Truth, the people he once inhabited the White House with were showing the power of the convenient lie. When Hillary Clinton’s talented spokesman Howard Wolfson reacted to Hollywood mogul David Geffen’s attacks on the Clintons last week, his initial statement calling on Barack Obama to apologize described Geffen as Obama’s “campaign finance chair.” This could only have been a calculated dishonesty, since everyone knows that Geffen has no formal role in the Obama...

There's more than meets the eye in that ongoing skirmish between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Clinton's advisers are using the fuss to send a warning shot. They want the Obama campaign to know that everything it does will be closely scrutinized from now on and that Obama won't be getting any free shots against Clinton. The donnybrook started when Hollywood mogul David Geffen said Hillary Clinton is too polarizing, that she should apologize for her 2002 vote in favor of the Iraq war, that her husband, Bill, has a reckless personality, and that the Clintons have a...

Why is Hillary's enforcer, Howard Wolfson, shooting Barack Obama in the kneecaps over David Geffen's criticism of his candidate? If Wolfson had his way, Geffen would "sleep with the fishes." Hillary and her boys realize that all that Obama has to sell is his purity. He's like Evian water. He has no particular taste, he's just the un-cola -- the opposite of the vicious, destructive, partisan politics that pervades our country and turns off the voters. Purity is a high standard, particularly for a politician, especially for one who is running against a Clinton. And purity is the easiest thing...

WHY THE GEFFEN IMBROGLIO SIGNALS CLINTON'S END'HILLARY'S STRATEGY--NOBODY GETS TO CRITICIZE HER' -- CHRIS MATTHEWS with a WARNING FOR DAVID GEFFEN by Mia T, 2.22.07   hy did hillary clinton take the bait? The answer is actually quite simple: David Geffen's comments to Maureen Dowd topple the clinton machine's extravagant, fanciful and elaborate construction and expose the candidate for what she is: Defective. Fatally defective. How is hillary clinton fatally defective? Let me count the ways: the clintons' documented abuse of power 4 (redacted via clinton abuse of power!) the clintons' terrorism failure 3. the clintons' 1 rape of...

There's a new mortal sin in American politics: criticizing Hillary Clinton. Nobody's allowed to do it. Certainly none of her opponents. If they dare to, Hillary sends in one of her boys, who practically accuses them of being un-American. In January, without ever mentioning Hillary's name and before she was even a candidate, John Edwards dared to express the view that silence on the Iraq War was "betrayal." Ignoring the substance of Edwards' speech, Clinton gun slinger Howard Wolfson immediately shot from the hip, attacking him for waging a negative campaign: "In 2004, John Edwards used to constantly brag about...

(CBS) LOS ANGELES -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit Los Angeles Thursday to conduct a series of fund-raisers for her presidential campaign, one day after a former ally's criticism sparked a dispute between her campaign and that of Senator Barack Obama. DreamWorks SKG co-founder David Geffen made sharply critical remarks about Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. "Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling," Geffen said. Geffen's comments prompted the Clinton campaign to issue a statement calling for the Obama campaign to return the...

With Hollywood as the backdrop, the campaigns of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama traded furious insults yesterday, each accusing the other of rank hypocrisy as the race for the Democratic nomination erupted in astonishing bitterness. The ugly bare-knuckle brawl - coming a year before the first presidential primary - was triggered by Tinseltown movie mogul and Obama supporter David Geffen's lengthy disparaging remarks about Hillary and Bill Clinton - his former friends.

Hillary Clinton's campaign apparently didn't take too kindly to the harsh rhetoric from L.A. music mogul David Geffen, courtesy of today's Maureen Dowd. Geffen, who is backing Barack Obama, called Bill Clinton "reckless" and clearly is still upset that Clinton didn't grant a pardon to cause celeb native American Leonard Peltier. More Geffen: "Marc Rich getting pardoned? An oil-profiteer expatriate who left the country rather than pay taxes or face justice?" Clinton chief spokesperson Howard Wolfson, in a release this a.m., is "demanding that" Obama "disavow personal attacks" from Geffen. Wolfson: "While Senator Obama was denouncing slash and burn politics...

MIDI - CAMP GRENADA David Geffen, how ya doin'?…with the witch there’s trouble brewin’ You’ve called Hillary a loser…so you’ve made it clear that you’re not gonna choose ‘er Think of all the implications…perhaps your evisceration People cross her and are sorry…the results, I am afraid, can be quite gory If you’re using words to strike ‘er…you’ll find there’s no one who’s like ‘er Pellicano did her bidding…you have no idea what you might be getting Pretty soon you may not smile…do not doubt she has your file In D.C. she has them frightened…around your neck you may feel...

NewsBusters' mission is that of exposing and combating liberal bias, and that's what I spend the great majority of my time here doing. But I hope our readers -- and my editors -- will indulge me when I offer a bit of personal analysis here. The outbreak of nastiness between the Obama and Hillary camps -- initiated by comments made by Obama supporter David Geffen and quoted by Maureen Dowd in her column today -- is stunning. For the Obama camp to come out this early -- and this hard -- against Hillary has taken the political world by...

WASHINGTON — The battle to be the 2008 Democratic candidate for president went negative Wednesday, as leading contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama got into a virtual shouting match. With more than a year and a half remaining before the next presidential election, the campaigns exchanged heated words after Clinton suggested Obama return funds to Hollywood bigwig David Geffen, who insulted Clinton in a newspaper article. "We aren’t going to get in the middle of a disagreement between the Clintons and someone who was once one of their biggest supporters. It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with...

He benefits from their name-calling, but is it 'cheap political points'? LOS ANGELES -- As he seeks the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama is campaigning against "the smallness of our politics" and "scoring cheap political points." It would seem, then, that Team Obama has a higher self-imposed standard when it comes to responding to shots, even cheap ones, lobbed at the Illinois Democrat. It makes life on the trail much tougher, but that's the high-minded course Obama set for himself. The volley aimed at Obama came Wednesday via a live-fire e-mail from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign. The New...

As I discussed here, yesterday's clash between Hillary and Barack Obama was perhaps the most bitter and open infighting between Dem presidential candidates in many an election cycle. Particularly given that it was comments by David Geffen quoted in a column by the New York Times' own Maureen Dowd that touched off the fracas, you would have thought the Times would have gone out of it way to highlight the intra-Dem battle. So . . . how did the New York Times portray the matter in its headline this morning? In Both Parties, 2008 Politeness Falls to Infighting. That's...

Jan. 24, 2007 — - Is Hollywood abandoning Hillary? On Wednesday morning, hundreds of Hollywood's movers and shakers received an invitation that they may find hard to refuse. They've been invited to come meet Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party's new superstar. He already has the buzz, but can he bring home the prize? Movie moguls Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg want their Hollywood peers to join them at a Feb. 20 fundraiser the three are throwing for Obama. For $2,300 a person and $4600 a couple, they can meet the candidate at a reception at the Beverly...

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Billionaire David Geffen has offered to buy the Los Angeles Times newspaper for $2 billion in cash, but parent company Tribune Co. has declined to accept or reject the bid, according to media reports Thursday. TRB rebuffed the bid because it is still seeking offers for the entire company, the Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times reported. Tribune began the process of soliciting bids in September, and late last month extended a self-imposed deadline to complete its strategic review to sometime in the first quarter of 2007. Analysts said the extension indicated that the company is...

My new column, Deal Or No Deal, compares what's happening with Eli Broad, Ron Burkle and David Geffen and the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Co. to NBC's hit game show and asks the question: Broad, Burkle, Geffen... when it comes to the Times, whose briefcase is bigger? (Thursday's New York Times also looks at Geffen's interest in buying the paper. But the story has nothing new in it.) In my view, more and more, the newspaper on Spring Street is beginning to resemble Deal or No Deal. Forget all those ink-stained news males: bring on the female eye candy. Or better...

Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad and prominent investor Ron Burkle submitted a bid today to buy Tribune Co. of Chicago, which owns the Los Angeles Times, KTLA Channel 5 and the Chicago Cubs. Details about the offer and the price that the duo would be willing to pay remained unclear, but the Los Angeles-based businessmen have said for months that they wanted a local group to take control of The Times ADVERTISEMENT"Affiliates of the Broad Investment Company and [Burkle's] Yucaipa Companies have submitted a competitive bid for acquisition of the entire Tribune company," a source familiar with the offer said. Broad...

Three Billionaires Bidding for LA Times Three billionaires, including Hollywood mogul David Geffen, have expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times, but have been rebuffed for the time being by its owner, Tribune Co., the paper reported. Geffen, property developer Eli Broad and supermarket investor Ron Burkle each wrote to the board of directors of the Chicago-based firm, which is under pressure from shareholders to boost its flagging share price, the paper said in its Saturday edition. The report, citing unidentified sources, said Tribune's directors considered the three letters at a July 19 board meeting. Tribune Chairman and Chief...

Dissident group says will continue efforts for sale or breakup of company... Tribune Co. shares gained ground Tuesday, rising as the media company that's been working to revamp operations amid shareholder unrest announced the results of a Dutch tender auction. Analysts said any gains could prove short lived, however. Chicago-based Tribune Co said that about 45 million, or 15%, of its common shares were tendered and that it expects to buy the shares at a price of $32.50 each. The number of shares tendered came in 8 million short of the maximum that the company had initially authorized in the...

  AN OPEN LETTER TO TIM ROBBINS, DAVID GEFFEN, CHRIS MATTHEWS, MAUREEN DOWD + JEANINE PIRRO RE: a not-so-modest proposal concerning hillary clinton December 7, 2005 Dear Concerned Americans, Hillary Clinton's revisionist tome notwithstanding, 'living history' begets a certain symmetry. It is in that light that I make this not-so-modest proposal on this day, exactly 64 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The context of our concern today--regardless of political affiliation--is Iraq and The War on Terror, but the larger fear is that our democracy may not survive. We have the requisite machines, power and know-how to defeat the...