1. MoveOn to Tinseltown
MoveOn.org has been busy recruiting celebrities to help get President Bush tossed out of the White House.
MoveOn's political action committee, MoveOnPac, has amassed big-name Hollywood troops to produce campaign ads attacking Bush and assisting John Kerry.
Rob Reiner will direct an ad written by "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin. Literary mudslinger Al Franken is penning some copy. Comic Margaret Cho is writing and directing a piece, Danny Glover is set to make a splash, Alicia Silverstone is planning an appearance, and Woody Harrelson is scripting and directing a spot, according to reports.
There's even going to be an animated bit that uses the voices of Kevin Bacon, Ed Asner and Scarlett Johansson.
The ads will supposedly be tested on focus groups, and MoveOn will then determine the best timing and location for each bitter broadcast.
The Left Coast Report thinks, with the mock-umentaries and crock-udramas that Hollywood has been turning out lately, it's clear that they're well practiced in the art of making campaign ads.
2. DNC Blogger Booboo
Some Democratic National Convention planners had a hip, trendy inspiration.
Instead of inviting only the usual media types to their Beantown fest, they thought it might be cool to also beckon some Internet bloggers. So they thought they'd throw an elite bloggers' breakfast and serve convention credentials with their pancakes.
A problem arose, though, because Dems gave out more credentials than they had allotted space for. This placed inclusive Dems in the sticky position of having to exclude some folks who had already been invited.
Some bloggers with a conservative orientation lost their credentials and are frustrated and a bit suspicious.
The Left Coast Report suggests that Republicans throw a brunch of their own - for slighted bloggers.
3. Tuckered Out
PBS has lots of problems, low ratings among them.
But when press people had the chance to talk to PBS president and CEO Pat Mitchell, it seems there was only one issue on their minds - Tucker Carlson's new PBS series "Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered."
Could it be the press feared that a trend to the right was in the making?
Mitchell was on the defensive. "We are not in the pursuit of that kind of political equivalency," he assured them.
"We're not responding to those [political] pressures in any other way than to respond to the original pressure, which is to have all points of view," he insisted.
Carlson's program aside, it sure seems as if some in the press aren't thrilled about seeing an opposing view on TV.
The Left Coast Report would like to remind any fuming liberal reporters where it is that PBS derives its money - and it's not from a pot at the end of the "Reading Rainbow."
4. Julia Roberts on Diva Patrol
Hollywood is known for coddling its stars. Now comes a story from the New York Post about palatial pampering related to the "Ocean's 11" sequel called "Ocean's 12."
Some of the highest-paid celebs in Hollywood make up the movie's cast, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia and Matt Damon.
One member of the ensemble turned out to be a wee bit demanding.
Roberts reportedly insisted that some scenes be refilmed because she was unhappy with the way she looked.
The entire cast and crew had to be flown to Chicago for a day of reshooting. Across from the set were three mansions rented for the cast's comfort. Roberts, curiously, ended up with one of the manors all to herself.
Reports indicate that she demanded that costly new wardrobe items be brought in because she wasn't pleased with the original cinematic outfits.
Despite the unforeseen expenditures, Warner Bros. insists through its spokesperson that the project is "on, if not under, budget."
The Left Coast Report hears the refrain of a new tune. I think it's called "Petty Woman."
5. John Kerry's Hollywood 'Values'
Hollywood leftists recently hosted a $5 million fund-raiser in Los Angeles for John Kerry.
At the event, Barbra Streisand sang a revised rendition of her trademark "People" tune, during which Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was called "the spookiest person in the world." By his presence and lack of objection, John Kerry tacitly agreed.
At a similar event in New York, Whoopi Goldberg held up a bottle of wine and juvenilely joked about the president's surname.
Others on stage, which included a whole host of the Hollywood misinformed and uninformed, called the president a liar, a thug and a killer.
Far from being offended, Kerry thanked all of the performers at the Radio City Music Hall event for "an extraordinary evening," adding that "every performer tonight ... conveyed to you the heart and soul of our country."
For his part, John Edwards boasted that it was "a great honor" to sit through what many are calling an X-rated show. The would-be vice president claimed, "This campaign will be a celebration of real American values."
In one of his characteristic flip-flops, Kerry the next day told the Associated Press that some of the performers "in our judgment, went over a line that neither of us would choose to go over. But we understand their anger."
The Left Coast Report applauds Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt, who pointed out that Kerry didn't have time to receive his intelligence briefing on terrorism, but somehow "found time to attend a Hollywood fund-raiser filled with enough hate and vitriol to make Michael Moore blush."