Oscar Guilt Assuaged With Eco-Cars

A lot of the Hollywood libs arrived at this year’s Oscars in eco-style.

Although many live in castle-like residences, fly in private planes and otherwise conspicuously consume energy, the arrival modes of choice this year were electric sports cars, hybrid SUVs, and tinted-windowed Priuses.

An advocacy group, Global Green USA, had lobbied Hollywood celebs prior to the awards show to use hybrids and electric cars.

Some of the attendees who arrived in the eco-correct vehicles included Melissa Etheridge, Leonardo DiCaprio, Forest Whittaker, Penelope Cruz, and, of course, Al and Tipper Gore.

The Left Coast Report wonders what kinds of cars the celebs are chauffeured in the other 364 days of the year.

James Carville: Al Gore Will Run in 2008

Democratic political strategist James Carville says Al Gore will run for president in 2008, but he fell short of offering his endorsement of that possible campaign.

Carville, appearing Tuesday as a guest on MSNBC’s ‘Imus in the Morning’ program, said Gore’s desire to run for political office might come, not from his Oscar win, but rather from something more primitive.

"Running for president is like having sex,” Carville said. "You don’t do it once and forget about it. You want to do it again. He’s run for president in ‘88, he ran for president in 2000. We know he wants to be president and the stars could line up. I suspect he will get into this race.”

The CNN analyst, author and former Clinton administration operative, will likely support Sen. Hillary Clinton in the 2008 race, but Carville said he is not formally on board with her team.

"I am not associated with the campaign, but I am sympathetic to it," Carville said. "I love her and I wish her nothing but the best. I think any Democrat can win the general [election], but the primary will be tough for her, and I think she knows that.”

As for the Republican field, Carville has a longshot favorite he thinks may impress: former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

"If I was a longshot bettor, I might put two dollars on the nose on him,” Carville said. "I’ve seen him on television. He’s a little like President Clinton. He likes people; he knows how to relate to people. His father was a preacher. He can talk the talk. I’m impressed with this guy’s political skills.”

Hollywood Goes Nuts For Obama

"We will be hosting a fund-raising reception for U.S. Senator Barack Obama," the invitation stated. "We hope you will be able to join us and meet Senator Obama in person."

The invitation was signed: Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen.

Seven hundred of Hollywood's most powerful, famous, and richest denizens were asked to pay $2,300 each to attend the Feb. 20 soiree at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Geffen even said that anyone guaranteeing 20 paying guests would be invited to join him for dinner afterwards at his Beverly Hills home, widely regarded as the industry's most impressive trophy mansion. It sits on nine acres, and features a 50-foot-long bar and servants' house with 10 bedrooms.

The fund-raiser foreshadows an increasingly contentious issue: Will Hollywood throw its star power behind Sen. Hillary Clinton, or switch its support to upstart Obama?

Most celebrities and moguls in famously liberal Hollywood haven't yet made up their minds. In fact, many are happy to fork over $2,000 to just about any Democrat who comes to town.

"We have a high-quality problem," says Sherry Lansing, former head of Paramount Pictures, who will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at this year's Oscars. "There are many good potential candidates and we want to give them all an opportunity to give their message."

Which candidate wins Hollywood's nomination for Best Politician in a Presidential Role is especially important for Democrats, who depend on Hollywood's rich and famous to help raise that kind of coin.

Many prominent Hollywood Democrats may end up giving their money to both Clinton and Obama. Chevy Chase, for example, gave money to Clinton and Obama. So did Barbra Streisand, who also wrote a check to former vice presidential candidate John Edwards.

Gradually, however, Hollywood's political lines are being drawn. Those lining up with Clinton, based on their donations and statements, include:

Harvey and Robert Weinstein, the duo who executive produced about 200 films including "The Lord of the Rings" and "Spy Kids" franchises, not to mention Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The power trio of Elizabeth Taylor, Marlo Thomas, and Candice Bergen.

Haim Saban, the billionaire behind the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Steve Bing, the near-billionaire ex-boyfriend of actress Elizabeth Hurley who helped bankroll "The Polar Express" and produced "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World."


Obama's candidacy is as trendy in Hollywood as it is elsewhere in the country, however. So far his star-struck supporters include:

Director Oliver Stone

Talk-show maven Oprah Winfrey

Actor-director George Clooney

Actor Ben Affleck

Actor Matt Damon


While each of the DreamWorks trio of Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen that hosted the Obama fund-raiser has contributed money to Obama, only Katzenberg has officially endorsed him.

"Jeffrey is endorsing Sen. Obama. Steven has not made an endorsement yet," said Andy Spahn, political aide to both Katzenberg and Spielberg. "Steven will eventually settle on a candidate, but right now he will help a few and endorse down the road."

In fact, insiders say Spielberg may host a Clinton fund-raiser as well. Obama is attracting Hollywood types because "he transcends the partisan nastiness of the last 15 years," says political consultant Dan Gerstein, "and even for Hollywood's most partisan Democrats, that's appealing."

Gerstein, a former senior adviser to Sen. Joe Lieberman, says that many in Hollywood see Clinton's rhetoric as representative of past hostilities they've grown tired of.

"She's part of the Clinton-Bush years and Obama is post-partisan. Look at his delivery. It's not, ‘Republicans are evil.' It's not tribalism," he says.

Super-agent Ari Emanuel -- brother of Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. -- already hosted an Obama fund-raiser that featured such notable guests as Affleck, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Norman Lear, Christine Lahti, and Thomas Schlamme, an executive producer for "The West Wing" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."

There's no guarantee, of course, that Hollywood's money and influence will get the desired candidate elected. In 2005, a billboard near the Kodak Theatre on Oscar night thanked Martin Sheen, Sean Penn, and Whoopi Goldberg for helping to re-elect Bush -- by way of their strident opposition to him.

Perhaps that's what Clooney had in mind when he told Newsweek magazine that he'd do all he could to help Obama, "even if that means staying away."

"Candidates fall into the trap of using celebrities to raise money," said David Bossie, president of Citizens United, the conservative group behind those billboards. "But then they are held accountable for what those celebrities do and say. It's nice when Sean Penn supports you, but not when he goes to Iraq and is seen as a useful idiot."

Democratic operatives seem to agree.

"There are celebrities who are credible and ones who cause people to turn the channel," said Shawn Sachs of Sunshine Consultants, a publicity firm that represents clients like Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as documentaries such as "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry."

The trick, said Sachs, is to try to keep the focus on whatever cause you are promoting. Clooney's raising awareness of African genocide, for example, plays well with American audiences.

"If you can keep it about the issue and not the politics, that's when you earn credibility," he says.

Bossie agrees that some celebrities -- Bruce Springsteen comes to mind -- might have helped Kerry in 2004 with their outspoken support. "But most of the time, people just think, ‘Oh no, here comes Hollywood again, trying to ram Hollywood's values down our throats.'"

Does that hold true for Republicans, as well?

"They usually attract NASCAR racers and country music stars," said Bossie, "and I can't recall an instance when their support came back to haunt the candidate."

New al-Qaida Recording

The latest audio recording released by al-Qaida features the second in command, Ayman al Zawahiri.

It was posted on the Internet with subtitles so that an English-speaking audience would be able to understand Zawahiri’s insults.

Zawahiri slams U.S. citizens for electing President Bush twice and then labels Bush “an alcoholic, liar, and gambler with an addictive personality.”

Sounding just like someone who’s running in the Democratic presidential primary, Zawahiri says, “U.S. President George Bush being forced to admit his failure in Iraq is a major event.”

The Left Coast Report is looking into rumors that Zawahiri is trying to get his recording nominated for next year’s Grammys.

Hillary Clinton vs. the Antiwar Democrats

By David Limbaugh

As the 2008 Democratic presidential sweepstakes unfolds, it will be interesting to watch the ongoing conflict between the two main rivals: Hillary Clinton and the antiwar base.

Everyone knows that Hillary has shrewdly positioned herself as a hawk in anticipation of a presidential run. Far fewer have bought into her sincerity on the matter. Conservatives know she has been acting. Antiwar liberals have fervently hoped so.

From the beginning, Hillary has received angry criticism from the left for her pro-war rhetoric and her vote in support of the Iraq war resolution. But she was able to deflect most of it earlier because the war wasn't so unpopular then and because even while supporting the war she always found a way to harshly criticize President Bush's war policy.

But now that the Democratic contest is underway, the war is much more unpopular and Hillary has primary opponents running to her left, she is facing more backlash than perhaps she expected. Will she surrender, or will she fight back with the ferocity of which she recently boasted? If the latter, who will be left standing at the end of the day: Hillary or the base?

At a town hall meeting in Berlin, N.H., one critic urged Hillary to repudiate her vote for the Iraq war resolution. When she didn't say what he wanted to hear, the critic said he wasn't interested in anything else she had to say on the subject.

This was not merely an isolated incident. At an event in Concord, N.H., another detractor accused her of wanting to "have it both ways" by demanding an end to the war now while having voted to authorize it some five years ago.

In her responses, Hillary at least managed to be consistent for an entire weekend. She said, "Knowing what we know now, I would never have voted for [the Iraq war resolution]. I gave him the authority to send inspectors back in to determine the truth. I said this is not a vote to authorize pre-emptive war."

Presumably, Hillary picked up this line from then-presidential candidate John Kerry, who concocted the transparently false story that Democratic congressmen only voted to authorize the use of force conditionally - upon further exhaustion of diplomatic avenues and weapons inspection. But the stubborn fact is that the Iraq war resolution contained no such conditions.

If Hillary had only been sanctioning further weapons inspections and diplomacy with her vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq, why does she say, "Knowing what we know now, I would never have voted for [the resolution]?" That is, if all she voted for was to encourage further weapons inspections and diplomacy, why does she need to justify her vote based on being duped on WMD? Indeed, doesn't her claim that she was demanding more inspections contradict her allegation that President Bush successfully duped her?

Hillary's glaring contradictions can only be understood in light of the undercurrent of tension between Hillary and the base. While Hillary's answers are meant to tell centrist voters that she would have supported the strike on Iraq if Saddam really did have WMD stockpiles ("knowing what we know now"), she realizes that to come right out and say that now might further alienate the base.

That's because, truth be told, most of the base wouldn't support a war even against a terrorist-supporting despot who serially violated U.N. resolutions and post-war treaties and had WMD stockpiles. Many of them believe the United States is an international pariah, an aggressor nation, an occupier and an oppressor, and that it's unfair for us to have WMD while depriving other nations of them.

It's reasonable to assume that the antiwar left would oppose almost any military action like the one against Iraq no matter how many U.N. resolutions and postwar treaties it violated or how much of an existential threat it represented. It seems blind to any such threats.

You can see this in its attitude toward Iran, constantly making excuses for the dangerous Ahmadinejad regime, downplaying its role in Iraq, and insisting that we negotiate with the letter-writing Holocaust denier. The base is bringing to bear its pressure on Democratic candidates on this matter, too, as John Edwards has already retreated from his earlier tough talk against Iran and Hillary is also beginning to soften on the issue.

Hillary's tough questioners affirm that the tension with her uncompromising base can't be attenuated unless she abandons her pursuit of projecting a hawkish image. They are not about to give ground now, especially when puffed up over the November election results, for which they claim primary credit.

The base will remain firm. The question is whether Hillary will, too. Or will she capitulate or triangulate?

Singer Ricky Martin 'Fingers' Bush for Iraq Criticism

Ricky Martin, who was a headliner at the 2001 inauguration ball for President George W. Bush, has a message for the American commander in chief about war.

At a recent concert, the 35-year-old singer stuck up his middle finger when he sang the president's name in his song "Asignatura Pendiente," which includes the words, "a photo with Bush." The gesture last Friday prompted cheers from thousands of fans in the San Juan stadium.

On Thursday, the Puerto Rican heartthrob repeated his criticism of the Iraq war and explained his changed position on Bush.

"My convictions of peace and life go beyond any government and political agenda and as long as I have a voice onstage and offstage, I will always condemn war and those who promulgate it," Martin said about his action in an e-mail statement sent to The Associated Press via a spokesman.

Martin, like other artists, has been highly critical of the war in Iraq.

Best known to international audiences for his smash hit "Livin' la Vida Loca," Martin is a huge star in Puerto Rico, where symbols of national identity - such as the Puerto Rican flag and anthem - are widely adored, and residents have complicated feelings about Washington.

The United States seized Puerto Rico in 1898 at the end of the Spanish-American War.

Puerto Rico's 4 million people are U.S. citizens and can be drafted into the military but cannot vote for president and have no voting representation in Congress. They also do not pay federal taxes.

Ralph Nader: Hillary's Just a 'Bad Version of Bill Clinton'

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader hinted Thursday that he would enter the presidential race in next year if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the Democratic Party's nominee.

"Flatters, panders, coasting, front-runner, looking for a coronation ... She has no political fortitude,” Nader said of Clinton during a radio appearance when he was asked to describe the former First Lady.

"She's just another bad version of (former President) Bill Clinton,” he told KGO radio.

Nader, whose Green Party candidacy for president in 2000 was blamed for helping put George Bush in the White House by siphoning votes from Vice President Al Gore, told KGO radio host that he was considering running again in 2008.

"We're going to see what the Democrats come up with,” he said.

Nader, who was in San Francisco promoting a new memoir, "The Seventeen Traditions,” also has been hard on other Congressional Democrats during his book tour, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a San Franciscan.

He said he planned to visit Pelosi's San Francisco office to protest the war in Iraq.

While Nader received 2.7 percent of the vote in 2000, he got less than one-half of 1 percent in 2004.

Phil Trounstine, who heads the San Jose State Center for Policy and Research, said Nader's flirtation with another presidential bid is viewed by many as evidence that he is on "an enormous ego trip with potentially destructive impact.”

Hillary's Secret Service Dramatically Increased

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Secret Service detail has received a major boost, rising from three or four federal agents to as many as a dozen in recent weeks.

The increase, which followed Clinton’s formal entry into the 2008 presidential race on Jan. 20, was described as a "precaution,” given her position as a former first lady, according to sources cited by the New York Post.

But the Secret Service was notified when a blogger posted a rant on one of Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign Web sites calling for Clinton’s death.

The rant was addressed to Obama, a rival to Hillary for the 2008 Democratic nomination:

"You’re too black for whites and too white for blacks,” it read. "But please put up a good fight for us – and if you get a chance to shove a pillow over Hillary’s face and smother her to death before the primaries, 20 black-eyed virgins will wait on you in paradise.”
 
The posting remained on the site for about seven hours before it was removed.

"This is obviously a horrible abuse of the openness of our Web site,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton told the Post.

"We took it down because the content was deplorable and has no place in the discussion.”

Joe Kennedy's 'Shameless Support' of Hugo Chavez

One of Congress's most outspoken critics of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez Monday called on former Massachusetts lawmaker Joe Kennedy to stop airing television advertisements that give "shameless support" to "the most dangerous man in the Western Hemisphere."

Calling Chavez "a sworn enemy of the United States," Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., wrote in a letter to Kennedy that "there is absolutely no excuse for you to be praising him in television commercials and media interviews for any reason whatsoever."

"More than 40 years ago, your uncle - President John F. Kennedy — spoke about the perils of communism in the Western Hemisphere and the threats posed by Fidel Castro, saying: 'We and our Latin friends will have to face the fact that we cannot postpone any longer the real issue of survival of freedom in this hemisphere itself,'" Mack noted.

"Those words still ring true today," he added. 

Sen. Barack Obama Apologizes for Saying U.S. Troops 'Wasted'

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is apologizing for saying the lives of the more than 3,000 U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war were "wasted."

During his first campaign trip this weekend, the Illinois senator told a crowd in Iowa: "We now have spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted."

He immediately apologized on Sunday, saying the remark was "a slip of the tongue."

During an appearance Monday in Nashua, N.H., he apologized again, telling reporters he meant to criticize the civilian leadership of the war, not those serving in the military.

"Even as I said it, I realized I had misspoken," Obama said. "It is not at all what I intended to say, and I would absolutely apologize if any (military families) felt that in some ways it had diminished the enormous courage and sacrifice that they'd shown."

Obama made his second visit to New Hampshire on Monday, following his speech Saturday announcing his candidacy in Illinois on Saturday and a visit to first-caucus state Iowa. 

Charlize Theron Equates America and Cuba

Displaying some star-sized ignorance, Charlize Theron recently equated oppression in Cuba with oppression in America.

Theron appeared on CNN to promote a movie that she produced called “East of Havana,” a documentary about Cuban rap. During the interview, she slandered the nation that has given her the opportunity to prosper.

“Well, I would argue there's a lack of freedom in America,” Theron said.

Theron claimed that journalists in the U.S. were fired for commenting about the war in Iraq, just like rap singers in Cuba had to show their lyrics before they were allowed to perform.

When asked, “Do you think the lack of freedoms in Cuba are parallel to the lack of freedoms in the United States?” Theron replied, “Well, I would, I would compare those two. Yes, definitely.” 

The Influence of ‘24’

The Left typically dismisses the influence of entertainment content with claims like “it’s only fiction” or “music, television and movies don’t really affect the way people behave.”

Apparently, an exception has been made when it comes to the liberal’s least favorite television show, “24.”

A non-profit advocacy group, Human Rights First (HRF), is concerned that in watching “24” U.S. interrogators will be influenced to copy the techniques of Keefer Sutherland’s alter-ego, Jack Bauer.

HRF’s Web site states that “the portrayal of torture in popular culture is having an undeniable impact on how interrogations are conducted in the field. U.S. soldiers are imitating the techniques they have seen on television — because they think such tactics work.”

One of HRF’s activities involves monitoring torture scenes depicted on prime-time television.

In order to lobby the Fox series, the group brought a West Point commander and retired military interrogators to Hollywood for meetings with “24”’s producers to present concerns about torture scenes.

Tony Lagouranis was a participant in the meetings. The former U.S. Army specialist actually played a real life role in questioning prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Lagouranis claims he saw fellow interrogators imitate techniques they learned from watching a DVD of the Fox show.

On a recent episode of “24,” Keefer’s character was seen torturing his own brother. Perhaps the military will have to keep siblings apart from now on.

HRF also found examples of television torture on “Alias,” “The Wire,” “Law & Order,” “The Shield,” and even “Star Trek: Voyager.”

Haven’t these folks seen Rosie O’Donnell co-hosting “The View?” 

Fred Thompson: Libby Prosecution a 'Travesty'

Former U.S. Senator and "Law & Order” star Fred Thompson calls Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's prosecution of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby a "travesty and injustice."

While serving as chairman of the Senate Government Affairs Committee in the late 1990s, the Tennesee Republican led the effort to allow the Office of Independent Counsel to expire, and he remains wary of prosecutors with too much power.

"When you put too much power in the hands of unelected, unaccountable people who have every incentive to focus massive resources onto one particular person - who gets the plaudits in the media for doing so - it's a bad thing,” Thompson, who attended the Libby proceedings last week, said in an exclusive interview with ABC News. "And many, many times an injustice can occur.”

Thompson believes it is appropriate for the U.S. Attorney General to appoint a special counsel only if a clear violation of the law has occurred, and said the Libby case does not meet that criterion.

He claims it was obvious that Valerie Plame, the CIA operative whose identity was leaked, was not covered under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act that.

"There was no indication that a law had been violated," Thompson told ABC News. "That's borne out by the fact that nobody's been charged with outing her. The Justice Department knew that early on. The CIA should have known that early on. Special Counsel Fitzgerald had to have known that at the very beginning. There was no law that had been violated at the time the investigation had been started.”

Thompson, who also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and plays a district attorney on TV, said Fitzgerald "turned out to be a fella who can see miles and miles in a straight line, but had no peripheral vision at all and didn't realize apparently that he was caught up in a bureaucratic political dogfight."

Senate Staffer Refutes U.N. Global Warming Report

The United Nations has issued a report stating that global warming is man-made and humans are to blame for the extreme weather conditions of recent years.

But Marc Morano, communications director with the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said the “scientific” report is bogus.

Appearing on Fox News, Morano told John Gibson:

“The first thing you have to realize is that what the U.N. came out with is not a scientific document, it is a political document approved by U.N. political delegates. The media has been reporting around the world that thousands of scientists have gotten together and this is their report. That is not the case…

“This is not thousands of scientists speaking, this is hundreds of U.N. bureaucrats and delegates speaking…

"The New York Times last year in April said that few scientists agree that any recent weather events including Katrina, drought, floods, are due to man-made global warming. There's nothing they can point to that's outside natural variability.”

When Gibson brought up the threat from Jacques Chirac of France that the European Union would heavily tax American exports to Europe if the U.S. doesn’t fall into line with the Kyoto Protocol – which dictates limits on the emission of greenhouse gases – Morano responded:

“It's the same Jacques Chirac who called Kyoto the first step to authentic global governance in 2000. That gives you an idea of the agenda behind it and Jacques Chirac is threatening the U.S.

“The odd thing about it is, 13 of the 15 EU nations aren't meeting the requirements of Kyoto and the EU nations’ emissions are rising twice as fast as the U.S. The U.S. is actually doing better even though we haven't ratified Kyoto. But they're trying to make the U.S. out to be the evil boogieman in the world.”

Meanwhile, one leading scientist is placing the blame for global warming on another “culprit” – the sun.

Israeli astrophysicist Dr. Nir Shaviv, who has made a name for himself studying meteorites, said: “Solar activity can explain a large part of the 20th-century global warming.”

In remarks reported by Canada’s National Post, Dr. Shaviv stated that much evidence has been accumulating over the past decade of the strong relationship that variations in the sun’s cosmic-ray emissions have on our atmosphere – so much evidence that “it is unlikely that [the solar-climate link] does not exist.”

In his study of meteorites, published in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters, Dr. Shaviv found that some meteorites reaching the earth sustained up to 10 percent more cosmic-ray damage than others.

That kind of cosmic-ray variation, he believes, could alter global temperatures by as much as 15 percent – enough to begin or end an ice age. 

Hezbollah Leader Admits Group Gets Weapons from Iran

Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of the Lebanese Islamist party Hezbollah, has reportedly acknowledged that Iran is aiding the group by sending money and weapons via Syria.

In an interview published in the Egyptian publication Masr al-Youm, Nasrallah also said Hezbollah is willing to receive aid even from Muslim countries that have diplomatic ties with Israel, such as Egypt, and from moderate countries critical of the Hezbollah actions that sparked the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, the Israeli Web site Haaretz.com reported.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah – which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization – kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in an effort to obtain the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, but admitted that he had made mistakes.

“Perhaps we erred – only God does not make mistakes – and we have apologized to the Lebanese people for this and have paid a heavy price in blood,” he said in the interview with Egyptian academic Saad Eddin Ibrahim.

But he went on to declare: “We do not hesitate to sacrifice our children in the name of our righteous struggle.”

Two days after the interview appeared, Hezbollah officials dismissed it, saying in a statement that some parts were “inaccurate” and others were “completely unfounded.”

A Hezbollah official told the English language Daily Star in Lebanon that no formal interview had ever taken place.

Ibrahim stands by his story, declaring: “They can deny that it took place, but I met with him for two hours on January 11, 2007.

“Nasrallah told me that Hezbollah had been receiving aid from Iran from day one, and that it was coming in from Syria.”

He also told The Daily Star: “If they want to deny it for their own political convenience, then that’s up to them.” 

American Appointed to Head U.N. Political Affairs

An American was appointed to head U.N. political affairs on Friday after the United States vied for the first time to hold the post that negotiates agreements in a variety of crisis points around the world, the United Nations announced.

B. Lynn Pascoe, the current U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia was the Bush administration's choice to succeed Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria, a post that Britain had occupied for decades before Gambari took over. His name had leaked weeks ago.

The United States usually headed administration and management but decided to seek a political post this year.

Among other appointments, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named Kiyotaka Akasaka of Japan as the U.N. undersecretary-general for communications and public information to succeed Shashi Tharoor of India, a veteran U.N. employee and author. 

Chris Matthews: Bush's F#&!*N Ranch!

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews ran afoul of censors by using "the f-word” during a Wednesday appearance on the ‘Imus in the Morning’ show.

Matthews, the fast-talking and brash host of the popular MSNBC show "Hardball,” was praising former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 candidacy when he went on a rant about "city guys” like Giuliani versus the "southerners,” such as President George W. Bush, who run for national office.

Matthews: "We love good mayors because we love our cities and Giuliani is a city guy . . . I’m so sick of Southern guys with ranches running this country. I want a guy to run for president who doesn’t have a f***ing ranch . . .”

Imus: "Did we bleep that out of there? . . . What were you swearing for?”

Apparently, Imus' national radio show which airs with a tape delay "beeped" out the expletive, but MSNBC did not catch it. 

George Soros: America Needs to Be ‘De-Nazified’

George Soros, who became the soft-money king when he poured tens of millions of dollars into an effort to defeat President Bush in 2004, has compared today’s U.S. with yesterday’s Germany.

Soros, who also ponied up $900 million to buy a 59-film DreamWorks catalog from Viacom in 2006 in a move to obtain some Hollywood mogul street cred, was in attendance at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Soros declared to the assembled power brokers of the world, “America needs to follow the policies it has introduced in Germany. We have to go through a certain de-Nazification process.”
The Left Coast Report thinks maybe we need to de-nuttify a certain blowhard billionaire.

People’s Weekly World Hates '24,' Loves Keith Olbermann

Reflecting the views of the far left, the People’s Weekly World (PWW) called Fox’s hit television series “an incredibly brazen example of the ultra-right-wing’s use of that medium to spread fear to win support for its political agenda and for President Bush.”

According to PWW, Fox is conspiring with the Bush administration. “It is no accident that “24” is being televised when Bush’s domestic and foreign policy agenda, and the ultra-right, are being rejected by the vast majority in the U.S,” the article reads.

The Pravda knockoff praised MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann for describing “24” as “naked brainwashing.”

The Left Coast Report wishes to apologize to readers for using the terms “Olbermann” and “naked” in the same sentence.

Rosie O’Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg’s Constitution Instruction

While appearing on the "raging Rosie" show, otherwise known as ABC’s “The View,” guest co-host Whoopi Goldberg played a game of Constitution rugby with Rosie O’Donnell.

As the two engaged in hand wringing over the plight of The Dixie Chicks, O’Donnell yammered that “there still is in some capacity sort of a McCarthy era-esque feeling about entertainers speaking out against the government in any capacity.”

The sole cogitator, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, asked, “All right, OK, so why don't I have a right to not buy their records and to say you shouldn’t buy their record either?”

Goldberg answered by reaching for the left’s other favorite comparison, Nazis. “You have a right not to buy their records, but burning them in public brings on 1933,” Whoopi said.

“Correct,” O’Donnell replied, like she was praising a kindergarten student.
Goldberg went on with her lecture, saying, “Let me tell you, let me tell you why. Because in Germany, when they started burning art and they started burning books and they started burning things, when you start burning stuff in public, that is a whole other statement.”

Whom Will Pelosi Back in ’08?

If the race for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 comes down to a contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could prove crucial.

Pelosi is not endorsing any candidate right now — and may never make an official endorsement, according to Josephine Hearn of Politico.com.

Both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama aided House Democrats in the 2006 elections and helped Pelosi become speaker, and both distinguished themselves with their fund-raising efforts for other Democrats.

“But some question whether Pelosi would ever support Sen. Clinton given their deep differences over the Iraq war,” Hearn writes. “Clinton voted for it in 2002. Pelosi voted against it . . . Obama has hewed closer to Pelosi in opposing the Iraq war.”

Pelosi is being guarded for the moment. Asked for her opinion of the Democratic field, she said simply: “I think they’re all great.” 

Clintonistas Abandoning Hillary

A number of Clinton administration officials have shunned Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the presidency and are instead working with her rivals for the Democratic nomination in 2008.

Among the highest-ranking defectors, former Commerce Secretary William Daley is backing Sen. Barack Obama; top Clinton political aide Douglas Sosnik is advising Sen. Christopher Dodd; and Al Gore’s former Chief of Staff Ronald Klain is in the camp of Sen. Joe Biden, The New York Sun reports.

Former White House counsel Abner Mikva is also backing Obama.

“I knew Obama before I went to the White House,” Mikva told the Sun. “I have a high regard for Hillary. I think Barack will be a better candidate and has a better chance of winning.”

Other former Clinton administration officials in the Obama camp include Michael Froman, a former Treasury Department official; White House congressional liaison Broderick Johnson; former Treasury aide Karen Kornbluh; ex-White House health policy aide Devorah Adler; Anthony Lake, who was a national security adviser to President Clinton; and Susan Rice, a former White House adviser on Africa policy.

Ex-Clinton administration figures who are working for John Edwards’ presidential campaign include Clinton speechwriter Jonathan Prince, White House spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri, and National Security Council staffer Miles Lackey.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack also has some former Clinton talent on his staff.

Hillary spokesman Howard Wolfson downplayed the loss of former Clinton loyalists, telling the Sun: “We are very pleased with the overwhelming support and encouragement Sen. Clinton has gotten from administration alums.”

Asked about the defectors, Wolfson said: “All good folks and we wish them well.” 

Dick Morris Plans to 'Run' Against Hillary

Former Bill Clinton aide Dick Morris is bringing out a documentary in September to expose Hillary Clinton as a "phony."

Morris told the American Spectator Breakfast that the documentary will present Hillary's conflicting statements side-by-side and will portray her disingenuous statements and misrepresentations alongside the facts. The documentary will also depict Bill Clinton's involvement in controversial matters ranging from his pardons as president to his work for Dubai.

"You have to get to the fundamental fact of her phoniness, her lack of credibility." Morris said. "That she is pretending to be something she is not. I think you can best explain that by showing her being contradictory."

Morris and former congressional staffer David Bossie have been soliciting donations for the project.

"If you liked how the Swift Boat Veterans turned the tide against John Kerry, you understand how a top Clinton aide can turn the tables and stop a Clinton-style liberal from becoming the next president of the United States," Morris wrote in the solicitation.

Especially in key primary states, Morris and Bossie plan to rent movie theaters where the documentary will be shown. In effect, Morris will be running against Hillary, who has announced that she is running for presidency.

"With Hillary, scandals are a gift that keep on giving," Morris told NewsMax after his talk.

As an example of Hillary's disingenuousness, Morris will feature Hillary's NBC interview with Jane Pauley on Sept. 17, 2001. Trying to engender sympathy, Hillary told Pauley that when the two airplanes hit the World Trade Center, her daughter Chelsea was at Battery Park near the towers.

"She'd gone for what she thought would be a great jog," Hillary said. "She was going down to Battery Park, she was going to go around the towers. She went to get a cup of coffee — and that's when the plane hit."

"She was close enough to hear the rumble," Pauley said.

"She did hear it. She did," Hillary said.

"And to see the smoke . . ."

"That's right," Hillary responded, saying she did not locate her daughter until two hours later.

"At that moment, she was not just a senator, but a concerned parent," Katie Couric said the next day on NBC's "Today."

It was a great tale, but Hillary had made it up from whole cloth. Her arrogance was so profound that she did not coordinate the story with Chelsea, who wrote an article for "Talk" in which she described what she had been doing that day.

According to Chelsea, she wasn't jogging at the World Trade Center. Rather, she was miles away in a friend's apartment on Park Avenue South. She watched the events unfold on TV. Hillary told the story with a straight face.

Despite his own planned efforts, Morris said he thinks Hillary will be the next president and Barack Obama will be her vice president. On the GOP side, Morris believes a dark horse who is considered by the conservative base to be more ideologically pure than the leading candidates will be nominated to run against her.

"I think the field will come down to the pygmies," Morris said. "It's going to be [Mike] Huckakbee, [Sam] Brownback, [Jim] Gilmore, [Duncan] Hunter, [Tom] Tancredo, [Tommy] Thompson."

As astute as Morris is, that analysis seems to ignore the fact that only Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Rudy Giuliani have the ability to raise the money needed to win. It also seems to overlook the question of whether a candidate whose record presents absolutely no issues for conservatives can win in the general election.

Referring to Morris' picks, an influential Washington conservative who did not want to be named said, "Forget about them winning the general election." 

Iran, N. Korea Should Be Focus of War on Terror

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

The danger from Saddam Hussein has long since passed and the possibility that Iraq will ever develop WMD is long gone. The new focus of the war on terror has to be North Korea and Iran.

The Iranian regime stands at the center of global terrorism and its nuclear ambitions must send a chill down our collective spine.

Bush is increasingly standing up to Iran with almost daily warnings and the deployment of a second carrier task force nearby. But the president's focus has been on Iranian involvement in Iraq and on its policy of shipping weapons, agents, provocateurs and possibly combatants into the war zone to harass and kill Americans. This emphasis is understandable given the dangers that face our troops in Iraq. Anything Bush can do to lessen the threats they face must be done.

But there is a risk that our struggle against Iran will come to be seen by the American people as a subset of the war in Iraq, a bit like Cambodia was a subset of the War in Vietnam. If challenging Iran comes to symbolize an escalation of the war in Iraq, it will soon lose public support and become tainted with the tar which smears our work in Iraq.

But to characterize Iran as part of our war in Iraq is like calling Russia part of our battle against Serbia in the '90s. Certainly, Iran is trying to exercise massive influence in Iraq and the toppling of the Sunni regime in Baghdad doubtless opened the door for its attempt. But the danger Iran poses goes far beyond its threat to our troops in Iraq.

The world did not listen when Hitler wrote Mein Kampf and threatened extermination of the Jewish race. It must listen now when Iranian leaders like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threaten to "wipe Israel off the map." We should have no doubt that Iran would use the bomb against Israel and, when its technology permits, against the United States.

Deterrence won't work. You cannot deter a suicide bomber by threatening to kill him. The nihilistic and apocalyptic worldview echoed in Tehran does not make retaliation a serious deterrent.

Instead, Bush should continue and accelerate his efforts to destroy Iran's economy by cutting off investments to companies that invest there. Frank Gaffney's disinvestterrror.org campaign says that 87 state-administered pension funds in the United States have invested $188 billion in one of 500 publicly traded companies that "partner with terrorist-sponsoring states."

These 500 companies among them "have $73 billion invested in Iran, Syria, Libya, and North Korea." (This 2004 data includes investments in Saddam's Iraq).

Among these companies are: Alcatal SA, BNP Paribas, Hyundai, Linden Petroleum, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Siemens AG, Statoil ASA, Stolt Nielsen, Technip Coflexip, and Total SA. UBS, which was once on the list, has divested itself of all such investments.

The economic weakness of Iran makes disinvestment its Achilles' heel. With its non-oil and gas economy falling apart and its oil exports dropping while domestic demand is rising, Tehran already totters atop a mountain of popular discontent, as evidenced by the trouncing the establishment took in the local elections a few weeks ago.

So President Bush should mobilize the American people to disinvest in Iran and other terrorist states. He should ratchet up his efforts to persuade states and unions to adopt terror-free investment policies and urge Wall Street mutual funds to do likewise. No public action is required, but massive private action, catalyzed by Bush, can have a huge effect.

But he must not sell this effort as part of winning in Iraq. To do so would be to diminish badly needed public backing for the efforts against Iran and help Tehran in the long run.