Hollywood, the "New Face" Syndrome and Obama Fever.

What a fabulous build-up to Oscar night! We know that Hollywood loves new faces and new talent. The cream of Hollywood (SKG Dreamworks and friends) have anointed Barack Obama as the next “big thing.” No one is richer or more powerful in the entertainment industry than Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. They know talent and collectively they have spotted and nurtured more new talent than most of the industry combined.

It was a big deal, therefore, when the ever clever Maureen Dowd gave hall-of fame impresario David Geffen the opportunity to trash the Clinton’s just days before the Hollywood elite’s annual self-congratulatory party. Geffen is a guy who takes himself pretty seriously, and rightfully so. He is among the greatest businessman in the history of both the music and film businesses. He is worth billions of dollars and understands the importance of keeping one’s word and doing business honestly. Supposedly, Geffen is gay. But he has also had highly publicized affairs with Cher and several other well-known women. Since the early 1990s, Geffen has been one of the largest contributors to the cause of gay rights. During Bill Clinton’s Presidency David Geffen, who started in the mailroom of the old William Morris Agency, was a frequent overnight guest at the White House. He raised many millions of dollars for both the 1992 and 1996 Clinton presidential campaigns.

Here lies the peculiar root of the firestorm that has preoccupied Hollywood in the run-up to the Oscars. First, there was Geffen’s statement last week to Ms. Dowd in which he didn’t just state his preference for Obama; he eviscerated the Clinton’s and their politics. Geffen said that Clinton is “the easiest to beat” of the Democratic field and skewered her unwillingness to apologize for her 2002 vote to use force in Iraq. “It’s not a very big thing to say ‘I made a mistake’ on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can’t,” Geffen said. Then came the venom, Geffen called both Clintons, “extraordinarily good liars.” He continued, “I don’t think anybody believes that in the last six years, all of a sudden Bill Clinton has become a different person,” in a semi-veiled reference to questions surrounding the former president’s private life. David Geffen is not a man to be trifled with. That is exactly what Bill Clinton did when he pardoned the fugitive commodity trader Marc Rich, while breaking his promise to Geffen to pardon Native American activist (and convicted murderer) Leonard Peltier.

So, back and forth the two campaigns have traded charges and counter-charges. Obama was goaded into retaliating against Clintonista Howard Wolfson’s absurd demand that Obama apologize for Geffen’s remarks and give back all the money Geffen raised last week ($1.3 Million). With an utterly uncomfortable feeling of deja vu, I read the following in the Chicago Sun Times:

Lanny Davis, who handled scandal control for the Bill Clinton White House, said the bottom line is this when we talked Friday: “David Geffen’s attack on two of the most popular Democrats among Democratic voters in the U.S. ... says more about Mr. Geffen having an anger management problem than any potential harm among Democrats to Bill and Hillary Clinton." See, Sun Times

David Geffen has an anger management problem? Huh? Lanny Davis is not only in over his head, in David Geffen, he is dealing with someone who has displayed levels of discipline and control that fatuous hacks like Davis can’t even imagine. All I can say is, “Oh please God do not let that smarmy Lanny Davis become a fixture once again on cable news networks!” Really, THAT would be a sign that the apocalypse is upon us! Besides, now that Gore has won his Oscar maybe Bill and Hillary will have something else to worry about.

All hail Helen Mirren and Martin Scorcese,

Yours in noir,

Savant

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