Celebrities Talk Politics on The Huffington Post

Anne Hathaway To Obama: Explain Rick Warren

2009-01-07T20:38:49Z

Anne Hathaway spoke her mind about Barack Obama on the red carpet at Tuesday night's Palm Springs Film Festival.

There to accept an award for her role in "Rachel Getting Married," Hathaway talked to E! about what she expects from a President Obama in 2009.

"I expect him to explain that choice of Rick Warren," Anne said. "I don't get it. All my friends and I were trying to figure it out, but we just can't. So I'd love that. But other than that, I expect nothing but the best."

WATCH:

Jermaine Dupri: Let President-Elect Obama Stay in His Own Lane

2009-01-04T17:59:33Z

I hope our next president enjoyed his family vacation in Hawaii. I hope he slept in, caught some waves with his daughters, and partied like a rock star with his wife Michelle. Because as soon as this dude lands in Washington, it's ova!

Obama hasn't even been sworn in yet and he's being pushed and pulled in all the different directions everyone else thinks he's supposed to go. Everywhere I look people are trying to steer Obama one-way or the other. Usually, into whatever lane suits them best. And it isn't just the Republicans who are doing the complaining. If anything, they seem the most happy with Obama's decisions - maybe because they didn't expect much. It's his own party that's pulling the guy every which way, like some whacked out back seat driver. "Turn left! No! Go straight ahead! What are you doing?!? You were supposed to make a right! Go back!" Everybody thinks he owes them and they're hell bent on trying to collect.

Gay, black, brown, young, old, white, female, Democrat, Republican - everybody wants to create some traffic, cut him off and force him into their own lane. The feminists are pissed 'cause he didn't appoint more women to his cabinet. (Even though five of the top positions were given to women.) Some members of the civil rights old guard are back with, "Why aren't there more black people up there?" These are the same dudes who were mad he didn't turn his convention speech into a history lesson on Martin Luther King. If Obama had listened to them, he never would've gotten elected in the first place.

Who's next in line to bitch? Will cat lovers complain that the first family is only talking about adopting a dog and discriminating against felines? Will left-handed jugglers be upset that they're not represented? Why not appoint a few little people to the Cabinet while he's at it?

And now gay rights groups are mad because the pastor who's doing the inauguration doesn't support gay marriage.

For real??? The president wants Rick Warren because millions of people love him. He's giving respect to what the majority of the American people are into. Obama doesn't have to agree with everything the guy says just to have him up there on the podium. Why can't Obama have his moment however he wants it and with whoever the hell he chooses? I don't give a fuck if Big Foot swears him in. Y'all should let the man have his day.

We achieved what most people thought was impossible. We elected a young, hip, African-American visionary to be President of the United States. No funny business at the polling booths. No bloodbaths. No recounts. He energized the black community and brought everybody else on board at the same time. He brought out more young voters than anytime in history. He gave America a second chance in the world's eyes as a nation that can recognize its mistakes and make amends. He gave us back our sense of hope.

And Obama got us there HIS way. He created a political campaign like no other. People said what he did couldn't be done, but he kept on going. He didn't change lanes, he just kept it moving in the direction he knew was right.

I made a career out of finding my own lane, and helping artists do the same for themselves. From Kris Kross to Usher to Bow Wow, they became successes when they discovered their own unique style. Musically, our biggest hits came from listening to what everybody else was doin', then steering a lil' to the left or the right and creating our own movement. And the few times I didn't follow my own path; when I paid too much attention to my label bosses, or let anyone else override my best instincts, it jus' didn't work.

Obama's gonna listen to other people's opinions, and he should. But I hope the last voice he hears before he makes a decision is his own. Now, with the economy so messed up and Israel bombing the shit out of the Gaza Strip, and more than ten million people unemployed, the heat is really gonna be on. People change lanes when they get scared and lose direction, but Obama can't afford to do that, ever. He can't cave into the pressure. Not now.

Everyone has their pet projects but what everybody has to realize is that Barack Obama has a job to do that goes beyond the side hustles of the rest of the planet. He isn't going to be president to make one group happy. He's going to the White House to serve his country. And anyone who thought that he was gonna to be an ultra liberal activist president better get over it right now. He said himself he's gonna reach across the aisle and bring us together, not divide us, and that's what he's already doing. He's the bridge we've all been waiting for.

Obama is one slick dude. I'm not saying that in a bad way. I mean it as a compliment. It's what we need. He's a 21st century President. A man for our time. And I'm sure he knows that the world is watching, so whatever he does you can bet that he's doing what he believes in his heart is going to have the best results. He's not here to make you, me, Al Sharpton, or Tavis Smiley, or anybody else happy. He's here to serve our country and be the kind of leader we need in the baddest way.

So please, let Obama continue to stay in his lane. Let the man drive!

Jermaine Dupri, who was named the most successful R&B producer of all time by the Guinness World Records 2007, is a Grammy-award winning music producer, president of Island Urban Records and author of Young, Rich and Dangerous: The Making of a Music Mogul (Atria, October 2007). For more information about this blogger, click here.

Peter Yarrow: My Response to the Mean-Spirited "Barack the Magic Negro"

2008-12-28T14:16:13Z

The sending of a Christmas greeting by Chip Saltsman to the members of the Republican National Committee that includes a recording of the so-called parody, "Barack the Magic Negro" is not only offensive, it is shocking and saddening in the extreme. It flies in the face of America's deeply held hope for a new era in which common ground and mutual respect characterize the exchanges between our national leaders.

I and my co-writer of "Puff," Lenny Lipton, have been eagerly awaiting an end to the mean-spiritedness, outright disrespect and bigotry that was commonplace prior to this last presidential election. What might have been wearily accepted as "the way it was" in the campaign, is now unacceptable. Obama is not a candidate. He is the President-Elect, and this song insults the office of the Presidency, the people who voted for him, as well as those who did not -- and taking a children's song and twisting it in such vulgar, mean-spirited way, is a slur to our entire country and our common agreement to move beyond racism.

It is almost unimaginable to me that Chip Saltzman who sent the CD, would seriously be considered for the top post of the Republican National Committee. Puff, himself, if asked, would certainly agree.

Jamie Lee Curtis: It Is a Wonderful Life

2008-12-24T17:44:13Z

In It's a Wonderful Life, the classic holiday film, the hero, George Bailey, saved the small, family Savings and Loan that his father started from a run by nervous investors, convincing them to take out only what they needed, that if they stuck together, they could avert the failing of the business. He became a local hero and the fat cat, Potter, who wanted the institution to fail was thwarted. When, by accident (actually theft) all of the deposits are lost and he realizes that the Savings and Loan would now have to go under and Potter would win, George wished he had never been born. When an angel comes to show him what the world would have been like without him and he is shown what his one human life accomplished, the people he helped, that he was a wonderful son, brother, husband, father, friend and community member, he and we all are all reminded about our own unique power and generosity.

Many Americans are now feeling that pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization of financial loss and despair and many are facing financial ruin, only now the real Potter is a scumbag named Madoff whose greed and avarice is beyond words. Many men and women are feeling the shame and fear and anguish. I'm sure many have wondered if the world would be better off without them, that the judgments made about subprime loans and the lies that they were fed about them, were their fault and failures -- theirs alone. They are not alone.

I don't know if we should bail out the broken auto industry. Now that gas is back down are we all going to go back to business as usual? Go out and buy a big guzzler just to keep the broken thing creaking along. Is that real help? I don't know. Is loading up our plastic really going to help? Is debt the answer? I don't think so.

What I do know is that we are fat. Obese. See WALL-E. That is the future. We have fat lifestyles, fat habits, fat minds and arteries. Last week, Obama said that it was going to get worse but that we would emerge, leaner and meaner..I don't think lean is mean...it just rhymes. Lean is healthy. Most of us eat too much, super sized lives and meals. My four words to a better life, brand new, self-help/beauty/how-to book is being published right here on the Huffington Post, downloadable for free -- right here, right now.

Eat Less, Move More.

What this crisis is going to do is bring us into financial alignment. Families may have to live together again! What a concept. Grandparents will live with their grown children and help raise their grandchildren -- even at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Neighbors are going to meal share and carpool and child care for each other and maybe even rent out parts of homes to other families. Less meat, more beans. Might be better for you anyway. Less indoor gym workouts and more walking, more park time, more family outdoor time.

Obama promised change. Change comes from truth, Jung said, "only that which changes, remains true." but as Jack Nicholson said in A Few Good Men, "you can't handle the truth!" Can you? Can you handle the change? You can if you understand that you are not alone, but that we can handle anything together.

In John Steinbeck's masterwork, The Grapes of Wrath, required reading for all this holiday season, during another time of great difficulty, like now, of the Powerful vs. the Powerless, where Big Business and the land companies and natural disasters created the perfect dust storm of the 1930's, people were thrown together. In the story, the Joad's, a multi-generational farming family from Oklahoma are forced, like so many others, off their land, mortgaged and foreclosed on and they head West to the promised land of California. On their first night camping by the side of the highway they meet another family.

One man, one family driven from the land; this rusty car creaking along the highway to the west. I lost my land, a single tractor took my land. I am alone and I am bewildered. And in the night one family camps in a ditch and another family pull in and the tents come out. The two men squat on their hams and the women and children listen. Here is the node, you who hate change and fear revolution. Keep these two squatting men apart; make them hate, fear, suspect each other. Here is the anlage of the thing you fear. This is the zygote. Fore here "I lost my land" is changed; a cell is split and from its splitting grows the thing you hate -- " We lost our land." The danger is here, for two men are not as lonely and perplexed as one. And from this first " we" there grows a still more dangerous thing: " I have a little food " plus " I have none." If from this problem the sum is "We have a little food," the thing is on its way, the movement has direction. Only a little multiplication now, and this land, this tractor are ours. The two men squatting in a ditch, the little fire, the side-meat stewing in a single pot, the silent, stone-eyed women; behind the children listening with their souls to words they do not understand. The night draws down. The baby has a cold. Here, take this blanket. It's wool. It was my mother's blanket-take it for the baby. This is the thing to bomb. This is the beginning-from "I" to "we."

If you who own the things people must have could understand this, you might preserve yourself. If you could separate causes from results, if you could know that Paine, Marx, Jefferson, Lenin, were results, not causes, you might survive. But that you cannot know. For the quality of owning freezes you forever into "I," and cuts you off forever from the "we."

That is it, my fellow Americans.

At the end of It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey is shown, kindness, love, support, familial bonds strengthen and deep, abiding friendships flourish.

As we head out of the darkness of the Bush and into the promise of a new day that Barack Obama has offered us, remember, "we" exist. "We" can help each other, " we " can lead our governments, businesses and institutions to change. " We" can do it. " We" can reach out, spare the dime, dollar, meal, roof.

"We" can scare the shit out of the land companies. "We" can and will and have and will again!

Peace and love to you and yours this holiday season.

Read more Holiday Season commentary from HuffPost bloggers

Erica Jong: More Light, More Light

2008-12-24T17:42:47Z

We never celebrated Christmas during my childhood. We celebrated the Winter Solstice. As pagan Jews, we wanted the light to return to illuminate the world. On the darkest day of the year, we schlepped our tree from Columbus Ave to 44 West 77th Street and because we didn't crown it with a star, we never thought of it as Christian. We decorated it with an assortment of angels, colored spheres, tinsel and goodies. We assembled presents underneath the tree.

As my mother said, we were celebrating the return of light. Although I didn't yet know about Diwali or Kwanzaa, I did understand that all over the Northern Hemisphere people had developed celebrations to encourage light. Chanukah, Christmas, what did it matter? We stoked the Yule Log fire and blessed the unity of humanity.

We always had an enormous party. My mother presided over an open house with cases of champagne, roast beeves, turkeys, hams, yams, salads and platters of French cheeses. The buche de noel was pagan as well--as were the potato latkes, rugelach and petites fours. My father played the piano and favored Rogers and Hart and Cole Porter. Sexy women leaned over him falling out of their dresses and singing out of tune. But nobody cared as long as the champagne flowed.

This was a time of overindulgence. People got drunk and didn't run to "meetings." Women wore provocative clothes and jiggled. Men kissed you under the mistletoe and grabbed your ass behind the bar.

How sober we are today--at least in comparison. American Christmases used to be intemperate. The Christmas party was the subject of risqué cartoons in the New Yorker. This was appropriately pagan. The pagans knew that people had to let loose from time to time in order to hold it in the rest of the year.

Are we smarter for all our sobriety? Who knows? Certainly, excess of alcohol destroys lives. But where are the stolen kisses, the bluesy music and the feeling of anything goes (as Cole Porter wrote)? Eventually someone did the Charleston and slid along the waxed parquet at my parents' parties. Sooner or later, someone threw up in their bathroom. By sundown, the adults staggered home with their kids in tow. Christmas had nothing to do with Christ and Chanukah nothing to do with the Macabees.

"Let there be light!" was the only message. And we still need light to come out of the darkness. We need it more than ever in the coming year.

Read more Holiday Season commentary from HuffPost bloggers

Harvey Fierstein: How to Keep the Hearts of Bigots Warm Through the Winter

2008-12-23T14:13:54Z

A couple of boys were calling my best friend a faggot one unhappy day at summer camp. Courses of action seemed slim to my adolescent mind. I could stand up for Jack branding myself a fag as well and insuring myself a miserable summer, or I could join in with the name callers, lose my closest friend, but assure my standing with the majority. I sacrificed my friend on the altar of popularity. I don't think I need to tell you that political expediency was a terrific short-term solution but a long-term nightmare. My summer concluded uneventfully but none of those boys became my friend or did me any favors. And forty years later I still feel the loss of Jack along with a piece of my self respect that I can never win back. Mine was an act of cowardice and betrayal.

It seems Obama is now maneuvering through the summer camp of his political adolescence and is about to make the same bad choice as I. He can call the placing of a hate monger like Rick Warren on the world dais political healing or inclusiveness or any other nicety he'd like, but I call it pandering to the lowest instinct of the worst kind of politics.

President Elect Obama, your victory was made possible in no small part to the votes and wallets of the gay and lesbian community along with our supporters. Turning your back on us does not make you more mainstream American. It just makes you a coward.

Melissa Etheridge: The Choice Is Ours Now

2008-12-22T17:10:15Z

This is a message for my brothers and sisters who have fought so long and so hard for gay rights and liberty. We have spent a long time climbing up this mountain, looking at the impossible, changing a thousand year-old paradigm. We have asked for the right to love the human of our choice, and to be protected equally under the laws of this great country. The road at times has been so bloody, and so horrible, and so disheartening. From being blamed for 9/11 and Katrina, to hateful crimes committed against us, we are battle weary. We watched as our nation took a step in the right direction, against all odds and elected Barack Obama as our next leader. Then we were jerked back into the last century as we watched our rights taken away by prop 8 in California. Still sore and angry we felt another slap in the face as the man we helped get elected seemingly invited a gay-hater to address the world at his inauguration.

I hadn't heard of Pastor Rick Warren before all of this. When I heard the news, in its neat little sound bite form that we are so accustomed to, it painted the picture for me. This Pastor Rick must surely be one hate spouting, money grabbing, bad hair televangelist like all the others. He probably has his own gay little secret bathroom stall somewhere, you know. One more hater working up his congregation to hate the gays, comparing us to pedophiles and those who commit incest, blah blah blah. Same 'ole thing. Would I be boycotting the inauguration? Would we be marching again?

Well, I have to tell you my friends, the universe has a sense of humor and indeed works in mysterious ways. As I was winding down the promotion for my Christmas album I had one more stop last night. I'd agreed to play a song I'd written with my friend Salman Ahmed, a Sufi Muslim from Pakistan. The song is called "Ring The Bells," and it's a call for peace and unity in our world. We were going to perform our song for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a group of Muslim Americans that tries to raise awareness in this country, and the world, about the majority of good, loving, Muslims. I was honored, considering some in the Muslim religion consider singing to be against God, while other Muslim countries have harsh penalties, even death for homosexuals. I felt it was a very brave gesture for them to make. I received a call the day before to inform me of the keynote speaker that night... Pastor Rick Warren. I was stunned. My fight or flight instinct took over, should I cancel? Then a calm voice inside me said, "Are you really about peace or not?"

I told my manager to reach out to Pastor Warren and say "In the spirit of unity I would like to talk to him." They gave him my phone number. On the day of the conference I received a call from Pastor Rick, and before I could say anything, he told me what a fan he was. He had most of my albums from the very first one. What? This didn't sound like a gay hater, much less a preacher. He explained in very thoughtful words that as a Christian he believed in equal rights for everyone. He believed every loving relationship should have equal protection. He struggled with proposition 8 because he didn't want to see marriage redefined as anything other than between a man and a woman. He said he regretted his choice of words in his video message to his congregation about proposition 8 when he mentioned pedophiles and those who commit incest. He said that in no way, is that how he thought about gays. He invited me to his church, I invited him to my home to meet my wife and kids. He told me of his wife's struggle with breast cancer just a year before mine.

When we met later that night, he entered the room with open arms and an open heart. We agreed to build bridges to the future.

Brothers and sisters the choice is ours now. We have the world's attention. We have the capability to create change, awesome change in this world, but before we change minds we must change hearts. Sure, there are plenty of hateful people who will always hold on to their bigotry like a child to a blanket. But there are also good people out there, Christian and otherwise that are beginning to listen. They don't hate us, they fear change. Maybe in our anger, as we consider marches and boycotts, perhaps we can consider stretching out our hands. Maybe instead of marching on his church, we can show up en mass and volunteer for one of the many organizations affiliated with his church that work for HIV/AIDS causes all around the world.

Maybe if they get to know us, they wont fear us.

I know, call me a dreamer, but I feel a new era is upon us.

I will be attending the inauguration with my family, and with hope in my heart. I know we are headed in the direction of marriage equality and equal protection for all families.

Happy Holidays my friends and a Happy New Year to you.

Peace on earth, goodwill toward all men and women... and everyone in-between.

Robert Redford: Stopping Bush's Destruction of Our Environment

2008-12-20T10:07:00Z

Democracy is working. At least that's the news for now from my friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has filed a lawsuit against last-minute Bush administration plans to lease huge swaths of majestic wilderness in Utah for oil and gas extraction.

Late last night, NRDC and a coalition of environmental and preservation groups filed an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management that could save 100,000 acres of pristine land that are endangered. The deal temporarily prevents the Bureau from issuing leases on 80 contested parcels of Utah wilderness, including land adjacent to national parks, for 30 days (until January 19).

Although the Bureau will go forward with the auction today, based on the agreement it will not issue the contested leases. The delay will give a federal court time to hear the case.

As I've written previously, words alone cannot do justice to the beauty of these places, but they do capture the absurdity of the Bush plan. Oil and gas drilling in Desolation Canyon? Industrial development along the meandering Green River? The thought makes one wince.

Utah's Red Rock country is one of America's few remaining wilderness treasures. It's our land, it's our legacy, but will it still be here for our children and grandchildren?

The Bureau's agreement has delayed the potential destruction. We will now get our day in court and I know that NRDC, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) and their partners will continue to do all they can to protect Utah's unspoiled landscapes.

Alec Baldwin: Doing it with Care

2008-12-16T23:15:36Z

Man-oh-man-oh-man! All of this tedious crap on the pages of this blog about how I do not love/appreciate Caroline Kennedy enough!

You're kidding, right?

My father was a Democratic committeeman in our home town. He took me to St. Patrick's for Senator Kennedy's funeral in 1968 when I was ten years old. I was bred to be a Democrat! I am friends with many members of that family. I am a fervent supporter of some of their individual causes.

But there is a right way and a wrong way to go about this in the current political climate. I think it is ill-advised for New York Democrats to play the Good Dynasty/Bad Dynasty card. Especially now. The Bad Dynasty is not even out the door. The Illinois Governor is reminding Americans that abuse of power is a non-partisan disease. And New York Governor David Paterson will also face consequences for this decision.

This is more about protecting a Democratic Senate seat than romanticizing it.

Appoint an individual (fine...man or woman) who has been elected to something. Something! Then there is a race in 2010, if I understand New York's electoral mechanics properly. That is not that long from now. Then certain New Yorkers could run. And probably win. I would probably vote for her (er...them).

But this must be done with great care. Patience and care. You know, the way that we beat John McCain.

Carl Capotorto: Curtis Sliwa: Gay Marriage Officiate

2008-12-16T15:31:23Z

I recently finished writing my memoirs about growing up and coming out as a gay Italian-American living in the Bronx in the 1970's. A long time before I started acting, I worked at a McDonalds in the Bronx and my manager at the time was Curtis Sliwa. This was before Curtis founded the Guardian Angels and become a conservative radio talk show host.

On one Saturday afternoon and evening, I slipped out of my parents house, where I was living, in order to attend the wedding of my co-worker Ralph, the fierce snapping queen of our McDonalds crew, from whom I first heard she pronoun "she" used in reference to a male.

"Oh yes, my boyfriend Vinny? She and me is gonna be married. Oh yes, child. You're all invited. And Curtis, she's gonna do the service."

And so it was, child, because Miss Ralph's mouth never wrote a check her ass couldn't cash. Curt seemed to have a special fondness for Ralph, which I found endearing. He was protective of him, and tolerated no fag-bashing comments at the counter.

"Take a look," I remember him quipping affectionately as, after closing, tending to his chores, Ralph paraded around the dining room swinging his rag and bucket for all they were worth. "It's the Dairy Queen."

On their wedding day, the blushing bridegrooms were chauffeured up to the entrance of their South Bronx project building in an immaculate white stretch limo. A driver in a formal dress opened the car doors for them, and they emerged into the sunlight wearing matching white-on-white tuxedos with white satin lapels and cuffs, and white patent leather shoes with white silk spats. Preceded by a formal bridal procession, led by a blushing flower girl and the mothers of the grooms wearing heavy velvet gowns and corpulent wrist corsages. Ralph and Vinny marched regally into the building, down the fluorescent-lit hallway, and into the thickly festooned community room, where they exchanged vows and rings and were married before-well, before Curtis Sliwa. Then we partied and ate food from aluminum trays and drank rum and RC cola from paper cups. Curtis danced the Robot all night long, way too intensely, his eyes wide and distant, dripping sweat and poking out moves in a freakish trance.

If it's scandalous to out the founder of an urban paramilitary organization and right-wing talk show host as the trance-dancing mock presiding minister at a gay marriage ceremony more than thirty years ago in the South Bronx, then I've dropped a bomb. But for me, Curtis Sliwa was a Freedom Rider.

Steven Weber: A Little Pre-Christmas Cheer

2008-12-13T09:57:09Z

Okay, I don't wanna say I told you so, but...

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-weber/play-bail_b_130317.html)

Guys and gals: if we don't get it by now, then we deserve it please-sir-may-I-have-another.

The trillion dollar bailout was a scam. No accountability. No disclosure. It smelled awful but we let the greed whores do it anyway. They said "Do it or else XYZ will happen!" We flinched. And they had us. But good. The old ones are the best.

Forget their blatant abuse of the system.

Forget their utter contempt for justice, for fairness, for honesty, for Democracy, for America.

Forget the media's blizzard of pallid punditry, with their candy coated smiles and their phlegmmy shrieks and their distracting bust lines.

Think: the corporate capitalisto-fascists must hate, I mean reeeaaallly, hate

People.

Must hold them in utter disdain. And to harbor such dizzying revulsion for them it must be that they truly, ultimately fear them. Though clearly, not while they trundle around in their Ambien® sleep-walk-eat-fuck state.

You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things. So saturated and swollen by fatuous television, disposable music, myopic perspective; so reliant upon an infrastructure purposely neglected to keep its dependents on edge; so trained to submit to authority no matter how incapable or incompetent so long as it waves a flag or brandishes a religious symbol or promises more pie in the sky when you Wii.

Justice must be taken out of their pockets and placed into our hands.

A nation of rubberneckers pausing to watch their own car wreck as though viewing it on a small, pinchable screen; so distanced from their own senses tragically having come to trust distrust, to embrace their own submissiveness, to ignore their own extinction. Funny -- no, terrible how a nation which once prided itself on individual strength and grit and honesty could be so pressed into a weak and hollow brand, a generic herd poked and prodded by wranglers perched high in glass towers.

Christmas is coming. And regardless of what you know deep down to be happening, they would like it -- you'd be doing them and yourselves a favor -- if you'd spend a little more. And a little more. And a little more. You'd be bailing them out. Be charitable.

After all, these are hard times.

Alec Baldwin: Paterson Must Appoint a Woman

2008-12-11T19:18:26Z

During the election of 2000, some political watchers in New York State (and beyond) were treated to a rare, but not unheard of, series of events surrounding the race for the US Senate. A congresswoman named Nita Lowey was viewed by many as the presumptive Democratic nominee, set to replace Daniel Moynihan who was ill and retiring. Lowey had the good opinion of nearly everyone in the Congress, the New York delegation in particular and the state party apparatus. The New York Republicans, in 2000, had Rick Lazio. Then Hillary Clinton moved to New York.

Lowey stepped aside, graciously. Hillary ran and won. And now she will soon be gone and New York's "Celebrity Senate Seat" is in play again. Who would best represent the State of New York in that office? What criteria should be used? What effect does the current Illinois scandal have on this decision?

When Hillary Clinton ran for President, she ran as a woman, in my opinion, and I believe that is why she lost. She invoked her Glass Ceiling Sister Act whenever she found it useful while Obama made far less of his race during the campaign. (I did not say he made nothing of it, only less of it.)

Hillary Clinton might have won, if not for that. It isn't a good idea for anyone seeking a singular office like the Presidency to make that distinction. This country has been run for centuries by men only, and men named Adams and Wilson, Ford and Reagan, Carter and Clinton. To break that mold, you almost had to avoid the subject of breaking any mold whatsoever. (Witness some of Obama's recent appointments.)

But in a state like New York, teeming with talented, ambitious and dedicated women within its political circles, in a state like New York that has already elected a woman to one of its current US Senate terms, in any state wherein the Congressional delegation provides for two US Senators to hold office, Governor David Paterson must appoint a woman to replace Senator Clinton. It is not difficult to imagine that we are at the place in the history of New York politics where this is "the women's seat" of the two from New York.

There are names being tossed around now, but let's spare New Yorker's the Celebrity Senate Seat dynamic, in which Mrs. Clinton's former job is handled like some corporate board seat, traded to everyone's mutual benefit except the voters of New York. Most of the names thrown around now are smart, caring New Yorkers. But only one is both fair and makes real sense for our state. Nita Lowey doesn't want it. Appoint Carolyn Maloney.

Oliver Stone Slams Bush:"A Giant Ego" And "Boneheaded Arrogance"

2008-12-11T14:53:46Z

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Filmmaker Oliver Stone slammed President George W. Bush at the Mideast premiere of his movie "W." in Dubai, saying the outgoing U.S. president is a man with "a giant ego" and "boneheaded arrogance."

Stone's bio-pic about the U.S. leader, whose policies fueled resentment toward America in the Middle East kicked off Dubai's fifth International Film Festival on Thursday.

David Mamet: My Take on Blagojevich

2008-12-10T18:14:32Z

Editor's Note: More than one commentator, including our own Jason Linkins, has compared Gov. Rod Blagojevich's obscenity-filled wiretapped conversations to the profane poetry of a David Mamet play. So we asked Mamet for his take on Blagojevich.

I am from Chicago, and, so, having been disillusioned with politics at an early age I do not become involved. The only reason I vote is because they pay me.

Ed Asner: The Shministim

2008-12-10T17:24:46Z

I've been around this world for awhile, and it's pretty hard to leave me speechless. But when I learned about Omer Goldman - well, her story got me.

If you haven't heard the name Omer Goldman yet, have a seat and grab your Kleenex. Her courage, and the courage of the other "Shministim" in Israel is utterly humbling. And amazing. I don't use those words lightly.

As you can see from the photo, she's young and lovely. 19 years old. She's already served two terms in an Israeli military jail, where she had to wear an American military uniform (a gift to the Israelis) or face solitary confinement. Now, she's out of jail for medical reasons. But as you read this, many of her young friends are in an Israeli prison for refusing to serve in the military there.

This new generation of young Israeli kids is standing up to the government - they call 'em "Shministim." The Shministim- all about ages 17, 18, 19 and in the 12th grade - are taking a stand. They believe in a better, more peaceful future for themselves and for Israelis and Palestinians, and they are refusing to join the Israeli army. They're in jail, holding strong against immense pressure from family, friends and the Israeli government.
They need our support and they need it today.

In her own words:

"I first went to prison on September 23 and served 35 days. I am lucky, after 2 times in jail, I got a medical discharge, but I'm the only one. By the time you read this, many of my friends will be in prison too: in for three weeks, out for one, and then back in, over and over, until they are 21. The reason? We refuse to do military service for the Israeli army.

I grew up with the army. My father was deputy head of Mossad and I saw my sister, who is eight years older than me, do her military service. As a young girl, I wanted to be a soldier. The military was such a part of my life that I never even questioned it.

Earlier this year, I went to a peace demonstration in Palestine. I had always been told that the Israeli army was there to defend me, but during that demonstration Israeli soldiers opened fire on me and my friends with rubber bullets and tear-gas grenades. I was shocked and scared. I saw the truth. I saw the reality. I saw for the first time that the most dangerous thing in Palestine is the Israeli soldiers, the very people who are supposed to be on my side.

When I came back to Israel, I knew I had changed. And so, I have joined with a number of other young people who are refusing to serve - they call us the Shministim. On December 18th, we are holding a Day of Action in Israel, and we are determined to show Israelis and the world that there is wide support for stopping a culture of war. Will you join us? Please, just sign a letter. That's all it takes."

So, there you go. Omer Goldman. Now that you've met her, I'll bet you won't forget her. Better yet, damn it, do something for her, for the Shministim, for peace. Jewish Voice for Peace is the U.S. group heading things up for them. Here's the link.

One more thing - I know that this can be a tough subject for many of us Jews. But, I find it hard to believe than anyone can look Omer in the eye and tell her that she has to risk her life and her future for Israel whether she wants to or not. It's just not right. Especially during this time of year, when many of us are getting ready to celebrate a holiday about freedom- well, take a good long look at that photo. You're celebrating her.

Thanks for reading and send your letter here.

John Landis: India in Mourning: My Week in Mumbai and Goa

2008-12-04T12:32:00Z

Mumbai, India--My wife Deborah and I arrived in Mumbai at 10pm on Wednesday, November 26th. We were spending the night in Mumbai on our way to Goa early the next morning, where I was being honored and Deborah was giving a Master Class at the International Film Festival of India. There was the usual crowded confusion at the airport and we were unaware of anything out of the ordinary. A man was holding a sign with a list of names, including Deborah's. He drove us to the hotel listed on our itinerary where the desk clerk told us that our reservation had been canceled. After the 20-hour trip from LA, this did not make us happy and we called our Indian contact who said he was at the airport waiting for us, to stay put and that he would come and get us. He moved us to the Leela Kempinski Hotel, closer to the airport.

Our car was greeted at the hotel gates by armed guards, flashlights, and what struck us as rather intense security for a luxury hotel. As we stood at the front desk, with an influx of airline flight attendants, an Indian hotel guest turned to me and said, "Somebody is shooting up the Taj." When we arrived in our room, we turned on the television where the horrifying events around the city were "live" on all channels. The reality of the just next-door ongoing terrorist attack was profound. The hysteria on the news made our hotel seem quiet and surreal. Uneasy and starving, we went down to the hotel's 24-hour restaurant. It was well after midnight. When our food arrived, our smiling waiter asked in the most neutral way, "How long will you be in Bombay?" We said we were leaving early in the morning. He said, "That's very good, you shouldn't be here." After the bloodshed and chaos on TV, this was not at all reassuring. The next morning we got on one of the last flights out before they shut down Mumbai International for the day. As we were in flight, the terrible events in Bombay were still unfolding.

In Goa, the mood at the International Film Festival of India was somber and most of the gala events canceled. However, the Festival, with its international offering of films, soldiered on to great success. Goa was quiet, although the Anjuna flea market was filled with Russian and European tourists. Despite the heat, humidity and gunfire, our Indian hosts treated us royally at the India Film Festival. The local government insisted we have bodyguards our entire stay in Goa. We had two alternating bodyguards, a quiet Goan plainclothes cop named Johnson, and a sari clad village woman who proudly showed me her Colt 45 that she kept in her handbag. With two members of the international jury (and our security), and we took the rusted flat-bottomed car ferry across the Mandovi River to Divar Island to visit an old Portuguese church. We were surprised to find that a big service was in progress in the middle of the day. Goans dressed in white massed around the church entrance and every pew was filled. A flower-laden hearse arrived and within moments, we heard the sounds of a small brass band leading mourners into the church. This was the funeral for the first casualty of the Mumbai attacks, the young chef of the Taj Hotel, murdered in the hotel kitchen. All of India is in mourning.

Deborah and I have returned to Mumbai to speak at a film school and visit Film City, the largest Bollywood Studio. We considered not returning, bombs were found and defused at the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station yesterday afternoon, but we are certain we made the correct decision. Otherwise, the terrorists win.

Tom Hanks' Inauguration Hopes

2008-12-03T08:05:31Z

LOS ANGELES — Tom Hanks wants to attend President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration even if he doesn't get a front-row seat. Or any seat at all.

"Look, I'll be in the back," the 52-year-old Oscar winner said backstage Tuesday night at a benefit for the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. "I'll sit on the Lincoln steps and just watch it from the distance on a Jumbotron. I've never been to anything like that, and _ finally _ a guy I voted for won. That hasn't happened most of my life."