Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Hollywood Miffed Over McCain Ad?
2. Left-Wing Group Claims Media Bias in Favor of McCain
3. Maggie Gyllenhaal's Global Warming Reality Show
4. 'Celebrity Quiz' Obama Drama
5. McCain Jabs at Obama
1. Hollywood Miffed Over McCain Ad?
John McCain's latest ad portraying Barack Obama as a Paris Hilton/Britney Spears-type celebrity has hit some Tinseltowners smack in the ego.
Norman Lear, the same fellow who tried to make people feel guilty for driving SUVs, insinuated that the ad lessened the stature of the presumptive GOP nominee.
"I didn't think McCain could look silly," Lear told the L.A. Times, "but that ad diminishes him and makes him look silly."
Interestingly, Obama was a seer of sorts when he spoke at the Gridiron dinner in 2004. He said, as quoted in the Chicago Sun Times, "It's like I was shot out of a cannon. I am so overexposed, I make Paris Hilton look like a recluse."
In the past, contributions have come McCain's way from Harrison Ford, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy, Michael Douglas and Lear.
But predictably, these days Hollywood isn't liking the "maverick" Republican as much as it used to, since it now has a candidate whose more appealing claim to fame is having the most liberal voting record in the Senate.
Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman called the McCain ad "inauthentic."
Bragman even coined a new term to express his displeasure, saying, "All this feels very Roveian to me."
2. Left-Wing Group Claims Media Bias in Favor of McCain
The far-left group Media Matters is advertising on local cable network markets and making a pretty wild assertion.
The ad spots claim that the media are biased in favor of John McCain's presidential campaign.
The ad features select edited video segments of various news personalities, including Brit Hume, Chris Matthews, and Bob Schieffer.
Footage has been strung together in such a way as to give the impression that the media are favoring McCain when most of the media are really infatuated with Barack Obama.
Noticeably absent from the ad is Matthews' now infamous admission that he felt chills go up his leg while listening to the Illinois senator.
Also featured prominently in the ad is an unflattering cartoon caricature of McCain pondering whether "they love me" or "they love me not," and ultimately concluding that "they [the media] love me."
After all three network anchors made the trek with Barack to Iraq, claiming bias in the other direction just seems plain Ludachris.
3. Maggie Gyllenhaal's Global Warming Reality Show
Now that she has co-starred in the mega-blockbuster "The Dark Knight," is Maggie Gyllenhaal going to Disneyland?
No, she's celebrating her cinematic success by taking a job as a judge on an online reality show to, of all things, fight global warming.
It's called "Climate Matters."
Contestants will be submitting ad-length videos to convince the next occupant of the White House to take action against climate change.
The winner will get a $3,000 Visa gift card, and the top 10 videos will be broadcast on various eco-oriented Web sites.
A number of filmmakers have agreed to be judges including an Emmy-winning documentary producer, Rory Kennedy.
The "Simon Cowell" role on the panel of judges has yet to be filled, but a certain Nobel Prize winning recipient is rumored to be begging for an audition.
4. 'Celebrity Quiz' Obama Drama
For months now the mainstream media have been star struck over presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
Newsarazzi capture his every move. Town halls are celebrity-style junkets. And hitting the campaign trail means going on a world concert tour.
Strategists at the Republican National Committee are apparently unimpressed with the Democratic star's celebrity status.
As a matter of fact, they've created a questionnaire in the form of an Internet "Celebrity Quiz," and it has the potential to turn Obama's hyper-inflated fame into a political negative.
The title of the GOP survey is "Who Said It? Celebrity Edition," and the visuals on the site look just like celebrity surveys that appear all over the Web.
The underlying tone, however, is one of a smirk, and consequently Obama is given a powerful poke.
For example, Web site visitors are shown the quote, "I can play on this level. I got some game."
They then click on the bubble next to one of four names: Ryan Seacrest, David Beckham, Barack Obama, or Mariah Carey.
If incorrect, a Barack sporting sunglasses tells them via a cartoon bubble, NOPE try again or YES YOU CAN try again or CHANGE your answer.
Mistakes eventually lead participants to a Barack with a dazzling smile telling them via a cartoon bubble, CORRECT!
Another quote has Web site visitors trying to figure out who said, "Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?"
Is it Cameron Diaz, Barack Obama, Jessica Biel, or Matt Damon?
Personally, I'm still trying to figure out what the heck you do with arugula.
5. McCain Jabs at Obama
One of the marks of a great boxer is the combination punch. You know — the "old one-two," when a couple of punches are delivered in rapid sequence.
The boxer hits the opponent, and while the rival is still defending one punch, he or she is hit with another.
The McCain campaign just may have some former boxers on staff because a series of campaign combo jabs and uppercuts have been unleashed, and they seem to have left the Obama campaign reeling.
First, there was the ad that criticized Obama for passing on a visit to wounded troops but still taking time to shoot hoops.
Before the Obama campaign and media friends could explain, the McCain crew released a second jab with a spot that put Obama into the Paris Hilton/ Britney Spears category.
Against the ropes, Obama's spokespeople couldn't even get their counterpunch words together when a third punch came their way.
It arrived in the form of an ad that ridiculed Obama's characterization by some in the media as a messianic figure, and included the idea that he was the "one" who "anointed" himself to lead the world.
That's when I thought I heard Bill and Hillary chuckling.
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