James Hirsen
Tuesday, March 11, 2003

He hadn’t seen the film yet. He hadn’t read the New York Times Magazine article yet. But that didn’t stop Rabbi Marvin Hier from expressing trepidation about Mel Gibson’s new film, "The Passion."

The dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center apparently found out that the magazine article described Gibson as a Catholic opposed to the reforms of Vatican II.

Heir told Reuters, “Obviously, no one has seen ‘The Passion,’ and I certainly have no problem with Mel Gibson's right to believe as he sees fit or make any movie he wants to.” But then he added, “What concerns me, however, is when I read that the film's purpose is to undo the changes made by Vatican II.”

The rabbi went on to say, “If the new film seeks to undo Vatican II ... it would unleash more of the scurrilous charges of deicide directed against the Jewish people, which took the Catholic Church 20 centuries to finally repudiate.”

There are no indications from Gibson’s production group that the purpose of the film is to undo anything. Still, Hier apparently figured that Gibson’s misgivings over the changes of Vatican II were somehow causing him to distort the historical treatment of Christ’s death.

There’s more to this story than meets the eye, though. The rabbi’s comments appear to have been a prelude to the New York Times Magazine’s piece. The article seemed to have suggested that Gibson is some kind of a conspiracy theorist.

New York Times Magazine reporter Christopher Noxon wrote that Gibson’s brand of Catholicism is supported by a “splinter group of conspiracy-minded Catholics, mystics, monarchists and disaffected conservatives.”

Noxon also went after the actor’s 85-year-old father, Hutton Gibson, and was able to obtain controversial quotes to use in the piece. Mel, of course, loves his dad but like most offspring doesn’t agree with all of his father’s ideas.

Just a little aside. Mel Gibson has plans to build a church on a 16-acre site in Malibu. It just so happens that Noxon’s father lives in the area near the proposed church.

The Left Coast Report thinks we haven’t seen this kind of journalism since Connie Chung manipulated Newt Gingrich’s mother.

Barbs From Barbra

Babs is blabbing away on her Web site. In an article called “My Right to Dissent,” Streisand once again takes on the role of Funny Girl foreign policy adviser.

“At specific times in our recent history, our leaders (including Eisenhower, Kennedy and Reagan), have chosen successful policies of containment over war when our country was faced with weapons of mass destruction ... Now is the time for our current president to show the same level of restraint as his predecessors.”

Streisand failed to mention a predecessor by the name of Clinton, who showed little “restraint” for anything in life except for telling the truth. With no congressional authorization or U.N. involvement, Bubba went ahead with military actions, which were perfectly timed to coincide with testimony, impeachment votes and various other dog-wagging events.

In her message, Streisand decried the tone of today’s discourse, stating that “it used to be in politics that there was a certain amount of class and eloquence. The debate was civilized even though there were strong disagreements over deeply important questions.”

And who’s to blame for the loss of civility? According to the Malibu diva, it’s the Republicans. She remarks, “But, as usual, the Republicans have resorted to name-calling and mean-spiritedness.”

Non-Republican actors and appeasement activists who have called President Bush a Nazi, said he’s possessed or have described him as a simpleton don’t seem to count as malicious in Streisand’s book.

The Left Coast Report says in an effort to bring back class to political discourse, we will refrain from using the term “Yentl,” at least until next week.

Bob and Bubba

There was the “Saturday Night Live” parody where Dan Aykroyd portrayed Bob Dole and referred to Clinton as “an ignorant slut.” Then there was the prank that CBS pulled on all of us. “60 Minutes” resurrected its "Point/Counterpoint" portion of the program and featured Bill Clinton and Bob Dole as jousters.

But now Dole says he's not happy with the first debate. It involved a discussion about the wisdom of a tax cut during wartime.

“I think it needs to be a little tougher,” Dole told a gathering of North Carolina Republicans. “It needs to have a little more edge to it for people to be interested.”

Dole also commented on Clinton’s long-winded speaking style.

“I don't know how they'll get it into 60 minutes. To try to get [Clinton] to say anything in 45 seconds is pretty hard,” Dole barked.

The Left Coast Report had difficulty viewing this debate. You can’t listen to one without thinking of Monica Lewinsky, and you can’t look at the other without thinking of Britney Spears.

Hooters Air Takes Off At a time when many in the travel industry are going bust, it’s good to know that someone is coming up with new ideas for the airline business.

With the start of scheduled service between Atlanta and the South Carolina resort town of Myrtle Beach, Hooters Air has joined the growing ranks of low-cost U.S. airlines.

A one-way fare between Atlanta and Myrtle Beach is about $130.

A second route from Newark, N.J., to Myrtle Beach via Atlanta is scheduled to be added on March 20.

Of course, the airline does have the additional feature of Hooters Girls in traditional orange-and-white outfits helping to serve snacks and drinks to passengers.

The Left Coast Report is not surprised to see Hooters Air being up front about its service.

Saddam Says Yes on Madonna, No on Babs

For the last decade, Madonna’s image, name and works have been banned in Iraq.

Maybe it was because her ex, Sean Penn, allowed himself to be used by Saddam’s puppet press. But Iraq’s own little Pravda, the Al Thawra newspaper, recently praised Madonna for her new anti-war-themed single and accompanying video, “American Life.”

The official Iraq taste-setters still don’t allow any Streisand music to be played on Baghdad radio, though. The fact that Barbra is against a war in Iraq doesn’t alter that one little fact that the Iraqis can’t seem to overlook. She’s Jewish. Apparently, the Iraqi press hasn’t heard about Madonna’s conversion to the Kabalah faith.

Saddam’s longtime favorite musical group hasn’t come out with any anti-war tunes. It’s the 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA.

The Left Coast Report always wondered who was buying those ABBA records in the Middle East. We suggest Saddam listen to the group’s tune “Waterloo.” He’s about to meet his.

More From Banana Boat Belafonte
and Chrissie Loose Screw

Calypso creep Harry Belafonte told Finnish TV that the Bush administration was “possessed of evil” for preparing war against Iraq.

Meanwhile, Chrissie Hynde and her band, the Pretenders, played a concert in San Francisco where the 51-year-old crooner performed in jeans, a black T-shirt, trademark bangs and harebrained babble.

“Have we gone to war yet?” Hynde asked. “We [expletive] deserve to get bombed. Bring it on.”

Just to make sure everyone understood her jabberwocky point, Hynde added: “Let's get rid of all the economic [expletive] this country represents. Bring it on, I hope the Muslims win!”

Someone in the crowd had the sense to shoot an appropriate comment in Hynde’s direction. But she screamed at the fan, “Shut your face!” Then she held the microphone while shouting, “You come up to the mike and say something, smart guy.”

The Left Coast Report hears that there are plans to make these two the Regis and Kelly of Baghdad.

The Blacklist Card

In a warning to the entertainment industry, the Screen Actors Guild recently invoked the specter of the Hollywood blacklist era.

This despite the fact that SAG was actually responsible for much of what was called blacklisting. And Sen. Joe McCarthy, whose name is always brought up in the bogeyman context, wasn’t even involved in the Hollywood investigation.

Reality aside, the SAG statement said that during the Cold War era, America was guilty of “averting its eyes as the House Committee on Un-American Activities persecuted citizens, destroyed careers, ruined lives and gave rise to the notorious blacklist.”

“McCarthy is riding again,” Glenda Jackson told BBC News Online.

And actor/activist Martin Sheen claimed that top executives at NBC fear that his outspoken opposition to the war will hurt his show, “The West Wing.”

The Left Coast Report notes that there are the hundreds of young, ambitious actors, actresses, writers and others who have learned to keep their ideas hidden so as not to jeopardize their careers. They’re called conservatives. That’s the real blacklist that exists today. Check it out, SAG.

The Left Coast Report is put together by James L. Hirsen and the staff of NewsMax.

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