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According to the New York Daily News, the CBS brass has ordered a fashion makeover for the ratings-challenged broadcaster.

A celebrity fashion stylist indicates that he was approached to redo Rather's wardrobe.

CBS denies the story, but a source has revealed that "since the debacle with the Bush memos, and to compete with the new NBC anchor [Brian Williams], they're going to revamp him a bit."

The Left Coast Report wonders if Rather's makeover will include a Brian Williams man tan.

Michael Jackson Throws Race Card at Eminem

After apparently finding out that legal action was a no-go, Michael Jackson has come up with a new strategy to use against his rap nemesis Eminem.

At a press conference in front of MTV's studio in Times Square, Jackson encouraged fans to protest MTV's decision to keep broadcasting Eminem's video "Just Lose It."

Black Entertainment Television (BET) has pulled the video, but MTV is still airing it.

Worse than the protest call, though, was Jackson's exploitation of the race card. He characterized Eminem's video as being racist.

In a phone call to Geraldo Rivera from the publicity stunt, Jackson called the video "demeaning and disrespectful," adding that "it's not just about Michael Jackson but about a pattern of disrespect that he has shown to our community. He needs to stop it, and he needs to stop it now."

Dressed as Jackson, Eminem is surrounded by young children jumping up and down on a bed in one scene. Another highlight of the video: His nose falls off.

Lyrics include: "Come here little kiddie, on my lap. Guess who's back with a brand new rap? And I don't mean rap, as in a case of child molestation."

The Left Coast Report imagines that Jackson could come up with an appropriate reply but it's hard to rap in a falsetto.

Powerful 'Jewish American' Madonna

Eyebrows were raised in synagogues across the nation recently when The Forward, which publishes an annual list of the most powerful and influential Jewish Americans, gave the dexterous diva Madonna the 51st spot.
 
Editor J.J. Goldberg explained that Madonna was placed on the list because "she's a practitioner of the Kabbalah, so she's practicing Judaism for Christ's sake! Well, not really for Christ's sake, but she's probably the world's best-known practitioner of Judaism right now."

It wasn't that long ago that Madonna changed her name to Esther. She also refused to perform on Friday nights because doing so would violate the Jewish Sabbath.

The singer's publicist Liz Rosenberg told the New York Daily News that she had advised The Forward over and over again that "it wouldn't be appropriate to include her on such a list" because Madonna "is not Jewish."

The Left Coast Report is surprised that they didn't come up with a better reason to exclude Madonna from the list, such as voguing in pointy underwear.

Law Like Me

Attorney Ravi Batra is suing the producers of the television show "Law & Order."

Batra claims that a character in an episode titled "Floater" resembles him.

The lawsuit asserts that the TV version of an Indian-American Brooklyn lawyer named "Ravi Patel" has gender, ethnic and physical similarities to Batra.

It also alleges that people acquainted with Batra who watched the episode "were disturbed and distressed by the story line."

The suit names "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf and NBC Universal as defendants. Batra is asking for $15 million because the TV show allegedly harmed his reputation by portraying him as a crooked attorney.

The Left Coast Report wishes Batra lotsa luck in getting a jury to award damages for a portrayal of a crooked lawyer.

Professor of Perversion

Leave it to Hollywood to glorify dictators, delinquents and deviants.

The bio-pic "Kinsey" profiles the guy who is credited with starting the "sexual revolution." But the film leaves out salient info about professor Alfred Kinsey.

Catholic League president William Donohue helps fill in the revolting blanks.

"Alfred Kinsey authorized his researchers to sexually molest infants as young as five months old," Donohue reveals. As many as 2,000 infants were "experimented" on.
 
The flick is, of course, getting accolades from movie critics. Ebert and Roeper gave it two thumbs up. The Dallas Observer, the Chicago Tribune, Daily Variety and Slate all called it a "moving" film.   Andrew Sarris of the New York Observer called it "admirably adventurous." A.O. Scott of the New York Times said it was "an intellectual turn-on."

The Left Coast Report believes that Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women of America's Culture & Family Institute, got it right when he pointed out that "instead of being lionized, Kinsey's proper place is with ... your average Hollywood horror flick mad scientist."