The Liz Smith Column | 08/23/2009 11:00 pm
Liz Smith: Renée Zellweger – The 'One and Only'!
Also from Our Gossip Girl … a Rolling Stone gathers moss on health care and the Beatles.
Renee Zellweger © Getty Images
"It’s a joke – the whole thing – a parody of Solomonic governance. By the time all the various bills are combined, the health care will be a baby, not split in half, but in fourths and eights and fractions of eights."
So writes Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone. His is a massive and depressing story on the fate of health-care reform. Nobody comes out of it looking good. Reading it in sober print is far more powerful than all the clucking, screaming and grandstanding by TV’s talking heads, right and left. This is a true American tragedy.
I have to agree with new Sen. Michael Moore who calls his fellow democrats "weak, scared and stupid." And, I think if I were President Obama, I would just back off entirely and let the people of the United States lay the blame for no reform right at the door of the Republicans and the conservative blue dog Democrats.
And if you are one of those people who don’t want the Obama plan, well, then you can just live or die without getting it. I am totally disgusted.
***
After you read Taibbi, if you do, there is another Rolling Stone piece to peruse, a bit melancholy, if not wrist-slitting. It is the cover story by Mikal Gilmore – "Why the Beatles Broke Up." Fascinating inside stuff on the Fab Four in their last gasp, but the tale does bring some small sense of fairness to the legend of Yoko Ono, blamed as she has always been as the "femme" who "fataled" the famous group.
Yes, the presence of Yoko, which John Lennon began to insist on, was irksome. They communicated in whispers, which didn’t make the other three feel good. (And the couple’s temporary descent into heroin use shocked Paul, George and Ringo, men not easily shocked.) Yoko insisted on speaking like so, in giving her unasked-for opinions – "Beatles should do this" … "Beatles should do that." McCartney would insist, "Actually it’s THE Beatles, Luv!" But Yoko was not the deal breaker. It was John Lennon’s own dissatisfaction with – everything. And then there was the presence of Allen Klein, hired by John as band manager. No one else wanted him. He was divisive in the extreme.
The Beatles’ finances were also in rather a mess. So cash flow problems soured all relationships. There were significant years of in-fighting and jealousy, especially between the giant egos, Lennon and McCartney.
The end result comes down to John Lennon. The author writes: "The Beatles could withstand whatever tensions Yoko Ono brought them. They might have endured Allen Klein. But the Beatles could not survive John Lennon. His anxiety was simply too vast."
So the Beatles broke up in 1969, never to reunite. Paul and John never recaptured their youthful friendship and their functional, collaborative competitiveness. But still, the great work lives on.
In a sidebar, Brian Hiatt reports on the spiffy much-needed digital re-mastering of all 14 Beatles albums. The fresh-sounding classic discs hit the shelves on September 9!
***
The writer Dominick Dunne returned from a trip to Germany for stem cells, etc. but he has been in Roosevelt Hospital since getting back. He says he doesn’t feel too spry but I notice he has been receiving movie stars and VIPs in his room. He was to be moved to his apartment last Friday. We wish him all the best and are glad to report that his sons, Alex and Griffin, are with him 100%. Get well, Dominick!
So writes Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone. His is a massive and depressing story on the fate of health-care reform. Nobody comes out of it looking good. Reading it in sober print is far more powerful than all the clucking, screaming and grandstanding by TV’s talking heads, right and left. This is a true American tragedy.
I have to agree with new Sen. Michael Moore who calls his fellow democrats "weak, scared and stupid." And, I think if I were President Obama, I would just back off entirely and let the people of the United States lay the blame for no reform right at the door of the Republicans and the conservative blue dog Democrats.
And if you are one of those people who don’t want the Obama plan, well, then you can just live or die without getting it. I am totally disgusted.
***
After you read Taibbi, if you do, there is another Rolling Stone piece to peruse, a bit melancholy, if not wrist-slitting. It is the cover story by Mikal Gilmore – "Why the Beatles Broke Up." Fascinating inside stuff on the Fab Four in their last gasp, but the tale does bring some small sense of fairness to the legend of Yoko Ono, blamed as she has always been as the "femme" who "fataled" the famous group.
Yes, the presence of Yoko, which John Lennon began to insist on, was irksome. They communicated in whispers, which didn’t make the other three feel good. (And the couple’s temporary descent into heroin use shocked Paul, George and Ringo, men not easily shocked.) Yoko insisted on speaking like so, in giving her unasked-for opinions – "Beatles should do this" … "Beatles should do that." McCartney would insist, "Actually it’s THE Beatles, Luv!" But Yoko was not the deal breaker. It was John Lennon’s own dissatisfaction with – everything. And then there was the presence of Allen Klein, hired by John as band manager. No one else wanted him. He was divisive in the extreme.
The Beatles’ finances were also in rather a mess. So cash flow problems soured all relationships. There were significant years of in-fighting and jealousy, especially between the giant egos, Lennon and McCartney.
The end result comes down to John Lennon. The author writes: "The Beatles could withstand whatever tensions Yoko Ono brought them. They might have endured Allen Klein. But the Beatles could not survive John Lennon. His anxiety was simply too vast."
So the Beatles broke up in 1969, never to reunite. Paul and John never recaptured their youthful friendship and their functional, collaborative competitiveness. But still, the great work lives on.
In a sidebar, Brian Hiatt reports on the spiffy much-needed digital re-mastering of all 14 Beatles albums. The fresh-sounding classic discs hit the shelves on September 9!
***
The writer Dominick Dunne returned from a trip to Germany for stem cells, etc. but he has been in Roosevelt Hospital since getting back. He says he doesn’t feel too spry but I notice he has been receiving movie stars and VIPs in his room. He was to be moved to his apartment last Friday. We wish him all the best and are glad to report that his sons, Alex and Griffin, are with him 100%. Get well, Dominick!
Read more about: Allen Klein, Brian Hiatt, Celebrities, Dominick Dunne, George Hamilton, George Harrison, Gossip, health care, John Lennon, Liz Smith, Matt Taibbi, Michael Moore, Mikal Gilmore, News, Paul McCartney, Renee Zellwegger, Ringo Starr, Rolling Stone, The Beatles, The Liz Smith Column, Yoko Ono
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18 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Hi Sharon Belko,
I don’t know what "stronger word than disgusted" you’re talking about, in reference to using a "much stronger word"…..by the way, what DOES the word "lady-like" mean to you? I’m curious because I’ve never been a "lady" not unless my spouse is a "gentleman". Sorry, I don’t belong to the old-school….I’m not a paleo-conservative. :)
Liz, I am so sorry she shunned you. I also would use a strong word, but since this can be read all over the world, I won’t. Love ya Liz.
Liz, could not agree more on the health care issue: is IS disgusting. We seem to step into a quagmire each and every time any effort - small, medium or large - is made to provide health care for all citizens. Between politicians, AMA lobbyists, insurance companies and THEIR lobbyists and the screaming hordes who cry "socialism" at the very thought of health care reform … well. Yes. Disgusting. And in the meantime, there are far too many people uninsured or underinsured, and one health crisis away from complete financial ruin.
I’ve been rooting for Dominick Dunne, and I hope things look up soon for him. I sorely miss his column in Vanity Fair. He always had a stylish spin on the dark underside of celebrity crime and gossip - and a place in his heart for the victims of crime, in memory of his daughter, I’m sure.
And as for The Toasted One, George Hamilton: hooray for Hollywood to FINALLY give him his long-overdue star on the walk of fame. And in the midst of this current vampire craze, remember it was George who gave us Love at First Bite, still one of my favorite silly, just-for-fun movies. Time for a few sequels? Oh, I’d say so!
This morning while enjoying a cup of coffee and my paper, my face burned with shame. In SC, retirees are showing up for the required counseling sessions before declaring bankruptcy. Many are single women or widows, in walkers and wheelchairs. They were part of the work force, raised their families, and participated in their communities. According to the debt counselors there,most have overwhelming medical issues. This is how we treat our citizens in their last years?
Shame on this country. Shame on the Republican Party. Their scare tactics, lies, and fear-mongering means the reform this country needs so badly will ensure debt counselors in all states will continue to have secure employment for many years to come.
Reform isn’t worth having if it is so watered down it is doomed to failure. That is the Republican plan, and nothing could make our Republican congressmen happier.
Fans of Dominick can still leave him a note at www.DominicksDiary.com
No, please don’t think this way. In 2000 when George W. won, I was completely frustrated and disgusted with my fellow Americans. I remember vividly saying "okay you idiots want this inept wanna be, daddy’s boy to run our country….be the face of our nation all over the world…well you’ll see. I’ll just sit back and watch the mess he’ll make as you all realize you were wrong and it will be too late because our country will be in shambles!"
8 years later I had no idea how right I would be, but I was right to the demise of our country. Now we have a very capable man in place to clean up after the mess made. I’m hearing a ground-swell of people who are saying they hope the reform doesn’t pass just so those who vote against it can see the horrible mess that awaits us in a matter of years. Didn’t we learn anything from voting "a bobblehead" into office for two terms? I for one am through with the "I told you so’s" at the expense of our country.
We are right this time on reform. There are changes I know I want to see in it, but I also realize nothing that passes will please everyone. But we have to do something.
But he didn’t "win." The election was rigged. People even talked about how they entered one name into the electronic voting machines and a whole different name appeared on the screen. Bush didn’t "win" anything, so there’s no need to feel frustrated by your fellow Americans. Your fellow Americans voted overwhelmingly for Al Gore.
I can’t believe there are people who still believe Bush "won" any of the elections. Interesting.
I’m thoroughly disgusted as well. No matter how many times the liberal majority stands up and says what it wants and feels this country desperately needs, the right wing proceeds to frighten the bejeebers out of the Congress. Yes, I would beg the members of Congress to look up down and all around in search of a set big enough to stand up to them. And, I have to get in line behind Belinda Joy on this one, we can’t give up. We just can’t.
For the longest time, I thought we could all listen, learn from each other and come to a solution in which everyone had a stake. Yeah, yeah, I know, Pollyannish in the extreme. After watching these town hall meetings until I’m sick to my stomach, I realize that our country is at a crossroads. We have to fight to keep our country free or we’ll descend into the hell that will be right wing, conservative control. And we only have to scan the headlines of this site to see how well THAT works, Iran, Afghanistan come to my mind. There is a lot more at stake here than health care, I’m thinking.