Bette Midler
Biography and Quotes

Liberal Hall of Shame
The Top 1000 Liberals in America

"We've become the people our parents warned us about!" That quip by veteran singer Jimmy Buffet underscored the zeitgeist at Thursday night's major Democratic fundraiser at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Vice President Al Gore and running-mate Joe Lieberman, with respective spouses and Hillary Clinton for good (and local) measure were the front-row guests of honor through a three-hour concert which raised a very impressive $6.5 million for the DNC.

The audience responded enthusiastically to all the performances - but the appreciation became even more pronounced when a proudly svelte Bette Midler took the stage - and the audience - by storm. In addition to singing a hypnotic "The Rose" she brought on Spector chanteuse Darlene Love to duet with her on "He's A Rebel" and to powerhouse "River Deep Mountain High." If anyone had given Midler the new party line on safe humor - she had mislaid the instructions - and she interpolated her singing with her trademark Sophie Tucker-esque one-liners - a cascade of ribaldry uncontaminated by PC concerns. One sensed the audience straining to gauge the reactions of the Gores and Liebermans to the jokes - rather like the nervous glances young adults take at their elderly parents when risque material is unleashed in a family setting.

Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Gore
by Martin Lewis (First published September 15, 2000)
http://www.martinlewis.com/column.pl?col=15&cat=time

But I want you to listen to something that happened on CNN last night on Anderson Cooper's show, the formidable Bette Midler, well known political analyst, was a guest and had this to say

MIDLER: I do. I talk about Rush.

COOPER: You listen to Rush Limbaugh?

MIDLER: I can't listen to Rush Limbaugh. He makes you tear your hair out. He's not even American.

COOPER: (Laughing) He's not American?

MIDLER: It's so un-American to behave that way. I just think it's un-American--

COOPER: Uh-huh.

MIDLER: There's a level below which you cannot sink, and he's just sunk. I'm sorry.

COOPER: (Laughing)

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_090804/content/truth_detector.guest.html

Wall-to-wall celebrities at the Democratic National Committee fund-raiser at Radio City Music Hall included Matt Damon, Salma Hayek, Julia Roberts, Michael Douglas, and Harrison Ford, who helped raise $6.5 million for the Democratic cause. Maybe it was her legal activist role in Erin Brockovich, but Roberts confessed, “I’m a Democrat, [but] I’ve never done anything political before” Performers included Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz, and Jon Bon Jovi — who harmonized on The Beatles’ “Revolution” — and Bette “Bathhouse”Midler. The hosts of the event were Miramax’s Harvey Weinstein, VH1’s John Sykes, and Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner. Introducing Lieberman, Weinstein acknowledged that the vice-presidential candidate “isn’t making my job any easier”but called him “a strong but fair critic of the entertainment industry.” He added, “I’m proud that we were the first to respond this week,”referring to the Sept. 12 statement by Miramax’s parent, the Walt Disney Co., which spelled out “responsible marketing practices”that the company would undertake in order to answer specific criticisms of a recent Federal Trade Commission report. (Mr. Showbiz is also owned by the Walt Disney Co.)

Stars Turn Out for Gore Fund-Raiser Holllywood Turns Out For Gore Fund-Raiser Sept. 15
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=115668&page=1