boycott-riaa.com - Article: Hollywood's Greatest Triumph

Hollywood's Greatest Triumph

Posted by Jon Newton on September 12, 2003 at 4:41 PM (printer friendly)

K Street is a new HBO series built around a fictitious lobbying firm.

The cast will include a "mix of actors and professional lobbyists and consultants," but producers George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh also plan scenes, "using actual members of Congress," says the San Francisco Chronicle here.

That's probably because many of them already perform for Hollywood on a regular basis.

George & Co won't be allowed in the Capitol or Capitol office complex controlled by the Senate but, "It's really not a problem to us," Stuart Stevens, "a Republican consultant who is co-producing the show" is quoted as saying.

"We're interested in people, not where we shoot them."

Shoot them anywhere, right?

Anyhow - guess what's the hottest ticket in town tonight? - 'town' being Washington, of course.

"The lights will be shining bright tonight as the Who's Who of Washington and Hollywood stroll the red carpet (yes, an actual red carpet) into the Palm restaurant for the premiere of HBO's K Street," gushes the Washington Post on its September 12 NAMES & FACES page.

Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Extra, even MSNBC's Bill Press - whose show, Buchanan and Press, is the only program granted permission to air live from the red carpet - "odd but true" - will, "stand in line, mics in hand, ready to cajole the 250 guests," says the piece.

HBO is being 'hush-hush' about the guest list - as well it might.

BUT --- Clinton aide James Carville, former Cheney aide Mary Matalin and Reagan aide Michael Deaver will be among them, as will be octogenerian MPAA president Jack Valenti AND (wait for it) Hilary Rosen, former president of the Recording Industry Association of America.

Just like real life.

User Comments (These do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of this site)


mrjake	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 4:56 PM This is just insane. They are celebrating the very thing that is destroying our country.

tds67	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 5:12 PM I wish the 12 year old sued by the RIAA could be there.

CodeWarrior	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 5:13 PM OK...folks, I made an agreement with myself not to curse...but this makes me want to curse...so I'll just they should @##$(% &(##R% and then they should take Klieg lights and #^#@(*(+#% 'til they need cortisone. They never take my suggestions for these shows. I've suggested it before, but no one takes me seriously. It's called "Machete boxing" and is a reality show. You put a machete in the right hand and tape it with a full, jumbo roll of duct tape up to mid forearm. The other hand, is a 20 pound boxing glove (Everlast). You put all these jerkoffs in a boxing ring two by two, using the Thunderdome rule (two men enter, one man leaves), and do eliminations til you get two left. Then one of them is sent to work at a filling station in Fargo North Dakota, and the other is sent to be a waiter in Fort Lauderdale Florida, at the least busy IHOP on the graveyard shift.

nyer82	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 5:20 PM codewarrior just say it. Say Fuck the RIAA and you will just feel better.

newjon	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 5:26 PM Yeh, Code, but what would you call the show? And how'd you get Jack, Cary-Sue, Hollywood Howard Berman and Mitch (who he?) in the ring? And what would Hilary do - although she could play the jumbo roll of duct tape, I suppose.

gonorRIAA	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 5:31 PM Well at least they got the color of the carpet right. RED FOR ALL OF OUR BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS AS THE RIAA CONTINUES TO CAUSE AMERICANS TO BE HATED MORE BY OTHER COUNTRIES... IN THE DYING WORDS OF THE BRAVE AMERICANS WHO STOOD UP TO THEIR TERRORIST ATTACKERS AS THEY FOUGHT TO SAVE SO MUCH... LET'S ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

musicfreedom	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 5:41 PM Sweet, that's a show I'm going to be downloading.... for FREE!!! HARRRRRR

gdZiemann	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 5:50 PM George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh invited Rosen, eh? So much for my HBO subscription...

IFeelFree	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 5:50 PM I don't know, maybe this could raise awareness about the kind of crap that lobbyists pull. If the shows were written in a way that brings attention to the ways that money corrupts the political process, it could be a positive. Ah, what am I saying, it'll probably just be pro-government, pro-corporate propaganda.

mrjake	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 5:52 PM IFeelFree, Look at whos involved... do you think they are going to be fair and accurate?

W-B	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 6:12 PM To 'mrjake': About as fair and accurate as loaded dice, you can bet on that.

hiker1	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 6:17 PM Shoot them anywhere you want. Preferablly in the head!

woodhead	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 6:43 PM Any one livig in the DC area should go to this event and hand out flyers, for the boycott, and maybe hand out flyers from downhillbattle.org as well. GEt the mesage out to those who will be attending and show congress and the RIAA that we will not go away and we mean biz.

MerylStryfe	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 6:47 PM Hmm. Nice to know that $2000 fine they took from 12-year-old Honors student Brianna, from the housing authority will be going to good use to pay for those expensive plates of caviar and calamari at the K Street premiere instead of going to feed and clothe her family. To save money, maybe Hilary Rosen can find a nice paper bag to go over her head to go with her sequined gown as she walks down the red carpet tonight Anyhow, kidding aside, Carville has lost what little respect I ever had for him whoring it up with the Hollywood "elite." But then, I shouldn't be a surprised, since Democrats and Hollywood have always had close ties. The major media outlets contribute more to democrats on average than to Republicans. (For Republicans...it's big business.) I've never been a fan of George Cloony. That aside, I wonder how many people will watch K Street and how much it will act as propaganda to advance whatever lobby efforts that the major studios are going for. I think, if I remember correctly, a DC cab driver when he was drivin me downtown told me that many of the major lobby groups were located on Pennsylvania Avenue, up from the mall. He said they paid in excess of $600,000 a month for offices there. Some of the best ways to learn about a city is through the stories of cabbies... IFeelFree....hehe. Yep, it probably will be propaganda.

ILUVELPEES	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 7:04 PM Cool. I'm always looking for more excuses not to watch TV. Now I've got another.

AlfonsoD	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 7:09 PM I read they pulled the plug on K-street, doesn't matter HBO is a time warner company and under boycott anyway

goofycaca	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 7:11 PM Interestingly enough, some of the senators are not really happy with the filming of the series. For example, Trent Lott (R) and George Voinovich (R), the chairmen of the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Ethics Committe respectively. They sent out a letter to the other senators saying that the senate space cannot be used for making a profit. How is that for hypocrisy? The Ethics committee chair is saying that a film crew cannot film because it would be used to make a profit, but the senators themselves can accept all of those "donations" and "contributions." We wouldn't want the public to know what the "public servants" are REALLY doing in there. http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/11/hbo/index.html

mtekk	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 7:59 PM The RIAA is the reason 9-11 Happened, The RIAA is the one to blame for everything that has ever gone wrong in the last 100 years, IT's their fault half the world hates us, they are the ones who are killing America, they are WORSE THAN CORPERATE GREED. We are NOT THE RIAA, MOST AMERICANS HATE THEM. therfor any terrorist should suicide bomb Hollywood, and eliminate all of the lawers, riaa menbers, and mpaa members, We THE people of the UNunited states of America, would greatly appreciate such a deed. We shall rebel, overthrough the entertainment industry, we have the power, we should use it to rise up and conquer in the name of FREEDOM and p2p. Oh yeah RIAA: You F@#@n jack@$$e$ I wish you would all F you selves fifty F ing times tell you F er falles off, then f some more you f ing f wh&r#$, FU FU FU FU FU FU FU FU. I feel somewhat releaved :))

newjon	Date: September 12, 2003 @ 8:07 PM heh. You forgot smallpox

PhantomGhost	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 12:07 AM I don't have HBO. Ha, ha. Guess I can't watch Clooney & Co. entertaining Hilary Rosen and the esteemed Jack Valenti, ahem, (former) partners in crime. When will the madness ever end? Who knows, but it will. The RIAA, just like Standard Oil, will be dead soon. Their days are numbered as their suicidal course makes them more unpopular every day. DOWN with the RIAA! :-:~ PhantomGhost ~:-:

Idontcareican	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 12:26 AM Same here, I canceled HBO after getting tired of watching horrible B movies when 10 years ago they would have been showing Classics or at least something that made it to the theatre. Bill Mahr is the only thing HBO is good for now and that is what I am going to miss. Other than that, nothing.

Seikatsu	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 1:36 AM W-8 It's as fair as playing Russian Roulette and the guy hands a loaded 9mm. If you live you get one million. If you die they take what on you and have sex with your corpse. Ps. It doesn't matter if the chamber's empty, you die anyway. It's semi-auto genius.

kyodylee	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 4:21 AM Idontcareican - FYI - You may not be missing anything anymore. Pls see this: http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/7869 GreenManalishi Date: September 13, 2003 @ 1:58 AM Just saw an interview on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" and he spoke with singer/songwriter Liz Phair about the recent lawsuits. This former independent/alternative performer had little sympathy for those being sued and towed the line for the RIAA, calling downloaders "theives", as did Bill Maher. As Liz Phair attempts to rekindle a sagging career by going pop/neo-glamorous/pro RIAA, remember we need to boycott these artists. goingnova Date: September 13, 2003 @ 2:02 AM Wow, Bill Mahar must have sold out. I would have figured he would have been on the side of 60 million filesharers, rather that 5 corporations. Thanks for the info GreenManalishi.

ILUVELPEES	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 6:58 AM I think Bill Mahar is a great entertainer, but I wish he'd decide which side of the fence he's sitting on.

MerylStryfe	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 9:25 AM ILUV, probably the side that's paying him, unfortunately. I dunno. I'm disappointed.

independentm...	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 9:52 AM Liz Phair not fair? I thought she sounded more pro "our" side on the Tech Tv show... maybe I missed something? Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy Support Local and Independent Music!

TheLateJC	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 10:42 AM thats because sh is.

OldSchoolHipHop	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 11:42 AM can somebody tell me what happened yesterday on tech tv like the highlights of the show

larshater	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 12:32 PM yet another reason I wish California would fall in the ocean. Hopefully DC will sink since it was built on swamp (that's why all the scum go there).

grilldoggy	Date: September 13, 2003 @ 6:00 PM If you want to download music with little risk of lawsuit, simply move files out of your shared folder immediately after download. Files will always be available worldwide anyway, we don't have to get them from servers in the U.S.! There's no need for guilt over lack of sharing in this situation. The RIAA is targeting Americans, now we will target the RIAA. Downloading will continue forever, and cd sales will continue to plummet. RIAA, be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it.

dopesickkid	Date: September 14, 2003 @ 3:19 AM [Quote Grilldoggy] "simply move files out of your shared folder immediately after download" If everbody did that there wouldn't be any music to download.

RiaaWantstoE...	Date: September 14, 2003 @ 5:23 AM IF our International Brothers and Sisters can help us in this struggle and wish to lend their support, they could make up for the slack in available files while we fight this battle. Afterall, they could be next, if the tyranny continues ... Multi-National Corps know no flags or boundaries. So, even if you want to dowload, but not share files, that would not mean there would be none to be had. Let's face it, some people may be a bit edgy and insecure about uploading, so let them DL without guilt. Just keep the volume up and the file numbers high! I am really hoping for, and counting on, P2P'ers outside the US to double, (or triple, etc.) their available files until we declare this struggle a win for the listeners, the users, the consumers ... THE PEOPLE! I think that note should suffice to everyone listening: Word! Spread it!