“Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”
With those words, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket’s fate was sealed by Henry II in 1170. History, literature and Hollywood are very clear about what those words meant and the inevitable consequences that flowed from their utterance. Fortunately for Henry II, Robert Mueller and U.S. Attorney General William Barr were not assigned to investigate that murder because, if they had been, Becket would have been found to have “non colluded” and could have avoided a flogging. Perhaps the unspoken and unwritten rule seems to be that circumstantial evidence is not enough to convict a head of state, whether king or president. Nothing short of Trump twittering “I want to do it all with the Russians because Vladimir is my boy” would pass the political burden of proof test and even then, probably not enough for Fox News to pass judgment. But this play may have a fourth and possibly even fifth act, so we should all know the ending by November of next year.
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One of the wonderful perks of owning a newspaper is you sometimes get invited to attend private and exclusive events that would otherwise require at least a major donation. This weekend, Karen and I were invited to a benefit supporting the Great American Songbook Foundation and the Treatment Action Group (TAG) supporting HIV research. The event, featuring the foundation’s founder, the great cabaret entertainer Michael Feinstein, was held in a spectacular home up on Mulholland Drive in Beverly Hills. Karen is a major Feinstein fan and it was a command performance as far as she was concerned. The foundation’s mission is to preserve and propagate classic American popular music—and you know what that means. It’s the kind of music where you can actually understand the lyrics. I’m guessing that 50 years from now, two old guys will be sitting around at a fundraiser listening to old rap favorites like “California Love” and waxing sentimental that “they just don’t write that kind of music anymore.” But, I digress. Michael Feinstein not only hosted the event, but also he invited his music friends to show their support for the foundation and to its special guest, Liza Minelli. Among them were Melissa Manchester, Alan Bergman, Broadway star Rachel York and an up-and-coming talent, Finn Segall. They all performed beautifully in the intimacy of an immense, art-filled living room overlooking the lights of the San Fernando Valley. Magic! Mitzy Gayor also attended (looking lovely) and Even George Hamilton put in an appearance—thankfully, he did not sing.
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas came to Los Angeles this past weekend for a Pepperdine event and, to prove some of my Republican friends wrong who said I’d never do it—we put his picture on the front page of the newspaper. Thomas is almost invariably photographed on the bench, looking very austere. Off the bench, he is apparently quite affable and has no problem smiling and speaking, contrary to his bench practices; thus, our picture with the big smile.
Publisher’s note: Needless to say, this does not constitute an endorsement of his views.
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Some years ago, a previous Malibu City Council agreed to a land swap with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The city would give the conservancy the undeveloped Charmlee Park in western Malibu, which would be kept as an open space, and the conservancy would give the city the partially developed Malibu Bluffs Park in central Malibu. It seemed like a win-win deal, but to be safe, they agreed to give each other five year leases and then, if it worked out, to make the swap permanent. The city’s idea was to create some additional ball fields and some community amenities like a recreation center—perhaps a pool—and to this end, the city went through a long public development process with many plans and alternatives. This, of course, being Malibu, there was considerable opposition from the “no never, no anything, no anywhere, no any time” crowd, which invariably shows up to block whenever they can. They currently enjoy the support of some on the city council who seemed to believe that the only acceptable sport in Malibu is surfing. This is the same group of council members that believes if living in an 1,800-square foot house is good enough for them, it should be good enough for everyone. It’s the same philosophy pushing the idea of neighborhood standards, which really means never change anything if you can avoid it. Unfortunately, it has all sorts of negative consequences, which I’ll cover in future columns as their retro plans move ahead.