The event was billed as "The Concert" and was organized by Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner and VH1 president John Sykes. At the show, a whole bunch of celebrities -- microphones on -- ripped Bush apart, and in the process raised $6.5 million for Democratic contender Al Gore and the Democratic National Committee.

Actor Matt Damon, for example, said that Bush was "kind of like Fredo" (the dimwitted Corleone brother from "The Godfather"): "They didn't even let that guy run the family business, much less the country."

In her first foray into politics, Julia Roberts declared herself a Democrat. She said that the word "'Republican' in the dictionary comes just after 'reptile' and just before 'repugnant.'"

Actress Salma Hayek spoke a sentence or two in Spanish. She told the crowd, "That means, 'The air in Houston sucks!'"

The hostility cut across generations. During a set by '60s stars Crosby, Stills and Nash, Stephen Stills said that Bush reminded him of 1964 GOP presidential candidate Barry Goldwater: "The similarities are too intense."

"Here's a song we'd like to send out to the Shrub," he said. "It's called 'Helplessly Hoping.'"

Not everyone was so vitriolic. Jon Bon Jovi sang "Dead or Alive," Sheryl Crow crooned "Everyday Is a Winding Road," Lenny Kravitz performed "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" k.d. lang moaned "Constant Craving," Paul Simon grooved to "Graceland" and Don Henley emoted "Boys of Summer."

It was all kind of like a greatest-hits mix tape from Hollywood to the Democratic nominee they've had to settle for as a replacement for the one who loved and emulated them just a tad too much.

Popping up between sets, Michael Douglas emceed, telling jokes so bad even the sycophantic Democratic showbiz types filling the hall didn't laugh. But Douglas' timing wasn't the problem; the whole event had timing issues, coming as it did one day after the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on a Federal Trade Commission report charging the entertainment community with marketing adult-rated products to children.

Indeed, as if he had no idea where he was going to be Thursday night, Gore spent much of the week jumping on the FTC bandwagon.

Here's a quote from Monday's New York Times: "'If I'm entrusted with the presidency,' he said, his voice rising, 'I am going to do something about'" the questionable marketing practices. On Wednesday, Gore's running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., testified at the hearings, decrying the "culture of carnage."

The duo then went on to schmooze with Weinstein, whose company has produced some of the more violent and controversial films around, including "Priest," "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction." Both parties have scored more than $22 million in cash from the entertainment community -- though more than two-thirds of that has gone to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Needless to say, the Republicans called Thursday night's fundraiser a kind of Hypocri-palooza.

Hours before Gore, Lieberman and their spouses sauntered into the cavernous concert hall, Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson accused the Democratic presidential nominee of "speaking out of both sides of his mouth when it comes to marketing trash to our kids. To the American public, he says, 'Don't worry -- I'll crack down on these peddlers of filth.' To Hollywood honchos, he says with a wink and a nod, 'Don't sweat it -- we've been through this drill before, and you know I'm only saying this because I need to do it to get elected. Oh, and thanks for the cash -- keep it coming.'"

Inside, the entertainers returned fire at Gore's enemies with a continuing barrage of invective:

In a telegram Weinstein read to the crowd, actor Paul Newman expressed his regrets for his absence, and urged support for Gore's "campaign against the bad guys."

Another telegram, from actor Ben Affleck, said that he was telling everyone to "vote for the smart guy -- because, believe me, there's only one of those in this race." Another favorite slam among the entertainers was the GOP candidate's apparent inability to pronounce the word "subliminal."

Bush had been forced to use the word a number of times earlier in the week when his campaign came under fire for running, and then defending, a Republican National Committee TV ad that projected, for a fraction of a second, the word "rats" on the screen when describing Gore's plan for prescription drugs. Bush pronounced it something like "subliminable."

During his performance of "Margaritaville," Jimmy Buffett sang, "Wasted away again in Margaritaville/Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt/Some people claim that there's a woman to blame/But I know/It's that subliminable message's fault."

Screeched actor John Leguizamo, "It's 'subliminal,' George!"

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