H'wood Democrats Plan Rally

Some of Hollywood's elite are none too happy with the Democratic Party, and will gather this weekend in an effort to nudge their party further left.

Headlining the event — dubbed "Wake Up Democrats! Take Back the Country" — is presidential activist Warren Beatty. Joining him will be Rob Reiner, Ed Begley Jr., House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and others.

"People in showbiz are getting involved in politics again," Southern California Americans for Democratic Action president Lila Garrett said. "There's been a lull. Hollywood liked Bill Clinton, but there wasn't a ground swell of conviction there."

SoCalADA is playing host to the event.

Beatty will honor former Labor Secretary Robert Reich on Saturday night at a dinner party at the Wilshire Grand Hotel. Beatty, Reich and the rest of the lineup participate in a daylong event Sunday at the same hotel.

Participants will each speak on a topic of their choice for about 12 minutes. A discussion of the Media Marketing Accountability Act of 2001, which many Hollywood actors and filmmakers claim would violate free speech as protected under the First Amendment, will be included.

"We believe in the First Amendment, even when it hurts," Garrett said. "I'd love to say I'm against gratuitous violence and I'd love to get it out of movies. But I can't, because I believe in the First Amendment."

Begley Jr. said he'll dedicate his allotted minutes to discussing the environment, including a call for more government regulation in that regard.

"We need to have another voice in the Democratic Party," he said. "We have things like a clean air act and clean water act — that's why we're cleaner than Mexico and the Soviet Union."

Garrett, a writer, producer and director who has twice won a Daytime Emmy, said that SoCalADA is an organization that welcomes all progressive Democrats, not just those in the entertainment industry.

According to Garrett, Democrats need to "take their gloves off and drop their unilateral political correctness." Otherwise, Republicans and conservative Democrats threaten the separation of church and state, Medicare, social security and the public school system.