How? Through record sales. In other words: Capitalism.

–

They didn’t demand that any government should pay the tab for the recording, production or distribution of their product. They relied on the free market system to solve the problem.

There was no politically correct objection to the song’s refrain which clearly references “Christmas” by saying “feed the world, let them know it’s Christmas time again.”

It’s also funny to hear a bunch of musical lefties lamenting the lack of snowfall in Africa with the line “there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time.” Doesn’t the “settled” climate change science predict record accumulation in Ghana by next May? Band Aid didn’t seem to think so in 1984.

9.6 million hits on YouTube later…

It should also be noted that Band Aid creator and humanitarian Bob Geldof went out of his way to praise George W. Bush for his commitment to Africa, stating in 2003:

“You’ll think I’m off my trolley when I say this, but the Bush administration is the most radical – in a positive sense – in its approach to Africa since Kennedy.”

It’s not radical. Haven’t you heard, Bob? Conservative is the new punk. Welcome to the brave new world.

Here’s an excerpt:

Chapter Five, Personalities, Politics and Powerbrokers

Somehow late night talk shows became a logical first step for politicians to reach voters. Somehow rock stars became a political voice of the disenfranchised. Somewhere along the way, American politics and pop culture personalities began to blend.

Blame it on Ike letting cameras into the White House, and perhaps Clinton blowing his sax on The Arsenio Hall Show – ‘celebrity creep’ into American politics seems to spread over time. Each campaign and each candidate changes the rules, receiving endorsements from big stars and taking lots and lots of their money.

G8 Summit, Gleneagles, Scotland, July 2005 Pres. George W. Bush, rock star Bono, First Lady Laura Bush and musician Bob Geldof hold a working meeting on Africa at the G8 Summit. Geldof praised Bush for delivering billions to fight disease and poverty, and blasted the U.S. media for ignoring the achievement. Geldof said Bush “has done more than any other President so far. This is the triumph of American policy.” (White House photo by Eric Draper.)

It is commonplace for celebrities to stump for candidates, throw lavish fund-raisers and donate mountains of their own cash. Television advertisement wars, funding a “ground game,” and a connecting with voters takes big money. And, there is lots of ‘gold in them hills’ – Beverly Hills! Bottomless wells of cash await that can make or break a candidate’s chance at success.

Oval Office, The White House, December 1970 Superstar Elvis Presley poses for an official photo with Pres. Richard M. Nixon.  The photograph remains one of the most requested documents from the National Archives.  Presley wrote Nixon a lengthy letter expressing disdain for hippie drug culture and asking to be named a “Federal Agent At Large.” Nixon, eager to gain inroads with young people, granted Presley’s wish and presented a badge from the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Presley got his wish.  At Presley’s request, the meeting remained a secret until the Washington Post broke the story in 1972 (Courtesy National Archives.)

Glamorous Hollywood stars helped Truman and Eisenhower kick-start national optimism after Word War II. Fleetwood Mac’s hit “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)” became a powerful refrain for President Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign. Perhaps no campaign involved so many vocal celebrities as President Obama’s 2008 race for President. There was a day when a candidate thought hanging around with rock stars sent the wrong signal. When that star is someone like heartland rocker Bruce Springsteen, it might send just the signal the candidate needs to reach a key voting bloc.

Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, California, June 1967 Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman and Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson at the President’s Club Dinner. Wasserman was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, and perhaps its’ first lobbyist. In 1966, he installed Johnson confidante Jack Valenti as head of the Motion Picture Association of America. His influence grew so great, both Johnson and Jimmy Carter offered Wasserman cabinet positions. (LBJ Library photo by Yoichi R. Okamoto.)

Nowadays, celebrities share political panels and campaign stages with candidates regularly. The lines have been blurred. Americans have grown so accustomed to the nexus between Hollywood and politics that they are electing many familiar faces — Singer Sonny Bono and Love Boat purser Fred Grandy became Congressmen, action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger became a two-term governor, and actor Ronald Reagan became a two-term President. How did they do it? When asked by a group of students which experiences best prepared him for the presidency, Reagan once said, “You’d be surprised how much being a good actor pays off.”

Witness Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s cavalcade of shiny, happy situational patriots appearing in a derivative public servitude announcement: A “Presidential Pledge” to President Barack Obama.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Forgive and forget? Right.

President Bush was not holding back Moore from “free[ing] one million people from slavery in the next five years.” Nor was he holding back the Obama-biquitous Will.I.Am from “chang[ing] how [he] live[s].” Ditto: Aaron Ekhart (“To be a better person,”) Marisa Tomei (“To integrate into my heart what I already know in my head which is that we are all in this together,”) Kutcher (“To the abolition to 21st century slavery,”) Anthony Kiedis (“To be of service to Barack Obama,”) P. Diddy (” pledge to turn the lights off, cause I used to leave the lights on but we want to conserve energy so I’ma turn the lights off, you turn the lights off,) and all-in-unison (“Because together we can, together we are, and together we will be the change that we seek.”)

Missing are pledges not to kiss the ring of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and other pledged enemies of America. Nor are there pledges not to make movies that glorify these tyrants. Nor are there pledges to take seriously that we are at war, will continue to be at war under President Obama and that our precious and under-appreciated military is fighting an avowed and evil enemy — so that, among other things, Hollywood can continue to make decadent crap that actually motivates our enemy to fight us harder!

Unfortunately, what happens in Hollywood does not stay in Hollywood.

For more mind-numbing background read Kutcher’s companion piece at the… you got it… the Huffington Post .

The conservatives, Republicans and sundry non-lefties I know in show business have had nothing to say but positive and helpful things about the coming Obama presidency.

“We wish him well.” “He is our president now and he needs our help.”

These are the types of things I keep hearing.

And this is exactly the right attitude and exactly the right message.

God bless, President Obama. Even though I didn’t vote for him, and disagree with much of his agenda, he has my best wishes and all of my best efforts.

But that doesn’t mean I will forgive and forget an era of narcissism, petty complaining and conspiracy theory peddling from the majority celebrity class that began well before Iraq. [See "Hollywood, Interrupted " -- my book co-written with Mark Ebner -- which was written before and during the build-up to the Iraq war and before the WMDs weren't found. The public behavior from Hollywood even then was almost uniformly deplorable.]

Conspiracy theories of America’s complicity in 9/11 dominated cocktail party discussions for eight tedious years. They couldn’t simply disagree with Bush. They had to ascribe evil to his motivations and make sure the whole world agreed on that flawed premise.

Yet, hating the president doesn’t mean one can’t still help out the country in a great time of need. But many went to foreign countries and demeaned it instead. Called those that disagreed with them rubes and hicks. The elitism of the celebrities against flyover country America could not have been more pronounced. They made a boat-load of movies that affirmed this narrow and patronizing world view.

And now they want us back.

We’re all Americans — NOW.

It’s a convenient lie the celebrity left peddles that they were with us during the initial Afghanistan phase of the war, and even after 9/11.

No syrupy revisionism will change this fact.

[As I was writing this piece, I received the following unsolicited email from a Big Hollywood reader: "Reminder to liberal celebrities: It's time to set your Fluctuating Patriotism Clock from "Hate America" to "Love America" on Jan. 20th. Remember, it's "Springsteen Ahead - Falwell Behind." Funny.]

Featured in Moore’s goofy, derivative and pretty-in-a-grotesque-way video is none other than Cameron Diaz who had this to say before the 2004 election:

We have a voice now, and we’re not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies…if you think that rape should be legal , then don’t vote. But if you think that you have a right to your body, and you have a right to say what happens to you and fight off that danger of losing that, then you should vote…

Such mental insanity posing as erudition usually earns ostracism. But Diaz and her self-serious cohorts have no moral compass, no sense of proportion, no decency and, certainly, no shame.

This video illustrates that the current celebrity class are not citizens but serfs. They need a leader to put their minds in the right place to do the right thing. They are not heroic individualists seeking to extend America’s promise but conformists who chose to sit out and complain during the tough years in order to ensure their guy got in the next go-around.

The celebrity decadence during the “oppressive” Bush years was world class. The clubs raged. The boutique hotels rocked. The private jet industry at Van Nuys airport flourished. The party never stopped. And only a precious few (Thank you, dearly!!!) stepped up to support the American troops who have been valiantly fighting for Hollywood’s right to do lines off of each others’ buttocks at $10 million Hollywood Hills mansions.

They never spoke up against the movies that demonized our military.

They never made movies to counter the libel.

They took the easy route. And blamed Bush for everything.

Moore’s nauseating video — which, like Steven Soderbergh’s “Oceans” franchise, grants a pristine look into the modern celebrity’s sense of self-importance — is not a sign of desire to serve the country under Obama. Watch, by March this pledge like New Year’s resolutions will fall by the wayside. It is a sign that the Democrat is in the White House now. It is a sign that they get to sleep again in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Twenty years ago AIDS was the number one cause for the Hollywood left. Remember the trendy red ribbons at all the self-aggrandizing awards shows? Hollywood has moved on (dot org) to better blame-your-fellow-American causes. But President Bush didn’t. And aside from Bob Geldof and Bono , they ignore this president’s demonstrable goodness .

Amazing that Geldof and Bono could valiantly fight their battles and serve humanity without being paralyzed by the Leader of the Free World 2000-2008’s all-encompassing awfulness.

Remember this video: It is a instructive relic of the era of celebrity decadence and boutique anti-Republican activism under President Bush. It is a sickening display that they want fast and easy absolution for having comported themselves like ill-behaved children for eight difficult and war-torn years.

Good luck, President Obama. The rest of you can go to hell.