Clinton & Hollywood

The meeting between Hollywood honchos and White House staff reveals more than the bruised feelings of Hollywood’s leftist elite (“A Hollywood Ending to That Meeting,” Film Clips, April 25). The meeting shows President Clinton’s penchant for governing by political favor and his insistence on selling his socialistic ideals through elaborate showmanship.

The same goon squad who flew to D.C. to train the White House in “selling” Clinton’s plan for health care once mocked Ronald Reagan for his showmanship. Had the bigwigs of MCA, TriStar and Geffen pitched for Reagan, Congress would have appointed a special prosecutor and The Times would have run an 18-part series on the “GOP Hollywood Propaganda Machine.”

What’s next? “Bus Tour: The Movie”? At least the Clinton-Gore team grasps that marketing self-sacrifice and socialism will not be easy. Too bad the Hollywood honchos so eager to put their efforts in servitude of Clinton’s “change” have not figured out that they have a turkey on their hands. Selling Clinton’s sacrifice agenda is the political equivalent of promoting “Ishtar.”

SCOTT HOLLERAN

Glendale