High life
Gentlemen and players
Taki
The festivities began on Friday night with dinners hosted by George and Claudine Pereira and the Laphams. Next came a lun- cheon given by Paul and Jackie Desmarais which took place in the Desmarais offices. Mind you, office is not the right word to describe the venue. Straight out of The Fountainhead — however classical — is more like it. There were frescoed ceilings, rare 18th-century cabinets, and beautiful French antique furniture, including Napoleon's writing desk, and a boardroom that only Cecil B. De Mille could give justice to. We were around 50 for lunch, including ex-President George and Mrs Bush, Queen Noor of Jordan, Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and his sweet, Greek-born wife Katherine, Dino Goulandris, Galen and Hilary Weston (Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario) ... you get the picture.
President Bush gave a most gracious speech, as did our host, and then Dino Goulandris had the best idea of the day. He invited George Bush to Gstaad for the Symposium, and the former president accepted. Which means another full house at the Palace come next winter.
Looking at George Bush, I couldn't help but compare him with that dreadful Draft Dodger. Bush was the youngest navy pilot during the second world war, having volun- teered to fight for his country. Clinton did the exact opposite. He went to Moscow and organised anti-war rallies, lied to his draft board and has lied ever since about his anti-war stance. Bush is a gentleman of the old school, Clinton is trailer-park trash of the newest kind. Bush has refused to comment about the Clinton scandals, whereas the scumbag has never failed to get a dig in against the Bushes. Never has the old cliché about 'show me your friends and I'll show you what kind of person one is' been truer. George Bush and Brian Mulroney have friends like the Westons and Desmarais, billionaires who live quiet and unshowy lives, help the weak and needy without publicity, and create jobs and employment for hundreds of thou- sands. Clinton's friends are the Geffens of this world, greedy, uncharitable, showy scum that look down upon anyone who can't fight back. Alas, the scum is winning.
Following the ceremony, there was a grand ball which lasted until dawn, and the next day a brunch, yet again given by the Mulroneys, that was as festive an event as I can remember. Brian Mulroney and Jackie Desmarais sang old songs, I once again began to drink with my buddy John Radzi- will, and, well, you can guess the rest. By the time I got back to the Big Bagel that evening the customs officer thought I was carrying contraband. No such luck. It was only my swollen liver. Incidentally, Montre- al is a nice city, with 217 miles of biking trails, which run along ancient stone ware- houses, 19th-century brick factories, and great concrete grain elevators. It's called the Lachine Canal bike path, and when you bike it you're riding Canadian history. Over the years, the Lachine Canal became the industrial centre of Canada. But when in 1959 the St Lawrence Seaway obviated the need for the canal, it fell into disrepair. Now, however, the federal government has invested millions to restore the canal and its surroundings. The results have been fan- tastic. Karamazovian hangover and all that, I was sad as hell to leave Montreal and such wonderful friends.
I read somewhere that the most impor- tant thing in life is to be fearless and gener- ous. At times I flatter myself thinking that I have tried to live by that code. Yet, when I look around, it's always the bad guys win- ning. Al Gore is probably a bigger liar than Bill Clinton, which makes him somewhat unique. Following a massacre at an Ameri- can high school last year, Gore made a fund-raising trip to Hollywood where he met with industry executives. He made it clear to them that he, personally, had noth- ing to do with a government study on vio- lence in movies, that it was all Clinton's idea. He did the same thing in 1988 to music industry executives exercised about Tipper Gore's campaign against nasty lyrics. Here's a man ready to betray anyone and everything in order to please big money, and he will be elected president six weeks from now. During one of the wed- ding dinners, someone, a lady, pointed me out to President Bush and told him about my anti-Clinton campaign these last seven years. President Bush listened, smiled, but said nothing. Gentlemen never do. Alas, gentlemen no longer win.
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