I Told Geffen No. Years Later He Disses Hillary.

The Hot Line reports that "Hillary Clinton's campaign apparently didn't take too kindly to the harsh rhetoric from L.A. music mogul David Geffen, courtesy of today's Maureen Dowd." I have a personal connection to this story, albeit very weak, extremely indirect and really rather silly, but I'm looking for any excuse to tell it. During the Grammy Awards in 1988, David Geffen asked me to get him a limousine - four hours before the show began. He's an arrogant s.o.b. While everyone else in Los Angeles County knew to order their cars months in advance, Mr. Geffen felt that he was so important that we could just materialize a car for him when none were available. "No car, Mr. Geffen, sorry," I said. "Do you know who I am?" he asked, oh-so-dryly. "Yes sir, you're the guy who is asking for a car only a few hours before a major awards show who isn't going to get one," I said, just-as-dryly. Of course, he demanded to speak to the owner of the livery service, a gruff man who grew up on the rough side of Baltimore and had a wall full of gold records. Herman's Hermits and the like; Harold was well connected and nobody impressed him. So suffice it to say that Harold told David Geffen to go to hell. "Geffen, you asshole, do you know what the f#*& day it is?" Harold said into the phone. I kid you not, that's what he said. It was completely within Harold's character, so none of us in the office were shocked. "Look," Harold admonished Geffen, "it's your own damn fault for waiting til the last minute, and Tom's the best f#*&ing dispatcher in Los Angeles and I'm transferring you back to him." I picked up the line. "Mr. Geffen, you're in Beverly Hills and we're picking up a number of your associates and colleagues there. I would suggest that you share a ride with one of them." He humbly acquiesced and, happily, got to the show on time. I cannot remember who he rode with, but I hope it was somebody he considered to be beneath him. Come to think of it, it must have been. David Geffen considers everybody to be beneath him. Oh, I almost forgot about the Hillary thing. Seems Geffen, according The Hot Line, is backing Barack Obama, and he "called Bill Clinton 'reckless' and clearly is still upset that Clinton didn't grant a pardon to cause celeb native American Leonard Peltier. More Geffen: 'Marc Rich getting pardoned? An oil-profiteer expatriate who left the country rather than pay taxes or face justice?'" One day I might tell you my Hillary Clinton story.