"With friends like these, who needs enemies?"

The saying may apply to Pres. Obama who's getting heat from some former supporters over his Afghanistan speech.

Michael Moore just told CNN's Larry King he thinks the Obama troop surge plan is "absolutely insane." He added, "This is going to be his Vietnam."

Moore was one of Obama's big supporters during the campaign. So was Robert Greenwald, who produced anti-John McCain videos during the presidential election. What is Greenwald producing now? Short films arguing for a withdrawal from Afghanistan.

I talked with Greenwald, who is a big-time liberal activist, about the Obama plan and he called it a "tragic" mistake. He's spent time in Afghanistan and said people there view U.S. troops as "foreign invaders" so sending in more of them won't help.

Hollywood stars haven't been anxious to comment on the Obama plan so far. Richard Dreyfuss keeps himself well-informed on international affairs, but when I asked his political adviser where he's leaning on the surge, she said Richard hadn't made up his mind.

It will be interesting to see if Obama's Hollywood base deserts him on this issue.

There's a famous saying attributed to comedian George Burns : "The secret of acting is sincerity.  If you can fake that, you've got it made."

It's a Hollywood truism, but I really think the stars who turned out for the CNN Heroes show were sincerely moved by the people they honored.  Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Pierce Brosnan, Neil Patrick Harris, Dwayne Johnson and George Lopez were among the celebs who introduced the 10 finalists for "CNN Hero of the Year", each of the nominees an "everyday person doing the extraordinary."
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Just when the Mackenzie Phillips "I-had-sex-with-my-father" story was beginning to cool off we've been hit with another spate of cringe-worthy entertainment news.

First it was Roman Polanski's arrest in Switzerland, which brought back up all the sordid details of his 1977 rape case involving a 13-year-old girl.  To read her original grand jury testimony is beyond disturbing.  Regardless of whether you think the famed director should be extradited to the U.S. or left alone due to his age, etc., what he is accused of doing is absolutely shocking. 

Then last night David Letterman dropped his sex and extortion bombshell on "The Late Show".  He acknowledged having affairs with female staffers, information a CBS employee allegedly threatened to bring to light unless Letterman paid him off.

Now, Americans love a sex scandal.   Washington has provided plenty of them (courtesy of senators John Ensign, David Vitter, former senators John Edwards and Larry Craig, oh and former Pres. Clinton, to name but a few).  Maybe Hollywood is just playing catch up.

But enough already!  It's time to take down the dirty laundry before disgust turns into nausea and nausea turns into... well, something really difficult to clean up.

Roman Polanski's got friends in high places.  Whether they can really burnish his image is another matter.

Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton are among the showbiz luminaries who have signed a petition demanding Polanski's release. 

The famed director was picked up in Zurich, Switzerland on Saturday and faces possible extradition to the U.S. on a child sex case that dates back to 1977.

I can see some value in having Scorsese and Swinton in your corner, but Woody Allen?  He faced a sex scandal of his own involving the adopted daughter of his former partner, Mia Farrow.

Actor/writer Buck Henry and director John Landis  also signed the petition.  Landis was charged (and later acquitted) of involuntary manslaughter years ago in the deaths of two child actors on the set of the movie, "Twilight Zone".

As for Henry, fans of  "Saturday Night Live's" early years will recall he played a recurring character on the show, a cheesy pedophile named Uncle Roy who was always trying to get two girls (played by Gilda Radner and Lorraine Newman) to pose for Polaroid shots.

Do you think these are good candidates to speak out on Polanski's behalf?

Here's to the ladies who lunch (to quote Stephen Sondheim)!

Anne Hathaway, Sigourney Weaver, Christina Aguilera, Jamie Lee Curtis, Mad Men's January Jones and Eva Longoria Parker were just a few of the stars who turned out for a "Power of Women" luncheon in Beverly Hills today.

Impressions:

• I had to stifle the urge to call Jamie Lee the "Activia" lady.  She's always great on an arrival line–smart, real, passionate and refreshingly candid.  She said she didn't give a hoot about fashion and just slips on a black cocktail dress for this kind of event.
• Eva stepped from behind the wheel of a Bentley Continental GTC convertible looking like a million bucks.  Or, if you  throw in the price of the car, like $1.2 million.
• It wouldn't surprise me if January didn't finish her meal.  She's just a wisp of a gal– tipping the scales at maybe 90 lbs.  I saw her outside later smoking a cig.  That may be her diet secret!
• Sigourney.  Wow!  Tall, regal and refined, erudite yet approachable.   I would follow her into battle.
• Anne.  Dressed to the nines (as usual) in what she called a "frock".  She laughingly referred to the color of her dress as "moutarde", saying "mustard" didn't sound as elegant.   She's an impossible combo– goofy and elegant at the same time.  And utterly charming.
• Christina.  Can't tell you what she was like.  She posed for still photographers, but skipped out on the TV crews!   Hope there's a next time!

I don't envy the guy who took Randy Quaid into custody.

Randy Quaid, left, at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008.

We have confirmed Quaid and his wife were picked up in the Southwest Texas town of Marfa today for allegedly skipping out on a $10,000 plus hotel bill at a ritzy resort in Santa Barbara, California.

It would take courage to slap the cuffs on Quaid.  He's huge.

When we interviewed him at the Sundance Film Festival a couple of years ago he showed up in a floor-length fur coat.  He took up the entire doorway.  A wag on our staff promptly dubbed him "Sasquatch."

In that coat he certainly did resemble a giant furry beast.   Wintry Utah (Sundance is held in January in Park City) seemed like an appropriate place to spot a yeti.  So I'm not sure what he was doing in South Texas, where this weekend the temperatures are supposed to be in the 80s.

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is "nothing more than a vulgar cyber-bully".

So says the conservative Culture and Media Institute (CMI) in a new report that chastises the mainstream media for giving Hilton a platform while failing to challenge him for misogynistic and "vile" remarks.

"Perez Hilton has proved that demonstrable talent or skill is no longer a prerequisite for fame," the report says.  Ouch!

The CMI blasts Hilton for using the "b-word" to describe The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck and former Miss California Carrie Prejean, outing closeted stars and for re-printing a Margaret Cho blog in which the comedian fantasized about having oral sex with Sarah Palin.

It's not keen on those "doodles" he draws on celeb photos either, especially the ones showing Prejean speaking into a microphone made to look like a member of the male anatomy.

The CMI (a non-profit run by Brent Bozell, the former head of the conservative Parents Television Council) charges the media has given Hilton "a free pass to say and do outrageous things" and spread "his particular brand of venom." 

It cites examples of interviews on ABC, CBS and NBC where reporters sugar-coated the content on Hilton's popular website.   And it chided HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell (host of "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell") for defending Hilton in his public spat with Prejean.

What's your take on Perez?  Is he a cyber-bully or just a cyber-smart aleck?

Michael Moore's new documentary, "Capitalism: A Love Story", may be his last.  Or so he's hinting.

At the American premiere of the film in Beverly Hills Tuesday night, I asked Moore about an interview he gave suggesting he might not make any more documentaries, but concentrate on feature films instead.    He hedged on that with me:

"You'll see in the end of the film I throw a challenge out to the audience and I'm asking my fellow Americans to join with me to be involved in our democracy.  But if people are just going to sit on the bench and just watch everything happen and wait for a Michael Moore or somebody else to do it, I'm not gonna do that anymore.  So it's really going to be up to the audience whether I make any more of these documentaries."

So there you have it, America.  Will Michael Moore make any more documentaries?  It's up to you.

Sparrow Jack Midnight Madden.

That's the name Nicole Richie and rocker Joel Madden have chosen for their baby boy, born Wednesday morning.

Sparrow?  What, were Egret and Albatross taken?

Nicole-Joel are the latest celeb couple to adopt a strange name for their offspring.  Contending for the oddest is Bronx Mowgli Wentz, born last year to Ashlee Simpson and rocker Pete Wentz.   Okay, the kid does have the cool initials BMW. 

Usher and his estranged wife Tameka Foster named their second child Naviyd.  Superman-obsessed actor Nicolas Cage named his son Kal-el.  Zuma Rock is the moniker Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale affixed to their child.

Comedian Penn Jillette has kids named Moxie Crimefighter and Zolten.   Actor Jason Lee apparently rebelled against the ordinariness of his own name by dubbing his tot Pilot Inspektor. 

In the produce section, there's Apple Martin, born to Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and Peaches Geldof (Bob Geldof's daughter).

The list goes on... Rumer Willis.  Scout Willis.  Suri Cruise.  Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt.   And, of course,  the Zappa kids, Diva, Moon Unit, Dweezil and Ahmet.  Okay, Ahmet is not particularly unusual, at least in Muslim countries.

Why do celebrities feel a necessity to choose such peculiar names for their children?  Is this a vanity thing?

Update #10: Michael Jackson's funeral is over and his family has departed in their fleet of Rolls.  One can only imagine what they are thinking as they drive away from their loved one, after saying a final farewell to him.

At the service Gladys Knight performed; his father Joe Jackson made remarks and others came to the podium to speak spontaneously about him, according to the family's p.r. representatives.

Among the other stars in attendance: Mila Kunis, Corey Feldman, Jackson's former wife Lisa Marie Presley and Motown founder Berry Gordy.

The Jackson family hired a sophisticated video crew to record the event, triggering speculation that some footage may be included in the upcoming concert movie about Jackson.  It's supposed to come out next month.

Update #9: The Jackson family has arrived (most of them in Rolls Royces).  Michael's children have taken their seats.  They look composed, but Janet Jackson seemed to be bearing her grief more heavily.

Michael's parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson, are seated next to each other.

Update #8: The service still hasn't started.  There are empty chairs in front, reserved for Jackson's family members.

Macaulay Culkin is here.  Johnny Mathis is NOT.  I confused him with actor, singer and ordained minister Clifton Davis (they look a lot alike, at least to me).  Apologies.

Update #7: The burial service is delayed.  It was supposed to start 20 minutes ago.  We haven't seen any family members arrive.

Elizabeth Taylor was brought in by wheelchair.  Her hair is dyed black.

Update #6: More stars arriving now: Johnny Mathis, Chris Tucker(who imitated Michael in the "Rush Hour" movies).  Also here: Attorney Tom Mesereau, who defended Jackson during his molestation trial a few years ago, and Rev. Al Sharpton.

Update #5: Per Larry King, Elizabeth Taylor has arrived at Forest Lawn for the burial service.

The sun will be setting soon and it's down to 89.4 degrees outside. 

Update #4: T-minus 44 minutes until the service starts.  Limos are arriving, although we haven't seen who's inside.

Elizabeth Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Rev. Al Sharpton and Gladys Knight will be here, along with other friends and of course family.

The invitation sent to guests was nine pages long and includes these lines from Jackson:

    "In our darkest hour/In my deepest despair/Will you still care?/Will you be there?"

His family and friends will be there.

Update #3: It's down to 99.5 degrees.  Thank heavens for small mercies.  T-minus three hours and six minutes.

Update #2: T-minus three hours and 22 minutes.  It's 100 degrees outside.

No family or friends have arrived yet. 

It's T-minus four hours and 30 minutes until Michael Jackson's burial service begins. 

Jackson's body has been lying in a refrigerated mortuary awaiting this day.  Outside Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., it's 99 degrees, according to a website I just checked.

A platoon of police officers is on hand to keep order, some of them skimming along the boulevard outside Forest Lawn on Segway-like scooters (they're called "T3 Motion" vehicles, one of the officers told me).  At least they're feeling a breeze.

Just inside the grounds a fountain shoots a beam of water into the air that diffuses into mist on its downward arc.  I suspect I'm not the only one who wishes he was standing underneath it.

The guest list for the burial service is being kept secret, but we do know Gladys Knight will perform.   There are reports Aretha Franklin will too.

We've seen the invitation that was sent to a select group of friends and family.  It includes this quote from Jackson's 1992 book "Dancing the Dream":

        "If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with."

Watch this space for updates!  And watch a special live edition of Showbiz Tonight at 11pm eastern tonight for an inside look at the service.