Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - February 27, 2006
In a nod to his role as a flashy lawyer in Chicago -- and to the resignation of Harvard President Lawrence Summers -- Gere sang to the tune of Razzle Dazzle:
"I could become a permanent resident; I could become your next president."
He also had to win the heart of a student costumed as a dragon, and put a blond wig and a white bra decorated with gold buttons and an accent of red.
"I'm asking why I said yes to this," Gere said of the student roast. "And I realize why. `Cause we're really all bozos on the bus. All of us, and especially in this world and in this country right now, when the biggest bozo on the bus is actually driving the bus."
The actor and AIDS activist is traveling to the subcontinent this week along with President Bush. Gere may not agree with Bush on everything, but he "certainly can praise him" for bringing attention to AIDS in India, the actor said on ABC News' This Week Sunday.
"The president of the United States coming there in a world where he's seemingly obsessed with terrorism, clearly obsessed with it, and talking about HIV/AIDS in the same breath, in the same paragraph, extremely important," Gere said.
Bush has said he hopes to address the AIDS crisis with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"India is a country that I care about deeply," Gere said. "We're talking about a population in India that is close to a billion people. If this crisis hits them to the degree it's expected to, we've lost Asia."
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