What Would the Media Say if Obama’s Frequent Hollywood Guests Were Oil Execs?
by Ben Shapiro
Barack Obama’s White House is beginning to look a lot like a Joan Rivers special. Celebrity after celebrity is showing up at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., demonstrating, as Obama has told us time and time again, that the President is indeed outside the bubble, interested in the common man, and a representative of the little guy.
Or not.
Last Monday, according to Politico.com, Tiger Woods sat down with Obama. Tuesday, Toby Keith stopped in. Wednesday, Usher chatted with White House staff about malaria. Friday, Forest Whittaker showed up. And that’s leaving out Brad Pitt’s recent visit to Capitol Hill and George Clooney’s briefing on Sudan.
The Hollywood contingent is downright chummy with this president. That’s not a surprise – Hollywood gave tens of millions to Obama, and Obama returned the favor by attempting to shoehorn a $246 million tax break for Hollywood into the stimulus package.
What’s shocking is the media’s soft treatment of this phenomenon. Suppose that every single day, oil magnates stopped by the White House to chat with Obama. Or – Heaven forefend — executives from WalMart. Do you think the press would stand for that sort of favoritism? Or would they scream bloody murder from the rooftops?
But when it comes to Hollywood, this sort of exclusive access is seen as a neat reminder of Obama’s glitz rather than a troubling reminder of his indebtedness to the leftist entertainment community. Instead of questioning the special relationship between Hollywood and the White House, the press blithely informs us that the Hollywood clique helps brief Obama on matters of import — as though we don’t have paid staffers to inform us about Sudan or the malaria situation in Africa. We’re told that these Hollywood folks have some sort of special expertise on matters ranging from health to foreign policy.
Sure they do. In the same way that they had expert opinions about the Iraq War, the abortion debate, and the Second Amendment. Which is to say, they have virtually no expertise, and the expertise they do have is so wildly biased by their insular engulfment in Los Angeles and New York that it can’t be taken seriously.
That, of course, is not what we’re being told by the Obama PR flacks. “Celebrities used to be considered vacuous people who didn’t know anything,” explains Brooking Institution VP Darrell West, author of Celebrity Politics. “And I think in response to that, the celebrities who are getting involved politically are actually boning up on the issues and developing expertise.”
And what better way to develop expertise than to have private meetings with the President of the United States on a particular topic? There are millions of kids in this country who don’t know anything about math. But the best way to teach them math isn’t to grant them exclusive access to the most powerful man on earth so they can brief him on addition and subtraction.
This is about the cash and the celebrity, pure and simple. The media knows it. What’s worse, the media is covering up the cash and celebrating the celebrity.
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191 Comments
I knew both were gay. Now we have it on film!
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
This is completely and utterly disgusting to me. He constantly talks about how busy he is and he has so many things to try and do that he can't do this or that. Yet he can hob-knob with an endless parade of celebrities. I guess he has to make sure to secure all of those donations for 2012. Sad.
So if a celebrity has an interest in other stuff, is it worth the president's time? Can you imagine a meeting to discuss the president's take on seam allowances for quilting or what weave of Aida cloth he prefers?
Mr President what brand of reeds do you recommend for my clarinet?
But because these people have deemed themselves experts on something, the president (all hail) gives them a legitimizing forum?
headache. right behind the eyes.
I can't believe he met with that latte-sipping elitist Toby Keith
I'd like to settle that effete bastard's hash
Man, that eases my mind, and to think I was concerned that Barry wasn’t getting good advice, that’s a load off.
A while back I found some stats on the number of productions that were being done in Hollywood and those being done outside Hollywood the state of California and the country, the result was that a lot of jobs are leaving Hollywood. Maybe Hollywood will wake up when enough productions leave the state and the country to dump this guy as their patron saint.
Well StanH I agree would hate to find out that the Hollywood types were not experts, here's hoping that they keep him briefed on all things left. An we all know that the are intune with normal people, as they are worrying about how much their homes have dropped in value. next we will be hearing that dang they are facing bankruptcy, an forclosings. I feel so sorry for them. But they will be ok as they have the Prez. ear.
Okay, the warranty expires tomorrow – could we please just put him back in the original shipping container and send him back to Chicago? Please?
Are you really that far gone.
Jobs leaving Hollywood have nothing to do with Obama.
That's been happening for almost 10 years now. Canada has a lot of production companies working for Hollywood as they continue to film out there and out of state. Its cheaper and the bigger bang for their buck. Obama isn't the catalyst for this change, this has been a problem for Hollywood in a long time and the Governor tried to keep work there as much as possible.
This is all about finance, not about the new President who's not even at 100 days yet and who apparently is helping Hollywood with the stimulus package. I guess if it started to rain in your area you would blame Obama for that too?
Obama is like a lottery winner along with all his staff. He flies his planes at low altitude around NYC to get a nice photo of the ants running on the ground in fear. That must have given everyone a nice chuckle at the White House.
Obama numbers came up and hosts his weekly/daily cocktail parties to invite in the spirit of partisanship into his new house.
The press is like his groupies and sees the next MTV reality show originating from the White House. The so called celebrities stopping by are just window dressing for his ego. At least we know where he got the DVD's he gave to Brown.
No, that would be W’s fault, don’t you know. He controls the Weather Machine.
Oil is evil, gotcha.
So what does the Auntie Mobile run on? Sure as hell isn't pie.
“Celebrities used to be considered vacuous people who didn’t know anything,” explains Brooking Institution VP Darrell West, author of Celebrity Politics. “And I think in response to that, the celebrities who are getting involved politically are actually boning up on the issues and developing expertise.”
I'd dare to say that 90% of them are vacuous and dim. Just looking to push their coffee house conversations and get togethers into policy. These people aren't geniuses. I always said that the most entertaining comedy on tv is Celebrity Jeopardy. Listening to these idiots try to decide whether cat is spelled with a "K" or not. Matt Damon.
You have to understand: these people are nothing but "useful idiots." Their insecurity and egos make them perfect tools of the leftist politicos, who use them to further their own interests. They will willingly and stupidly carry all the water they're asked to carry, in return for getting to seem smart.
It's all in their heads of course, as no one actually believes the charade, but they don't understand that. They think we're all at home oohing and aahing over their deep commitment and insights.
Auntie's clueless. . . pieless. . .
More interesting Golani, I just heard that Arlen Specter apparently intends to run as a democrat?
So why are we are our federal tax dollars going to bail out Hollywood production companies again?
And of course, you have proof of this, right?
"What Would the Media Say if Obama’s Frequent Hollywood Guests Were Oil Execs?"
If that happened, they would all run around crying "Four legs good, Two legs better!"
in my book, every celebrity that accepts an invitation to this wh = walk of shame.
Ben, you make a good point. Moreover, there is even more direct evidence for you to consider — CEOs are dropping by the White House every day, but no one outside the business news mentions this. And even when they do, they always mention it in terms of how these CEOs are there to provide advice for some noble program.
Contrast that with the reports during the Bush years where every CEO visit was reported like it was a daylight robbery.
He said something about running as an Independent and voting on most things with the Republicans like Lieberman does with the Democrats, and he also said something about running as a Democrat then backed off it, or he could stay with the Republicans because that would allow him to help guide the party…
…in other words, no one, not even The Specter knows what The Specter will do. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he's going to face a tough primary challenge no matter what else happens so he's thinking of ways to hedge his bets. I'm more disturbed at the rumor that Chris Mathews may run for the Senate in PA though, it's bad enough to have hacks in the Senate, the idea of a hack with a tingle just makes me die a little on the inside every time someone mentions it.
You know what's even funnier about our leftist friends? They always seem to forget that the big corporate money goes to the democrats.
They also always forget the name Occidental Petroleum, which was very tight with Al Gore and got all kinds of goodies out of the government with his influence.
"and the expertise they do have is so wildly biased by their insular engulfment in Los Angeles and New York that it can’t be taken seriously."
Okay. It's not that I don't get the "bigger" point, but at some point SOMEBODY has to call B.S. on the "they spend too much time in NY/LA" meme.
New York City is and has long been one of if not THE financial and cultural capitols of the WORLD. Los Angeles is and has ALSO long been one of if not THE cultural capitols of the world (and it's not to shabby on the financial-import side, either.) So, yes, influential people from those two places probably can be assumed to have better expertise on certain important matters than "the folks" out in flyover land. Only in the movies (ironically enough) are All The Answers waiting in the mind of some unassuming folksy-wisdom guy chilling at a diner in the middle of nowhere. In reality? Yeah, it's more likely to be on the coasts.
Well, Obama does read 10 letters from we the people, hand picked each day by his loyal staff and responds personally to each. Somehow I doubt they are letters disagreeing with his policies though.
Followed immediately by,"Some pigs are more equal than others!"
Or words to those effect. Then of course they'd start arguing over lip gloss shades.
CNBC reported that he was going to run as a democrat, but they had no confirmation.
A chris matthews run would be enough to get me to donate money to the Republican — and I don't even live there.
Because they need it Bev, anyone that needs something needs to get it to help out with all the need because it's our patriotic duty to help the needy when they need it. To do otherwise would be double-plus un-Hopey-Changey.
Yeah I'm definitely losing it…or getting it, which is even scarier.
Additionally, how many times have you heard sound bites of him saying how "complicated" some subject is? Every time he does he's implying the average American is just incapable of understanding and should just trust him (i.e. the government). Yet it's not too complicated for actors?
oooo, i smells a contest. first one of us to get a handwritten note back concerning our differences wins the golden plus one….
Considering Exxon paid more federal taxes than the bottom 60% of taxpayers combined maybe you should lay off "big oil". Just a thought
This has got to be that moron TEHSTUPID in drag. Anyway, it's good to have you here Auntie. Gotta go now, gonna bake a pie, any advice to share?
He's never read my letter, that's for sure.
I live here roughly half the time, some years more and some less than others, but if Mathews got elected I'd trim that number down by a large margin.
I'd donate money to the Random Stick on the Sesquehanna River for Senate campaign warchest and vote early and often for the stick than see Mathews elected. In the primary I'd have slightly higher standards so the Stuffed Punxatawny Phil for Senate campaign is getting a check cut tomorrow just in case Toomey gets a royal Specter patented smearjob done on him before the primary rolls around.
Joking aside, Toomey is actually a really good guy and I hope he manages to steal the primary away from Specter.
What's with all this hugging crap? Is the President of the United States attempting to look like a faux European or merely an insincere Hollywood star?
exactly, he partnered with the Yakuza and the Russian Mafia
it's all on the interwebs, so you know, the science is in.
Of course not rain is a good thing in my area. If it were a drought though, the parched dry wasteland would be laid at his feet.
And there it goes…. the point of this whole post sailing right over your head. Shocking.
That is so photoshopped….and I don't care at all…..
a hand written note from obama ohh goody. Guess you never can have enough toilet paper.
Stars have been welcome at the White House for years. You know who had the greatest array of stars at the White House, bar none? Ronald Reagan. Never been anything like his guest lists, before or since. And they also gave to his campaign. And nobody sat around clutching their pearls wondering if, for example, lifelong conservative and Barbados resident Claudette Colbert was exerting undue influence on Caribbean policy.
Obama plays around the world in eight days, then comes back to the White House to meet with celebrities. Meanwhile, there's a flu epidemic which may or may not turn out to be very serious. Who would normally give us that information? Well, probably the Secretary of Health and Human Services, or the Undersecretary, or perhaps the Director of The Centers for Disease Control. Of course, we don't have any of those because Obama is so busy kissing up to the Europeans, Islamic dictators and Hollywood stars that he doesn't have time to form a cabinet. He doesn't have a cabinet, but he does have a full social life.
they are usually not even smart enough to be fellow travelers. They just do what they are told. They take direction well and rarely break character. I just wish they used less Method Acting
I don't know much about Toomey, but I would prefer almost any Republican to Specter at this point. As I've said before, I don't have a problem with policy disagreements, but I cannot stomach the slander that guys like Specter heap on the party when they disagree.
Same thing with McCain. When he disagrees with the Republican party, he doesn't just disagree, he slams us for being evil or some crud like that. That's unacceptable.
I wonder what the criteria is for an actor to be considered an "expert?" Must they be on the "A" list? If so Affleck is past his expiration date.
You're on! Think I'll use the nom de plume "T. Boone Wigginschneider, III". . . or maybe "Al Gore."
Yeah Toomey ran against Specter the last time around in the primary too and it got pretty damn ugly. Toomey still only lost by about 1% of the vote. One of his big things is government spending, he was a Tea Party guy years before anyone actually started throwing them. Specter's already running attack ads against him, yeah in April of '09 for a primary next year, which shows how scared he is of the guy, one of his most well thought out current attacks: "Why the guy is to the right of Santorum! He can't get elected!"
We shall see, we shall see.
The waste of all that money…like he's got a chance of being re-elected.
And Specter wants to be loved and feted now…off to the statist libs…don't let the door hit you in the a$$, Arlen…
Whups. Maybe not.
Poor, poor Arlen…he knows he's in for it, but doesn't know where to go..
Well, its official now. Six weeks ago he wanted to stay a Republican. Now, a Democrat.
He's gonna get beat like a rug.
Oh, great. Sean Penn directing foreign policy…
Did anyone tell Hillary yet?
See there's your mistake, you'll just confuse the trolls if you use evil things like facts and whatnot.
See there's your mistake, you'll just confuse the trolls if you use evil things like facts and whatnot.
Oh, please, go right ahead, don't let us stop you…
(I'm offering one to six against Miles…)
Anybody got a cage for this, or shall we call fight club?
I want in on some of this action, so which 10 letters am I allowed to use?
LOL! +1 to you for biting sarcasm!
You right winger H8ters are all the same. Obama's only had a year to think about who he would want to appoint, and 100 days to actually appoint people. Give the man a chance. Can't we all just get along?
Yes.
So you're saying that Ben Affleck and George Clooney know more about the weighty matters of state than the "folks" by simple virtue of them being in cultural centers? So we're learning foreign policy by osmosis now?
Another +1 for the whole "…double-plus un-Hopey-Changey" thing!
We should use this line on all the threads!
At least oil executives would know something substantive about policy.
I think celebrities dropping by the Obama White House get a pass from the media for a couple reasons. Most of the celebrities visiting Obama are liberal just like most of the media. The MSM sees nothing that would raise a "red" flag.
Celebrities doing their thing (acting, singing, etc.) are by definition popular and not "faceless". Even though we really don't know much about them, we have our own image of them. We project onto them our own desires and we "feel" as if they can relate to us.
"Oil executives" are faceless to the vast majority of Americans. Other than T. Boon Pickens (and the "evil" Bush/Cheney), how many nationally recognized oil execs can you name? When someone stirs up the masses over something like oil company profits, for example, it's easy to project anger onto the faceless, impersonal, "executive".
What are you talking about? Actors play smart people all the time. Don't they learn from their characters?
This is what happens when you elect a Senator whose only Senate experience is running for President.
The reason I think he's having such problems filling cabinet posts is everyone knows that the wheels on the bus go round and round, and that he has no problem at all with throwing people under said wheels at any time.
I think we need to call Pie of the Month Club.
I just clicked on to the Big Hollywood site and my eye caught the headline reading "Forty Nights of Great Sex." In the next nano-second I saw the photo (above) of the President in that tight embrace with Ben Affleck. It's the sort of hug a loving wife gives to a war-hero husband who returns from a long stint overseas. At that second I was thinking "Is this the forty nightsw of great sex they are talking about?" Imagine my disappointment when I saw that the two stories were unrelaed.
I should laugh at that, but suddenly I'm terrified.
Well Archer he is busy…if you consider hob-knobbing with celebrities and white tie parties as busy that is.
Using facts is a "Crime Against Trollmanity"?
I think we should reach across the aisle with our AR15s! Come on guys! Let's get the right wing nut job conspiracy engine moving! It's time to start our corporate takeovers of the world!!! All in favor?
Al gore has a HUGE carbon footprint.. I mean just look at the guy…
Toomey has a real good chance this time, I bet. Just show how The Specter turned everyone's future into a ghost…
I hope the RINO has his "Plan B" ready for his post-Congressional career…
Andrew: I'm sorry, I jumped the gun again. You're right, and we all need to be reminded of those words you quoted from the great philosopher Rodney King. Thanks again for putting things into perspective for me and teaching me patience. Cough, cough, retch. I'm gonna go see my doctor now.
We can no longer call them pigs. We have to call them disenfranchised under appreciated misrepresented alienated Sus Scrofa Scofra. It is also not the swine flu any longer but the contingency flu.
Hey you heard it here first, after Specter goes over at least one if not both of the ladies from Maine ("ladies of Maine we abhor you"…to the tune of Ladies of Spain") will follow suit. And it will be delicious when they are all stomped the next time they face the voters.
indeed
*click click boom*
I think it has more to do with the cause. If they support, say. . . the NRA, then they aren't an expert. If a guy who played an extra in a KFC commerical supports Humanity Last, then he becomes an expert.
So to review, "Hand Guns Unlimited" — no expert. . . "Down With People" — expert.
Bows to saudis and hugs celebs.. sounds like a liberal to me.
That's right everyone, you have no right to complain because the anti-fascist has spoken.
CNBC is now reporting that Specter will join the democratic party.
They are both reading their teleprompters.
Good riddance to bad rubbish then I say.
I also say…are you a masochist man? You're actually watching CNBC? You're braver than I am.
that and crimethink
I guess they learn by osmosis. Using their scripts as pillows, the dialog from the "smart" characters just seeps into their brains at night. But wait! What does the dialog from the average or even the "dumb" characters seep into? What if they don't have a script for the topic of the day? Maybe they call Rent-A-Prompter.
I am so sick and tired of this sort of nonsense. What a joker we have sitting in the White House.
It's beyond pathetic. And we're only 3 months in.
I am so sick and tired of this sort of nonsense. What a joker we have sitting in the White House.
It's beyond pathetic. And we're only 3 months in.
that and tax problems
Indeed, it's even worse than subjecting them to some soap and water.
Yeah, the plane, the plane…
The moron that came up with that brainstorm is from NM. I must apologize for my state; we threw him out of his cushy university president job, and look what happened…he made everyone in NYC remember what happened back on 9/11. Hopey and the Prompter really didn't need that, nope, not one little bit.
Sorry for the scare, BevfromNYC.
Just one thing: PLEASE, DON"T SEND HIM BACK!
I'm just waiting for his first African trip, anyone want to lay bets on how quick he gets to open mouth kissing of tribal leaders on it?
Keeping with our honesty about Bush (despite what the trolls say), this was a major mistake on his part. He should have been supporting Toomey, but decided to let Snarlin' Arlen slide through on his incumbency. The support of the Republican President of the United States is worth a lot more to a Republican challenger than the 1% Toomey lost by.
What if he supports using handguns to put down people to enact Zero Population Growth? Quite the conundrum.
It is just a matter of time till this president makes a LARGE mistake that will make the "Monica does the Oval Office" incident seem unimportant. If he did not know about the 747 presidental aircraft flying over New York City, that is not a good sign of his command. Reckless behavior and serious mistakes can be overlooked by CNN and network media but something will come up that will not be able to be overlooked.
The only thing a celebrity is expert in is talking out of their ass.
I like watching my money vanish.
Actually, CNBC has been a pretty good network until they had that dinner with GE CEO Jeffrey Imelt — after that, they suddenly jumped into the Obama cheerleader camp.
By the way — don't get me started on how unethical I think most news organizations are. That's a rant you just don't want to see (and my heart can't take it).
Certainly not, that would be silly.
But we don't ONLY hear the "hmph! They focus too much on NY/LA" spew about celebrities, we hear it about in regards to reporters, anchors, whole newspapers, cabinet apointees who graduate from the Ivy League, etc. And I'm a little tired of hearing it go unchallenged ESPECIALLY when it's basically rage at eons-old facts of political geography: The centers of intellectual and cultural power usually occur on the coasts of a civilization (the ones WITH coasts, at least) because that's where international trade and cultural-exchange comes from.
Oh I feel the same way, so no need to rant. Unless of course you really want to.
Still think there'll be no damn pie though.
Oh I feel the same way, so no need to rant. Unless of course you really want to.
Still think there'll be no damn pie though.
What a relief it is that Obama has so much free time on his hands that he can meet with various celebrities. Thank God there are no crises for him to deal with.
What? You want me to criticize Bush again? First torture and now this. . . are you trying to get me banned from the website?
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