Stand Up Notes From Flyover Country: Janeane Is Off Her Meds and Other Stories

I happened to see some clips of alleged Janeane Garofalo on the Bill Maher show the other night. I have a warning for anyone who sees her in person or is near her: Janeane is off her meds again and the voices in her head have taken control.

She is already on record as believing that anyone who does not worship at the Church of Radical Leftism is a “straight up racist.” Beside not understanding the English translation of her argot “straight up,” I am sure that anyone who is even a little bit clear headed can imagine a world where people who thought Condi was dandy and helped Michael Steele get to the helm of the GOP might not take race as the deciding factor with Obama. Be that as it may, Ms. Garofalo assured us that not only were right-wingers racists, but the GOP has been the bastion of White Supremacy since the 1950’s.

Keeping in mind one of the favorite saying of my friend Larry Elder, “Facts are like kryptonite to toe-tag liberals.” (Mr. Elder defines liberals as “toe-tag” if they believe in government intrusion in our lives from birth until they put the tag on your toe in the morgue.) I will present a few facts to try to bring Janeane back into the real world. (more…)

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Tags: Bill Clinton, Bill Maher, cbs, Condi Rice, David Letterman
Posted Oct 7th 2009 at 9:55 am in Featured Story, News, Political Humor | 240386118 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjena/2009/10/07/stand-up-notes-from-flyover-country-janeane-is-off-her-meds-and-other-stories/Stand+Up+Notes+From+Flyover+Country%3A+Janeane+Is+Off+Her+Meds+and+Other+Stories2009-10-07+16%3A55%3A52Jeffrey+Jena

A Political Warranty

In his first year in office former president Bill Clinton, who had run as a centrist, was drawn into the new left vortex of socialized healthcare, which led to a resounding defeat for Clinton and the Democrats in the 1994 mid-term elections. Current President Barack Obama too is attempting to reform healthcare and like Clinton has seen his popularity sink. Some political pundits are drawing comparisons between the two administrations and positing that democrats are setting themselves up for a bit of a spanking come 2010. It is, as Shirley Bassey sang, “all just a little bit of history repeating.”

Or is it?

In 1994 the political right offered voters something more than simply criticism of the President. Republican members of the House of Representatives presented voters with the “Contract with America.” This document, signed by all but two Republican congressmen and all of the Republican congressional candidates, detailed the specific legislative action Republicans would take if the American people handed them the reigns of government. The contract was a “detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print.” (more…)

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Tags: AMA, Bill Clinton, Contract With America, education, healthcare
Posted Oct 5th 2009 at 3:07 pm in Politics | 240930101 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jphillips/2009/10/05/a-political-warranty/A+Political+Warranty+2009-10-05+22%3A07%3A11Joseph+C.+Phillips

Podesta Spends Soros’ Money Stupidly

This week’s Washington Times column:

A telling event occurred on Sept. 15, Day 6 of the drip, drip, drip ACORN video rollout. President Obama met for lunch with former President Bill Clinton at trendy Il Mulino in New York City.

For the second consecutive day, the New York Post featured the ACORN scandal on its cover – complete with James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles in their outrageous “pimp and ho” costumes.

Does anyone think the president and the former president were unaware that the city in which they were dining was mesmerized by the ACORN scandal – especially since ACORN had bragged that its employees had kicked Mr. O’Keefe and Ms. Giles out of their New York office?

The Sept. 15 edition of the New York Post explored the political angles and directed attention to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s investigation into why an ACORN office in its jurisdiction helped instruct a prospective brothel owner how to hide his prostitution proceeds in a tin in his backyard.

No one in the morally superior media world has asked, why did Mr. Obama have lunch with Mr. Clinton that day? So let me take a guess, and it seems like an obvious answer. Mr. Obama, under siege by a video-a-day expose that was exposing the Democratic Party to an avalanche of consequences (ACORN defunded in the House and Senate, ACORN delinked from the census, etc.), needed advice from the last president to navigate through a major political scandal.

(more…)

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Tags: ACORN, acorn scandal, ACORN videos, Bill Clinton, Brooklyn District Attorney
Posted Sep 27th 2009 at 5:47 pm in News, Politics | 236686No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/09/27/podesta-spends-soros-money-stupidly/Podesta+Spends+Soros%27+Money+Stupidly2009-09-28+00%3A47%3A37Andrew+Breitbart

The Straight Poop On Radical Islam

I suspect that because George Bush and Condoleezza Rice were so respectful of Muslims, constantly telling us that theirs is a religion of peace, some otherwise sensible Americans actually began to believe it.  Now we have a president who not only kowtows to a Saudi prince, but carries on as if Israeli homes are more threatening than Iranian nukes.

What is wrong with our leaders?  Are they worried that they won’t be invited to those cool Ramadan parties?  The Islamists have been actively at war with us for 30 years and generally at war with western civilization for well over a thousand years, and still we pay lip service to these people in a way we never did with Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan or the Soviet Union.  Is it because the Muslims commit sadism and murder in the name of religion and not country?  If anything, I would think that would make their evil acts all the more contemptible. (more…)

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Tags: 9/11, Africa, al qaeda, Barbara Boxer, Barney Frank
Posted Aug 13th 2009 at 8:52 am in Politics, Religion | 204482108 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/08/13/the-straight-poop-in-radical-islam/The+Straight+Poop+On+Radical+Islam+2009-08-13+15%3A52%3A13Burt+Prelutsky

Stand Up Notes from Flyover Country: Snake on a Plane!

I don’t want to seem too preoccupied with the past.  I don’t want to dwell on old wrongs. I know we have all moved into the age of Obama where we will all cooperate, have bipartisan government and hold hands with Islamic terrorists, (I’m sorry, I meant to say with Islamic manufacturers of man-made disasters) — and the past is forgiven. Unless your name is Bush or Chaney, in which case you need to be made to pay for screwing up the reputation for weakness and capitulation Bill Clinton took eight long years to build.

Which brings me to my subject; did anyone besides me see the irony in sending Bill Clinton, perhaps the most famous serial philanderer of the past two centuries, to pick up two hot Asian girls in North Korea? Was it the ultimate in Asian carry out!

How did that go down? Was Bill sitting in his Laze-E-Boy while Hillary was talking on the phone to the North Koreans? She hangs up and says, “I got the release all worked out. Now ,if I could just find someone who wouldn’t mind sitting on a private jet for twelve hours with two hot Asian women.” Before you can say Paula Flowers, Bill is on his way to the airport with a blue suit and a bottle of Viagra. (more…)

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Tags: Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Euna Lee, Hillary Clinton, Laura Ling
Posted Aug 12th 2009 at 8:59 am in Political Humor | 20085490 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjena/2009/08/12/stand-up-notes-from-flyover-country-snake-on-a-plane/Stand+Up+Notes+from+Flyover+Country%3A+Snake+on+a+Plane%212009-08-12+15%3A59%3A32Jeffrey+Jena

The Anti-Obama Groundswell Begins?

It has been almost two weeks since I have had a chance to write and a lot of things have happened in that time. Most of them evolve around the health care mess that may be the beginning of Obama’s fall from grace.

But, to begin, I have to do something that I never thought I would do and I never thought was in the realm of possibility.  Based upon the knowledge available thus far, I have to give kudos to Bill Clinton.  Unless evidence appears that he sold the country out or promised something to the North Korean government, he is owed a thank you for precipitating the release of two imprisoned American journalists.  So, kudos are being given to a Democrat in this column.  A bet a whole bunch of you never thought that would happen!  (more…)

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Tags: Bill Clinton, Cash for Clunkers, DNC, health care, Obama
Posted Aug 9th 2009 at 2:22 pm in Politics | 201110123 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/fdemartini/2009/08/09/the-groundswell-begins/The+Anti-Obama+Groundswell+Begins%3F2009-08-09+21%3A22%3A34Frank+DeMartini

Bill and Kim’s Bogus Journey

Hollywood used to be the land of make-believe, but those days are fading fast.  Today, Scarlett Johansson offers debate counseling to Barack Obama (her e-mail pal), and A-listers come and go at the White House as if it’s the Beverly Hills Hotel East (if only they had a better pool scene)!  Now comes word it was Hollywood who staged the dramatic adventures of former President Bill Clinton and his trip to North Korea.

It all played out a little too perfect — a surprise last-minute swoop by Clinton into enemy territory to heroically stare down the world’s most blood-thirsty dictator and rescue two damsels in distress.  The press asked the White House how Bill Clinton became involved in the rescue of the two American women, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, trespassing into North Korea and sentenced to “10 years hard labor.”  They said they had no involvement.  Of course, Bill Clinton’s wife Hillary works for President Obama as Secretary of State; certainly, the press surmised, she must have been responsible.  The response from the State Department was that Bill Clinton was on a “private humanitarian mission.” How does one pull off such an extempore feat without government help?  Why, call a movie mogul — of course! (more…)

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Tags: Afghanistan, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, carlett Johansson, Euna Lee
Posted Aug 8th 2009 at 6:55 am in Celebrity News, Featured Story, Politics | 20089863 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jmeath/2009/08/08/bills-great-hollywood-adventure/Bill+and+Kim%27s+Bogus+Journey2009-08-08+13%3A55%3A49Jason+Killian+Meath

Bill Calls Hillary

(Ringggggggggggggg.)

Todd, the assistant to the assistant of Ms. Clinton:

Mrs. Clinton? Mr. Clinton is on the phone for you.

Hillary:

That’s MS. Clinton. Give me that phone.

Hello…?

Bill: 

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA BWAAA HAHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHHA! Ho ho ho HOOO HOOO BWAAAAAAAAH HAHA HA HA HA, uh Heee hee heeee………Ohhhhhh hey, Hun! (more…)

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Tags: Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, hostages, North Korea
Posted Aug 6th 2009 at 7:03 am in Political Humor | 20034673 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/emannix/2009/08/06/bill-calls-hillary/Bill+Calls+Hillary2009-08-06+14%3A03%3A13Ernie+Mannix

Coming Out of the Comedy Closet

[Ed. Note: Carl's 'Grand Theft Audio' airs tonight and every Thursday night on LATalkRadio.com at 7pm PST]

It’s not easy being a conservative in comedy these days. Folks like Evan Sayet, and no doubt Drew Carey or Kelsey Grammer, can tell you that.

Add in the fact that I’m just trying to get to where they are, and not already fully entrenched in success, and a lot of people would wonder if admitting I’m a conservative (actually, libertarian but pro-life to boot) isn’t tantamount to career suicide. The fact I’m also a reporter in the ultra-liberal world of alternative-weekly newspapers, and some would say that I might as well pick out my casket.

I’ll admit that I was a virtually a card-carrying liberal for about a decade until I reached my moment of conversion last summer. Before that, I was hoping for Hillary to win it all, having grown up in Arkansas with Bill ‘n’ Hill keeping things colorful, and then watching Bill keep us out of wars and leaving us with a budget surplus while in the White House.

I bought the Kool-Aid that Bush could do nothing right and was a fervent follower of Michael Moore (I even have a photo with him where we sadly almost look like twins). But when I saw my brethren in the news media suddenly fawning blindly over the Chicago mystery man Barack Obama, giving him the easiest free pass to the White House I’d ever seen despite the fact he had less relevant job experience than it takes to manage a department store, I started to wonder if maybe my profession and its liberal slant had veered dangerously off-course. (more…)

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Tags: Bill Clinton, Brant & Carl Show, evan sayet, Grand Theft Audio: The Jake, Hillary Clinton
Posted Jul 30th 2009 at 5:53 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Political Humor, Politics | 19517874 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/07/30/carl-post/Coming+Out+of+the+Comedy+Closet2009-07-31+00%3A53%3A14Carl+Kozlowski

Indicting the Usual Suspects

Nobody has to tell me things are going from bad to worse in America.  The question that preys on my mind is when it was that we began our descent.  Some would say it started when Jimmy Carter turned his back on the Shah of Iran, thus providing an impetus for latter-day Islamic terrorism.  Others might say it was the first time Bill Clinton dropped his pants in the Oval Office, while still others might contend it began when the Supreme Court determined that the Pursuit of Happiness was a rationale for 80 million abortions on demand.  

For all I know, things might have begun sliding the very first time some slack-jawed teenager struck a pose and struck a chord on an imaginary guitar.  There was a time, after all, when most American kids were actually given music lessons and learned how to play an actual instrument, and even saved up their allowance to buy sheet music. 

Whenever the slide began, in the months since Obama was crowned, we’ve slid faster and further than I would have dreamed possible.  Obama keeps huffing and puffing and the federal government just keeps expanding like a gigantic balloon.  It’s only a matter of time until it blows up in all our faces.  (more…)

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Tags: Al Franken, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Bill Maher, David Letterman
Posted Jul 16th 2009 at 6:51 am in Featured Story, Politics | 183034166 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/07/16/indicting-the-usual-suspects/Indicting+the+Usual+Suspects2009-07-16+13%3A51%3A52Burt+Prelutsky

Review: The Hurt Locker **Updated**

Epigraph: a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme.

Epigraphs crop up occasionally in literature and film, but more frequently on the SAT exam.  In fact, I am using the definition of epigraph as the epigraph for this review.  If you are to the right of Bill Clinton, all you need to know about “The Hurt Locker” is its epigraph: “War is a drug.”

Incredibly, the mainstream media is trying to position “The Hurt Locker” as politically neutral.  The mainstream media are dense. “War is a drug.” Drugs are bad.  Thus, war is bad.  This is a left-wing film.  End of story.  Witness the first five seconds of the movie and read the epigraph; if you still have the audacity to trumpet its neutrality, you should be committed to an insane asylum or the newsroom at MSNBC.  (more…)

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Tags: Addiction, air-raiding villages and killing civilians, Anthony Mackie, anti-war movies, Bill Clinton
Posted Jun 27th 2009 at 7:52 am in Media Criticism, Reviews | 17250616 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/amarlow/2009/06/27/review-the-hurt-locker/Review%3A+The+Hurt+Locker+%2A%2AUpdated%2A%2A2009-06-27+14%3A52%3A40Alexander+Marlow

Part 2: Interview — ‘The Stoning of Soraya M.’s’ Cyrus Nowrasteh

Note: Part 1 of this 2 part interview can be found here.

The execution scene at the heart of “The Stoning of Soraya M.“ is all force and little subtlety. Some audiences might flinch at the visuals, while others may draw parallels to the violence at the core of “The Passion of the Christ.”

But director/co-screenwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh says a version of the film featuring a shortened stoning sequence didn’t test as well as the full-length movie.

“This movie is a ticking clock to an execution. That execution is a primitive rite we’re witnessing, and we need to go through each stage of it,” he says. ”It’s almost a catharsis.”

Not all audiences are ready to take the journey.

He says about five or so people typically leave the theater during test screenings once the execution starts – but roughly half return to watch the film’s finale.

Nowrasteh, who is of Iranian heritage, has been watching the news reports coming out of Iran in recent days as intensely as any viewer.

(more…)

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Tags: Bill Clinton, Bob Iger, cyrus nowrasteh, iran, Iranian protests
Posted Jun 26th 2009 at 1:13 pm in Entertainment, News, Religion | 1688462 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/06/26/part-2-interview-%e2%80%94-%e2%80%98the-stoning-of-soraya-m%e2%80%99s%e2%80%99-cyrus-nowrasteh/Part+2%3A+Interview+%E2%80%94+%E2%80%98The+Stoning+of+Soraya+M.%E2%80%99s%E2%80%99+Cyrus+Nowrasteh2009-06-26+20%3A13%3A22Christian+Toto

Conan O’Brien: Class Act and Worthy ‘Tonight Show’ Successor

Although I rarely find any interest in the entertainment industry, I am very glad to see Conan O’Brien become the head of the “Tonight Show.” His ascension to the throne continues a tradition that Johnny Carson brought forth and Jay Leno continued. The new host of the “Tonight Show” is a nice guy. (Steve Allen was as well, but many would consider he and Jack Paar to be less relevant since they came before Carson. I avoid this debate since, again, I am not in the industry.)

Yes, Johnny Carson preferred that David Letterman get his job (I watch Letterman, although less so lately), but the network saw Leno as the logical heir. Letterman is just too acid-tongued. It makes for some fun comedy, but the “Tonight Show” is about harmless and lighthearted fun. It made sense that Craig Kilborn, who was harder-edged than Conan, followed Letterman. Craig Ferguson, like Letterman, let’s his liberal political ideology affect his monologues. (more…)

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Tags: Andy Richter, Bill Clinton, Conan O'Brien, Don King, Jack Paar
Posted Jun 13th 2009 at 3:11 pm in Entertainment | 155026One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/egolub/2009/06/13/congratulations-conan/Conan+O%27Brien%3A+Class+Act+and+Worthy+%27Tonight+Show%27+Successor2009-06-13+22%3A11%3A25Eric+Golub

Britain to America: ‘Don’t Let This Happen to You!’

When I was a kid, American Idol wasn’t even a twinkle in Simon Cowell’s eye.  No, instead of Adam Lambert’s girly warbling, we listened to wrinkled pacifist Walter Cronkite rattle off the US body count as we ate our TV dinners.  (Thank God for I Love Lucy re-runs.)

But Vietnam wasn’t the only war raging.  There was a culture clash going on too, right in the privacy of our own home: the ’60s counterculture – seen in everything from Easy Rider to The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour - versus our deeply ingrained Anglophilia.  In other words, a tug of war between “social justice” and the Social Register.

Decades before it became cool to diss the Queen with an iPod, the Royals represented everything Americans were not, and never could be: educated, sophisticated, multi-lingual, above carrying cash – and worldly enough to know one doesn’t clean one’s antiques (think no housework).  Growing up in our comfy, middle class, anti-war household, I never knew if I was supposed to say “burn, baby, burn!” or “sod off, yank.”

This dichotomy took a psychic toll, which came to a head when I did my part for the revolution by proudly shoplifting a ballpoint pen from our local Lamston’s (”the establishment”).  To my amazement, my parents were not pleased.  Instead of a gold star, I received a verbal barrage of uncharacteristic cliches (”Do you think we send you to the best schools so you can steal?” ) that left me even more confused. (more…)

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Tags: "fitna", 30 rock, 9/11, Adam Lambert, Alexander Stoddart
Posted Jun 12th 2009 at 5:03 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Media Criticism, Politics | 1487026 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cwinecoff/2009/06/12/britain-to-america-dont-let-this-happen-to-you/Britain+to+America%3A+%27Don%27t+Let+This+Happen+to+You%21%272009-06-12+12%3A03%3A42Charles+Winecoff

42nd Street: Too Big to Fail?

- Summer, 1987:  In a stunning and unprecedented move, President Walter Mondale has stepped in and saved the Broadway musical “42nd Street” from eviction at the Majestic Theatre.  The theatre’s owners had earlier announced that they were using a standard clause in the production’s booking agreement and had given an eviction notice to the show due to low ticket sales.  Subsequently, the theatre owners have also announced that in January of next year, the Majestic will be the new home to British import “The Phantom of the Opera.”

But, in an effort to “save American jobs” and keep an American musical from having to make way for an imported show, President Mondale has deemed “42nd Street” “too big to fail”: “This show has been running since 1980 and has been providing jobs for hundreds of working families in New York.  My administration is determined to keep this production running and to keep these long-suffering, union workers on the job,” the President said. (more…)

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Tags: "Chorus Line", 42nd street, Bill Clinton, broadway, Carter
Posted Jun 5th 2009 at 6:34 am in Political Humor | 149718No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/06/05/42nd-street-too-big-to-fail/42nd+Street%3A+Too+Big+to+Fail%3F2009-06-05+13%3A34%3A25Stage+Right

Daily Gut: I Lack Empathy for Empathy

So, when it comes to empathy, I’ve lost all empathy. Yep, I’m over it – at least when it comes to the modern version, which seems less like empathy and more like exclusion. Imagine original “empathy” as a giant club where everyone understands the way life is – that no matter where you come from, there will always be suffering, loss, and ultimately, death. Empathy these days, however, is like a row of smaller nightclubs, where you only get in if you look exactly like the club’s respective bouncers.

As a short, white guy with a weird late night show – I suppose I should only empathize with other short white guys with weird late night shows. I certainly cannot empathize with a Latina, or a black person, or anyone else for that matter – because in the oppressed/oppressor Marxist model, my racial identity is deemed far more important than our shared humanity. I know: I am a Caucasian white male. Not a real human being.

But that’s not how empathy is supposed to work. I mean, if you lost a parent, you can empathize with someone, black or white, who lost a parent. If you’re short, you can empathize with short people – even if they’re from Spain (true). If your Japanese friend loses a job, you empathize – because you remember how that felt when it happened to you (and you’re not even Japanese!). Married men empathize with ALL married man, regardless of ethnic identity. Women empathize with all women across the board, because men are a pain in the ass to live with. You see, empathy was supposed to be inclusive – a way to initiate contact with others, instead of excluding those who don’t seem to fit. (more…)

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Tags: Bill Clinton, empathy, ethnicity, gender, race
Posted Jun 1st 2009 at 12:57 pm in News, Politics | 148862One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/06/01/daily-gut-i-lack-empathy-for-empathy/Daily+Gut%3A+I+Lack+Empathy+for+Empathy+2009-06-01+19%3A57%3A30Greg+Gutfeld

Jon Stewart Courageously Defends His Bottom Flank

It takes a big man to admit he screwed up and take a principled stand. It takes a phony liberal elitist to apologize for the sake of protecting his television ratings.

Jon Stewart makes Arlen Specter look principled.

Like Pee Wee Herman, Jon Stewart launched his intercontinental ballistic missile, and he could not put the missile back on the launching pad. In his case, the only thing that seeped out was stupidity.

Jon Stewart, for those who are not “trendy,” “hip,” or “cool” (brie-cheese-eating-elitist-snobs according to the Tygrrrr Express dictionary), has a nightly political television show where he presents the news with all the accuracy and fairness of the Jayson Blair Times. (more…)

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Tags: "Crank Yankers", Al Queda, Arlen Specter, Bill Clinton, Cliff May
Posted May 7th 2009 at 8:03 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Media Criticism, News, Politics | 1272622 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/egolub/2009/05/07/jon-stewart-courageously-defending-his-bottom-flank/Jon+Stewart+Courageously+Defends+His+Bottom+Flank2009-05-07+15%3A03%3A36Eric+Golub

Haunted by the Memory of Her Song: Fifty Years of ‘Rio Bravo’

The sun is sinking in the west
The cattle go down to the stream
The redwing settles in her nest
It’s time for a cowboy to dream….

Exquisitely crafted, but never ostentatious. Pleasantly mellow, but never lazy. Thematically rich, but never preachy. Respectful of tradition, but never stolid. Deeply compassionate, but never descending into schmaltz. Five decades ago, a group of men now long-dead (and, it must be said, one smokin’-hot woman, still-living) followed an aged veteran director into the Arizona desert to make a humble, heartfelt western based firmly on quintessentially American notions of courage, decency, and good humor. The result of their collaboration, Rio Bravo (1959), remains one of the great visceral pleasures of cinema.

Howard Hawks’ masterpiece stemmed from his disgust with the joyless anti-heroics of uptight, melodramatic westerns like Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon (1952) and Delmer Daves’ 3:10 to Yuma (1957) — dark “message movies” that seemed to revel in smugly depicting small-town Americans as cynics and cowards. The man behind such classics as Scarface (1932), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), To Have and Have Not (1944), Red River (1948), and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) was in his early sixties in 1958, his career winding down after decades of constant production. He had interned for Famous Players-Lasky way back in 1916, and directed his first features in the mid-1920s. Thirty years later he was old and tired, and his last film, Land of the Pharaohs (1955), had been a disheartening flop. Since then, the previously prolific director hadn’t helmed a picture in three years, an unheard-of period of self-exile for a man who had cranked out movies regularly for decades. But the brazen slap across the face that High Noon had given America’s western mythology had bothered him. “I made Rio Bravo,” he later told an interviewer, “because I didn’t like High Noon. Neither did Duke. I didn’t think a good town marshal was going to run around town like a chicken with his head cut off asking everyone to help. And who saves him? His Quaker wife. That isn’t my idea of a good western.” (more…)

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Tags: 3:10 to Yuma (1957), academy awards, alfred hitchcock, Allen Barra, Angie Dickinson
Posted May 3rd 2009 at 5:30 am in Entertainment, Featured Story | 1221545 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lgrin/2009/05/03/haunted-by-the-memory-of-her-song-fifty-years-of-rio-bravo/Haunted+by+the+Memory+of+Her+Song%3A+Fifty+Years+of+%27Rio+Bravo%272009-05-03+12%3A30%3A38Leo+Grin

Mia Farrow Goes Where Obama Fears to Tread

I’m generally not a fan of Mia Farrow.  I much preferred Diane Keaton in Woody Allen movies.  Though Madame Farrow did spend part of her life with Frank Sinatra, which is pretty cool.

I must however, commend her recent remarks about Darfur and President Obama’s do nothing-read- speech-only approach. Excerpts from her recent interview with Fox News:

During the campaign trail both he [Obama] and Biden made a lot of promises to help the region of Darfur, and nobody voted for him more excitedly than I but nothing has been done…. (more…)

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Tags: biden, Bill Clinton, capitalism, Darfur, democracy
Posted May 1st 2009 at 5:36 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 1207745 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jromano/2009/05/01/darfurs-baby/Mia+Farrow+Goes+Where+Obama+Fears+to+Tread2009-05-02+00%3A36%3A54John+Romano

We Should All Be a Little Cranky

Recently, I was called cranky in an article posted at the Huffington Post.  The good news is that it’s one of the few times that anything approaching the truth has been posted there.  The part I resented, though, was having my crankiness attributed to age.  The fact is I was a precocious curmudgeon.  But the question that springs to mind is why more people aren’t cranky these days when there is so much to be cranky about.

For instance, it used to irk me that Carl Bernstein, a rather minor footnote in America’s history, who only came to prominence because an anonymous snitch chose to pass along secrets to him and Bob Woodward, was depicted in two major motion pictures, “All the President’s Men” (Dustin Hoffman) and “Heartburn” (Jack Nicholson), when so many more deserving people haven’t been featured in any.  But that pales when compared to the number of movies that have glorified Che Guevara, a blood-thirsty villain.  In addition to numerous TV productions, he has shown up in “Che!” (Omar Sharif), “Evita” (Antonio Banderas), “Motorcycle Diaries” (Eduardo Noriega Gael Garcia Bernal) and “Che: Parts One and Two” (Benecio Del Toro). (more…)

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Tags: Antonio Banderas, benecio del toro, Bill Clinton, Capitalsim, Carl Bernstein
Posted Apr 18th 2009 at 1:33 pm in Featured Story, Politics | 1067102 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/04/18/survey-this/We+Should+All+Be+a+Little+Cranky2009-04-18+20%3A33%3A34Burt+Prelutsky

“NewsBusted” 4/10/09 — Fake News from the Right

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: Timothy Geithner, President Obama, Bill Clinton, Democrats, Ward Churchill, Willie Geist, Glenn Beck, Hillary Clinton, HBO, Applebee’s, TV Land, and Helen Thomas.

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Tags: Applebee's, Bill Clinton, Democrats, Glenn Beck, hbo
Posted Apr 10th 2009 at 4:09 pm in Celebrity News, Media Criticism, Political Humor, Video | 103086One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/epeterkofsky/2009/04/10/%e2%80%9cnewsbusted%e2%80%9d-41009-%e2%80%94-fake-news-from-the-right/%E2%80%9CNewsBusted%E2%80%9D+4%2F10%2F09+%E2%80%94+Fake+News+from+the+Right2009-04-10+23%3A09%3A14Eric+Peterkofsky

We Must Protect the ‘Shining City’

With Washington and Hollywood acting with one unified radically liberal voice for the first time in American history, it’s become crystal clear that what the Democrats really want is simply to rule the world.

It was reported recently that box office receipts rose to a record $28.1 billion with 65% of that take coming from foreign countries. Bottom line, Hollywood is all about money and no one denies that. But now that the good old U.S.A. represents the smaller market share it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the studios couldn’t care less what kind of anti-American low-brow product the town’s liberal elite continue to produce and promote. (more…)

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Tags: Bill Clinton, Immigration, Michael McGruther, Obama, Reagan
Posted Apr 7th 2009 at 8:07 am in Politics | 9447872 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mmcgruther/2009/04/07/democrats-just-want-to-rule-the-world/We+Must+Protect+the+%27Shining+City%272009-04-07+15%3A07%3A44Michael+McGruther

Flunked: Education in America

Q: Out of 29 participating nations, where did America rank on international student assessment?

A: 24th

Every education reform effort since the National Defense of Education Act signed in 1958 has begun with soaring rhetoric, big promises, and massive budgets and delivered not much in the way of results.

In 1979, Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education; George H.W. Bush promised to “map a new approach to education”; Bill Clinton signed his “Goals 2000″; and George W. Bush had his “me too” moment with “No Child Left Behind.” Yet in spite of all these efforts and billions upon billions of dollars only 23% of American students were proficient in reading by graduation in 2005. In fact, according to the most recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), reading scores have remained flat while real federal spending per pupil has more than tripled since 1985. The average freshman graduation rate has also remained flat according to the National Center for Education Statistics. (more…)

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Tags: "Flunked", Bill Clinton, Department of Education, education, Evergreen Freedom Foundation
Posted Apr 6th 2009 at 10:31 am in Politics | 107838No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jphillips/2009/04/06/flunked-education-in-america/Flunked%3A+Education+in+America2009-04-06+17%3A31%3A50Joseph+C.+Phillips

One Billion Turn Out Lights to Highlight Threat from Climate Change. When Lights Return, One Million Infidels Found Killed by Terrorists

OK, so if you were mujahedeen, after Saturday night’s display of defiance and retaliation by the Free World against global warming/cooling/something, wouldn’t you totally be like:

“Hey, Infidel — Look! Does one cloud look darker to you than the other?”

“Ohmygod — where?!” (Infidel looks up.)

Sound of throat slashing.

“Works every time! Works every time!” the mujahed laughs to himself as he moves on to the next vigilant infidel.

Ever notice how as the threat of global terrorism reaches a crescendo, so apparently does the threat of global climate change? (more…)

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Tags: Al Gore, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, climate change, earth hour
Posted Mar 30th 2009 at 9:03 am in Political Humor | 914183 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jgorin/2009/03/30/one-billion-turn-out-lights-to-highlight-threat-from-climate-change-when-lights-return-one-million-infidels-found-killed-by-terrorists/One+Billion+Turn+Out+Lights+to+Highlight+Threat+from+Climate+Change.+When+Lights+Return%2C+One+Million+Infidels+Found+Killed+by+Terrorists2009-03-30+16%3A03%3A12Julia+Gorin

Rules for Conservative Radicals

This week’s Washington Times column:

A digital war has broken out, and the conservative movement is losing. Read the comment sections of right-leaning blogs, news sites and social forums, and the evidence is there in ugly abundance. Internet hooligans are spewing their talking points to thwart the dissent of the newly-out-of-power.

We must not let that go unanswered.

Uninvited Democratic activists are on a mission to demoralize the enemy – us. They want to ensure that President Obama is not subject to the same coordinated, facts-be-damned, multimedia takedown they employed over eight long years to destroy the presidency – and the humanity – of George W. Bush. (more…)

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Tags: Bill Clinton, blogs, Breitbart.com, george w. bush, Hugh Hewitt
Posted Mar 29th 2009 at 5:25 pm in Featured Story | 9195021 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/03/29/rules-for-conservative-radicals/Rules+for+Conservative+Radicals2009-03-30+00%3A25%3A56Andrew+Breitbart

Hillary Presses the Red Button–Again

The perpetually bumbling Obama administration wrote the wrong word on a gift for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. It was a plastic red button on a black base with the Russian word “peregruzka” printed above it, as Politico.com reported: (more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, cold war, georgia, Hillary Clinton
Posted Mar 7th 2009 at 1:08 pm in Political Humor, Politics | 7496689 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jgorin/2009/03/07/hillary-presses-the-red-button-again/Hillary+Presses+the+Red+Button--Again2009-03-07+21%3A08%3A53Julia+Gorin

A 12-Step Liberal Recovery Program

Most 12-step programs start out by requiring that people understand that they’re powerless over their addiction and that only by turning their lives over to a Power greater than themselves can they be restored to sanity.  Far be it for me to suggest that I am that Power, but clearly someone has to step in and try to rescue these poor liberal souls.  Even the most harebrained among them deserves that much.

First, though, they have to acknowledge that Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, Dick Durbin, Charles Rangel, Harry Reid and Charles Schumer, are not moderates, but, rather, leftists with a Socialist agenda.  Furthermore, they must recognize that the New York Times, the Washington Post, the L.A. Times, CNN, the three major networks, the news magazines and the New Yorker, are not objective in their reporting of political events, and neither are Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and Bill Maher, in their commentary.  If these entities and individuals are not on the payroll of the DNC, they certainly should be.  They certainly put in longer hours than Howard Dean. (more…)

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Tags: "under God", 10 Commandments, 12-step programs, abc, ACLU
Posted Mar 6th 2009 at 2:42 pm in Media Criticism, Political Humor, Politics | 7413869 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/03/06/a-12-step-liberal-recovery-program/A+12-Step+Liberal+Recovery+Program2009-03-06+22%3A42%3A04Burt+Prelutsky

Inside the Head of Hillary Clinton

(THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE from thousands of people on the Washington Mall.)

Announcer:

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the poet laureate; Maya Angelou.”

(Applause from the masses and inauguration VIPs.) (more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, North Korea
Posted Mar 4th 2009 at 2:24 pm in Political Humor | 7193859 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/emannix/2009/03/04/inside-the-head-of-hillary-clinton/Inside+the+Head+of+Hillary+Clinton+2009-03-04+22%3A24%3A15Ernie+Mannix

Breaking Down Barack

Ever since Bill Clinton gave us the greatest insight into the modern political mind with the words, “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is,” it has become important for the intelligent citizen to closely parse all political speech. I didn’t listen to President Obama’s speech to Congress live because I was busy watching a “Maude” marathon on some obscure cable network. I recorded the speech so I could fast forward through all of the obligatory applause breaks and got his hour and ten minute speech down to forty five minutes. I pulled out a few quotes from the speech so I could break them down and share their deeper meaning. Mr. Obama’s words will be in bold and my explanation will follow. I may have missed your favorite quote, or your take on these may be a little different than mine, so feel free to add it when you comment.

“Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank. We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy.”

So your theory, Mr. President, is that if we would have given out a wind turbine or a solar panel with every bad loan we would be ok today? (more…)

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Tags: bailouts, Barack Obama, big government, Bill Clinton, federal budget
Posted Feb 28th 2009 at 10:43 am in Featured Story, Political Humor, Politics | 67510136 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjena/2009/02/28/breaking-down-barack/Breaking+Down+Barack2009-02-28+18%3A43%3A39Jeffrey+Jena