There’s nothing better than being able to do the right thing and the politically savvy thing while simultaneously paying back a long-time abuser in spades.

And that’s just what the Republicans in Congress did to Hollywood when it abandoned the rush to pass SOPA and regulate the Internet for the benefit of Tinseltown. Astonishingly, considering its usual inability to perform competently at even the most basic level, the GOP not only managed to embrace good policy but drove a wedge into the Democratic coalition that may well have dramatic consequences down the road. And, best of all, it provided a bit of long overdue payback to the smug oligarchs of LA’s West Side who have spent the last couple decades treating Republicans like something you’d hasten to flush.

Hey, suckers, how do ya like us now?

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is only the latest attempt by Hollywood to breathe some life back into its dying business model. Enraged that online “pirates” are passing around bootleg copies of movies, shows, books, music, and all other manner of intellectual property, the industry did what it has done for years: ran to Congress for ever more burdensome and onerous laws designed to hold back the inevitable consequences of progress. 

But this time, it went too far. Perhaps it was Hollywood’s arrogance. Perhaps it was the provisions allowing Hollywood to use the United States government to shut down any website it pleased on the mere accusation of “piracy” without any due process, a power lefty–fascist bureaucrats would be only too eager to accept.

Not surprisingly, the people who make their living on the web were less than thrilled about giving Uncle Sam and the media conglomerates an off-switch.

(more…)

The following article contains spoilers. You’ve been warned.

Wow. So much to talk about in last night’s episode of “Glee.” You know I watch it all for you guys. Well, also because it’s wildly entertaining, and any time I can turn something interesting or fun into part of my job, I’m in.

Since the beginning of the season, there have been two election stories going on: the one for a congressional seat, and the one for senior class president of McKinley High.

The congressional race between evil cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, an unnamed pizza magnate, and gay guy Kurt’s dad Burt came to an end last night when Burt won the seat. But that’s not what I want to talk about.

The high school election came to an end as well, and I do want to talk a little bit about that. The main contenders were the aforementioned Kurt and the stereotypically blonde Brittany. Brittany was the frontrunner since she kept passing out pixie sticks and empty promises to the electorate.

The high schoolers spoke; they wanted pixie sticks – just like so many people in 2008! The people spoke, and they wanted pixie sticks and unicorn dust. That’s why Barack Obama is our president. I really hope that the people watching “Glee” understand that candidates that promise magical powers are never able to deliver. (more…)

The following article contains spoilers. You’ve been warned.

Hello everyone! Didja watch “Glee” last night? Come on, admit it … I know you did. It’s the show we all love and love to hate at the same time. There’s singing! There’s dancing! There’s propaganda!

What’s not to have a love/hate relationship with?

This week, the show opened with Puck fantasizing about Shelby, which isn’t awkward at all, until you realize that she is not only his teacher but also the adoptive mother of his baby daughter with classmate Quinn. Oh yeah, and Quinn is trying to frame Shelby as a bad mother to get baby Beth back, and Puck kissed Shelby in a previous episode.

Amidst the baby mama drama, Kurt’s dad Burt is running against Sue for congress. Actress Jane Lynch has openly stated that her character, Sue Sylvester, will be playing a candidate “more right-winged than Michele Bachmann.”

Which means that we have to take her campaign against (small business owner and proud father of a gay son) Burt to be what Hollywood liberals believe conservatives to be. It’s actually rather disturbing. (more…)

Looks as though someone got the DNC memo:

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Man oh man, Jon Stewart has the left-wing spin and talking points down cold, doesn’t he? No one with even a smidgen of intellectual honesty uses the term “revenues increases,” and to blame the Bush tax cuts (or any tax cuts) on the deficit — especially after Obama’s unprecedented spending orgy — is nothing more than pure propaganda.

Do Tea Partiers want government gone? No.

Do Tea Partiers want to pay zero dollars in taxes? No.

But if you got your news from Jon Stewart, you wouldn’t know that. And God help us all, people do get their news from Jon Stewart.

(more…)

[Ed. Note: This is a Friday Gregalogue]

Yeah, seems old, just three days ago….

So buried in a recent Politico article, is this tidbit about Congressman Weiner.

“Two people who spoke to him privately said he had suggested that, as one said, “he took or sent a photo or photos like this
at some point – but in this case actually was hacked/set up, perhaps with a posting of one of his own photos or something very similar.”

Okay, that’s an admission.

And it’s coming from someone who spoke to Weiner, meaning Weiner wanted it out there – a trial balloon to end the junk about his junk.

It may be too late.

But Weiner can look on the bright side.

With so many recent scandals, he must ask himself, was his boner that bad?

Lets play a game I like to call “who would you rather be?”

A: a married Republican congressman caught posting swinger ads on Craigs List?

B: a married Republican congressman caught tapping his feet in an airport men’s room?

C: a married Republican Governor mired in extramarital affairs, one that results in a secret love child?

D: a Democratic Governor busted with hookers, who now has a show on CNN

E. a Democratic Presidential candidate, who cheated on his dying wife, and tried to cover it up?

F: a sleazy French socialist with a penchant for assaulting the help?

G: a sleazy French politician who frequents Moroccan boy orgies?

Or… A guy with a picture of his junk on his phone?

(more…)

On Tuesday, Congressman Weiner suffered a meltdown to end all meltdowns. To recap: it happened after a lewd photo of a dude’s crotch was sent to a Seattle co-ed from Weiner’s Twitter account. Weiner claims he was hacked. But instead of contacting authorities, he lawyered up.

When reporters asked if he sent the photo, he lost it.

So the question is, why?

Well, he assumed the press would let the scandal blow over – a consequence of inhabiting a protective bubble the press affords liberal politicians.

The problem with that bubble – it can burst when the press sees a story too good to ignore.

Sadly, the Congressman can’t see out of the bubble, and see what’s coming. Spitzer could have warned him.

Hence, the mortifying performance. Weiner looked like a deer in the headlights, trying to joke with the headlights.

The panicky bob of his Adam’s apple seemed to be sending Morse code to his friends in the media: “Why! Why! why! I’m one of you!”

It all screams “guilty!” – a whiny tantrum directed not at a hacker – but the media, his allies.

(more…)

What happened to our leaders?

Like many Americans, on October 3, 2008 my world changed. That afternoon, Congress had passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also known as the Wall Street Bailout.  Like many Americans, I had written Congress, had called the Congressional switchboard, had done everything I could to let my voice be heard. But my government had not listened. I grew up in the 80s, at a time when kids were still taught America was a good idea, because we were a free people with a voice. That Friday I discovered, along with many other Americans, that I no longer had a voice in my government. Somehow, now I was no longer a member of We The People. On paper I was, but in the unwritten evolving “Constitution” of Congressional precedent, Wall Street and special interests were The People who mattered now. Standing there in my kitchen, washing my dishes, watching my kids play in the dwindling daylight, I felt small before the face of my government, and I felt a deep solidarity with all those people who had called the Congressional switchboard with me.

But unlike many Americans, I happen to be a college professor who researches how to understand and model complex systems. My doctoral work dealt with how metaphor and narrative model complexity in economics and neuroscience. All very wonkish to be sure. This work earned me an invitation to research and lecture at the Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk VA, on how military commanders can lead, understand, and model complex operational environments in real time.

It was my days working in development and movie production in Indie Hollywood that first convinced me of the power of narrative. Narrative is not only found in literature books, or movies themselves, but in days on set, in the hundreds of production details, in shot choices, in schedules, in actor issues, and all financial decisions that go into making a feature film. Complex systems are understood through narrative.

During the week that followed the passage of TARP, I reviewed the news coverage of the Bailout and sensed parts of the story were missing. DC and the media all said that TARP was necessary, but was it? Really? Why had TARP encountered so much opposition in the House when all the power brokers supported it? Why had the Bailout failed on the Monday vote? Why did it pass so easily in the Senate? What changed the minds of those who flipped their votes to support it? Who were the people on the inside who were actually fighting the bill? What did the power brokers do to stop them? And why aren’t those who fought the Bailout getting to tell their side of the story?

(more…)

The Left is so fond of exhorting their opponents to ‘compromise’.  The trouble is, the Left each year moves further and further to the left – pulling that center-point of compromise further and further left.  Compromise with totalitarian ideals smacks of surrender.  Neville Chamberlain made a deal with the devil — and the world was no better for it.

Youthful Flashback:  My dad holding a $20 bill in his hand… he hesitates and looks at me.   First year of college, I was heading off to Hollywood with some pals for a concert and I had asking him if I could have some spending cash. 

“I’m not sure I’m doing you a favor giving you this,” he said with a faint crinkle in his eye.  I just made a clever joke and thanked him and was off for rock’n’roll heaven.   Years later, it came to me what he was saying.  Had I planned ahead and worked and earned the twenty bucks I’d have been further on up the road of becoming a man.  I would have developed a greater sense of independence, capability and competence; and I would have foreshortened greatly my prolonged adolescence.  (Some say extreeeemely prolonged.)

We do our kids no favors when we fail to teach them that if they want something, they need to get their butts in gear and go earn it.  And I think we’re losing that in our country.  I see our greater national malaise as being symptomatic of this failure.  We have failed to instill the basic work ethic in a large segment of our society.  Rather than gazing upon the frontier of their future with an eager lust of conquest and adventure…an ardent desire to become something exceptional, to produce great things… too many look out and see only a land of great abundance — to which they are entitled.    And the cause of that entitlement is for no reason other than that they breathe air.

It’s an easy seduction, the Entitlement Riff.  This is America, the land of Freedom.  I can do what I want.  I can acquire what I want.  I’m an American.  Therefore, I should have what I want.  And I will vote into office anyone who promises me that if they’re elected to public office, then I will get what I want.   And anyone who disagrees is a greedy, racist, Republican bigot homophobe.

(No, I’ve never worked for the New York Times but thanks for asking.)

(more…)

The Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator suggested changes to our laws that will help creators large and small enforce their rights.  Intellectual property—particularly American intellectual property–is one of the most highly prized targets of free riders both foreign and domestic.  While some of the IPEC’s proposals may seem forceful, they actually harmonize some of the gaps in the law and further support well-defined property rights.

Even if you have questions from a libertarian perspective on the duration of intellectual property rights, during whatever term you think appropriate those rights still are property rights.  Enforceable property rights are at the bedrock of our free market.  And if the government is not the backstop for egregious—often criminal–violations of those rights, then what good are the rights in the first place?

During the Bush Administration, the Congress created the office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, a White House position that was first filled by President Obama but that will continue into the future regardless of the President’s party.  While the title sounds grandiose, the IPEC performs an important facilitating role to focus the resources of the Federal government on the stick part of IP rights.  If you are on the side—my side—that believes strongly both in a free market and also the property rights that are the basis of it, at some point you want the government to help level the playing field.  While I loathe the idea of government seizing private property for any reason, including eminent domain, I equally loathe the government essentially allowing—through a failure to enforce the laws–big corporations and pirates to seize private property.  Government should enforce these private property rights and reduce free-riding and negative externalities occurring due to piracy. 

As I watched Chairman Goodlatte’s recent hearing in the House IP subcommittee on the theft of America’s intellectual property assets, a fundamental question came to me that no one asked.  Few would argue that a creator has the right to call the police when their physical property is being stolen.  When it comes to IP, somehow it’s different to some people.  Opponents of intellectual property rights often think that creators should be forced to pay for private litigation against large corporate interests, or pursue transborder pirates in China, Russia or CatchMeIfYouCan-istan–even though these shadowy operators sell US IP in the US illegally. 

(more…)

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When your own personal constitution is dedicated to Lucifer, it’s easy to understand all the hand-wringing surrounding the reading of the actual U.S. Constitution among those in the media and the Left (but we repeat ourselves). 

But remember…

(more…)

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Tonight’s Guests:

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The President and his clan are all tied-up-in-knots over not being able to raise taxes on those they deem rich. When Democrats don’t get their way they loose all rational thought like teen-girls suffering a case of front row “Bieber Fever.”  This latest flood of emotions has left Democrats and Obama feeling as if they’ve been taken hostage by the GOP. So rather than just handing over pizza and soda to Republicans so they can feed their captors on the hill, I thought it more instructive to send them five of the best hostage films on DVD during this trying time.

“Dog Day Afternoon”: This Sidney Lumet film starring Al Pacino ranks as one of the best, and actually does comes with pizza and soda. When Sonny robs a bank to pay for his boyfriend’s sex change operation, things go horribly wrong and the first-time robber ends up with a bank full of hostages (Democrats).

This film is the perfect framework for Democrats to work their victim identity while trying to sneak in a pork-barrel project that gives members who lost in the last election a sex change before heading home for the holidays.

“Die Hard”: The first “Die Hard” film is also one of the best action films of all time and full of holiday hostages. Detective John McLane single-handedly saves a tower full of captives at his wife’s Christmas party from thirteen Euro-trash thieves trying to steel $640 million in bearer bonds. (more…)

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Now that Steven Colbert’s congressional “testimony” has had its fifteen minutes, I think it’s time for someone to say his whole shtick has run its course. I don’t want to discuss if it was appropriate for a comedian to be at a congressional hearing. If it weren’t, Al Franken could just have his check direct deposited and show up to vote once in awhile. Come to think of it that is just about what happens. Mr. Colbert is an acceptable sketch comedy actor who has taken a character he developed for John Stewart’s “Daily Show” and parlayed it into his own low-rated show. I don’t begrudge him his success, in fact I say well done!  I think it is a tribute to the greatness of our country that a guy with one joke and with some help of his friends and a simpatico entertainment industry can become a multimillionaire. In the words of Max Bialystok, “Flaunt it, baby!”  

Calling his recent appearance before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration “comedy” may leave Mr. Colbert open to legal action for lying to Congress. There were also several points in his testimony that were of questionable, as he would say, “truthiness.” Political comedy in sketch form is tricky, but as stand-up it is a balancing act that requires great skill. To my mind there are two rules: first you must, as my friend Will Durst says, be an equal-opportunity smart ass. Unless you are willing to slap at both sides of the aisle or only work highly partisan events, you lose at least fifty percent of the audience from the first joke. The second is that no matter who or what you are attacking, it must be funny. Mr. Colbert’s stand-up or sit down in the case of his Congressional gig, fails on both counts. Mr. Colbert’s one-dimensional, highly partisan act has run its course. We get it, Steve — any sincere conservative is a dim witted, xenophobic, racist, Christian numbskull who just doesn’t understand the issues.

It is difficult to take a sketch character and develop it into a more than a series three minute scenes. One only has to look at the number of horrible Saturday Night Live spin off character films that have been made to prove that point. It is even harder to take a character out of the sketch and build it into a stand-up routine. Mr. Colbert has now proved this to be the case…twice. (more…)

Today in Politico:

Members of Congress have been fooled time after time after time by Stephen Colbert, and after last week’s mockery, they have a message for the satirist who makes a living lampooning them: Colbert, you’re dead to us.

Colbert’s act had steadily been losing cachet on Capitol Hill, but his spoof testimony merely accelerated a pending divorce.

Lawmakers and their aides are repeatedly turning down requests for “The Colbert Report,” political advisers are suggesting members avoid Colbert like the plague and the infamous “Better Know a District” segment that put Colbert on the map on Capitol Hill appears to be dying out.

“My experience with that show is like herpes. It never goes away, and it itches and sometimes flares up,” said a former aide to Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, after his boss appeared on the show in 2006. The conservative Georgia Republican, co-sponsor of a bill requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in Congress, was skewered by Colbert in a segment of “Better Know a District” for appearing to be able to name only three of the commandments. (more…)

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Personally, I completely agree with Glenn Reynolds that  having this idiot Colbert testify was nothing more than a Democrat stunt to take the media’s eye off the very real and important testimony also taking place today regarding the Justice Department’s racism scandals. So the more cringe-worthy and embarrassing Colbert’s appearance is, the better. Naturally, the MSM will be all too willing to play along. They fully understand how damaging the DOJ Black Panther case is to the Obama Administration and have no desire to come anywhere near covering it.

And of course, there’s Stephen Colbert, just as willing to play along — a narcissistic attention whore with no respect for the political process who thinks his schtick combined with a ten hour day he spent in the vegetable fields somehow makes him a compelling and important witness.

The one good thing that came out of this is Colbert’s reaction to Conyers’ request that he leave. It’s not very often you see a smug, superior Hollywoodist caught off guard.

Byron York has more coverage here. He thinks the Democrats damaged themselves with this stunt:  (more…)

They call the early half of the twentieth century the Golden Age of Hollywood, but it might more aptly be called the American Age.  In those days, the American people had a great love for Hollywood.  On an average week, three quarters of the population turned out to the local theater.

Contrast that with today when, according to a recent poll, fewer than 40 percent of Americans approve of Hollywood, and only ten percent of the population shows up at the theater each week.

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Like many of the readers and contributors at Big Hollywood, Declaration Entertainment is interested in why this change, this sharp reduction in approval and attendance, took place.  Undoubtedly it is a complex issue with many variables over a long period of time.  The advent of television and home video, digital downloads and piracy are all factors.  So too is the explosion of other forms of media entertainment, from video games to the Internet.  But while these changes in landscape have unquestionably cut into the dominance of the Hollywood theatrical experience in terms of the sheer numbers of viewers, they do not seem to explain the reduction in affinity.

To understand Hollywood’s dismal approval ratings – better than Congress, of course, but horrid none-the-less – other factors must be considered. (more…)

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Watch the whole video, especially the warm and fuzzy last shot, but here’s Stone’s killer quote:

The Cold War became the war against terrorism and continues to this day. We have two wars in Iraq. One in Afghanistan and possible sanctions in Iran.

Two wars in Iraq? He must be counting the war against STDs. He also criticizies sanctions against Iran. But President Obama favors sanctions against Iran. So Stone is criticizing Obama. Which, according to the Left, makes Stone a racist.

Here’s what Congressman Alan Grayson’s most famous for: (more…)

I must have missed the groundswell of support and the public clamor for the return of Rosie O’Donnell to the daytime airwaves.  It seemed that her time in the cultural spotlight had passed following her notorious 2008 variety show failure (It was hailed by one merciful critic as “dead on arrival”) and her exile to a daily Sirius XM radio show that caters to creepy shut-ins and those unlucky listeners who can’t figure out how to tune-in to Howard Stern.  But like some sort of loudmouthed, frumpy, left-wing vampire who just won’t stay in the ground, she is threatening to rise again with a terrifying plan to replace Oprah once the Queen of Daytime TV retires in 2011.  Someone in Hollywood, please – break out the garlic.

Of course, I’m hardly Rosie’s daily television show target demographic.  I work for a living instead of sitting at home staring slack-jawed at the succession of Sham-Wow commercials and ads for shyster lawyers promising big payouts for the imaginary injuries of their deadbeat clients that fill the time between inane segments of mindless yak.  And while the social parasite demographic seems to grow larger after every freebie, hand-out and pay-off the Administration and its Congressional flunkies issue in favor of their employment-averse constituents, Rosie O’Donnell still seems like a bad economic bet.

This is no longer the same country as it was back in 1999 when Rosie was honchoing her first daytime gabfest and hassling Tom Selleck over his support for the Second Amendment of the Constitution.  It’s not even the same country as it was in May 2007, when the former “Queen of Nice’s” anti-conservative bile culminated in her slandering American fighting men and women as terrorists on The View: (more…)