We’ve gone from Dirty Harry to Jason Bourne (or whatever his name ended up being; the camera was too shaky for me to ever tell what was going on). We’ve gone from Humphrey Bogart to George Clooney.  We’ve gone from John Wayne fighting Indians to Na’vi fighting Americans.

But, don’t fret. For there is an answer to our problems, fellow film buffs. I know you’re six feet from that ledge, but let me give you hope…they are called books. They are these contraptions with bindings and pages with words on the inside. Together this all creates a story one hundred times more fulfilling than today’s dim-witted liberal flavor-of-the-month films.

Hollywood has always been a liberal town. They give us anti-Iraq war movie after anti-Iraq war movie despite the fact that they all flop at the box office. But what of the literary world?  They must surely share Hollywood’s contempt for conservatives and enriching stories, right? Wrong. The publishing world seems to get it, for the most part. They like to publish what sells and what seems to sell today are right-leaning stories.

Stephen Hunter, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, Tom Clancy, Frank Miller, James Ellroy, and Andrew Klavan. These are just a handful of names of today’s top fiction writers. All of them have something in common: they have, admittedly, right leaning politics and philosophies. This does not mean that their books are some kind of weird right-wing propaganda. What it means is that their stories usually make the bad guys who the bad guys really are and their heroes don’t shy away from masculinity or righteous indignation. These writers also have something else in common: they are all New York Times bestselling authors. Try out Stephen Hunter’s new novel Soft Target. It’s a hundred times better and more visually striking than any new action film to hit theaters in the last year. Or try Andrew Klavan’s last adult thriller, The Identity Man. It’s more thought-provoking and more well thought out than any half-baked political thriller cooked up by George Clooney. These writers lead the fiction front in literature today. They put out bestsellers that frequently win acclaim from critics.

As for non fiction…now we are really getting to the heart of the beast. Look at the New York Times bestseller list for non-fiction and you are bound to see a plethora of conservative thought. While Bill O’Reilly and Laura Ingraham are regularly blasted in the mainstream media, they regularly put out bestsellers. Others do too. In fact, most non-fiction political books that hit shelves are written by conservatives. Why this phenomenon and why now? Is it that conservatives have been turned away by Hollywood so they have retreated to the inner workings of books? Or is it because right-leaning artists and right-leaning thinkers need more than a 90-minute film to bring across a message and/or story?

Perhaps films are more representative of a liberal approach to storytelling, while writing is a more conservative approach. Films are a collected effort. They takes hundreds, if not, thousands of people to create, and usually have a vision that is compromised by too many cooks in the kitchen. Books, on the other hand, are a celebration of individualism. It takes one person to sit and put his vision down. Maybe this is the explanation, but maybe not.

But whatever it may be, this much is true: if you hit up your local bookstore or head over to Amazon, you’ll find a world of old school storytelling and right-leaning stories. John Wayne and his films ain’t dead, they just grew up. They exist in an entirely new world: the world of books.

Check out footage from the latest Tea Party rally and you’ll see people holding signs referencing classics like 1984 by George Orwell and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Check out footage of the latest Occupy Wall Street rally and you’ll see people wearing “V for Vendetta” masks. That says it all.

“Soft Target,” in bookstores Dec 6th, manages to be more than just not bad; it’s a modern Western on amphetamines; it’s Tom Clancy if Clancy were a better weaver of the old fashioned good vs. evil yarn; it’s… well, it’s Stephen Hunter all the way. Semper fi and all that.

Those who are familiar with the author will understand, and those who are not–well, what are you doing reading a book review by me when there is writing out there carved by a master?

“Soft Target” is the new Hunter thriller that takes place in a thriller writer’s fantasy land: America, the Mall. Appropriately, it combines the two things America loves the most: shopping and violence. Those two ingredients are enough to carry the novel through a harsh and very quick 254 pages. You will not want to put this one down.

Ray Cruz is Hunter’s new John Wayne. He’s retired USMC and just wants to leave the Mall of America with his beautiful fiancée, Molly Chan. Only problem is some jihadists have a very different idea and decide to take the mall and the thousands of innocent shoppers hostage on the busiest shopping day of the year: Black Friday.

Cruz, noble and honorable and flawed as he is, decides to take the mall back when there is little action being taken outside by Colonel Douglas Obobo. Hunter sets up the contrast between the two perfectly. Cruz is the conservative man of action, while Obobo is the liberal believer in mankind, the man who believes in words above all else. Other characters flourish as well in the novel, which, despite being short, fleshes out the action from every perspective imaginable. We follow Cruz, we follow the Imam leading the ordeal, we follow Colonel Obobo, newscaster Nikkie Swagger, FBI sniper McElroy, and many others. The novel fleshes out so many characters and tells the story in such a thorough way that Tarantino would be jealous.

As always, Hunter’s greatest gift is his style, his prose. He’s been called the “populist Faulkner” and for good reason. He’s no Vince Flynn and he’s no Tom Clancy. His characters inhabit a harsh world that is unforgiving and follows no set code of good wins over evil. His characters inhabit a place called reality where Hunter’s simple yet delicate and violent prose comes alive. His heroes are not perfect and his villains are never black and white.

In fact, Hunter is famous for going where no other writer will go. He enters the grey. He tells the densely complicated stories other thriller writers shy away from. He throws his noble yet heroic characters into the world of grey and forces them to deem what is black and white, good and evil, and we sit back and enjoy.

Hunter’s novels also appeal because of their visual style, and this one is no different. He manages to keep the pace fast and the narrative swift without sacrificing clarity, because he knows exactly what we want. He feeds us the exact images and verbs our inner beasts need to gobble up in order to be completely consumed by the story. Hunter has perfected the craft of the thriller by keeping his prose simple a la Hemingway and giving us the details other writers shy away from, all while providing these in the context of a visually striking world only a man who reviewed films for decades could give us.

“Soft Target” will pull you in fast and hard and will not let go until the very last utterance has been spoken. Ray Cruz is our new hero, our new John Wayne, and watching him navigate through a world of liberal spinners, evil jihadists, political guinea pigs and bureaucracy at its finest is more than entertaining. It’s thrilling, and that’s due to the epic prose of Hunter. There’s no other thriller writer like him today. Hell, there’s no other writer like him today. He passes the Clancys, the Flynns, the Thors like they were all standing still. And considering how far ahead his novels seems to be in all most every capacity, they must be.

While I definitely respect all these points of view, I have to question why many of us are questioning Hollywood instead of questioning ourselves. And what we should be asking ourselves is why many of us complain so much about Hollywood’s output but at the same time fail to support the burgeoning artists, musicians, writers and filmmakers in our own community?

For full disclosure:  yes, I am a conservative, and yes, I am a filmmaker trying to get my art out to the greater world. For the life of me, I have never understood why we monetarily and spiritually support artists, studios and media companies while simultaneously berating them for what they offer us. If someone delivers crummy pizza that smells weird, tastes worse and gets me sick, would I still call the same pizza place every time? No. So, why do we do the same when making entertainment or artistic purchase choices?

In film, you don’t get to shoot on 35 mm with big-name actors, commissioned scripts, or the best D.P.s using someone else’s money unless you have a track record and have proven you can make money. To become a great artist, you need time to develop and hone your craft.  You need to be able to make a living in your particular medium to justify working in the arts and to gain that 24/7 time needed to create and edit better and better material.  Having a paying audience is the only way to make that happen.  Not all “conservative” films or shows will be great and not all will be good, but all should be supported by the people most predisposed to enjoy the material, fellow conservatives.  Still, it seems to me that the right’s expectations are too high when art comes from one of their own.

It’s like being the guy or gal who struggles to make it as a local artist.  The hometown crowd is much tougher on you, and their expectations of success are so high that the bar they set just to earn a “You know, it’s alright” is almost impossible to surmount. Are “conservative” audiences really saying that until you start winning Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and Grammys, you haven’t achieved that much? It seems that way for both new artists as well as some of the more established ones.

I paid money to see An American Carol in a theater.  Atlas Shrugged, too.  They weren’t films that met the unbelievably high expectations of their audiences.  So what? They were not bad films.  Hello? They were trying to do a helluva lot with limited budgets and the expectations that came with being the first “conservative” films in their genres.  Almost no film could have met the expectations those two had to deal with. No new artistic movement occurs overnight, and these films were steps in the right direction that deserved our money.

How do you expect to see more artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc., who think like you do if you aren’t willing to support the ones you already have among you?  Can you really expect those who are successful and established to risk everything by deciding to “come out of the closet” politically?  God bless Gary Sinise, Patricia Heaton, Jon Voight, Angie Harmon and the other stars who have come out, gotten involved and led from the front.  They are an inspiration, but fortunately for them, they had established resumés to help them weather the natural blacklisting faced by entertainment-industry conservatives.

If you don’t support conservative artists’ material, especially when they are putting their livelihoods, careers and more on the line, then don’t pine for “better” content, and don’t condemn them for not outnumbering the artists you can’t stand.  At the end of the day, you, the audience, are a vital part of Hollywood too. Your time and money determines what future projects are financed, so keep in mind that we can only make what we want if you signify to our investors that those projects will be profitable.

Sarcasm off.

This incident has vintage guitar owners left wondering…”What next?”  Will the Feds be busting down the doors of musicians, guns drawn, to inspect our guitars to see if we have any contraband they can confiscate?  I have a hunch if that were to happen, they’d target musicians who are openly…dare I say…conservative.

And guess where they would start.

Nathan Picard

It just so happens that our featured artist, conservative singer/songwriter Nathan Picard, makes his own guitars.  Here is what he had to say about the latest display of thuggery by this Administration:

The irony of an out of control administration raiding Gibson guitars (one of the all-time most successful producers of some of the highest quality musical instruments and employer of thousands) during one of the worst economic downturns in our county’s history shouldn’t be lost on anyone.  The raid is reminiscent of a raid on a crack-house except the only crime of which Gibson is guilty is not towing the Big Government, Keynesian, Socialist line.  The message that one could take away from this is…don’t dare speak out against the Obama administration or they will use any means necessary to silence you.

Silence us?  Good luck with that.

As you will see in Nathan’s music video “It’s A Beautiful World”, Americans have a proud history of defeating tyranny and come November 2012…we will do it once again.

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Nothing like great music with a positive message to soothe one’s soul in these troubled times and Nathan Picard’s music is just what the doctor ordered.  Nathan has quite the impressive resume/bio:

Nathan Picard has spent much of the last decade fronting a band from Colorado, touring nationally, and making a name for himself in the LA music scene.

Nathan’s songs have been featured on T.V. shows such as Criminal Minds (CBS), MTV’s Road Rules, Kyle XY (ABC), VH1’s Tough Love, and Army Wives (Lifetime) reaching over 400 million viewers.

Nathan is a member of ASCAP and has his own publishing company, Two Tone Technicolor Publishing. He has shared the stage with such acts as Jewel, Three Doors Down, The Calling, and Lenny Kravitz. Nathan has recorded, written, and worked in the studio with artists Ed Bernaro (Executive Producer Criminal Minds), Aaron Kamin (The Calling), Jesse Valenzuela (The Gin Blossoms), Trace Ritter (Candlebox, Chalk Farm), Joe Bishara (Producer Gun’s n Roses), JR Richards (Dishwalla), Doug Grean(Producer Stone Temple Pilots) and Michael Blum (Producer Madonna, The New Radicals).

Nathan’s songs have been raved about by Music Connection Magazine with the “Number One Demo of the Year”, and the “Hot 100 Unsigned Artist of the Year”.

Nathan comments, “The best lyricists can write about an emotional experience for themselves, but relate it to everyone.” As a prolific writer, Nathan continues to deliver a wide range of songs that are both anathematic and relevant with current music trends.

In His Own Words

Some of my best experiences playing music are touring the U.S. with my best friends and bandmates in a total jalopy that we paid for ourselves…breaking down tons of times, and enjoying every minute of it! Although I will say that I don’t miss being totally broke and eating Ketchup sandwiches.  LOL  I guess some of the coolest shows that I have played were opening up for Lenny Kravitz, Jewel and Smash Mouth.  I think the first time I played the Viper Room will stay with me for the rest of my life as well.  I will say though that the shows that I look back on that bring the biggest smile to my face are the small shows we played back in Colorado springs when we were all a bunch of naive kids. I guess they were one of the experiences that taught me what it means to be self sufficient.

I am soon going back into the studio to record my second solo CD….my ninth overall, and I can’t wait.  I am planning a lot of new shows all over L.A. to support it.  I am really excited about the new tunes, and finally getting to record them.  Some of my songs from my last album have been selected for placement on a few T.V. shows in the near future, and I am really excited to hear my stuff on T.V again.

We are honored to have Nathan sharing his incredible talent at our site about which he had this to say:

I absolutely love what you guys are doing at BigDawg’s.  I think it’s about time that we, as proud, free-thinking, patriotic Conservatives begin a new cultural Conservative awakening. To me it isn’t acceptable any longer that the clear majority of common sense Conservatives are so under-represented within popular culture…and I think BigDawg will do a great deal to correct that inequity.  Although it may run contrary to popular perception within the media culture…liberalism is not a pre-requisite for talent.

We love that Nathan not only writes incredible songs and is an accomplished musician with an amazing voice, but that he makes guitars too.  Nathan shares how he got started:

I have always been fascinated with the artistic ability required to not only play a guitar, but to make one as well.  It’s an art form in itself.  I guess my first venture into making guitars sprang out of a reunion with my father after not speaking to one another for almost 13 years.  I learned that he was a really talented guitar maker…and woodworker…and I guess you could say he sparked my new guitar making addiction.  I began to learn a lot from him, and began practicing over and over again until I had the basics down.  It seems as though making guitars is a lot like art and songwriting itself….you never end up with a perfect outcome, and you are always perfecting the craft.

Let’s hope there are no eco-nazis looking to sic the Feds on Nathan for using an old cabin in Colorado to make this guitar.  If anything, they should celebrate his creativity in recycling those old wall joists.

Music truly is universal and while the messages in the songs of the artists at our site may not appeal to most on the left side of the political spectrum, all musicians should be alarmed at what has happened to Gibson Guitars.  This is how this administration intends to silence the opposition or force us into submission to their policies and is a harbinger of things to come .  Does anyone really want the government to have that kind of power?  How would liberal musicians feel if a Republican administration did this to Martin Guitars?   There would be riots in the streets and you know it.

Juszkiewicz has since launched a petition asking President Barack Obama to resolve the inquiry and now the Feds want to meet with him next week to talk.

Silencing Obama’s opponents may be the goal of the left and if their latest attempts at doing so with the Gibson raid as well as their recent launching of the now-widely-mocked Attack Watch (snitch-on-your-neighbors) website are any indication of just how low they will stoop, the immediate conservative response should be an indication to them of just how threatened we feel.

Thanks to artists like Nathan and so many others at our site, like Ezra Dulis, one of the comedic geniuses behind the hilarious “Attaaaack Waaaatch” ad which has gone viral, we have absolutely no intention of accommodating them.

That which does not kill us (unless Teamster thug Hoffa has his way) only makes us sing louder.

As we gather with loved ones this Labor Day weekend to officially bid farewell to another all-too short summer, we should take a moment to remember those who are serving overseas and unable to be with us to enjoy those BBQs, cold beers, pool parties, and such.   Here to remind us of their sacrifices, with a brand-spankin’ new rock tribute entitled Soldiers of America, is the very hot new conservative rock band, Madison Rising.

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“Madison Rising, named in honor of James Madison, the fourth President of the United States and author of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers, is a new rock band best described as a conservative version of Rage Against The Machine” according to President and CEO of Purple Eagle Entertainment (and fellow BigDawg’er), Richard Mgrdechian, who formed the band.  He further states:

The band provides guitar-centric, pro-American rock music to a market completely devoid of anything similar.  The band expects to become the face of patriotic rock and roll.  Madison Rising is expected to perform at major campaign events, military bases, NASCAR events and other pro-American venues, establishing itself as a major political voice in this country during the 2012 election cycle and beyond.  The band’s first single, Soldiers of America, was released on September 1st, 2011 and the album itself will be available on September 30^th.

BigDawg Music Mafia is honored to introduce the very talented members of Madison Rising:

Lead Vocals – Dave Bray: Dave was born in Yorkshire England to American parents working for the National Security Agency.  His family relocated to Jefferson, Pennsylvania at age 5.  The definitive musical moment came for him in high school after performing “Alive” by Pearl Jam at a talent show in front of an awe-struck audience.  Dave has been performing ever since.  Dave enlisted in the Navy immediately after high school and while at Camp Johnson in North Carolina, won the coveted Top Dog Award for outstanding physical fitness.  After serving as a Navy medic in a sniper team in the 2nd battalion 2nd Marines, Dave was stationed on the USS Guam.  Dave was honorably discharged in 2007 and returned to PA where he built tanks for BAE Systems, Inc. a major international supplier of defense related systems.

Why he joined: “I plan to take the same approach to the success of Madison Rising as I have in the past with the military. It feels great doing something you love for a purpose that matters. When people start hearing our music, I believe they will have a whole new outlook on what it means to be a patriot and on the conservative message in general.”

Christopher Schreiner – Lead and Rhythm Guitar

Lead and Rhythm Guitar – Christopher Schreiner: In 2008, Chris was a top ten finalist in Guitar Player Magazine’s Superstar Competition, as well as a finalist at the 2009 Urban Music Awards America’s Next Urban Superstar Competition.  Renowned for his nuanced arrangements and music acumen, Chris was invited by ESC Records, along with music legends Steve Vai, Dennis Chambers and Billy Cobham, to contribute a track for one of their major releases of 2010.  Chris graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in 2005 with a BA in Guitar Performance. In 2008 Schreiner released his debut album Only Human.  The recording won multiple awards including Best Instrumental Single at the Malibu Music Awards and Best Instrumental Album at the Muse’s Muse Editors Choice Awards.

Why he joined:  “I have been involved in many creative projects. This however is particularly exciting because the message drives and informs the creative process, unlike most musical endeavors which lack any meaning beyond pure artistic expression.”

Alex Bodnar – Lead and Rhythm Guitar

 Lead and Rhythm Guitar – Alex Bodnar: Alex has been a guitarist for a variety of elite musical acts since the age of fourteen when he had already mastered some of the most complex music around including Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and others.  At 21, Alex toured Japan as lead guitarist for Utada Hikaru (Japan’s all-time number one selling female artist).  In 2006 Alex became musical director and guitar player for a promo tour with RBD, a Grammy nominated music group.  In 2008, he joined forces with Creed frontman Scott Stapp for his second solo effort.  As part of the Scott Stapp Band, Alex wrote numerous songs, played lead guitar and toured the world performing for tens of thousands of American military personnel during their Armed Forces Entertainment tour in locations including Africa, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Bahrain.

Why he joined: “It’s easy to waste our talents on meaningless creativity, but to use ones talents to help society and influence positive change in the world is something we are optimistic enough to try, and hope to accomplish through our music.”

Sam Fishman – Drums

Drums – Sam Fishman: As a child Sam could not resist hitting pots and pans, so it is natural that since age 10, Sam has dedicated himself to the art of percussion. Now 24, Sam is a master drum technician with a rock style similar to that of legendary drummers Keith Moon of The Who and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Sam attended George Washington University on a Presidential Arts Scholarship. While in Washington, D.C. he incorporated elements of hip-hop, funk, and progressive rock into his playing.  After leaving GWU, Sam enrolled in the University of Rochester to continue his musical studies, performing key roles in ensembles at the Eastman School of Music.

Why he joined: “There is no better way to reach the American people then to play great rock and roll music that stands for something. We are in need of a voice  that stands for hard work, perseverance, and a call to take back our liberty.”

Ryan Kienle – Bass

Bass – Ryan Kienle: Ryan began playing the bass in 8th grade.  A few years and several bands later, Ryan was the founding bassist of Matchbook Romance, which released four albums, selling over 350,000 records in the U.S. alone.  In support of these releases, Kienle spent three consecutive summers performing on the Vans Warped Tour.  Ryan has performed live on MTV, MTV2, MTVU, Fuse and NBC, as well as, having songs featured in the best selling video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and Madden 2007.  He is endorsed by G&L Guitars, Electro Harmonix pedals, Aguilar amps and Keely Electronics.

Why he joined:  “America often seems to be the decline while other nations reap the benefits of our indifference.  When an audition for a Pro-American band came along, I immediately  jumped at the opportunity. Playing music is my first love, so playing the bass for a better tomorrow was a natural fit for me.”

The man behind the creation of this phenomenal new band, Richard Mgrdechian, who I met at CPAC earlier this year, learned about our site when a friend brought him by our booth and introduced us.  I told him what we were all about, gave him my card, and he joined shortly after.  He told me he was forming a conservative rock band and was in search of a lead vocalist to complete the band.  He explains how Madison Rising came to be:

It took almost a year to get everyone and everything together to make this all happen.  The first person who joined the team was Chris Schreiner, a phenomenal guitarist and musical composer.  He and I began collaborating on a couple of songs as we searched for other members (through word of mouth, CraigsList, Facebook ads, MySpace, etc).  Along the way we met Alex Bodnar, a true musical prodigy who had produced albums, written music for known acts, toured with Creed and so forth. Once he was aboard, things really took off.  We held multiple auditions for the next 3-4 months for singers, drummers and bassists.  Sam Fishman (our drummer) was the first to sign up.  The guy is a rock legend waiting to happen.  Then came the highly experienced Ryan Kinle (our bassist) who had founded his previous band (Matchbook Romance) and toured with them for almost a decade.  The last piece of the puzzle came to us courtesy of the US Navy, when Dave Bray walked into an audition – a born rockstar, gifted performer, military man, and true conservative.  Once he was in the picture, the puzzle was complete.

My goal is to have the band perform at dozens of major campaign and GOP events to make sure these events are fun, entertaining, and enormously attractive to potential attendees.  Liberals have successfully used this strategy for decades to dramatically increase turnout at their events and make their ideology “cool.”  Madison Rising will allow conservatives to do the same thing, to significantly increase attendance at political events and to successfully infuse ideologically suppressed ideas (like what true liberty really is, or having some gratitude for all the things we have in this country) back into popular culture.  This approach should be especially successful with respect to younger (18-35) voters, a key demographic where conservatives desperately need to focus.

Madison Rising will be available for live events as of September 2011.  The band has established relationships with media outlets including newspapers, radio shows and television networks that have agreed to help promote the material.

You can learn more about Madison Rising on their official website.  Do take a moment to subscribe to their brand new YouTube channel and Like their new FaceBook page and please help spread the word.  Their debut single Soldiers of America is now available on iTunes.

As I mentioned in an article just published in the August edition of Smart Girl Nation, entitled “The Sound of Freedom”…“Pardon our noise; it’s the sound of freedom”. Thanks to talented conservative artists like Madison Rising, we are (to borrow a line from our friend and fellow culture warrior, Jeannie Hinck) “rocking the sound of freedom like a BigDawg”!

Andrew (BigDawg) and I wish you and yours a safe and blessed Labor Day weekend and may the Good Lord continue to watch over our brothers and sisters in harm’s way.

One year ago my good friend & songmate, BigDawg, and I decided to launch BigDawg Music Mafia to showcase the many creative ways our fellow patriots are getting engaged in the pop culture revolution, speaking truth to power through their God-given talents (songs, art, blogs, books, photography, poems, radio shows, film, humor, acting, etc).

Today, with 565 members/artists attracting over half a million site hits from around the world in our first year, we have plenty to say and an increasing number of visitors dropping in every day to “hear” us out.  With such a diverse group of artists with a wide range of talent, it is only natural that some of us would find ourselves joining forces on some cool collaborations/projects.

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Our latest project, Get Off the Stage, written by one of our members who goes by the name “Mick”, is described in an electronic press kit he recently released and distributed.  Here are some excerpts:

There is a new wave of protest music sweeping the country, but it’s not coming from the left — it’s coming from the right side of the political spectrum.  A band of New Patriot musicians have collaborated to release a new song entitled Get Off the Stage and it has a potent message for President Obama and other leaders:

“We’re not following your act on Twitter, We’re not fans of your Facebook Page, Your 15 minutes are up, Get Off the Stage.”

 

This song  is a collaboration by artists who believe in liberty and are not satisfied with country’s direction.  All of the artists on the song are stars in their own right who have come together to record a song that sends a clear message to our country’s leaders that real change is needed.  These artists have watched the country’s leaders expand the size of government, rack up huge debt, and ignore its citizens.

The song features Nashville lead vocalist Jana Seantelle whose rich vocals capture the ire that is rising in this country for real change.

Seantelle is joined by artists from a broad range of musical styles ranging from Jonathan Paddington’s searing rock guitar to Lisa Mei Norton’s insightful backing vocals.  The cast and crew of The Big Dawg Patriots is filled out by 99.3FM and 1400AM KQMS Talk Radio Host Alana Burke, Nashville’s Jon Statham, Mick, and the original BigDawg (Andrew) on keyboards.  The song was digitally mastered at Studio Paridiso by Shawn Biggs.

The BigDawg Music Mafia website is ground zero for the New Patriot Sound that is spreading across the country.

Hollywood and the Left no longer have a monopoly on the music industry.  While cool conservative music may come as a surprise to some, the New Patriot Sound is living proof that conservative music is cool.

The Artists

Jana Seantelle – The idea of a female vocalist, a country one at that, came after both Jon and Mick had tried out the song and did not find it fitting their voices.  Jana was one of six female vocalists that responded to the Craigslist and BigDawg postings.

“…I consider myself to be a Jesus lovin’, heat packin’, flag wavin’ AMERICAN!!!  Here is a link to MySpace.  You can hear my voice and get in touch with me if you think I’ll be a fit.  -Jana”

Get off the Stage puts forth common sense and is a great rallying vehicle.  And we really need to rally right now.  I’ve changed from apprehension about getting involved, to action.  It’s like ‘My name is Jon Statham and this is what I believe.’  The time for just being a spectator is over for most people.  There is too much at stake.  One cannot sit on the sidelines anymore — it’s your future that is being decided right now!

I thank the Good Lord every day for giving this movement a true leader.  Drew often says “For me it’s all about the music and the arts, helping others, making them believe in themselves, and encouraging them to get involved.”

Social networks allow me to keep my finger on the pulse of America and it is the voices of the often silent majority that I want to engage.  People from every state are tuning in and most importantly, sharing their voices on the air, in chat, and on Facebook.  It’s true that professional pundits are powerful people, but each and every one of us has the same weight when it comes to voting.

 

As the pendulum swings, its a new day coming, grassroots underground Patriots are moving into the light, one by one, to rescue the land…….,help is on the way! ~ Niner

"You are charged with being an inconvenient truth."

** SPOILER-AMUS **

Let’s consider the various themes that run throughout the books and movies. Do you remember the individual v. collective thing from my prior post about what makes a film conservative (Portus)? Potter has it in spades:

• Anti-Government Themes. A common theme throughout the books is that the government not only cannot help you, but will abuse its power to harm you. The Ministry of Magic is hopelessly bureaucratic and ultra-intrusive. It regulates every trivial aspect of wizards’ lives, e.g. caldron sizes, but it cannot protect the people. Instead, it gets brutal trying to cover up its ineptitude. When Dumbledore warns the world that Voldemort has returned, the MOM tries to discredit Dumbledore and then Harry. When this proves ineffective, it tries to drive Harry from the magic world through a Soviet-style show trial. It then drums up fake charges against Dumbledore and chases him from Hogwarts, where he is replaced with a bureaucrat (Delores Umbridge) who imposes an educational agenda designed to lower all children to the lowest common denominator. The government also seizes key industries, hides behind a veil of secrecy, denies the truth, and locks up its opponents. Frankly, this sounds like something Ayn Rand or George Orwell could have written.

• Pro-Capitalism Themes. Harry Potter is also unabashedly pro-capitalism. Time and again, the private sector, not the government, is shown to be superior. Whereas the government world is drab and oppressive, the private sector is vibrant and alive. This is true from the pro-commerce Diagon Alley, to the way The Quibbler (a tabloid) rises to meet consumer demand for the truth when the main paper falls under the influence of the government, to the Weasley brothers being a walking advertisement for the joys of starting your own business. Even the fight against Voldemort is handled without the “help” of the government.

• Anti-Cult of Personality Themes. The Death Eaters, Voldemort’s followers, worship him in a strange cult of personality. They do as they are told without question. . . “Yes we can, my master, yes we can.” Nothing is more classically liberal than thinking for yourself. Nothing is more modern liberal than uncritically believing what you are told by a “gifted” leader.

But what about traditional morality? That’s the second part of the equation (Portus). Well, Potter is deeply conservative there too:

• Rejection of Moral Relativism. Rowling simply does not accept shades of gray in these books. The good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. It’s black and white. Readers are told repeatedly that you cannot do evil and remain good, even where evil seems to offer an easy solution. And whenever a character suggests that an evil character might only be evil because they feel pressured or disadvantaged (like Dumbledore suggests about Malfoy or Tom Riddle), those characters always prove that person wrong with violence.

Further, Voldemort is an evil man. He is not evil because he is misunderstood, or the product of an unhappy childhood, or driven to evil by economics or lack of health care. . . he is evil by choice. And while various motivations are offered to explain him to the audience, it is never suggested that the audience should sympathize with him or excuse his behavior. This is a truly conservative message: evil should be fought, not sympathized with. Heck, this message is so conservative that if you put the third book to your ear, you can actually hear an ACLU lawyer weeping.

"My social worker said I have clarity issues. . . so I killed her to make myself clear."

• The Value of Hard Work/Self-Reliance. Unlike most modern heroes, Harry is actually nothing special. He’s not smarter or wiser or stronger or faster than the other kids. He doesn’t have super powers. What Harry does have, is a group of people who care about him and who push him to work harder. When he does, he succeeds. When he doesn’t, he fails. It’s that simple. In the Harry Potter world, hard work gets rewarded, slacking gets punished, and anyone can succeed if they are determined to succeed. What could be more conservative than that?

• Belief in Traditional Families. The series repeatedly stresses the importance of the traditional family. Harry’s mother and father died to protect him, and in so doing, put a charm on him, which protects him so long as he has family, even nasty family like his uncle and aunt. The happiest people in the series are the Weasley family, who impart invaluable lessons about love, responsibility and all the other things conservatives want parents to teach their kids. By comparison, the messed up kids, from Neville Longbottom to Luna Lovegood, come from single parent homes (though they rise above their problems — another conservative theme). Similarly, Malfoy and Dudley, who have complete families, are taught the wrong lessons. Malfoy’s family is loveless and spiteful. Dudley’s family is over- indulgent and selfish. Consequently, Dudley and Malfoy became really messed up. The implication is clear throughout the book: a strong family is the best foundation. Love your parents, love your kids, and teach the right values. Indeed, the greatest moments in the book involve self-sacrifice to save family members.

• The Gay Issue. But what about Dumbledore being gay, you ask? Well, first, there’s no reason a gay person can’t be conservative. If Ronald Reagan had been gay, he’d still be my favorite President. And having gay characters in films really should not be a problem for conservatives unless they’re attacking traditional or religious values. Even then, remember that you have to look beyond single moments in films to determine the overall ideology. One leftist gay character does not a commie film make (Portus). And in any event, in the Potter series, the issue of Dumbledore being gay simply NEVER comes up. . . and no, that’s not innuendo for anything — you people have dirty minds. At no point is it ever mentioned.

"Um. . . Professor Dumbledore, will this be on the test?"

There you have it. Call me crazy, but that all seems pretty conservative to me?

Thoughts? Commento Lumos!!

(P.S. Thanks for all the comments in the prior articles. I want everyone to know that I do read all the comments, even though I can’t respond to them all.)

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As with the majority of the conservative artists in the Tea Party movement, Jeremy has been traveling around the country performing on his own dime and as many fellow musicians know, studio time costs a pretty penny.  Jeremy has set up a project page where fans can participate in the production of his new songs by helping defray some of his costs, getting a few “thank you” goodies in return, and even a shout-out in his video.

Here’s what Jeremy has to say about how he got started in music and how he ended up using his talents to wake his fellow Americans up:

Sarah Palin IS The Undefeated.

 By the time you finish watching this superbly scripted and produced two-hour documentary about the former Alaskan Governor, if you don’t come to that conclusion, you were either asleep during the film or you still  believe that “Community Organizer” trumps true executive experience and success as qualification to serve as America’s Commander-In-Chief.

Dim the house lights…

It is 2008 and Republican Presidential candidate John McCain introduces Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate to a crowd of thousands of enthusiastic supporters.  The beautiful, poised, confident Governor takes the stage at the Republican National Convention to thunderous applause and delivers an electrifying speech with a level of charisma, wit, and passion not seen since Ronald Reagan, that catapulted this relatively unknown Alaskan Governor onto the National political stage making her almost instantly and simultaneously one of the most revered and one of the most reviled politicians in recent memory.

In stark contrast, the film then cuts over to a dramatic 3-minute montage of pure, unadulterated hatred from the left for this VP candidate which history will record as one of the most vicious campaigns to annihilate a public figure.  It was vulgar.  It was brutal.  It was violent.  It was main stream.  It was textbook Alinsky.  And yet, she is still standing…undefeated.

"Civility" from the left...

The attacks from the liberal pundits, journalists, talk show hosts, celebrities and patrons of social networking sites and the blogosphere were completely abhorrent and offensive.  So much so that the film’s writer/director, Stephen Bannon, told us at the private screening of the rough cut of the film, he would have to do a lot of creative editing to mask some of the more vulgar and violent footage to get the film to a PG-13 rating for National distribution, yet still convey the same astonishing level of the left’s pathological hatred for Palin.  If you have even an ounce of human decency or compassion, viewing this brief sampling of the almost maniacal attacks on Sarah Palin should make your blood boil.  What has she ever done to deserve this?  Does her mere existence threaten people so much they feel she must be destroyed completely before they are satisfied?

Their latest display of depravity or desperation as it were, with the release of over 24,000 of her private emails from her tenure as Alaska’s Governor, has even drawn criticism from those who would never vote for Palin).  The timing couldn’t be better, though, as we are finding (much to the dismay of the corrupt MSM) that she was every bit the dedicated, hard-working Governor depicted in Bannon’s documentary.

But then we see the words from Matthew 7: 17-20 appear on the screen almost as if to calm our souls and bring all of this into perspective.  We are reminded with this passage that this truly is a spiritual battle between good and evil…right from wrong.   Not just for Governor Palin, but for all of us…for our Nation.

“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” ~ Matthew 7:20

By the end of this film, you will know who Sarah Palin really is.

With opening credits rolling we hear a single, solitary female voice singing an a capella rendition of The Minstrel Boy (a favorite among Irishmen who fought in the Civil War), with never-before-seen home video footage of a happy, care-free American girl blossoming into a beautiful, accomplished young lady growing up in a small town tucked away in the beautiful, vast, wild, expanses of “The Last Frontier”.  As the singer concludes her song with the words “thy song was made for the pure and free and shall never sound in slavery”, the story that chronicles the political career of Alaska’s own pioneer and patriot, Sarah Palin, begins.

Mayor of Wasilla

With commentary from conservative heavy-hitters Mark Levin, Andrew Breitbart, and Tammy Bruce, conservative activists, former staffers, and others, Stephen Bannon does a brilliant job telling the story of Palin’s rise from obscurity in the lower 48 to stardom on the National political stage.  The seed was planted shortly after the Exxon Valdez disaster that Good Friday, 24 March 1989.  It was when she saw the devastation caused to the community, to the people, to the Alaskan economy that she decided “If I had a chance to serve the people, I would do so”.

As the film takes us through the fascinating journey that is Sarah Palin’s highly successful political career in Alaska, it is clear to see she has always been a tough-as-nails executive who understood her role as a servant for the people during her time as Mayor of Wasilla, as Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Chairwoman, and as Alaska’s most popular Governor.  We see her take on the Republican establishment, big oil, corruption, ethics reform, and tax reform and stare down the ugliness and smears she faced from her political foes and the mainstream Alaskan media with uncommon valor and a fierce, tenacious spirit.  She, like a Marine, always ran toward the danger instead of away from it and took on the huge issues nobody else dared to.  With every new challenge the naysayers claimed there was no way she could do the job, that she was not strong enough, that she lacked the “gravitas”, and didn’t have a good understanding of the issues.  She proved them all wrong…and remained undefeated.

She didn’t just talk the talk…she walked the walk.  When it came to fighting corruption within her own Administration, she said “In politics you’re either eating well or sleeping well”.  She always chose the latter.

With one legislative success after another and overwhelming bipartisan support, Governor Sarah Palin’s popularity was at a record high 88% according to Gallup’s empirical data — the highest approval rating on record for a sitting US Governor.  With that kind of approval rating, Sarah stated “My administration must be doing something right”.  She enjoyed those high approval ratings right up to the day her Blackberry rang and Senator McCain asked “Would you like to help me change history”?

And so began their campaign for the White House.

At the 2008 Republican National Convention

So, too, began another campaign — the one launched by the statists to destroy her.  Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals teaches its disciples that you must take a person’s strengths and “isolate them”.  And that is exactly what they did.  It was an organized strategy and the media gladly participated.  Bannon’s film, The Undefeated, reveals exactly what they “isolated” and as John Nolte, Editor-In-Chief of BigHollywood, so aptly put it, is “doing the job the corrupt MSM won’t”.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

While the 2008 Presidential election did not turn out as planned, Sarah Palin won the hearts of millions of Americans, and as Mark Levin noted, the excitement and enthusiasm generated by Palin was the beginning of the awakening of conservatives across the country — the beginning of what is now the TEA Party movement — and very reminiscent of what happened during the Reagan Revolution.  Americans were seeing for the first time since Reagan, a true conservative leader who had a heart for America and for the people.  “Ronald Reagan would have loved the TEA Party” said Levin.  Like Palin, Reagan was called an outsider that couldn’t win.  People said he was “too conservative”, “a right-winger”, “an extremist”.  And he was just what America needed.

Upon her return to Alaska to resume her duties as Governor, Palin was plagued with one trumped up ethics charge after another which cost her staff dearly.  Each charge was dismissed but rarely, if ever, reported by the media.  As the Palins were a middle-class family and had to pay their own legal fees (which had amassed to over $500,000), the intent of her opponents was to force her family into bankruptcy.  Governor Palin knew that with all the negative press and increasing opposition contributing to her declining popularity, she would not be able to pass one single piece of legislation for the people of Alaska.  She knew her constituents were paying the price and suffering simply because their Governor’s name was “Sarah Palin”.  Her decision to step down, as in all her decisions, was in the best interest of the people.  She said “Life is about choices.  You can choose things that tear you down or build you up”.  She always made the right choice for the people in spite of the harsh criticism she knew she would receive.  “Thank God Sarah refuses to accept the premise of her destruction” stated one of her supporters in the film.  Her spirit cannot not be defeated.

In the final scene, as Sarah is speaking at the 2011 Tax Day Rally in Wisconsin, her hair and glasses soaked from the falling snow but the crowd every bit as fired up as they were the day she took the stage at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Sarah Palin states with the same passion and conviction present in every single speech she delivers “We’re here, we’re clear…get used to it.  God has shed His Grace on thee.  Mr. President…Game on!”

We are left to ponder the words of Thomas Paine:  “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”

This is a must-see film that “Palinistas” will absolutely love and will allow Palin skeptics to see what the media has so successfully isolated — hidden in plain sight.  I dare you to go see it.

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