Stand Up Notes From Flyover Country: Facebook Comment to Folks in the News

Like millions of other Americans I have been caught up in the Facebook/social networking craze. I believe that Facebook is like a near-death experience except your life passes before your eyes one friend request at a time. I have  been trying to “friend” a lot of people in the news, without much success. There’s been no acceptance of my friend requests from President Obama, Dede Scozzafava, Jeremiah Wright and a host of others. So in order to reach them with some timely advice I am posting some comments here. If you are on their Facebook friend list maybe you could pass them along. 

@ Dede Scozzafava – When you try to stand in the middle of the road you get run over. Thanks for showing where you stand when the heat was on. Go stand in the “has-been” line behind Arlen Specter.

@ Barack Obama - Mr. President, if the trip to Dover wasn’t a photo-op or political why take a photographer along? (more…)

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Tags: David Axelrod, Dede Scozzafava, facebook, Fred Thompson, Jeremiah Wright
Posted Nov 4th 2009 at 6:05 pm in Celebrity News, Political Humor, Religion | 25766259 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjena/2009/11/04/stand-up-notes-from-flyover-country-facebook-comment-to-folks-in-the-news/Stand+Up+Notes+From+Flyover+Country%3A+Facebook+Comment+to+Folks+in+the+News2009-11-05+02%3A05%3A08Jeffrey+Jena

Sarah Palin: One Year Later

On August 29th, 2008, I woke up and, like almost every other American, was stunned by the news that Sarah Palin had been chosen as John McCain’s running mate. It was not that I had never heard of her or didn’t want her to be the pick (I had publicly called for her consideration numerous times), but because it was so clearly a very bold and risky maneuver and a true surprise in an era when we seemingly know everything well before it happens.

Moments after I heard the news I did a radio interview and predicted that the news media would destroy her in their transparent quest to pave the way for Barack Obama’s historic election. I had no idea just how right that “blink” calculation would be and I certainly never would have guessed that I would become a small part of that story by dedicating my life and fortune to documenting just how unbelievably bad it would get.

The last twelve months of Sarah Palin’s life truly bring new meaning to the phrase “what a difference a year makes.” I strongly believe that no public figure in modern America has ever endured more stress, pressure and unfair scrutiny in a more dignified fashion than she has over the past year (though what George W. Bush tolerated over the last three years of his presidency probably comes in a close second).

On August 28th of last year Sarah Palin was a largely unknown governor considered to be a rising star largely because of her willingness to take on Republicans in a way that had endeared her to Democrats. Today she is an ex-governor wrongly perceived by most of the country and virtually all of the news media as an erratic, unqualified, lightweight and ultra-partisan Republican who can’t even mange her own family.  (more…)

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Tags: Alaska, Barack Obama, Bill Maher, Chris Matthews, David Letterman
Posted Aug 28th 2009 at 7:55 am in Featured Story, Politics | 213110318 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jziegler/2009/08/28/sarah-palin-one-year-later/Sarah+Palin%3A+One+Year+Later2009-08-28+14%3A55%3A02John+Ziegler

The Shattered Glass of Celebrity

The Hollywood star system: Rest in Peace.

Nowadays, when I trawl through Blockbuster aisles, I find films with major stars that never saw the dark light of a theater. I’ve never even heard of some films. And I wonder about the parallel between society and film. History may be defined as the intersection of amazing events with amazing people. Will Mallory make the climb up the cliffs of Navarone? People created history by their choices, hesitations, fears, desires, whimsy, obsessions and visions.  Will the Colonel give in to Saito’s brutality? Great films, anchored by magnetic personalities, cast wide nets across our consciousness. Will Lawrence survive the Devil’s Anvil?

“Epic,”film producer Frank McCarthy (”Patton”) once told me, “is defined as a man who changes himself, his community and his world.”  In short, all the great character arcs in a movie script have driven the creation of events and epics which, in turn, are pushpins in World History. A noted script consultant, Chris Vogler,  distilled and explained the work of Joseph Campbell, an expert on tribal storytelling and myth. Vogler explains the hero’s journey through the Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, the Refusal of the Call, Mentor, Threshold, Tests by Allies and Enemies, Approach, Ordeal, Reward and The Road Back. (more…)

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Tags: "JCVD", blockbuster, blogs, Blue Ray, celebrity
Posted Aug 24th 2009 at 5:03 am in Art, Celebrity News, Film | 19372641 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mmandaville/2009/08/24/the-shattered-glass-of-celebrity/The+Shattered+Glass+of+Celebrity2009-08-24+12%3A03%3A54Michael+Mandaville

Boycotting the Boycotters

This week’s Washington Times column:

John Mackey – the founder, CEO and marketing genius behind Whole Foods – finds himself in an organic, unsustainable mess with his carefully cultivated affluent, liberal customer base after penning an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal titled, “The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare.”

For starters, Mr. Mackey opens with a line from known-liberal-allergen Margaret Thatcher that features the dreaded “S” word: “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” Then he goes on to provide eight sensible free-market solutions gleaned from his company’s well-regarded employee health care program.

Mr. Mackey, a free-market libertarian, is now at the mercy of an unforgiving grass-roots mob intent on destroying his company. More than 25,000 people have signed on to a Whole Foods boycott on Facebook.

“Whole Foods has built its brand with the dollars of deceived progressives,” the online petition reads. “Let them know your money will no longer go to support Whole Foods’ anti-union, anti-health insurance reform, right-wing activities.”

(more…)

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Tags: facebook, healthcare, John Mackey, Margaret Thatcher, nancy pelosi
Posted Aug 23rd 2009 at 7:56 pm in Culture, Featured Story, Media Criticism, News, Politics | 210222185 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/08/23/boycotting-the-boycotters/Boycotting+the+Boycotters2009-08-24+02%3A56%3A46Andrew+Breitbart

Daily Gut: Townhalls vs. Twitter

So what happens when you produce something so huge that it’s virtually unreadable? Normally it’s left unread. I call it the Harlot’s Ghost maxim.

But what do you get when this strategy of over-delivering backfires? Pure comedy unmatched even by a “Golden Girls” marathon.

More specifically, you get pols who never read the health care bill faced with people who have. Witness the town hall meeting this morning with Senator Arlen Specter. The folks present didn’t just read the bill, they’re now quoting it – something even the Titan of Transparency never really wanted.

Even better, this level of discourse is coming from the non-Twitter crowd, the beyond Facebook folks more concerned with Lipitor side effects than Lady Gaga’s lady parts. They are not motivated by racism, as the left wants everyone to believe, but by real concerns – some raised at the dinner table, some reasoned in books. None from Twitter, I imagine. (more…)

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Tags: Arlen Specter, facebook, Golden Girls, Harlot's Ghost, healthcare bill
Posted Aug 11th 2009 at 3:01 pm in Culture, Daily Gut, News, Politics | 20398659 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/08/11/daily-gut-townhalls-vs-twitter/Daily+Gut%3A+Townhalls+vs.+Twitter2009-08-11+22%3A01%3A13Greg+Gutfeld

My Weekly Date with a Liberal – ‘Emotional Redistribution’

The article will begin shortly.

Thank you for your patience.  Let’s begin.

Although facebook has been the gift that keeps on giving in terms of confirming whether or not a prospective date is or is not a liberal, for this installment I thought I’d put my instincts to the test by participating in the very underrated process of “stereotyping.”

I think, and rightfully so, that many Americans feel that Los Angeles is a place bankrupt of spirituality…not to mention just plain bankrupt. However, there is a spiritual movement among Angelinos that folks may not be aware of, largely because it is a faith so self indulgent it would be difficult for the average hard working American to fathom.  This movement is called “Spiritual Psychology.”

Let me just say this for fear of being labeled judgmental: I have nothing against spirituality or psychology; in fact, I actually saw a Medicine Man on an Indian reservation in the Jemez Valley to help me with a “problem” I’d prefer not to discuss here. It was an extremely spiritual, dare I say magical experience, after which my “problem” did not improve in the least. (more…)

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Tags: Ana Gasteyer, boba, breitbart, Carpet Fresh, facebook
Posted Jul 28th 2009 at 5:02 am in Culture, Featured Story, News, Religion | 193070100 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jdavid/2009/07/28/my-weekly-date-with-a-liberal-emotional-redistribution/My+Weekly+Date+with+a+Liberal+-+%27Emotional+Redistribution%272009-07-28+12%3A02%3A30Jon+David

Do The Warhol— Part 2: The Cult(ure) of Personality

“In fifteen minutes, everyone will be famous.” —Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol also spoke that jewel of wisdom, presumably demonstrating a sense of humor in referring to his most famous quote.  Or was it, perhaps, prescient, albeit unintended foreknowledge?  Pity he’s not around to toy with Twitter.

Bridge as visual metaphor, Media as bridge, Pittsburgh.

Looking back at Part 1, we considered a couple of insights into Andy’s Pop Life with the aim of solving some problems surrounding Mr. Breitbart’s incisive assertion that conservatives must come to terms with popular culture, and more, use it to advantage, or fail catastrophically in countering the negative effects of said culture and restoring public confidence in fundamental ideals.  Narcissism, amorality, and an attitude of entitlement, as examples, speak poorly to the future of democracy, while the virtues of valuing others, the practice of ethical discernment and choice, and the elevating ideas of individual liberty and self-reliance are greatly to be desired in the body politic, and traditionally set America apart from typical “statist” governments around the world.  Evidence abounds of the former set of attitudes in common currency as reflected in pop culture; the latter set, highly prized by conservatives, goes sorely wanting for attention in movies, TV, music, etc. (more…)

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Tags: "The Good", American Exceptionalism, Blair Witch, celebrity, Culture
Posted Jul 24th 2009 at 6:56 am in Art, Classic Hollywood, Politics | 18009821 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sgraves/2009/07/24/do-the-warhol%e2%80%94-part-2-the-culture-of-personality/Do+The+Warhol%E2%80%94+Part+2%3A+The+Cult%28ure%29+of+Personality2009-07-24+13%3A56%3A06Scott+Graves

Tinseltown Twitters Tea Parties

During this past week’s “Tea Party” protests across the country, this reporter monitored the Twitter and Facebook chatter amongst his Hollywood actor and writer friends. It was an absolute, eye-opening education on the effectiveness of hard-left indoctrination.

Note: Out of respect for my friends and peers, I deliberately and carefully paraphrased any postings or “tweets” listed here so as to protect the anonymity of the poster. Unlike many hard-core liberals I know, I enjoy having friends with opposing points of view and I don’t want abuse to come to them.

That said, the following are the best examples out of several short messages from Obama supporters quietly protesting the “Tea Parties.” (more…)

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Tags: facebook, hollywood, Obama, Party, protest
Posted Apr 21st 2009 at 2:03 pm in Celebrity News, Politics | 101314One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jslewinski/2009/04/21/hollywood-tax-theory-thou-shalt-not-oppose-thy-government/Tinseltown+Twitters+Tea+Parties2009-04-21+21%3A03%3A43John+Scott+Lewinski

Six Degrees of Paris Hilton

Part pit bull, part Columbo whacked out on a pot of espresso, they don’t make investigative journalists like Mark Ebner anymore. And that’s good news if you’re a dirt bag, scum bag, douche bag or any sort of Hollywood low-level, window peeping, carpet crawling, masturbation celebrity want-to-be.

Mr. Ebner is one of the few writers left today willing to get down in the gutter with his subjects just to hear their truth. In his new book Six Degrees of Paris Hilton, Mr. Ebner takes you to the places they never show you on “Access Hollywood,” because if the general public could access the side of Hollywood Mr. Ebner uncovers, that tub of popcorn in your lap at the multiplex would serve only one purpose, that of a barf bucket.

I recently had the chance to ask Mr. Ebner about his new book and what his thoughts on the state of Hollywood are today. (more…)

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Tags: access hollywood, Baudelaire, big hollywood, Border's, Christopher McQuarrie
Posted Feb 2nd 2009 at 10:03 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Political Humor | 3753414 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jlindsey/2009/02/02/six-degrees-of-paris-hilton/Six+Degrees+of+Paris+Hilton2009-02-02+18%3A03%3A00Joseph+Lindsey