You won’t see KISS rocker Gene Simmons anchoring any cable news program, but the ageless bass player is eager to discuss the current GOP field.

Count Simmons in the Mitt Romney camp, and his reasons for choosing the former governor over Newt Gingrich come down to a pragmatic view of modern women. Simply put, they won’t stand for a first lady who came in third.

Mitt Romney’s got a chance … and he’s got the experience. He’s run successful companies, knows how to make money and knows how to be taxed at 15 percent instead of 48 percent if he lived in Beverly Hills the way I get taxed,” he says. “If you invest you should be taxed at 13-15 percent because if you invest you could also lose everything, so it’s all fair.

Simmons is more cynical regarding former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s hopes of beating President Barack Obama in the fall, and it’s not because Gingrich isn’t qualified to become Commander in Chief. (more…)

The Sundance Film Festival is where one-percenters gather to hurl stones at haughty, out of touch (Republican) politicians whom they claim are hurting the ninety-nine percenters. This year a curious thing happened: Gene Simmons rolled in and cleaned house.

The bassist for KISS, who can always be trusted to speak his mind and who, unlike many other entertainers, actually has something to say, gave us his take on Robert Redford, President Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney.

Regarding Redford’s statements against one-percenters, statements that only Occupy Wall Street types could love, Simmons said:

He means well, he’s a great guy. But it’s a bit hypocritical, since he’s part of the one percent, to address the 99 percent.

Simmons then went to speak to that fact that he doesn’t like all the class warfare, all the dividing of people into different camps.

Either we are all Americans, or you’re going to fall victim. This is the reason why the old Roman Empire died, it fell from within. Division from within is one of the stupidest things you can do.

Regarding Obama, Simmons basically called him a rookie, and stated anew his regret for supporting him in 2008.

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On June 15th I had a post on Big Hollywood detailing Gene Simmons’ admission not simply that he voted for Obama, but that he wanted his vote back. It was during an interview on Fox Business’ Varney & Co. that Simmons stated clearly: “[Obama] is unqualified.” (He went to refer to Obama’s foreign policy toward Israel as “lunacy” and to deride Obama’s furtherance of the nanny state mentality via government handouts.)

Now, Simmons has upped the ante by predicting “The next president will be Gov. Rick Perry.” (Mind you, Obama is running for re-election, so this is tantamount to saying Perry is going to beat Obama in 2012.)

Simmons has also intimated that he will be voting for Perry, inasmuch as he said the candidates for whom he votes always win: “I voted for Pres Bush. I voted for Pres Clinton. I voted for Pres Obama… [Gov. Perry] will be our next President. I’ve never been wrong”

(I don’t want to be too picky, but Simmons was technically wrong when he bought into Obama’s “hope and change” mantra. Still, we won’t hold that against him because he’s not only seen the light, but is actually shining the light on the world right now.)

Besides his voting record, Simmons has another political feather in cap that gives his prediction a little more gravitas – in 2010 he predicted that the Tea Party would usher in “major change” during the mid-term elections.

He was certainly right on that one.

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On June 14, on FOX BUSINESS’ Varney & Co., KISS bassist Gene Simmons was special guest. He was there to renounce his own vote for Obama in 2008, to point out the dangers our nation faces from the current nanny-state mentality that’s overtaken us, and to point out where we’d headed if we don’t rein in spending and get business friendly once again.

As a citizen of Israel, he also had a strong opinion about Obama’s markedly anti-Israeli foreign policy.

The interview began with Varney pointing out that Obama had admitted he overshot on his predictions for job creation, to which Simmons responded: “[Obama] is a man that I voted into political office and…I want my vote back. …I don’t think the man is unqualified to know the structure [of business] and what business needs.”

Varney next pointed out that although Simmons owns and runs a number of businesses, he isn’t hiring at the moment. He looked at Simmons and asked why he wasn’t hiring, to which Simmons responded: “There are so many barriers. The Government means well, but it’s become our mommy and daddy.”

And from there Simmons simply unloaded: “We never gave our kids an allowance, because in real life when you train your children [that] at the end of the week [they’re] going to get an allowance… when [they] grow up…[they’re] used to getting entitlements,” and to asking, “where’s my money?”  

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This is why we love having rockers on our side:

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The Weekly Standard:

Gene Simmons, a cofounder of the rock band Kiss, recently returned to his native Israel, after a 52-year hiatus. Unlike other entertainers who have boycotted the Jewish state, such as Elvis Costello, the Pixies, and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Simmons expressed his support for Israel. “The countries they should be boycotting are the same countries that the populations are rebelling,” Simmons told the AP, suggesting that the entertainers who boycott Israel should place a more critical eye on other nations in Israel’s neighborhood. “People long to be free … And they sure as hell don’t want somebody who’s a ruler who hasn’t been elected by them.”

In supporting Israel, Simmons now joins the former lead singer of the Sex Pistols, punk rocker Johnny Rotten.

Jerusalem Post:

Even though he hadn’t returned to Israel until this week, Simmons has always been an ardent supporter of the country, most recently sending a televised message to a IDF soldier (and Kiss fan) wounded during the 2006 war with Hezbollah in which he called him a “hero.” Although Kiss has never appeared in Israel, Simmons dismissed other entertainers who have chosen to boycott the country as “idiots.”

“As an American, there’s no choice but to be supportive of Israel,” he said. “This is the Holy Land, and it’s no secret that everybody in America perceives Israel as it’s only real friend in the Middle East – who else are you going to rely on?” ….

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Let’s give Kathleen Parker credit for not badgering rock star Gene Simmons with, “Yeah, but aren’t I as awesome and chic and cute as Sarah Palin is stupid?” Such restraint on the part of someone so “unqualified” to co-host a television show next to a guy smarter than she is, who runs circles around her, is admirable. Parker’s sucking up to the left under the mistaken belief they wouldn’t smell weakness and abuse it for every partisan advantage is a “naive” mistake Sarah Palin never made — you know, the Sarah Palin with the successful TV show and bright future.

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It’s interesting  that Gene Simmons pretty much admits he voted for Obama out of white guilt. It’s also very intelligent politics on his part, a way to say to others who made the same terrible mistake, Hey, we tried to do the right thing for the right reasons and look where it got us. But we can fix it in 2012! The Kiss bassist also makes a simple (in a good way) but articulate case against against Obama’s ever-expanding government. If our presidential candidate is half as capable of making the same case against Obama in 2012, we should be in pretty good shape.

 As far as Simmons’ belief that musicians should stay out of the business of politics in their music… Does this mean “Love Gun” isn’t a a pro-Second Amendment song?

No place for hidin’ baby
No place to run
You pull the trigger of my
Love gun, (love gun), love gun
Love gun, (love gun), love gun

What am I missing? (more…)

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Watch it ALL!

It only gets better as it rolls on. (more…)

Writer/director Mike Judge’s “Extract” is being promoted as: “The creator of OFFICE SPACE heads back to work,” but this isn’t exactly true in the purest “Office Space” sense. Our protagonist Joel (Jason Bateman) does spend time at the company he owns, a flavor extract plant, but for the most part those goings on are a subplot to what is essentially a relationship comedy — and only a mildly amusing one at that.

Joel’s problem is that he can never get home from work before his wife Susie (Kristen Wiig) puts on the sweatpants at the strike of 8pm … and once the sweatpants are on there will be no sex for the Extract King. What makes him late is the personnel and personality nonsense at the office; what slows him down is Nathan (a terrific David Koecher), one of those boorish nightmares of a neighbor whose lack of self-awareness eventually forces you to be rude to them. So Joel is frustrated — very frustrated, and taking advice from the exact wrong person: His buddy Dean (Ben Affleck), a long-haired bartender who has only one answer to every imaginable problem: Narcotics. (more…)