The NEA: More Than Just A Little ‘Gay’

Last month, National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman said that, in American politics, ”the arts are a little bit of a target.  The subtext is that it is elitist, left wing, maybe even a little gay.”

Well, the NEA has certainly earned that reputation these past few weeks.  Just like the LGBT community, the NEA – which purports to help struggling artists of all kinds - is following in lockstep with The One, regardless of whether it’s good for artistic expression, free speech, or real people.

Last fall, I was amazed at how many folks in the gay community let themselves believe that getting Obama elected would be the magical first step towards achieving “equality” – at least in terms of appropriating the word “marriage” - despite the fact that He had already stated clearly that He is against gay marriage.

And no one seemed to care (much less recall) that, in 2007, The One had told CNN that building a consensus for gay marriage would be “difficult and distracting” – you know, like the Iraq war?  (Or gnats.) (more…)

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Tags: 'Health Care Reform, Andres Serrano, Art, Bobby Jindal, Chris Ofili
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 at 3:33 pm in Art, Politics | 22802273 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cwinecoff/2009/09/22/the-nea-more-than-just-a-little-gay/The+NEA%3A+More+Than+Just+A+Little+%27Gay%272009-09-22+22%3A33%3A06Charles+Winecoff

Pregame Report: The NEA Conference Call

On August 25th 2009, Big Hollywood’s Patrick Courrielche broke the story of a conference call he attended with other “rising artist and art community luminaries”:

On Thursday August 6th, I was invited by the National Endowment for the Arts to attend a conference call scheduled for Monday August 10th hosted by the NEA, the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve. The call would include “a group of artists, producers, promoters, organizers, influencers, marketers, taste-makers, leaders or just plain cool people to join together and work together to promote a more civically engaged America and celebrate how the arts can be used for a positive change!” 

The email invite came directly from Yosi Sergant, then-Director of Communications at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and it advised this hand-picked group that the call was about laying “a new foundation for growth, focusing on core areas of the recovery agenda – health care, energy and environment, safety and security, education, community renewal.” 

Courrielche describes the call this way: (more…)

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Tags: 'Health Care Reform, big government, Buffy Wicks, Dana Loesch, George Will
Posted Sep 20th 2009 at 6:43 pm in Art, Politics | 230454221 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mflynnjnolte/2009/09/20/pregame-report-the-nea-conference-call/Pregame+Report%3A+The+NEA+Conference+Call2009-09-21+01%3A43%3A02Mike+Flynn+and+John+Nolte

The National Endowment for the Art of Persuasion?

I recently wrote a critique of the art community’s lack of dissent in the face of many controversial decisions made by the current administration. Entitled “The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident,” one of the key points argued in the article was the potential danger associated with the use of the art community as a tool of the state. Little did I know how quickly this concern would be elevated to an outright probability. 

Sometime between when I finished the critique and when it went live online, I was invited by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to take part in a conference call that invited a group of rising artist and art community luminaries “to help lay a new foundation for growth, focusing on core areas of the recovery agenda – health care, energy and environment, safety and security, education, community renewal.”  (more…)

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Tags: "The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident", 'Health Care Reform, Buffy Wicks, Cap and Trade, Lyndon B. Johnson
Posted Aug 25th 2009 at 12:44 pm in Art, Culture, Featured Story, Politics | 209182602 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/08/25/the-national-endowment-for-the-art-of-persuasion-patrick-courrielche/The+National+Endowment+for+the+Art+of+Persuasion%3F2009-08-25+19%3A44%3A51Patrick+Courrielche

Big Government, Big Mistake

The biggest success of the “Spending Bill,” oops, “Stimulus Bill,” is ending. Yup, that is right; “Cash for Clunkers” is gone. Why? Because it was such a big success, the government ran out of money for the program not once, but twice. This time President Obama is shutting it down. No more money. It is finished. The official spin is that it brought the automobile industry back from destruction. Or, did it? 

In my opinion, it is just another example of a government program that did not work contrary to what I said in a prior column. To begin with, the government mistook the popularity of the program and only allocated one billion dollars of stimulus money to the bill. That money ran out in less than two weeks. Then, Congress immediately allocated another two billion dollars. That money is running out in less than four weeks. Another Big Government miscalculation!  (more…)

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Tags: 'Health Care Reform, big government, Medicaid, Medicare, Obama
Posted Aug 23rd 2009 at 2:44 pm in Featured Story, Politics | 20915829 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/fdemartini/2009/08/23/big-government-big-mistake/Big+Government%2C+Big+Mistake2009-08-23+21%3A44%3A16Frank+DeMartini

Daily Gut: Thank You, Old People

So right now the public option part of Obama’s health care reform bill is in free fall, and many are blaming Republican opposition. Which, of course, is giving the Republicans way too much credit. Fact is, the people you have to thank for this surprising turn of events are old people.

Thank you, old people.

It reminds me of my Macbook. See, mine’s been having problems for the last six months and I keep planning to take it in, but I never do. Instead of walking a few blocks to the Apple Store on a sunny Saturday, I waste the day watching Top Chef marathons in my underwear.

Now, compare that to my mom. I got her a Macbook for her birthday last year – but somehow within a few weeks of owning it, she touched a button, causing everything on her desktop to disappear. Only old people can seem to find that hidden button. (more…)

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Tags: 'Health Care Reform, elderly, health care, ObamaCare, old people
Posted Aug 17th 2009 at 3:10 pm in Daily Gut, Featured Story | 206386130 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/08/17/daily-gut-thank-you-old-people/Daily+Gut%3A+Thank+You%2C+Old+People2009-08-17+22%3A10%3A39Greg+Gutfeld

Health Reform and the Tenth Amendment

HR 3200, the so-called health reform bill, in my opinion, is one of the worst pieces of legislation ever to be considered by Congress.  It, not only, would lead us down the path of socialism but, in the process, would bankrupt the entire country.  I am very happy to see that citizens are showing up at town hall meetings throughout the country and voicing their complaints about the bill and health care reform in general.  It is actually quite funny watching Congressmen squirm when the tough questions are asked.  And, it is even more interesting when they cannot respond to the tough questions because they have not read the bill or are even familiar with its contents. 

I suggest you continue going to the town hall meetings and voice your concerns.  And, do not be afraid to get angry.  The Democrat and Republican Congressmen must know they will not be reelected if HR 3200 passes as it is currently written.  But, please, do not get violent.  Violence at these meetings will do nothing except make the opposition look weak and dumb, and hurt the path of democracy.  Violence at these meetings is similar to me being called a racist this week because I stated on a public forum that HR 3200 should not pay for medical services for illegal immigrants.  Remember the protest ways of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. (more…)

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Tags: 'Health Care Reform, Congress, constitution, health care, HR 3200
Posted Aug 17th 2009 at 8:49 am in Politics | 20541472 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/fdemartini/2009/08/17/health-reform-and-the-tenth-amendment/Health+Reform+and+the+Tenth+Amendment2009-08-17+15%3A49%3A53Frank+DeMartini

Has Liberalism Jumped the Shark?

The term “Jump the Shark” has been with us for a while. The clever metaphor is used for the moment when something of cultural significance begins to lose its luster, and descends into lameness.  It is a reference to the T.V. show “Happy Days,” specifically the episode when Fonzie water skied over shark infested waters.   This is the precise moment where the show began to decline.

Republicans and conservatives are dancing with glee every time a new poll comes out showing Obama’s poll numbers going down faster than a Hilton (Perez or Paris) after a nice dinner and a couple of cocktails. The support for things like Universal Health Care, closing Gitmo, and Cap and Trade are sinking even faster. Yet, that’s not the whole story.  Something else is going on here.  Something that begs the question: Has Liberalism “Jumped the Shark”?

Ehhhh…

Over the last sixty days or so, we’ve seen some amazing things. We saw a “wise Latina,” a self-described “affirmative action baby” claim that her statements were taken out of context or merely “meant to inspire,” and that race has nothing to do with her job performance. The White House has re-branded the $787 billion “stimulus package” a “stabilization package.” Our Vice-President, devious genius that he is, stated that we need to, “crazy as it sounds,” spend like lunatics to avoid bankruptcy. A gay blogger and gay civil rights champion called a black guy “the worst thing [he] could think of…a faggot.” We saw our government allow Iranian protesters, who peacefully challenged a rigged election, get shot in the street. Concurrently, we demanded that a tin-pot dictator be reinstated after his government got wise to his schemes and legally booted him. (more…)

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Tags: 'Health Care Reform, Cap and Trade, Fonzie, gitmo, Jump the Shark
Posted Jul 24th 2009 at 8:33 am in Featured Story, Politics | 190162262 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lscott/2009/07/24/has-liberalism-jumped-the-shark/Has+Liberalism+Jumped+the+Shark%3F2009-07-24+15%3A33%3A12Leigh+Scott

Cockroaches in the Hospital on Your Chest

Since I turn 50 next month, I’m focused on my Bucket List.  There are only 2 things left I haven’t accomplished.  1)  I’ve always wanted to be “an airhead on a sitcom.”  Of all the roles I’ve played, many of which I wasn’t suited for, strangely, this one has eluded me.  2) Attend a weekly Bible study.  So, I am now in a Bible study group on Wednesdays and the rest of the week I pursue airhead roles, which basically means I wait…for an audition.  I get about one a year.  This year I got an audition for American Pie IV, but I turned it down because of the sexual content.  

At my Bible study group this week I was sitting between Mavis and her Chihuahua named Pedro, and Sonia, an Iranian who lived five years in Russia, where she waited to receive her legal U.S. citizenship.  I asked Pastor Joel “Why does the Bible say Jesus was from the lineage of King David, if he had no blood from his father in him, since he was born of a virgin?  Pastor Joel excitedly replied, “Oh, well turn to Matthew 1 and Luke 3!  Mary and Joseph were both descendants of David as you can see by these genealogies.  So, the Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled that said the Messiah would be from the priestly (through Nathan) and kingly (through Solomon) lineage of David.  The blood of Mary which was from David ran through Jesus.  Oh. I always wondered about that.   (more…)

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Tags: 'Health Care Reform, Bucket List, Communist Russia, hate speech, King David
Posted Jul 17th 2009 at 5:03 am in Featured Story, Politics | 185310174 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/vjackson/2009/07/17/cockroaches-in-the-hospital-on-your-chest/Cockroaches+in+the+Hospital+on+Your+Chest2009-07-17+12%3A03%3A55Victoria+Jackson