When Arnold Schwarzenegger burst onto the political scene a couple of decades ago, he was a Republican pol’s dream: an icon of mostly liberal Hollywood willing to admit he had conservative convictions. But in the ensuing years, Schwarzenegger trampled on many of those dreams, staking out positions in elective office on immigration, cap-and-trade, and law and order that flew in the face of conservative ideology.

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And his post-gubernatorial admission of a secret affair with his housekeeper — that resulted in a love child he hid from his wife, Maria Shriver, and their children — all but shatters the family values image he tried to sustain.

The question now on most minds: Can the Terminator find a strategy to return to prominence and utter his most famous acting line, ‘I’ll be back’, once again?

I caught up with one of Hollywood’s most powerful and prominent PR players, Michael Levine, to ask that very question. He thinks the Terminator is, well, terminated.

Levine’s firm has represented a Who’s Who of American culture — from Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson to Joe Lieberman, John McCain and Bill Clinton. In short, America’s rich and powerful turn to him for advice when in crisis.

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So, I’m relieved to say the Dream Act – the bill that would provide citizenship for illegal immigrant offspring if they go to college or join the military – failed.

My growing dislike for the act came from one place: I don’t trust anything with a fluffy, positive acronym. The Dream Act? It sounds like something I saw in Tijuana involving Louie Anderson and a tub of pudding. So, of course, the actual bill would be a let down.

Anyway, the name stands for “The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act,” and that was the problem. It was a lousy bill based on a bunch of unfortunate words, that together, don’t mean squat.

They were picked to spell “dream.” That’s it.

Now, I was for the Act, until I read up on it. Here’s what I noticed:

-the idiotic qualification “if they go to college or join the military” equates sacrifice with reward. I’m all for giving citizenship for immigrants who defend our country -because that’s awesome. But getting citizenship because you go to school? Seriously. Snoring in class is easy. War is hell.

-the age range for eligibility, even after it was dialed back – is still too broad (up to age 30), with the potential for lying so wide – that the act seems as porous as our border. It’s like we’re replacing a sieve, with a sieve. (more…)

We welcome all comments below, especially from those who somehow manage to hold on to an ideology that allows for them to be enraged over Arizona enforcing its own laws while at the same time being enraged with ABC for supposedly not doing enough to enforce the ”Dancing With the Stars” voting rules.

The greatest story ever courtesy of the Washington Times:

“America’s toughest sheriff,” Phoenix’s Joe Arpaio, is creating an armed “Immigration Posse” to combat illegal immigration, and Hollywood actors Steven Seagal and Lou Ferrigno, along with Dick Tracy and Wyatt Earp, have signed up.

Fighting Justice Department accusations that his office discriminated against illegal immigrants during arrests, Sheriff Arpaio said the civilian posse of more than 50 members gives citizens a chance to fight the problem inundating their border state.

“Law enforcement budgets are being cut and agencies are losing personnel and yet the battle to stop illegal immigration must continue,” said the sheriff, who heads the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. “Arizona is the busiest port of entry for people being smuggled in from Mexico, Latin and South America. So asking for the public’s help in this endeavor makes sense, especially given the success the posses have experienced over the years.”

Fifty-six new Immigration Posse members from various professions were sworn in by the sheriff Wednesday as “illegal immigration fighters.” (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…)

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Now, If you don’t remember a place called Maywood, that’s okay. I’ve been drunk for two months.

But it’s a small “bedroom” town in L.A. that once passed a resolution supporting an Arizona boycott, after that state decided to enforce federal immigration laws.

Well, it was announced last month that Maywood is going to lay off all its employees, unload its police department, and contract everything out to another city.

Somehow this story squeaked by me, probably because the city is just one square mile, and has only 45,000 residents. And I’m drunk.

But the financial problems, some papers claim, stem from canceled insurance coverage due to millions in legal expenses – blamed on its police department. (more…)

So Mexican President Felipe Calderon was at the White House Wednesday, where he bashed Arizona’s new immigration law, calling it discriminatory to Mexicans.

The best part: when he said he wants “a border that will unite us instead of dividing us.” Uh, sounds nice – but aren’t borders the physical manifestation of division? Isn’t division… the point?

But he said this in Spanish – which to me is kinda divisive, since I took two years of it in school and was too drunk at the time to remember any of it. Nonetheless, our President gamely threw Arizona under the bus – no surprise since he never read the damn law, anyway. (more…)

What the hell is going on in this great country of ours?

First, let me say I am sick and tired of The Left destroying the values this country was built on. And not being held accountable! I see the attacks made daily and most are oblivious. If your child was drowning would you just sit there and sip a mint julep? We are all fiddling as our country is being capsized. Like on the Titanic, the quintet keeps playing as the ship sinks.

Italian immigrants arrive at Ellis Island

We are a generation that has been psycho-babbled into oblivion. We accept and make excuses for behavior that should not be tolerated. When I was growing up in my fathers house, if I did not obey my parent’s rules I would have been asked to leave. Today, we all go to group therapy and discuss how we can make a compromise and before you know it the parents are the ones who are asked to leave.

My family were immigrants. My grandparents came from Italy. Did you know that the most lynchings in American history were done to Italian immigrants? Did you know that Italian immigrants were treated like dirt? That we were shunned, spit on, killed, whipped, and treated like animals? We were called “guineas, wops, dagos.” It was thought that all Italians were criminals, part of the mafia. All because our names ended in a vowel and we had darker skin. (more…)

So, if you don’t live in Arizona, especially along the border, can you lighten up on the new immigration law?

I mean, I’m not that into Arizonan’s opinions on whether taxi fares in NYC should be raised. This is the same thing. “All politics is local,” the libs love to say.

Take these U.N. human rights experts – an oxymoron, emphasis on moron. According to them, Arizona’s new law on illegal immigration could violate international standards, whatever that means.

They claim “a disturbing pattern of legislative activity hostile to ethnic minorities and immigrants has been established…that may allow for police action targeting individuals on the basis of their perceived ethnic origin.”

Of course, they leave out the fact that the law already exists (hence the term illegal immigration), or that – as of yet – there hasn’t been an incidence of this so-called targeted police action. (more…)

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My guess is that the only pause Ebert gave this Tweet was to worry about whether it was insulting to the Commies to equate the American flag with theirs.

The Internet really has been the gift that keeps on giving with the Roger Eberts of our world. With no editors or producers, no one intelligent between them and their moral illiteracy, they just can’t help but expose their true nature to the whole world.

God bless the SEND button.

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[Ed. Note: Please welcome Vic, Owner/Editor of Screen Rant -- an addiction of mine since coming across it -- to Big Hollywood. Don't forget to bookmark his site and encourage him to return.]

One of the best things about the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double-feature Grindhouse was the inclusion of trailers for fake movies ahead of and between the two films. One of those trailers was for a fictitious film called Machete – a hard core 1970s-style grindhouse film starring Danny Trejo as a bad-ass Mexican that you don’t mess with. It was filled with mayhem, violence, death and scantily clad women… Almost immediately people started asking for a feature length film based on the faux trailer.

Now this sort of movie isn’t for everyone, but if you’re a fan of early 70s cheesy R-rated action movies, this looked like it could be a blast. About a year ago word came from Rodriguez that the movie would indeed be made, a few months later it was announced that some high-profile actors had been attached to the film, and this past January the movie was picked up for distribution.

Over the ensuing months, news of the production continued to trickle out – including a script review that was less than positive (but hey, for this kind of film, who expects Shakespeare, right?).  All it ever seemed was that it would be a cheesy, gritty, violent action movie send-up.

But then came the “illegal” movie trailer for Machete. (more…)

So last week, a Muslim protestor who vandalized a war memorial in England, walked free after prosecutors said his crimes weren’t religiously motivated.

His actions? Spray-painting “Islam will dominate the world,” “Osama is on his way” and “kill Gordon Brown.”

Yeah, no religious motivations there.

Apparently the punk, Tosheef Shah, must have just randomly come up with those phrases – perhaps overcome by aerosol paint fumes, which is really the manufacturer’s fault, when you think about it. I smell a lawsuit. He probably wanted to write “Unicorns are awesome” and “Pez is groovy.”

In his defense, his lawyer claims, “He is just an ordinary guy.”

Yeah – ordinary. Which makes one wonder: if those messages are not intolerant, for god’s sake: what is??

I guess there are different definitions of intolerance for different people. (more…)

It’s getting worse people.

Last night I told you about the SF mayor banning city employees from traveling to Arizona. But now, in a move meant to bring the state to its knees, the Montreal pop band “stars” has tweeted that until its “racist new immigration law is repealed,” they will boycott the state.

Arizona’s reaction? One of devastation.

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Wow, they’re taking it harder than I thought.

Look, I love Canada for many reasons (it’s where I keep my winter clothes), but they don’t share a porous border with a troubled country with limited opportunities for its hardworking people. In 2008, do you know how many people illegally immigrated to Canada? I could count it on my hand, if I had 120,000 fingers.

There are almost five times as many already in Arizona. (more…)

So San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom just announced a ban on official city travel to Arizona, because he claims the state’s new immigration law is “unacceptable.”

Which leads me to explore what Mr. Newsom finds acceptable:

Exhibit A. Turning the world’s most beautiful city, San Francisco, into a sprawling toilet with a half billion dollar deficit. Being S.F.’s mayor should be a dream job. It’s like being King of Gumdrop Village on Rainbow Island. It’s packed with great food, tourists, amazing scenery and fun people. But Gavin has left the city oilier than his own pompadour. If one block doesn’t smell of excrement, it’s because it smells of feces. And vice versa. Gavin has taken a jewel of a city and pooped all over it. Which leads me to:

Exhibit B. Letting panhandlers rule. I’m from the Bay Area, and spent a lot of time wandering SF’s streets, either working, or drunk. Now, no way. The last time I was there, my 85 year old mom was surrounded by the most aggressive panhandlers I’ve ever seen – as we walked over others, apparently napping. Instead of worrying about the potential ramifications of enforcing a law in another state, Gav should address the heaps of humanity that litter his very own streets. (more…)

So Obama deemed the new Arizona immigration bill “misguided.”

Translation: he means “stupid.”

See, “misguided” is a word used by people who know better than you. Calling something “misguided” is an intellectual exercise in superiority–even if they don’t call you stupid, they really, really want to.

Too bad Obama has no other plan that’s less stupid. And the Arizona bill is what happens when there is no plan: a plan gets made.

It reminds me of something a really smart guy said on Hannity last week.

Roll Sot:

“Until you make it easier for them to get in legally you have to make it as difficult as possible for them to get in illegally. It’s that simple.”

It really is that simple. (more…)

I am sure that Congress has a lot more important things to do right now but when we get around to looking at immigration can we get an investigation into how an alleged comic named Russell Brand got a green card.

I’m no expert on immigration law but I think in order to come here to work you have to demonstrate you have some special skills or talent that no American has. This rule prevents big multi-national companies from bringing in a bunch of cheap unskilled labor to take American jobs. For example, let’s say you are a bricklayer and you live in Poland. You may be a good bricklayer but if you want to come to the United States to live you need to go through a long process and show you have some skill that no American bricklayer possesses — unless you are a person who can sneak across the southern border,  in which case you are welcome to come and take an American’s job and pick up some free health care and education. That’s another issue and I have been ADD-ing pretty badly recently so I need to get back to the topic at hand: (more…)

The year 2009 has been hyped by the media and political elites as the year of “change” in America. I’ve been filming and reporting on the drug war being waged in Mexico and along our southwest border for over four years and as far as the first six months of 2009 go, even though a lot has happened in that time, not much has changed. On the surface it would seem progress has been made and indeed positive steps have been taken by both the U.S. and Mexican governments. But looking beyond the stories and stats reveals something uglier and more severe that has even the experts questioning the current strategy.

One thing I’ve learned in documenting the drug war is that statistics alone don’t tell the story and for a true picture you have to dig beyond the numbers and the hype to draw a real conclusion of whether progress is being made or not.

The current death toll for this year in Mexico’s war against the cartels just peaked over 2,400. This is about the same number of narco-executions as last year at this time and at this pace we will probably exceed last years toll of 5,400. No real change there. But if you drill down on this number what you find is staggering as it relates to the number of law enforcement officials in the execution tally. Though the exact number of local municipal police is not known for certain because many of the narcos dress up like police to conduct operations, it is reported by intelligence sources that over 1/4 or 600 of these executions have been local, state and federal law enforcement agents. Since the first of the year, thirty-one active federal agents alone have been killed in Mexico. (more…)