Barbra Streisand writing at HuffPo.

*scramble* – *scramble* – *scramble*

Truth Translator Rephrase: Barbra Streisand writing at One Of Those Companies The Left Is Okay With Using Unlimited Resources To Affect The Outcome Of Elections:

I felt like I was in suspended animation as I read the Supreme Court decision which essentially enables a corporate coup d’état of America’s Democracy. …

Corporations are not people nor are they individual citizens. They are chartered by states to conduct commerce. And while I certainly don’t pretend to be a constitutional scholar, I have been reading a lot about this and thankfully, many brilliant minds do agree with me.

The intellectual dishonesty from Hollywoodists on this issue is so… so… so… expected.

If you’re opposed to corporations being involved in our electoral process then be opposed to corporations being involved in our electoral process.

But Leftists and Hollywoodists are not opposed to media corporations being involved in our electoral process because 95% of media corporations are liberal. Neither Babs nor Adam McKay nor any Leftist has ever complained that media corporations were exempt from the unconstitutional law the Supreme Court justly overturned — because CNN, ABC, NPR, The New York Times, CBS, etc… all carry water for left-wing causes and politicians.

So let’s ask our friends on the left a few questions: Why should their precious HuffPo be exempt from the restrictions they want to place on other corporations? Why should a big, rich, venture-capital wealthy HuffPo be allowed to use unlimited resources to politick but not some local real estate office when it comes to a congressional race?

For that matter, why should Fox News be exempt? Why should Fox News be allowed to advocate conservative causes in front of millions of viewers through Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly while liberal Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream is silenced?

President Barack Obama and GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt

Why should Obama buddy Jeffrey Immelt’s General Electric be allowed to push their leftist nonsense through MSNBC and all their enviro-lies through the power of their prime-time NBC lineup while Walmart is silenced?

Do Apple and GM and my local Chinese restaurant have to start a cable news channel in order to enjoy the same free speech rights as General Electric?

And this absurd canard about foreign corporate influence on elections when– Well, to be fair, how can we expect Hollywoodists to understand the issues surrounding this when our own President doesn’t. (But I think they do.)

Here’s where Babs assumes the Shining Crown of Hollywood Dishonesty: 

Hopefully, Congress will mobilize and pass legislation that prohibits the political contributions of any company that receives government funds[.]

Sounds great, Babs! And no doubt because you are the pillar of intellectual consistency and The Great Defender of Our Democracy you will also include what’s known as “in-kind contributions,”  or non-cash contributions that benefit one candidate or political party.

Follow me here…

General Electric received “government funds” from the Obama stimulus.

General Electric owns MSNBC.

You see where I’m going, right? Buh-bye Olbermann, Maddow, Matthews and that Ed guy.

[A]nd I hope they will also pass legislation that requires companies to get approval from their shareholders before a corporation can spend money on electoral activity.

Yes!! Please do! And I will buy my share of GE stock immediately and have my say about all that MSNBC “electoral activity.” Who’s with me?

All of you reading this are about to have a go in the comments, but please do not use the word “ignorance.” Streisand, McKay and the whole lot of them understand perfectly what they’re advocating.

These are not dumb people.

These are Leftist Propagandists.

And this is a language war…

….where the goal in this particular battle is simple and has nothing to do with opposition to corporate influence on our election process. The goal is to silence political opposition while exempting corporations who agree with them. Namely, media corporations who are 95% liberal.

As far as the left’s plans to shut those other 5% up…?

You’ve heard of the Orwellian-named Fairness Doctrine, right?

NOTE: Please file this post in your folder marked: Why Hollywoodists Love Them Some Dictators.

You often hear that when you step up to point out the lefty assumptions, biases and what John Nolte calls the “liberal tells” within popular entertainment.  You are allowed to praise the technical achievements of an Avatar – such as they are, since many of us think it looks freakin’ stupid – but heaven forbid that you dare question the hackneyed liberal noble savage clichés that James Cameron offers up instead of a story.  The message is clear – our proper role as pop culture consumers is to sit back, open our eyes, slacken our jaws and swallow Hollywood’s agenda.

But what is remarkable – and crucial – is that we are no longer passively accepting whatever Hollywood dumps on us.  The backlash to Avatar’s flabby thinking and tired ideology is the new paradigm, with even reviewers outside the conservative movement slagging it for its staggering intellectual hypocrisy, cardboard military/corporate villains and sophomoric Mother Earth enviro-babblings.

This is good, because Avatar is not just a neato movie.  And “Imagine” is not just a pleasant song.  And Adam Lambert is not just a flamboyant artist with a powerful personal vision that transcends our hidebound, repressed notions of morality.  They are all part of an agenda, and the proper response to that agenda is illumination.

The real danger is not that Hollywood preaches the tenets of its agenda – people tend to tune out preaching – but that its assumptions and values will be inculcated by osmosis and accepted simply because they are always there and no one even bothers to point them out, like ideological wallpaper.  Left/liberalism first infects the political culture through popular culture, and it must work in secret to displace the values, norms and traditions – like decency, hard work, free enterprise and patriotism — that most people are still brought up to believe in.  If you see, for example, enough movies where the villain is – surprise! –an evil corporation, after a while that is going to make an impression.

Look at the JFK assassination.  Somehow, through the magic of popular culture, in the minds of millions of Americans the murder of a fairly conservative (by modern standards) president by a dedicated, Castro-loving communist became the martyrdom of a crusading liberal by a cabal of military/capitalist conspirators.  Huh?

Don’t look for movie critics to do the job of calling out the nonsense.  Most of them are in on it and always have been.  Witness the unbelievably embarrassing review that liberal Roger Ebert bestowed upon 1991’s staggeringly ignorant and foolish JFK.  Back then, if you weren’t reading National Review, you probably had no idea until you plopped down your money for a ticket that the staff of Pravda couldn’t have made a more anti-American film.

This backlash is something new, and it means that we no longer have to let left/liberalism be our culture’s default setting.  Vitally, the internet and resources like Big Hollywood mean that we no longer need to fight alone.  We can leverage our collective power to support that kid coming out of Avatar somewhere in Missouri who thought the movie looked kinda cool, but can’t help thinking that seeing all those American soldiers getting slaughtered was not something people should be cheering about.  He can’t really put into words an explanation why he feels that way to his gushing friends.  Now we can give him the tools to put his finger on the nagging feeling that so much of popular culture leaves him with, and we help him to articulate his response so that the next time he can say, “Wait, I’m not buying that, James Cameron.”  And so he can tell his friends.  And they’ll likely agree.

We are all soldiers in this fight, and popular culture is the front line.

But isn’t it a losing battle?  Why be the guy who says, “Wait a sec – did that character on CSI: Miami just refer to global warming like it’s more real than leprechauns, unicorns and Blue Dog Democrat senators who vote the principles they profess?”

No, it’s not a losing battle, because the mere act of raising the issue defeats the Hollywood elite’s insidious power to infiltrate and undermine.  If the viewer sees the agenda, he can evaluate it, consider it, and then decide whether to accept or reject it.  That’s not a process we conservatives fear.  We don’t have to disguise what we’re selling like our liberal – oops, I mean “progressive” – friends.  That’s why the Hollywood elite values a discussion of its agenda like the post-1/20/09 Democrats value dissent.

We need to confront the agenda not just because we like picking apart movies – though we do enjoy holding foolishness up to ridicule – but because every time the silly ideas and clichés of the Hollywood elite pop up, someone has to be there to play cultural whack-a-mole.  After all, those who send these messages succeed only through misdirection — “America sucks.  Now quick, look over there at that explosion!”

And we need to respond, “Wait, America what?”

And we need to call out their nonsense every single time, whether in print or just to the pals you went with to the movies.  Avatar cries out for it:

Oh, the bucolic natives are once again oppressed by the evil Americans!  Nonsense! Americans have freed more people from oppression than any other group in history.  The world would be an immeasurably worse place if we had not conquered North America.  And the American Indians were imperfect like all human beings – some were good, some were bad, but they were certainly not the dopey, touchy-feely constructions of pure Rousseauean sweetness and light of modern Hollywood’s patronizing portrayals.

Oh, evil businessmen ruthlessly ravage mother Earth and exploit innocent Third World peoples in a greedy race for profits!   Nonsense!  Capitalism and market economics have done more to improve the lives of human beings than anything else.  The Third World’s embrace of socialism, self-destructive cultures and through-and-through corruption are the overwhelming causes of its problems.

Oh, evil Western countries are causing climate change that will result in an environmental catastrophe!  Nonsense!  Global warming is a scam, a hoax and a fraud, and is less science than pagan religion.  I wish it weren’t – hot weather is a great excuse to mix up some Sapphire and tonics and this cold weather we keep having is becoming a real bummer.

And Hollywood, you can peddle your oppressed visionary act to some other sucker.  Nobody is saying don’t make liberal films.  We’re just saying that your days of doing it in secret, of being able to get away with putting out your propaganda knowing that your secrets are safe with fellow traveling reviewers, are over.

You go ahead and make the films you want to make – many of us have fought for your right to do so.  But it’s our right – and our duty – to critique you.  Now you actually have to make your case, out in the open, in the global warming-amped sunlight.

You’re welcome to compete with us in the marketplace of ideas.  Except we’re going to be Wal-Mart: embraced by most Americans; and you’re going to end up like Circuit City: obsolete, inflexible and ultimately bankrupt.

We’re calling you out – on your flabby arguments, your weak thinking, your stunning ignorance of history and your rank hypocrisy.  We’re not going to be distracted by bright colors, loud explosions, or hi-tech gimmicks.  We’re ignoring all of the hype.

So, Jimmy Cameron, tell us….

Why is capitalism – you know, the economic system that allowed you to make Avatar – so bad?

Why are primitive societies – you know, the kind you manifestly do not live in – so morally righteous?

And why are the deaths of American fighting men – you know, the folks who are keeping at bay the bastards who would saw your open-minded, tolerant, liberal head off with a butter knife given half a chance — something you think ought to bring cheers from the audience?

Hey, Jimmy, you made your stupid movie.  Now we’re going to make you make your case.

Except Ms. Sheehan’s protest really wasn’t all that huge. It looked like Cindy and about seven or eight of her aging hipster friends had gotten some gas money together, made a few signs and a rented U Haul truck for a trip from the Bay Area up to Sacto. I sometimes confuse Cindy’s pals in Code Pink with the pink hats my mother’s old friends in the Red Hat Society wore. Except the Red Hat ladies are out for fun and the Code Pink gals seem to have gotten out of bed on the wrong side. To be honest, I felt a little sad for Cindy. I think I could get more people over to my house for an Amway meeting. I didn’t see how less than a dozen people doing anything would rate national news time. However, Ms. Cindy was getting more airtime on HLN than the entire 9/12 weekend demonstration did, and though we may disagree about how many folks were there, I think we can all agree it was a little more than twelve.

Maybe she was getting face time because there was a counter protest? One old veteran put on his uniform and came out to confront Ms. Sheehan. This guy of about 80 was giving the protesters a severe tongue lashing. To try to silence his dissent, Ms. Peace and Love put her bullhorn about an inch from his face and started shouting. The old guy batted it away was and was instantly demonized for “slapping” Ms. Sheehan. She was demanding to anyone who would listen that he be arrested for assault. Apparently on Planet Sheehan only she has the right to protest.

Then something odd struck me, she and her Code Pink friends weren’t really protesting the war. They were protesting the use of unmanned drones to kill enemy scumbags. To Ms. Sheehan’s credit, until then she had never quit protesting the war. What happened was that she quit getting coverage. When she would show up in Crawford with her ragtag band of merry pranksters they would be outnumbered by adoring media types ten-to-one. She got her sour puss on all the CNN and MSNBC chat fests. Then Obama, the anti- war President happened and all of the media went away. Her camp out at Martha’s Vineyard this past summer during Mr. Obama’s vacation brought one mention and that was on the evil Fox News.

Now her protest isn’t primarily against the President’s lack of action on his promises to the hard left — oh no! Nor is it against the war itself. Her protest is now Obama friendly! In order to get back in the limelight she isn’t protesting the war per se, she is protesting “drones.” I think she actually said something to the effect that the use of unmanned drones weren’t fair. I guess Ms. Sheehan thinks if we need to clean out some rat hole of terrorists we should do it in a more sporting manner.

Now that she isn’t protesting “the war,” which on Tuesday became President Obama’s war, she is back on the good list with the liberal media. I expect to see Cindy and company all around the liberal media on her tour protesting that mean old Air Force and their use of unfair drones. And I wouldn’t hold my breath for any anti-Obama rhetoric making the edit on the mainstream media outlets!

–

Levi is the Kevin Federline of American politics, a good-looking, not-too-bright guy catching a break by impregnating a rising star, or at least one’s daughter, then basking in the reflected glow.  When things went south with Bristol Palin, he found, in a mainstream media eager for anything that might derail the Sarah Palin express, an opportunity to go farther than he ever thought he could.  Movies, modeling, memoirs – anything was possible, they assured him.  Just tell us what we want to hear, Levi – the good stuff, the juicy stuff, the stuff too good to fact check.  Oh, and hand over your dignity while you’re at it.

But Levi’s antics are about more than just manufacturing ammunition to fire at Governor Palin.  The minstrel shows of the past were calculated to demonstrate white superiority through the employment of the most degrading stereotypes and the ritualized humiliation of the African-American performers.  This shameful circus is no different.  Levi’s mindless brand of masculinity, his dropping out of high school, his troubled home life – these are all the hyper-exaggerated cultural touchstones the bicoastal liberal elite imagines define the rest of our country. 

Levi Johnston is what they want to see when they look at Middle America.  They don’t want to see the young heroes like Track Palin, an Iraqi Freedom vet.  They don’t want to see Americans whose commitment to a better world is manifested by their putting their lives on the line instead of pasting a “Hope & Change” bumpersticker to the back of their Prius.  They want – and need – clowns, and Levi is only too happy to oblige them.

Most young people today, looking on the things they did in their youth, will have only an ill-considered tattoo to regret.  But Levi’s kid needs him, yet Daddy is busy far away performing like a court jester for people who will slam the door on him the second he stops being useful. 

Can he really be so dumb as to think they actually care about him?  Does he really expect to get a call from Kathy Griffin to accompany her to next year’s Teen Choice Awards?  He’s like the nerd in one of those high school movies who the bad kids make-over as part of a bet – except there’s no happy ending here unless Levi comes to realize that this is all a big joke to them and he’s the punch line.

Despite the fervent desire of some, like the bloggers at the circulation whirlpool called Newsweek, that “as long as there is Palin, there’ll be Levi Johnston,” they have to concede that “Levi’s 15 minutes are almost up.”  Neither GQ nor Vanity Fair will be calling him back for another photo spread anytime soon.  Larry King and Tyra Banks have wrung him dry of slime.  He’s off CBS’s speed dial.  The Celebrity Dysfunction Complex has moved on.

His big achievement is a 19-second TV spot selling some obscure brand of pistachio nuts.  They don’t even let him talk.  He’s also going to go nude in Playgirl – providing fantasy fodder for lonely cougars and randy gay men.  Levi, pinch yourself cuz you’re living the dream.

But Levi is a symptom, not the disease.  Levi’s being a fool, and it’s sad to see him put a discount price tag on his dignity and his family.  Considering his background with a mother who is allegedly involved with drugs, one can see why he does these things, though a lot better folks came from a lot worse.  His background is an explanation, not an excuse. 

The ones exploiting him are the real villains.  People, even dumb ones, aren’t to be used up then discarded like garbage when you’re done with them.  Those pulling his strings ought to be ashamed of themselves, but they aren’t. This minstrel show is too delightful, too much fun, as it promulgates the most condescending stereotypes imaginable of those unworthy wretches living outside the bi-coastal elite bubble. 

And what of Levi?  He’s burned the one bridge that could lead him home to people who might actually still care about him when he finds himself on the wrong side of the velvet ropes again, when the only opportunities he has left are reality kickboxing matches with Vanilla Ice and bit parts in Skinemax epics about horny stewardesses.  He’s a father who, if he ever sees his son again, is going to have to answer one of the most brutal, heart-rending questions a child could ask:

“Why did you choose them over me, Daddy?”

Levi Johnston’s weakness of character will lead him to sorrow after those who are using him today have moved on to other victims.  It’s not too late to make amends – I suspect the Palins would forgive him if he sincerely asked them to - but he won’t do it.  He can’t.  He thinks the elite loves him.  He thinks he will never wear out his welcome.  So he will keep on dancing, playing the fool, the minstrel, for the transitory amusement of those who hold him in nothing but contempt.

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: President Obama, Russia, Missile Defense, Iran, Liberal Media, Sarah Palin, NPR, Michael Moore, Barbie Movie, Anderson Cooper, and Kelly Osbourne.

What a shock that Maureen Dowd devoted her New York Times column Sunday to attack Sarah Palin. It did not so much criticize Alaska’s governor for prematurely stepping down from her official duties as to finish off what sister snipers Katie Couric and Tina Fey began last fall.

The assassination of Sarah Palin – by media.

For those who didn’t pay attention, Mrs. Palin’s unexpected stratospheric rise as a national political figure threatened the media’s preordained presidency of Barack Obama.

In light of how the Obama machine took down Hillary Clinton, which unsettled many feminists who believed 2008 was their time, many who saw sexism at play – the destruction of an ascendant Republican female icon was an urgent imperative for the Democratic Party.

In conjunction with the laws of political correctness as perfected by the Democratic Media Complex, it would take prominent women to take down an unlikely and unexpected conservative feminist symbol that threatened to steal away Mrs. Clinton’s votes from the Chosen One.

While the vanquished then-senator from New York conspicuously removed herself from this task – going so far as praising Sen. John McCain’s running mate as “a very composed and effective debater” – a trio of media partisans, each with a unique skill set, rose to the task of tearing down Sarah Palin.

Misses Dowd, Couric and Fey – Mr. Obama’s Angels (featuring Joy Behar in the role of “Bosley”) – used a potent mix of mockery, snobbery and vitriol to undermine Mrs. Palin’s feminist bona fides.

You can read the column in full here.

Whenever Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore releases a new documentary the reaction in the press is typically jubilant. Rave reviews. Fawning interviews which rarely ask tough questions. Oscar buzz aplenty.

But this time could be different.

Moore’s last film, “Slacker Uprising,” didn’t go straight to DVD. It went straight to download. Now, Moore’s catching heat from Movieline.com, the online film magazine which routinely taunts conservative targets like Gov. Sarah Palin. The site’s new Moore-related post swats the filmmaker for a less than sharp attempt at marketing his upcoming film about the country’s economic collapse. The movie blogger sets up his critique here:

Obviously, I don’t want this blog to get quoted on redstate.com or wherever, but there’s so much manufactured badness here:

This is only one example of a left-leaning site deciding not to carry water for Moore. Maybe Moore Nation (AKA the MSM) will fall in line soon enough. But with a liberal in the White House, the need on the Left to rally around Moore’s polemics decreases dramatically.

If that’s the case, there’s a better than average chance movie critics and entertainment reporters alike will see through Moore’s Everyman persona.

Christian Toto is a contributing reporter for The Washington Times, MovieMaker Magazine and boxoffice.com. He blogs about film at whatwouldtotowatch.com and at The Denver Examiner.

Now, if you`re too old or too high to get what`s going on, here`s the joke: The liberal-leaning media are goofing on the tea parties by invoking the term teabagging, a phrased used to describe an act of oral sex performed by a man – either on another man, woman, or in Alec Baldwin’s case – a cheeseburger.

And so you have Cooper`s joke – it`s just a shame he ripped off the shtick from David Shuster, who apparently has never met a joke he hasn`t beat to death like a hunter on a harp seal. On MSNBC, Shuster repeats testicle-based puns with a fervent relish not unlike an eight-year old boy who just can`t stop sniffing his fingers. And, this, coming from me. I`m mean – I always thought I was the king of obvious jokes, but I relinquish that crown – because the real obvious joke is Shuster.

So why is it the MSM finds it so easy to sneer at a group of protestors, when you`ve never seen them do the same with the bedraggled buffoons protesting environmental ills, animal testing or the WTO?

Well, first: the protests involve people they`ve never actually met. I mean, these are average folks – not professional sign carriers. Most of these people work for a living, and ration their marching for parades. Also, the media abhors these people because they question the ultimate goal of their Messiah. These protestors know wealth distribution when they see it, and they`re calling it out – because the media cannot bring themselves to do it for them. After all, if they did, that would hurt Obama`s feelings. And if you learned anything from high school – you never make fun of Mr. Popular.

Lastly, the media hates it when they can`t control the story. These tea parties were out of their hands from day one-a movement that was hard to figure and impossible to spin. So, why not make fun of it? Why not make ball jokes?

But hey, who am I to judge? Whatever gets you off on a Wednesday night, Anderson, when nothing else will.

Tonight we’ve got Jim Norton, from Buckcherry – Josh Todd, and Steven Crowder! Plus someone special to be named later. (I dare you to write an intro for that one).

In 2005, I had the pleasure of giving Rush Limbaugh the Claremont Institute’s Statesmanship Award. We gave him a bust of Sir Winston Churchill, somewhat more handsome than the one Mr. Obama strangely sent back to the British government recently.

The negative media onslaught Rush is getting right now is almost unprecedented. Thankfully, he is more than up to the task of dealing with the elite media.

For all the talk by James Carville and others over Rush’s negatives among voters—almost certainly Democratic voters—they misunderstand Rush’s essential app

eal: he presents a tremendous amount of common sense to the American people. He does so with candor and good cheer. This is what drives the left crazy.

Today on his show he stated rather simply what must be the guide for conservatives this year, next year, and always, “If we remember our first principles, good policies will write themselves.”  For Rush, as for the Claremont Institute, those principles are to be found in the Declaration of Independence and the writings of our Founding Fathers.

To be sure, there is not unanimity among conservatives on these first principles and almost complete rejection on the political left. But in these dark times it is only with these principles that we will recover our way.