Just like four years ago, another group of legendary Obama 1 percent supporters have stepped forward to lend a creative hand to help the President raise money for his 2012 bid for reelection. Last time around it was “Runway to Change.” This time the design-for-Obama group effort has been dubbed “Runway to Win.”

Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor that hosted Obama’s supporters in her New York townhouse and who recently co-hosted a $35,000 per person fundraiser at Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s home, is heading up the venture. In the past, Wintour’s tony political functions were attended by the likes of Alicia Keys and $70,000 dinner power couple Coldplay singer Chris Martin and his actress wife, the “suddenly everywhere” Miramax “muse,” Gwyneth Paltrow.

So with Wintour now raising reelection funds, you can just forget the $5 raffle tickets for a hot dog dinner with Barry and Shelley. Instead, the campaign will be hawking designer duds to people who, last time around, were in such dire straits they hoped the new president would fill their gas tank and pay their mortgage.

For her latest effort, Anna Wintour has recruited Hollywood notables, designers, pop and hip-hop artists, and other all-around really rich people to raise money for Barack 2012 by designing overpriced T-shirts, tank tops, scarves, wristlets, and bags to sell at inflated prices to people who, in the midst of an Obama recession, really can’t afford them.

Thus, “Runway to Win” is yet another example that Barack Obama and his helpful circle of elite Hollywood friends and Seventh Avenue designer devotees are all pretty much insulated from reality, out of touch, and oblivious to the plight of the common man.

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You have no idea how much I regret missing this story — because this is a good thing. A very good thing, both First Lady Michelle Obama and the various Hollywood Guilds participated in last month. Michael Cieply of the New York Times also wrote an excellent story around the news of this panel that details the negative ways in which the military has been portrayed in films just this year.

From June 13th:

LOS ANGELES—First Lady Michelle Obama will have her work cut out for her when she turns up here today for a talk with members of the Hollywood guilds about getting more positive attention for military service members and their families into popular entertainment.

The confab is part of the Joining Forces initiative started by the First Lady and Jill Biden, who is married to Vice-President Joseph Biden, earlier this year. On Monday, Ms. Obama is to join a discussion with military family members and representatives of the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, and others, all focused on ways to “inform and inspire” Hollywood creators regarding the military.

But the military imagery in major studio movies for the last couple of months wasn’t particularly inspirational[...]

Read the whole thing and hope something real comes from it.

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Need a break from all the bad news saturating our airwaves, printed news, and cyberspace about the sad state of affairs we face as a Nation?  Tired of all the political correctness and leftist group-think disguised as “art” being foisted upon us by the left?  Fed up with the elitist Hollywood liberals’ unabashed hatred for all-things-conservative as so brilliantly exposed in Ben Shapiro’s explosive new best-seller “Primetime Propaganda”?

You’re not alone.

With the advent of do-it-yourself internet radio shows and webcasts, the number of grassroots, conservative talk show hosts augmenting the daily news stories covered by conservative kingpins like El Rushbo and The Great One is growing exponentially.  These citizen activists are effectively using new media venues to circumvent the barrage of liberal propaganda spewed by today’s so-called ‘journOlists’ and Hollywood celebs.

What is noticeably missing, however, are radio shows and webcasts that focus primarily on conservative pop culture.   Most, if not all, of the internet shows provide the hosts’ commentary on current news and politics because, like it or not, it’s what’s on most everyone’s minds these days.  But what do we conservatives have right now that is just for entertainment that is NOT laced with the ill-informed, anti-American ideology of the left?  Not much, if anything…

Until now.

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UPDATE:  This post originally excerpted an article from the Daily Caller saying Common was scratched from his White House performance.

From Politico:

Rapper and poet Common may have incited controversy this week when the White House invited him to perform at a poetry event.

After all, he has rapped about shooting police and has written lyrics calling for the “burn[ing] of former President George W. Bush.”

But Common kept things pretty tame when he took the stage in the East Room at Wednesday night’s “Evening of Poetry” along with other musicians, poets and artists.

The hip hop artist — dressed in a slate gray suit — delivered lyrics to a rap song that began with words from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and also included praise for the president who was seated in front of him.

“I woke up with the sunshine, a sunshine I’d never seen,” he began, reciting his poem without any hip-hop beats. “There was light at the end of it, reminding me to forever dream. I was dreaming I walked into the White House with love on my sleeve and love for each and every one of you remind you to believe.”

Concluding the poem, he went on to mention President Obama by name: “One King’s Dream, He was able to Barack us.”

Common did not acknowledge any of the controversy surrounding his performance. Before leaving the stage, he simply said, “Thank you very much, I appreciate being here.”

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From The Daily Caller:

First Lady Michelle Obama has scheduled a poetry evening for Wednesday, and she’s invited several poets, including a successful Chicago poet and rapper, Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., AKA “Common.” However, Lynn is quite controversial, in part because his poetry includes threats to shoot police and at least one passage calling for the “burn[ing]” of then-President George W. Bush.

Excerpt from “A Letter to the Law”:

Use your mind and nine-power, get the government touch

Them boys chat-chat on how him pop gun

I got the black strap to make the cops run

They watching me, I’m watching them

Them dick boys got a lock of cock in them

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If you know someone who graduated high school in the last 10 years, they don’t remember the Kennedys. They don’t remember what John Kennedy did to this country. They don’t remember what it was like having someone with such popular persuasion in the White House. Despite what the radical left tells people around my age, President Obama doesn’t have the charisma or the oratory skills that JFK is touted to have had. But no one my age could know that for sure without study. We’re told that Michelle Obama, who considers it chic to wear misfitted, neon-colored capris to Presidential events, is as enamoring and elegant as Jackie Kennedy. We’re told that President Kennedy was one of the great President of the 20th century. And “The Kennedys” almost wasn’t released because the institutional left and the Kennedys themselves didn’t want a picture to be painted that could possibly show otherwise.

The series demonstrates an exquisite attention to detail. The costuming is flawless and the cinematography fits with the era being portrayed. The casting and delivery not only makes the characters believable, but very enjoyable to watch. The two hour premiere shows glimpses of the road to President Kennedy being elected and gives some of the background stories from “Jack” and Joe’s childhood. As a person who currently has a close loved one deployed overseas in the War on Terror, watching any scene where a family is told about the death of a loved one lost in war is difficult. The atmosphere that was generated in the scene where the Kennedys are told of their oldest son’s death was so thick you could taste it, and the score was perfectly aligned with the all of the emotion of the moment.

While watching “The Kennedys,” it was easy for me to slip into the mode that I was watching an entertaining historical documentary. Seeing how this mini-series portrayed Joe Kennedy, the older brother who tragically died in WWII, as a man who was driven to become President, I believed it was true. For a moment, I believed that HE was truly the one that was supposed to run for President, when in fact, I personally don’t know that at all. I never studied the Kennedys in any depth. The left is always trying to shove them down my throat so I want little to do with them even though they were iconic characters in American history. But watching “The Kennedys,” seeing how easily my perception could be altered about them (in conjunction with the reviews of this series from here at Big Hollywood and Rush Limbaugh), it occurred to me that one day my children could watch a miniseries called “The Bushes” (doesn’t have quite the same ring to it).

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There’s something curiously missing from this story on Chicago’s Mantu Dance Company. It may be the only time the company has made big news without a mention of Barack and Michelle Obama in years.

One can only imagine the headlines were it so closely linked to a Republican President.

Illinois officials are taking a closer look at a nonprofit dance company that was awarded a $4.5 million state grant in 2003 for a planned performing arts center on the South Side that has yet to begin construction.

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity spokeswoman Marcelyn Love, whose department hands out millions in grant money every year to arts and culture organizations, said the Muntu Dance Theater Co. of Chicago will be placed on “strict oversight” as they move forward with long-delayed plansto build an arts center at 47th Street and Greenwood Avenue in the city’s Kenwood neighborhood.

At issue is a 6 million dollar, if not more, vacant lot in Chicago.

A circular concrete barrier behind a tattered chain-link fence at the corner of 47th Street and Greenwood Avenue in the Kenwood neighborhood is all there is to show for once-ambitious plans to remake a struggling business corridor into a hub for African-American arts and culture.

Eight years ago, the nonprofit Muntu Dance Theatre secured more than $6 million in city and state grants, rights to the two-acre property for $1, and cash donations from the likes of ComEd and Boeing to build a $15 million performing arts center.

At the time, the project came with the blessings of local leaderswho hoped to not only turn around the fortunes of an area littered with liquor stores and boarded-up buildings, but help restore a piece of Bronzeville’s historic luster.

It’s interesting to note that Michelle Obama appears to now have enough time to plan school lunches for every child in America, yet, despite sitting on Mantu’s board for years didn’t seem to be able to find time to provide the least bit of oversight that may have prevented this problem. And that’s not all.

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[CONTENT WARNING: This post contains harsh language.]

On Wednesday night, Quentin Tarantino was roasted at the New York Friars’ Club. Some of Hollywood’s most famous and talented stars were on hand, many of who did the actual roasting. Among them Samuel L. Jackson, Jerry Lewis, Sarah Silverman, Rob Schneider, Eli Roth, and Neve Campbell. One shameless roaster named Whitney Cummings, often seen on Chelsea Lately, delivered the most buzz-worthy/cringe-worthy line of the night:

[Tarantino has] produced more retarded things than Sarah Palin’s vagina.

Somewhere out there, Andrew Dice Clay is blushing. Not because the joke is off-color, he doesn’t care about that. He’s flushed because it’s unfunny, stolen hackery.

Let’s deal with the unfunny part first: Who is the butt of this joke? A toddler who suffers from down-syndrome and the mother that chose not to destroy him while he was in the womb. Yikes. Regarding Trig: Lay. Off. The. Kids. Okay? Regarding Mama Palin: Is it possible to write a more obvious joke on a more obvious target? I’m sure Ms. Cummings fancies herself irreverent; what would be truly irreverent is if she would harness a little of that hate that dwells in her dreary heart and direct it toward someone who is actually in power. Here are some possible targets she may want to consider: Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, or Joe Biden (notice how I’m not mentioning Obama’s children?). If she insists on resorting to humor that’s main attribute is shock-value, why not try a target that might actually shock someone?

Now let’s deal with the hackery part. It’s one thing that Whitney Cummings is mean-spirited, vulgar, and boring, but it’s quite another that she stole this joke. Here’s a super-NSFW clip of Louis CK on Opie and Anthony going on a jag against Sarah Palin that ends with him referring to her vagina as a “retard-making cunt.” (more…)

If opening night reviews are to be believed, the newest theatre hit of the year may have just premiered in Minneapolis last night.

Conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham has embarked on an ambitious venture that is sure to make most mainstream (left of Karl Marx) theatre critics scratching their heads – if not pulling the hair out of them. In the wake of her best-selling book, “The Obama Diaries” Ingraham has assembled a multi-media stage extravaganza complete with actors playing the roles of the President and First Lady.

I’m looking forward to providing our readers with a first-hand critical assessment of the production, but until then we’ll have to rely on some of the lucky folks in the audience last night. According to “MinnCon” at Redstate:

In a word, the show was “Obamalicious,” (satirically heavy on the “malicious”) and combined live onstage narration and hosting by Ingraham with real audio clips, photos, videos, and skewering-yet-spot-on impersonations of our imperious President and the First Lady by two fine performers.

Played – no, NAILED – by actors Russell Brown and Selma Schmidt (I believe those were the names – a printed program was not provided) the fictional secret thoughts of Mr. and Mrs. Prez came to life in all of their vainglory.

For the record, Reggie Brown played Obama and Sonja Schmidt played Michelle and yes, I hear their performances are spot-on and hilarious.

From my perspective (and the perspective of any good capitalist) the only real measure of a show is how it does at the box office.  And  by that measure, “Obama Diaries, LIVE” appears to be a hit.  The show played to capacity audiences in not-so-conservative Minneapolis.  If the show can play there, imagine how it will do in Dallas. (more…)

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Ed. Note: Starting next week, Obama Nation movies to its new permanent home at Big Government.

The left in this country has a problem.  Well, they have a lot of problems, many of which involve personal hygiene and anger management issues.  That is a column for another day though.  The left is losing the pop culture media war in this country, and it bothers them.  In 2008 Reuters reported that the top four radio formats in United States were news talk, country, contemporary Christian, and Christian teaching. 

 
Stripper Pole!

Liberals failed miserably when they tried to take over the talk radio industry with Air America.  It reminded me a lot of the time that Pearl Jam took on Ticketmaster, which in turn reminded me a lot of a bowl of jell-o taking on a herd of wildebeests.  The left can’t compete in the Christian market.  Let’s face it, the folks who declare Robert Mapplethorpe “art” simply have no credibility in that particular market.  With that said, Country is a family friendly format they still think they have a chance of corrupting, and Miley Cyrus may be their perky little Trojan horse into that industry. 

Music and American politics have become linked, with most of the genres in the “Hope and Change” category.  During the 2008 presidential campaign, a country artist I am acquainted with talked about the stress of that election and how her vote was putting her at odds with her family, friends, fans, and industry (three guesses who she voted for).  To change the very culture of that industry, you need to pave the way for the shrill Natalie Maines types with the seemingly harmless Miley types.  Ms. Cyrus is presented to us a fully Disneyfied young lady with a Christian background and the values to boot.  This is the sort of person that the Middle America country fans should love, right?  As with many things in the entertainment world, her image is a well manufactured myth and the truth is that this young lady brings an entire suitcase of San Francisco values with her as baggage when she eventually breaks into the country music scene.   (more…)

I have a confession to make. I hate politics. That’s why I write about it, because I enjoy making fun of it. And one of the reasons I write for Big Hollywood is I am sick of other people’s politics being jammed down my throat through alleged “entertainment.”

So for many years I found escape on TV in the Food Network, because aside from the fact I like food and cooking, I loved that it was a politics-free zone. There was no angry Bush bashing, no digs at Cheney and Rumsfeld. No moral equivalency. No screaming about the 2000 election. It was all about the joy of food and cooking and how it brings people together.

In a world so divided, it was a reminder that we can all get along if we can find some common ground.

I’m sure the chefs and personalities on the network have their political views. The fact that so many of them are based in New York would suggest most lean Democrat. But the beauty of that network is never, ever does anyone let on where their politics lie. We don’t need to know who they voted for because that has nothing to do with food. It’s not relevant. And that made it a refreshing place to be. (more…)

So I guess it’s the schoolyard chivalry I was raised on that taught me you never beat up on the girl.  Thus, I have held my tongue in regards to the good First Lady, Michelle Obama.  But now it has become too much to bear.   And the tipping point:  Kale — yes, a leafy green vegetable. 

It had to happen, it was inevitable, I suppose.  She slid past us with her, “For the first time, I am proud to be an American” proclamation…and we even looked the other way when she and her husband spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on a fun-filled New York City getaway of Broadways shows, dining and shopping.  (Sure, they may have used their own personal cash, but I doubt they ponied up out-of-pocket for the myriad of security vehicles, the legion of secret service agents, the bomb-sniffing dogs, etc, etc. (more…)

“Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.” –Michelle Obama

There is a right not specifically spelled out in the Bill of Rights but implicit in every restriction on the federal government: the right to be left alone.  Our nation was founded by individuals seeking relief from overbearing governments and religions.  Rugged individualism isn’t merely a conceit of John Wayne movies.  It has been and will continue to be a way of life for Americans who believe this nation was founded on the rights of the individual.  Not the rights of government. (more…)