NEWLY REVEALED DOCUMENTS Contradict NEA Chairman Landesman

“The former NEA Director of Communications acted unilaterally and without the approval or authorization of then-Acting Chairman Patrice Walker Powell.” – Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, on September 22, 2009

Chairman Landesman’s claim that Yosi Sergant, the former NEA Communications Director, acted “unilaterally” on the controversial August 10th conference call is not only beginning to erode, but new documents obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act show that another federal employee thought the arts effort was entering murky legal waters.

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In an email dated July 30, 2009, Nellie Abernathy, a representative of the federal program United We Serve, sent an email to Sergant to inquire of his interest in attending a meeting regarding 9/11 events – the culmination day of the United We Serve campaign. In the email Abernathy states (emphasis added):

“Just got off the phone with [redacted]. They’re interested in helping produce some 9/11 events and will be in DC next week. Any chance you could join us for a meeting Tuesday morning? Or does this fall into that sketchy grey we might get arrested area?”

Sergant responded, “I’d love to.” (more…)

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Tags: Buffy Wicks, national endowment for the arts, nea, Nell Abernathy, rocco landesman
Posted Nov 12th 2009 at 5:03 am in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 261522192 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/11/12/newly-released-emails-appear-to-contradict-nea-chair-landesmans-statement/NEWLY+REVEALED+DOCUMENTS+Contradict+NEA+Chairman+Landesman2009-11-12+13%3A03%3A19Patrick+Courrielche

Artists: Another ‘Entitlement’ Group

I must admit that when I first heard about the National Endowment for the Arts conference call to enlist the arts community in propagandizing the White House’s agenda, I was a little mystified as to why it was so controversial.  After all, the NEA, through its funding choices, has been actively undermining American values for many years.  Way back in 1986 we were treated to the scandal of Andres Serrano getting $15,000 from the NEA for his mediocre photo of a plastic crucifix in his own urine – “Piss Christ.”  That is just one of a myriad of egregious examples of NEA funding going to support dubious “art” that functions solely to corrode the fabric of civilized society.

Sure, the NEA gives money to major established arts organizations – symphonies, ballet companies, repertory theater groups, and the like — but that is how they maintain their veneer of staid respectability, all the while promulgating their Leftist, nihilistic agenda through their smaller grants.  For example, I know a truly great American artist, Harry Carmean, who, among his other credits, was the Chairman of the Fine Arts Department at the Art Center College of Design  in Pasadena, California and taught there for 43 years.  He applied for NEA grants repeatedly to help fund his work but was rejected each time because his paintings were deemed “not edgy enough.”   Translation: he actually possesses artistic talent, skill, and discipline, which he uses to create beauty instead of pseudo-artistic, politicized claptrap.  We all know he would have had a far better chance of getting a grant out of the subjective and ideologically driven apparatchiks at the NEA had he used dog feces to paint images of female genitalia. (more…)

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Tags: Andrew Serrano, Art, national endowment for the arts, nea, NEA Scandal
Posted Oct 5th 2009 at 8:22 am in Art, Politics | 23498212 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ebalogh/2009/10/05/artists-another-entitlement-group/Artists%3A+Another+%27Entitlement%27+Group2009-10-05+15%3A22%3A25Endre+Balogh

The War on Propaganda

“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it.” Joseph Goebbels

There is no shame in artists receiving monetary compensation to sell ideas, products or a presidential agenda. When everything is transparent and contracted aboveboard, this is called advertising. When this process is whispered into being, strategized and set into motion from the shadows of government and from behind closed doors, it is propaganda.

From Sun Tzu to Psy Ops, propaganda has won wars, toppled cultures and changed civilizations. As a self-identified enlightened and educated culture, we  thought ourselves beyond such base manipulation. We were wrong.

Where were the voices of dissent on the NEA conference call when so called “artists” were asked to further the President’s agenda?

I have danced ballets and I have done commercials; one side art, the other side business. What side were the NEA recipients on? (more…)

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Tags: 9/12 DC rally, Constitution Revolution, Goebbels, hate speech, Hitler
Posted Oct 5th 2009 at 6:46 am in Entertainment, Politics | 23500294 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cburgard/2009/10/05/the-war-on-propaganda/The+War+on+Propaganda+2009-10-05+13%3A46%3A35Chris+Burgard

Latest NEA Controversy Isn’t the First

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is always one of the hottest topics in the theatre community.  A huge amount of theatre in the US is created or presented at non-profit theatres that operate under the protection of or were first started with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The latest NEA controversy broken here at Big Hollywood by Patrick Courrielche has become a fascinating Rorschach test within the theatre community.  The response has been disappointing yet predictable from the left-leaning proponents of the NEA and this administration.

Robert Mapplethorpe

To fully expose the inconsistencies and intellectually dishonest positions they have taken in their knee-jerk defense of everything Obama, we first need a little background for the Big Hollywood readers who might not remember all of the details in the recent history of controversies with regard to NEA funding in the theatre community.

NEA Primer: Now I don’t pretend to suggest that the following breakdown of the NEA struggles dating back to 1990 is a definitive or even thorough explanation of the recent history of left vs. right combat over the NEA.  I encourage all of my readers to research and read about this issue.  And, I especially want them to read the perspective of liberals/progressives/leftists who were in the middle of the struggle on the other side.  It is informative and enlightening to read how they really feel about the subject. (more…)

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Tags: Andres Serrano, Jesse Helms, Karen Finley, National Endowmen, national endowment for the arts
Posted Sep 26th 2009 at 5:31 pm in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 22737084 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/09/26/latest-nea-controversy-isnt-the-first/Latest+NEA+Controversy+Isn%27t+the+First2009-09-27+00%3A31%3A39Stage+Right

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

Radical: Who is Yosi Sergant, Why Did the NEA ‘Reassign’ Him?

Other than the National Endowment for the Arts’ already tenuous reputation, the only casualty in the NEA conference call episode has been Yosi Sergant, the former Director of Communications for the public agency charged with funding arts organizations in America.

On September 10, the NEA announced that Sergant would be re-assigned with this curious statement accompanying the move:

“On August tenth, the National Endowment for the Arts participated in a call with arts organizations to inform them of the president’s call to national service. The White House office of public engagement also participated in the call, which provided information on how the Corporation for National and Community Service can assist groups interested in sponsoring service projects or having their members volunteer on other projects. This call was not a means to promote any legislative agenda and any suggestions to that end are simply false. The NEA regularly does outreach to various organizations to inform of the work we are doing and the resources available to them.”

This statement leads any objective and reasonable observer to wonder why Mr. Sergant would be “re-assigned” if there was nothing wrong with this purely “information/outreach” conference call. As has often been the case with this, the most open and transparent administration in history, it is very difficult to get a straight answer. We can’t even learn WHAT Sergant’s new position is, let alone why he was asked to step down from his role as Communications Director. (more…)

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Tags: manifest hope, national endowment for the arts, nea, Shepard Fairey, Spike Lee
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 at 5:03 am in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 23059451 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/09/22/radical-who-is-yosi-sergant-why-did-the-nea-reassign-him/Radical%3A+Who+is+Yosi+Sergant%2C+Why+Did+the+NEA+%27Reassign%27+Him%3F2009-09-22+12%3A03%3A29Stage+Right

Limbaugh: White House Using Fed Arts Agency to Push Obama Agenda

From El Rushbo:

Do you remember that NEA phone call? I think it was back in August, the 21st or the 25th, and it featured basically a coordination from the White House to the National Endowment for the Arts to promote Obama’s health care and parts of his domestic agenda. One of the artists on that call got hold of Breitbart and said they’re turning the National Endowment for the Arts and www.Serve.gov, the latest website out of the White House, into political instruments, and there are four pieces written on this at BigGovernment.com. But all it really exposes up ’til now is that the NEA was lying about their coordination with the Obama White House on spreading propaganda. This is the thing that George Will had a comment on This Week, said some laws were broken in this call. Then after some attention was focused on this they announced that the National Endowment for the Arts director of communications Yosi Sargent had been reassigned. They said he was fired but he was actually just reassigned. (more…)

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Tags: Andrew Breitbart, big government, Buffy Wicks, George Will, national endowment for the arts
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 4:00 pm in Art, Culture, News, Politics | 231842No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sullivan/2009/09/21/limbaugh-white-house-using-fed-arts-agency-to-push-obama-agenda/Limbaugh%3A+White+House+Using+Fed+Arts+Agency+to+Push+Obama+Agenda2009-09-21+23%3A00%3A35Sullivan

Taxpayer-Funded Propaganda: The ABC’s of the NEA Conference Call

Today, Big Hollywood released a full audio recording and transcript of the NEA conference call. A full review of the call reveals several new and more troubling aspects to what transpired on the August 10^th phone call. What is inescapable is that the origin of the call reaches into the highest offices of the White House. It is clear, from the transcript, that the call was orchestrated by the Office of Public Engagement, whose Director, Valerie Jarrett, is among the closest advisors to President and First Lady Obama. It is also apparent that Ms. Jarrett’s office directed the involvement of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for National and Community Service, two independent federal agencies. (This is important, as neither is officially part of the executive branch.)

At the very beginning of the call, the general ‘moderator’ of the call, Michael Skolnik, political director for Hip-Hop mogul Russell Simmons, explains the genesis of the call:

I have been asked by people in the White House and folks in the NEA about a month ago in a conversation that was had. We had the idea that I would help bring together the independent artists community around the country.

This is important, because in the immediate aftermath of the breaking story, the NEA has tried to state that a ‘third party’ organized the call. This clearly isn’t true. The e-mail invitation to the call was sent from Mr. Sargent’s government-provided NEA e-mail address. In addition, as the transcript reveals, Mr. Sloknik was “asked” by the White House and NEA to organize the call.

(more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Americans for the Arts, Barack Obama, Buffy Wicks, Corporation for National and Community Service
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 3:31 pm in Art, Culture, Politics | 231738No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mikeflynn/2009/09/21/taxpayer-funded-propaganda-the-abcs-of-the-nea-conference-call/Taxpayer-Funded+Propaganda%3A+The+ABC%E2%80%99s+of+the+NEA+Conference+Call+2009-09-21+22%3A31%3A56Mike+Flynn

FOUND: Bush White House NEA Conference Call Transcript

[ed - Rush transcript! Leaked NEA conference call from my mom, proving the Bush Administration did it too]

TRANSCRIPT OF
CONFERENCE CALL OF THE
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
21-Jan-2007

MR. SMIRNOV:  Hello everybodies! Who we gots on the phones here?

MR. KIETH:  Toby Keith. Built Ford Tough.

MR. SMIRNOV:  Hokay, buddy!

MRS. BURGE:  Beverly Burge, Ocelot, Iowa. I do scrapbooking.

OAK RIDGE BOYS:  Howdy! We’re the Oak Ridge Boys!

MR. SMIRNOV:  Alrights, Branson in da house!

MR. HANEY:  Lester Haney, Sepulpa, Oklahoma.

MR. SMIRNOV:  Hey everybodies, I don’ts know if you see Lester Haney’s work, but he does some of the most beautiful chainsaw stump sculptures Yakov ever sees. (more…)

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Tags: Dick Cheney, george w. bush, Lee Greenwood, Lester Haney, nancy pelosi
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 2:09 pm in Art, Political Humor, Politics | 23154242 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dburge/2009/09/21/found-bush-white-house-nea-conference-call-transcript/FOUND%3A+Bush+White+House+NEA+Conference+Call+Transcript2009-09-21+21%3A09%3A27Iowahawk

The NEA, The White House, The Lies and The Cover-Up

Big Hollywood today reveals the extensive proof that shows the White House used the National Endowment for the Arts to push a political agenda favorable to President Obama. But it gets worse: the Administration lied about it, and tried to cover it up.

You already know the background: an NEA spokesman participated in a conference call designed to encourage artists to further Obama’s legislative agenda. This was revealed back in August at Big Hollywood. What is new today is the full transcript of the call — and how clearly the NEA was involved in urging artists to propagandize for Obama.

Naturally, the NEA and the Obama administration denied this. According to the Los Angeles Times (in a blog post, of course, and not an actual newsprint story), the NEA denied any purpose to further a legislative agenda:

The NEA issued a statement saying that it took part in the conference to help inform arts organizations about opportunities to sponsor volunteer service projects themselves, or have their members take part in other volunteer efforts. “This call was not a means to promote any legislative agenda, and any suggestions to that end are simply false,” the statement said. (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Buffy Wicks, Def-Jam, health care, Michael Skolnik
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 1:00 pm in Art, Law, News, Politics | 23093873 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/patterico/2009/09/21/the-nea-the-white-house-the-lies-and-the-cover-up/The+NEA%2C+The+White+House%2C+The+Lies+and+The+Cover-Up2009-09-21+20%3A00%3A32Patterico

Demand Congressional Investigation: NEA Conference Call Broke Laws

In the aftermath of the Andrew Breitbart/James O’Keefe/Hannah Giles-broken ACORN scandal, President Obama and his allies in Congress have distanced themselves from the community organizing goliath.  Congress has cut off funds, and Obama has refused to speak about the matter.  End of story, right?

Wrong.

There’s only one problem: the ACORN mentality – pinpointing and mobilizing particular groups in support of a radical-left agenda – is no longer restricted to government-funded private non-profits like ACORN.  The ACORN mentality now dominates the government itself.  Taxpayer dollars are being used by elected officials to encourage the deification of President Obama and his agenda.  And one of the chief organs of the government propaganda machine is the National Endowment for the Arts.

Let’s start from the beginning.  On August 25, artist Patrick Courrielche told the story of a conference call he attended on August 10.  That conference call was hosted by the NEA, the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve.  The goal of the conference call: “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.”  The call would push “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!” (more…)

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Tags: "Scrubs", ACORN, Americans for the Arts, Americans for the Arts Artists Committee, Anti-Lobbying Act
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 11:11 am in Art, Law, News, Politics | 231114116 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bshapiro/2009/09/21/demand-congressional-investigation-nea-conference-call-broke-laws/Demand+Congressional+Investigation%3A+NEA+Conference+Call+Broke+Laws2009-09-21+18%3A11%3A00Ben+Shapiro

Propaganda, Health Care and ACORN: Full Context of NEA Conference Call Reveals Disturbing Pattern

At first glance, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) conference call of August 10th, 2009 sounds innocent enough because it’s supposedly been organized by Michael Skolnik, political director for Russell Simmons and someone not officially associated with any government agency. Skolnik appears to be acting independently as a concerned citizen and to have taken it upon himself to gather together a group of artists and art organizations hoping to move them towards “national service.” And how nice of the White House, the federal government and the NEA to make the time to participate in the call and aid this group of American artists motivated to help their country and community.

But this is only how things appear.

All evidence points to the fact that the conference call was a ruse, a front for a White House using Skolnik as a kind of beard in order to put an innocent spin on their abuse of the NEA and two non-partisan volunteer organizations (United We Serve – an initiative overseen by The Corporation for National and Community Service – a federal agency, and the White House’ Office of Public Engagement).

The goal: To motivate a group of hand-picked pro-Obama artists (grant recipients or those wanting grants) to push the President’s flagging agenda, especially health care — and to funnel this promotion through the ACORN related- Serve.gov website. 

***

Documentation gathered by Big Hollywood’s Patrick Courrielche and the Washington Times, coupled with a newly revealed audio recording of the full conference call, points to eight troubling facts that put the full context of the call in a very disturbing light. (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Buffy Wicks, health care, Michael Skolnik, national endowment for the arts
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 9:29 am in Art, Politics | 22996691 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/09/21/propaganda-health-care-and-acorn-full-context-of-nea-conference-call-reveals-disturbing-pattern/Propaganda%2C+Health+Care+and+ACORN%3A+Full+Context+of+NEA+Conference+Call+Reveals+Disturbing+Pattern2009-09-21+16%3A29%3A33John+Nolte

EXPLOSIVE NEW AUDIO Reveals White House Using NEA to Push Partisan Agenda

**NEA conference call full audio and transcript here**

Should the National Endowment for the Arts encourage artists to create art on issues being vehemently debated nationally?

That is the question that I set out to discuss a little over three weeks ago when I wrote an article on Big Hollywood entitled The National Endowment for the Art of Persuasion?”

The question still requires debate but the facts do not.

The NEA and the White House did encourage a handpicked, pro-Obama arts group to address politically controversial issues under contentious national debate. That fact is irrefutable.

President Obama with the NEA’s Yosi Sergant

But some have claimed that the invite and passages, pulled from the conference call that inspired the article, were taken out of context. Context is what I intend to establish here.

On August 10th, the National Endowment for the Arts, the White House Office of Public Engagement, and the Corporation for National and Community Service hosted a conference call with a handpicked arts group. This arts group played a key role in Obama’s arts effort during his election campaign, as declared by the organizers of the call, and many on the call played a role in the now famous Obama Hope poster. (more…)

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Tags: Americans for the Arts, Barack Obama, Corporation for National and Community Service, health care, Hope poster
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 8:34 am in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 227610590 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/09/21/explosive-new-audio-reveals-white-house-using-nea-to-push-partisan-agenda/EXPLOSIVE+NEW+AUDIO+Reveals+White+House+Using+NEA+to+Push+Partisan+Agenda2009-09-21+15%3A34%3A22Patrick+Courrielche

Full NEA Conference Call Transcript and Audio

Play:

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Full Transcript:

Full NEA Conference Call Transcript and Audio –

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Tags: Americans for the Arts, Barack Obama, Corporation for National and Community Service, health care, Hope poster
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 8:31 am in Art, Politics | 231094154 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/09/21/full-nea-conference-call-transcript-and-audio/Full+NEA+Conference+Call+Transcript+and+Audio2009-09-21+15%3A31%3A46Patrick+Courrielche

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

Planting the Seeds: The Politicized Art Behind the ACORN Plan

Everything you needed to know about the unorthodox roll out of the now-notorious ACORN sting videos was hidden in plain sight in my Sept. 7 column, “Katie Couric, Look in the Mirror.” ACORN was not the only target of those videos; so were Katie, Brian, Charlie and every other mainstream media pooh-bah.

They were not going to report this blockbuster unless they were forced to. And they were. What’s more, it ain’t over yet. Not every hint I dropped in that piece about what was to come has played itself out yet.Stay tuned.

When filmmaker and provocateur James O’Keefe came to my office to show me the video of him and his friend, Hannah Giles, going to the Baltimore offices of ACORN – the nation’s foremost “community organizers” – dressed as a pimp and a prostitute and asking for – and getting – help for various illegal activities, he sought my advice. In the past, Mr. O’Keefe created brilliant social satire that rocked his college campus and even made its way on to the talk-radio and cable-news shows, but the magnitude of his latest adventure had the potential to rock the political establishment.

I was awed by Mr. O’Keefe’s guts and amazed by the footage, but explained that the mainstream media would try to kill this important and illuminating expose about a corrupt and criminal political racket, and that the well-funded political left would go into “war room” mode, with 25-year-old Mr. O’Keefe and 20-year-old cohort Miss Giles in the cross hairs. I felt I had a moral obligation to protect these young muckrakers from the left and from the media, and to devise a strategy that would force the media’s hand.  (more…)

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Tags: abc, ACORN, acorn scandal, Bertha Lewis, Brian Williams
Posted Sep 20th 2009 at 6:40 pm in Featured Story, Media Criticism, News, Politics | 230558No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/09/20/planting-the-seeds-the-politicized-art-behind-the-acorn-plan/Planting+the+Seeds%3A+The+Politicized+Art+Behind+the+ACORN+Plan2009-09-21+01%3A40%3A55Andrew+Breitbart

What Did Kumar Know, and When Did He Know It?

Meet the face of Obama’s Ministry of Propaganda: Kal Penn.  Best known for being one of the hapless stoners in the sex-bong-fart franchise “Harold & Kumar,” Penn was brought on to the Obama Administration to be the President’s Associate Director of Public Engagement.  After failing to grab more than a headline or two in the five months since his hiring, he has entered the fray in a big way as the White House representative to a National Endowment for the Arts conference call promoting the Obama administration’s political agenda.

Patrick Courrielche reported on the call this morning:

Kalpen Modi, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, was to represent the White House and key representatives from the National Endowment for the Arts were also to participate.

Did you catch that? Kalpen Modi is the given name of the actor known as Kal Penn. (more…)

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Tags: "I Pledge" Video, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, Art, ashton kutcher, George Will
Posted Sep 8th 2009 at 5:39 pm in Art, Celebrity News, Featured Story, Media Criticism, News, Politics | 22029089 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/amarlow/2009/09/08/what-did-kumar-know-and-when-did-he-know-it/What+Did+Kumar+Know%2C+and+When+Did+He+Know+It%3F2009-09-09+00%3A39%3A17Alexander+Marlow

WHO SET UP GOVERNMENT ‘PROPAGANDA’ CONFERENCE CALL? Newly Revealed White House, NEA Audio Contradict

Another conference call has materialized, revealing a concerted effort by government to use the arts to address political issues.

Lee Rosenbaum, a blogger for Artsjournal.com, posted her experience with a meeting that occurred on August 27th and confessed that she also felt “uneasy” about the government’s arts effort.  The meeting invitation (viewable here) went out to all “member local, state, and regional arts agencies, community-based arts organizations, and national partners of Americans for Arts.” Americans for Arts is a non-profit arts organization that has received substantial grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

As with my conference call, the art group was invited to the meeting to work together to “tackle some of the nation’s toughest issues: education; health; energy and the environment; community renewal; and safety and security.” Also like my call, it included a private citizen moderating the phone call with key White House representatives participating. Kalpen Modi, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, was to represent the White House and key representatives from the National Endowment for the Arts were also to participate.

Even more disturbing than learning that the White House and NEA are using the arts to address specific issues, is to learn what was discussed on this new conference call. Rosenbaum mentions that there was much talk of “leveraging federal dollars” to get artists and cultural organizations involved in social-service projects.  (more…)

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Tags: Americans for Arts, Barack Obama, Boston Globe, conference call, Foxnews.com
Posted Sep 8th 2009 at 9:09 am in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 219566318 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/09/08/update-the-nea-and-mainstream-media-remain-silent/WHO+SET+UP+GOVERNMENT+%27PROPAGANDA%27+CONFERENCE+CALL%3F+Newly+Revealed+White+House%2C+NEA+Audio+Contradict2009-09-08+16%3A09%3A03Patrick+Courrielche

UPDATE: What the NEA Says Vs. Documented Facts

What does it mean when a government official evades the truth?

On August 25th, I published an article discussing a conference call hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve that invited a group of 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.”

In the article I argued that it was not the role of the National Endowment for the Arts to use the arts to address specific issues, especially those of “health care” and “energy and environment” that are being vehemently debated nationally. I also clearly indicated that I was invited by the NEA and questioned their involvement in a meeting of this nature.

Two days later an article was published in the Washington Times that referenced my account of the conference call. Kerry Picket reported in the article that she “asked the NEA for a copy of the invitation to the conference call, but Communications Director for the NEA Yosi Sergant told us that they were not the ones who sent out the invitations for the conference call.” Picket continues, “Mr. Sergant directed us to the Corporation for National and Community Service as the body that sent out the invitations.”  (more…)

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Tags: Corporation for National and Community Service, Foxnews.com, health care, Johsua Miller, Kerry Picket
Posted Aug 31st 2009 at 11:34 am in Art, Featured Story, Media Criticism, Politics | 214754162 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/08/31/contradictions-are-revealing-politicizing-the-nea/UPDATE%3A+What+the+NEA+Says+Vs.+Documented+Facts2009-08-31+18%3A34%3A59Patrick+Courrielche

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

NEA Stimulus Funds Pay for Porn

The National Endowment for the Arts might be the strongest proof yet that Leftists are much more invested in the culture war than say, oh, feeding the hungry. You would think anyone truly concerned with the downtrodden would be outraged over the very idea of the NEA: “People living in the streets and we’re spending tax dollars on Perverts Put Out?!?”

If there’s any program Republicans like myself would be willing to immediately de-fund, dismantle, and move its resources over to Head Start and “green initiatives” (is porn more important than Mother Earth?), it’s the NEA. For the asking, millions upon millions of dollars in federal relief could be transferred to hunger programs, breast cancer research and third-world vaccinations. But no, obviously the screening of skin-flicks featuring Gorillas takes precedent: (more…)

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Tags: culture war, federal stimulus, national endowment for the arts, nea, tax dollars
Posted Jul 30th 2009 at 10:52 am in Art, Politics | 194766128 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/07/30/federal-stimulus-funds-support-underground-pornography/NEA+Stimulus+Funds+Pay+for+Porn2009-07-30+17%3A52%3A54John+Nolte

NEA Grantees Should “Spread the Wealth”

Although Broadway - and by extension National Tours of Broadway shows - tend to be the showcase for the American theatre industry, the vast majority of the works that end up in that showcase are born and nurtured in the vast network of non-profit theatres stretched across the country. 

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco as well as smaller cities like Minneapolis, Houston San Diego and beautiful Costa Mesa (!) have major producing organizations that act as feeders for Broadway and the road.  New playwright programs designed to nurture writers and their works are a staple of most non-profit and institutional theatres.  And these theatres are funded, in part, by federal grants from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA).  (more…)

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Tags: a chorus line, broadway, national endowment for the arts, taxpayer money, Theatre
Posted Feb 3rd 2009 at 6:25 am in Entertainment, Politics | 3919425 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/02/03/nea-grantees-should-spread-the-wealth/NEA+Grantees+Should+%22Spread+the+Wealth%222009-02-03+14%3A25%3A41Stage+Right

Artist Bailout: $50 Million Not Enough

So it turns out that HR1, Obama’s giant stimulus bill that’s going to save the world, one contraceptive, lawn care company, STD prevention program at a time has a little coin for all us starving artists. Well, probably not all us starving artists. Probably only the ones who are government and NEA approved. You know, all those right-wing expressionist types. However, if you think the currently allocated $50 million just isn’t enough (the cost of camel hair brushes being what they are these days) there’s a handy petition you can click over to (conveniently listed at the bottom of this post, so as not to divert your attention from this scintillating prose) where a group of artist is requesting a meager 1% (that’s $8.19 billion of the current $819 billion dollar behemoth) stimulus bill while simultaneously asking that President Obama appoint a Secretary of the Arts.

Hey, I’m all for it. I mean, there are at least a dozen black-box theaters in the Valley that could use a coat of paint. And it’s imperative that at this time of world-wide crises, where the country is engaged in two wars, we take the time to really bear down and work on a getting top flight Secretary of the Arts. It’s just what we need because… uh… of…uh… you know. I mean, come on people! (more…)

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Tags: artist bailout, bailout, national endowment for the arts, taxpayer money
Posted Jan 29th 2009 at 4:48 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 3483834 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/rjthomas/2009/01/29/rj-thomas-post/Artist+Bailout%3A+%2450+Million+Not+Enough2009-01-30+00%3A48%3A31R.J.+Thomas

A Plea To Unendow The Arts

For years, I have argued against the very existence of the National Endowment of the Arts. If an artist can’t be self-sustaining in a capitalist country as large and as rich as America, he should get into another line of work. It’s certainly not the business of the politicians and the bureaucrats, who you notice aren’t spending their own money, to support him and his artistic pipe-dreams.

If 300 million of us have decided we don’t wish to underwrite inferior work, where do a handful of senators and congressmen get off wasting millions of our tax dollars to keep these dilettantes in beer and skittles?

Understand, I’m a live-and-let-live kind of guy, and I have no problem with the private sector squandering its own money any way it likes. Heck, if the trustees of the MacArthur Foundation see fit to bestow $300,000 grants on a bunch of weirdos who write Eskimo poetry or build sand castles, that’s their affair. Still, I can’t imagine why they’d rather give all that money to some beatnik who makes giraffes out of pipe cleaners, and will probably blow the dough on cheap hooch and wild women, when they could just as easily give it to me, knowing that I will use it to buy tax-free municipal bonds. (more…)

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Tags: national endowment for the arts, nea, unendow the nea
Posted Jan 22nd 2009 at 6:20 am in Entertainment, Politics | 2656955 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/01/22/a-plea-to-unendow-the-arts/A+Plea+To+Unendow+The+Arts2009-01-22+14%3A20%3A16Burt+Prelutsky