—–

Well, whether Republicans have learned from the Democrats in 2006 (and whether they even needed to, given today’s political climate), newcomer media company RightNetwork has. Beginning this month, RightNetwork is airing “Running,” an original series (available on demand) following eight candidates in their 2010 race for Congress. 

For two productions focusing on the same issue, the series is about as opposite of “HouseQuake” as conservatives are of liberals. 

First, while “HouseQuake” enjoys the perfect vision of hindsight, “Running” is the equivalent of a TLC reality show, with real heart, real drama – and real suspense. Where “HouseQuake” was more the educational tool, “Running” is the thriller, complete with the political suspense – and sometimes the political shenanigans – that Americans know and “love.” The pilot episode focuses on two California Republican challengers: Former stand-up comic Ari David, running for Henry Waxman’s 30th District seat; and successful small-businessman John Dennis, gunning for the seat of Nancy Pelosi herself. While “HouseQuake” played on viewers’ knowledge, boosting excitement through rally scenes and media coverage, “Running” gives the gritty – sometimes boring – details of campaign life, even before the primaries are decided. But these details are anything but boring in the expert hands of the “Running” production crew. In the pilot, the RNC has yet to step in, since it as of then doesn’t know who Republicans want to back. 

“HouseQuake” is a well-produced, interesting and revealing film. It meets its quality match in “Running,” whose folksy soundtrack, quirky self-filmed webcam scenes and down-and-dirty campaign footage make it an entertaining, revealing look into what these candidates are all about. It’s a quick snapshot to be sure, but it’s only the pilot, and it is a strong start to the show. Also, these candidates are passionate and real. Because of that, there are a few swearwords throughout. 

It is very clear that, whereas “HouseQuake” was more of a celebration of Democrat victories, “Running” is the story of dissatisfied common folk who are just saying no, and are willing to sacrifice big to do it. In “HouseQuake,” Mr. Emmanuel campaigns hard to convince former Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler (now Rep. Shuler from North Carolina) that being a Congressman wouldn’t be too great of a time commitment. In “Running,” self-made people sacrifice big to fight for what they believe in. 

It’s not just the story of the candidates themselves, but of their wives too, and the way they sacrifice to keep food on the table while their husbands fight to keep America free for the next generation. 

I watched “HouseQuake” in an artsy theatre in downtown Washington, D.C., in a very liberal audience among many Democrat elites, followed by a discussion with Ms. Price and a Democrat strategist, moderated by a writer from The New Yorker. Energy was high – it was early autumn of 2009, and healthcare reform was due to pass in weeks. 

A year later, it’s remarkable to see the difference in Washington’s atmosphere. The liberals in power are scared. Americans nationwide are ready to call the shots this November, holding their leaders accountable for the last two years. 

When it comes down to the stories, that’s the biggest difference. “HouseQuake” is really a pat on the back for Democrats, a job well done and an opportunity seized. “Running,” a TV show, is less a reflective work and more an in-depth, emotional look at what real people – many of them unlikely candidates – are doing to ensure that their America stays free. If they lose the race, at least they tried. And even if the candidates lose in the end, as a reality TV series, “Running” is a big winner.

“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

The former is an excerpt from the ABC television show ”V.”  The latter, the cynical assessment of President Obama’s consigliore and Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel of the economic crisis occurring in the United States.

An opportunity to do what things you think you could not do before?  Health care reform? Cap and tax? Government takeover of car companies, banks, and executive pay?

I think the remake of “V” currently showing on ABC must surely have been conceived as a metaphor. The alien visitors whose ships hover over multiple U.S. cities, and who plot to woo humans to join them to achieve their own veiled purpose, are equivalent to the current administration in Washington. Radicals, schooled by Saul Alinsky, affecting cleverly cultivated pleasing faces and voices.

The Visitors are not what they appear to be. They are… spoiler alert… lizards clothed in human skin. If you cross them, they skin you with gleaming metal instruments. Chicago style.

Didn’t Rham once send a dead fish to a pollster who had angered him? A tad short of skinning, but shudderingly similar.

Anna, in the episode which aired on ABC last Tuesday, says, “The future of our species, our cause, our survival outweighs any sacrifice. There is no room for human emotion, for weakness of any kind.”

I can imagine the modern Godfather Emanuel proclaiming similarly to candidate Obama while making his case for the “fundamental transformation” of this country.  Yes we can…

Anna of the Other Planet tells Scott Wolf, playing The Reporter, “You’ll get to see progress being made, first-hand.” Oh, that word–progress–and all that is permissible to be done in its name.

On this planet, progress takes the form of Obamacare. We didn’t ask for it. We didn’t want it. They shoved it down our throats regardless.

On “V,” Anna gives Timbale “blue energy” after the monsoon. When asked by her Lieutenant, “Why are we giving blue energy to the humans?” she smugly replies, “Because, once they’re dependent on it…. We can turn it off.”

Sounds like entitlements to me, in all their insidious forms.

At the end of the episode, The Reporter says to Anna, “They think you’re a God.. [But I think] you’re not just visitors. You’re here to stay. But are you here for our benefit – or for yours?”

Hmmm. Something I’d say to Obama and his radical regime, if I had a prime time show on ABC.

Rahm Emanuel. (I’m shaking my head slowly).  It’s not his real name you know.  “Emmanuel” means “God with us” and that is not his real name.  It’s Auerbach.  Look it up. And…Rahm means “high” or “lofty.”  Mark Levin calls him “the creepy ballerina.”  I think he looks like the devil.  I’m just saying.  He talks like the devil.  I’m sure you heard that he called the Democrats “F—ing retards.”  Everyone got mad at the Retard word and no one got mad at the “F” word.  My dad said that people only make fun of the reproductive and excretory systems of the human body and no one should because God made the human body and it is a masterpiece.

What is it with all these people throwing the “F” word around like a basketball?

I never heard the word until I was about 23 and entering show business.  Show business people say it all the time.  It’s vulgar and stupid.  It’s what kids on the playground say to prove they are tough because they are really insecure.  My brother said it comes from the German word “fricktin” –  to plow.

My daughter when she was 8 asked me if she was allowed to say F-A-R-T.  I said, “Absolutely not.  Even if we weren’t Christians, it is not lady like.  Besides, when do you ever need to say it?  When someone does one you are supposed to pretend you didn’t smell or hear it.  That’s polite.”

“Pleasssse Mommy,” she pleaded.  “Everybody says it.  Even my teachers.” 

“Well, we don’t say it.  We say Putt Putt.  Aubbie is a nut.  She has a rubber butt.  And every time she turns around it goes putt putt.  My Mom taught me that.” 

“What?!  Everyone would make fun of me if I said that.” 

“Why do you have to be like everyone?  Why don’t you be a trendsetter?  Call it a razzamatazz.  I bet everyone will copy you.  But, wait, when do you have to say this?”

“Jasmine talks about it all the time.”

“Oh.  Jasmine who stole your lunch money and talks about sex?” 

“Can I say Fert?”

I finally said, “Honey, if you start with the bad words, like F-A-R-T, it leads to F-U-C-K and that leads to cigarettes, and that leads to alcohol, and that leads to pot, then coke, and then heroin.” 

“Mommy, you think if I say Fert, I will become a heroin addict.”

“Yep…or worse, Rahm Emanuel.  Good Night!”

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: NewsBusted’s Laugh Track, Groundhog Day, D.C. Blizzard, Nancy Pelosi, Osama Bin Laden, Rahm Emanuel, Joe Biden, President Obama Bows Again, Obama Girl, John Edwards, Teen Pregnancy, and R. Kelly.

To the untrained eye, SNL’s recent “Rahm Emanuel Apology” sketch would seem to be poking fun at the chief-of-staff designate. To be fair, they make him look like a bit of a jerk (albeit still a smart one.) Personally I would have gone with the whole “he looks like Brad Garret on a heroin-bender” angle, but keep in mind that I’m a bi-partisan hack. The most notable part of the SNL piece had nothing to do with Emmanuel himself, but the jabs taken at Sarah Palin:

“You come after me on Facebook? What, are your fourteen? Here’s a status update: Grow the f–k up! Poke me again, and I will write s–t on your wall so obscene your computer will cry. Go back to the tundra, you f–king gimmick!”

One has to ask themselves, “Where are the jokes?” The only truthful premise for any of these punchlines is that Sarah Palin effectively used social networking tools to make a fool out of the pencil-necked Emanuel. Does that really make her immature? Most of the current administration use some form of new media (including the President himself who seems quite the twitter-fiend). The only difference is that Palin seems to currently have more sway over public opinion and the ultimate ability to define policy (even though she holds no office). Still, I haven’t yet seen anyone address the mean-spiritedness of the SNL swipes at Palin. Maybe that’s because those attacks are only reserved to Palin herself, as seen by the reaction to a recent joke at her latest Tea Party speech.

“We really do love our trees. I named my daughter Willow. Isn’t that granola enough for them?”

Don’t expect to see Palin at your local comedy club anytime soon, but the joke can stand on its own two feet. According to the mainstream media however, it was seen as too edgy or (according to some) flat out “mean.” How can a joke with no clear-cut personal target, no true social relevancy or words of hatred be mean? Maybe I’m just a simp.

See when it comes to dealing with Palin, none of the facts matter. Much like their sentiments towards FoxNews, the media is blinded by its hatred for the woman. You’re going to see a lot more “pile-ons” when it comes to Palin in the coming months, and here’s why…

Palin’s Achilles heel was her lack of experience in dealing with the media. Much like Reagan, she decided to control her own message. She did so by hitting the road with her book and dealing directly with the American people. Unlike Reagan (who worked in the entertainment industry for years), this wasn’t going to help her where she needed it most. The only way to gain media experience is to get in front of the media.

Enter Palin’s Fox News contributorship. Palin now has an open venue where she can get her feet wet in dealing with the press, without having to worry about getting sucker-punched like a photographer adjacent to a coked-out Sean Penn.

It really is a genius move on her part, and the folks at NBC hate that. The fact that she’s incredibly hot only exacerbates their problem. While I’m not necessarily 100% sold on Palin as an 2012 candidate so far, what the media continues to do to her is criminal. I’m talking Barney Frank-level criminal. Why isn’t he in federal prison, by the way? I’d pay a nickel to see that mugshot.

What do you folks think of the “Rahm Emanuel” sketch? Was it funny or just another chance to jump on the Palin-hating bandwagon?

That overnight sensation belting out the State of Union? None other than me, Barry Obama. Just a scrappy skinny kid from the mean streets of Honolulu with a silky baritone and a pocketful of dreams. Now I’ve got those high rollers eating straight from the ever-lovin’ palm of my hand. Little do they know I’ve got another dream — the craziest heist the D.C. strip has ever seen.

BARRY

Spend me to the moon, and let me play around with TARP,
Give the folks some stimulus so they can all buy cars.
In other words, cut the debt.
In other words, fiscal re-spons-i-bility.

Yeah!

Appropriate that cash, just like you’re Johnny Maynard Keynes,
We need jobs and health care and some light rail urban trains,
In other words, tighten belts.
In other words, ef-fic-i-ency.

Spend meeeeeee (hit it boys) to the moooo-oooo-oooooon!

Look-out-Old-Barry’s-back!

(Crowd cheers)

BARRY
Thanks everybody, you’ve been a wonderful Congress. Remember to tip your lobbyists!

(Amid a shower of roses and panties, Barry sprints to the wings where he is greeted by his managers Twinkletoes Emanuel and Spats Axelrod).

TWINKLETOES
You slayed ‘em, Barry! Just like the old days back on the DNC vaudeville circuit! Listen to dat house go wild. Now get out there and take your curtain call!

BARRY
No dice, Twinky. Rule #1 in fiscal showbiz: always leave ‘em wanting more.

SPATS
Don’t let that ovation go to your head, kid. Remember we’ve got a bigger act to rehearse for. Speaking of which, it’s time to get back to the oval hospitality suite.

EMCEE
Ladies and gentlemen, Barry has just left the theater.

(On the way to the hospitality suite, Twinky and Spats shove aside various autograph hounds and golddiggers)

SHOWGIRLS (Rachel Maddow, Katie Couric, Andrea Mitchell, Helen Thomas, Chris Matthews)
Call us, Barry!

CHARLES GIBSON
Kid, your act is sensational! Stupendous! I want to sign you for an exclusive 52-week network interview contract!

BRIAN WILLIAMS
Scram, Charlie, I was here first! Whatever he’s offering you, I’ll double it!

STEVE CROFT
I’ll triple it!

OPRAH WINFREY
Honey, I’ll give you a blank check… and all the brown sugar you can handle.

SPATS
One side, boys! Call the office on Monday. Barry has some personal business to attend to. 

(inside the hospitality suite)

TWINKLETOES
Phew! I thought we’d never get through those fucking retards.

BARRY
You said it. Say, how about those drinks, Pussycat?

PUSSYCAT PELOSI
Coming right up, Tiger.

TWINKLETOES
Okay wise guys, what’s the big secret? What’s this “new act” business?

BARRY AND SPATS
Heist.

TWINKLETOES
Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. Nyet. No way, Joe-Say. Do I have to remind you jokers what happened with that Annenberg Challenge caper? We barely got out of that jam unindicted!

BARRY
We got out didn’t we? Besides, that was small potatoes, Twink. What we’re talking about is the biggest heist yet.

SPATS
The biggest in history, baby.

TWINKLETOES
Which is… ?

PUSSYCAT 
The United States Treasury. Okay, that’s one Zima on the rocks for Twinky… one chardonnay spritzer for Spats… and for you, tall dark and handsome, one double Arugula Martini.

BARRY
Did you remember to make it dry?

PUSSYCAT 
Drier than my va-jay-jay, loverboy.

TWINKLETOES
Hey — what gives, youse bums? How come Granma Moses knows more about this caper than me? No offense, Pussycat, but I don’t trust dames. No matter how old they are.

BARRY
Relax, Twinky. Pussycat helped us plan the whole job. We didn’t tell you sooner because of that big filthy mouth of yours.

TWINKLETOES
Okay, okay, so I drop a few inconvenient f-bombs now and then. So sue me for Tourettes. But I’m tellin’ youse guys, you are nuts if you think we can pull a job on the Mint! We don’t have the manpower!

SPATS
You worry too much, Twink. As a matter of fact, We were just about to assemble the whole team right now.

TWINKLETOES
Team? What team?

BARRY
The old Chicago community organizing unit.

TWINKLETOES
The Fightin’ 101st Southside Grifters? Why didn’t you say so… deal me in, Daddy-o!

(montage of Obama’s Eleven getting summoned)

************

(pulpit of Southside church)

PREACHER WRIGHT
God bless America?? No, God DAMN America! The Chickens are coming HOME to… um, I am sorry, brothers and sisters, it’s my goddamn cell. Gotta take this. Whuuuh?! Huuuuhhh??? Praise Sweet goddamn Jesus, Barry, I’m on the next flight out of O’Hare. Bye. Now where was I? Can I get a goddamn A-Men!

************

(Inside the Illinois State Prison)

GUARD
Rezko! Blagojevich!

BLAGO
Whaddaya want, you filthy screw?

FAT TONY
Yeah, we weren’t doin’ nuttin’.

GUARD
Pack up your stuff, youse mugs, You just got pardons from Diamond Pat Quinn. Something about a community service parole with “Project 101,” whatever that is.

FAT TONY
Heh.

BLAGO
Heh heh heh.

FAT TONY AND BLAGO
Hah hahhah hahaha haha!!! Heee ho hahhahah!

GUARD
Shaddup!

************

(A lecture hall at the University of Illinois-Chicago)

“BILLY THE BRAIN” AYERS
… and now, to perform an interpretive dance commemorating Amerikkka’s racism against the indigenous peoples, my wife, Professor Boom Boom Dohrn. Pay close attention, for this material will be on the midterm and… what in the name of Charles Manson is the meaning of this rude interruption? Can’t you see we are learning here!

SECRETARY
I’m sorry Professor, but you just received this emergency telegram from Washington DC. It seemed like it could be important.

BOOM BOOM
It better be — or I’ll stab your eyes out you filthy white bourgeois secretary pig of empire!

BRAIN
Washington, you say? Let me see that… mmblmbm. hmbmlm? mlmbmbm! Alright, class dismissed. But I want those genocide essays on my desk by next Tuesday! Five pages, double-spaced!

************

(A back office the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield)

ALEXI “DAGREEK” GIANNOULIAS
Litsen, my friend, I’m nad ganna wase yer time wid a ladda small tak. I gadda ladda invintory I gadda move, en I’m ready ta wheel en deal. So lemme aks youse, whadda I gadda do to get yer iss into dis fine luxury Illinoise state candract today?

PAVEMENT CONTRACTOR
I don’t know, maybe I should talk it over with my slush fund manager before… is that some sort of dollar sign light in the sky? Outside you window?

DAGREEK  
Holy skata! Dass da signal fer the ol’ 101! Barry must be puttin’ da old gang bick tagedder. Litsen, pal, I gadda go. But call me next week about dat candract, I’ll trow in free unnercoating en a two-year briber’s pertection plan.

************

(inside a Southside confessional)

CONFESSOR
Fergive me fodder for I hiv sint.

PADDY O’PFLEGER
Bless you my son. Now what kind of sinnin’ have you been doin’ then?

CONFESSOR
Let’s see, I tore up Meigs Field wid some bulldozers, dere was that hiert truck ting, and a couple cost overruns at O’Hare. Oh yeah, I took da Lord’s name in vaint.

PADDY O’PFLEGER
Well now. If it isn’t little Richie Daley. Tsk tsk, Richie, what would your late sainted mother say about all of your mischief? Now for your penance I want you to say 10 Hail Marys, 2 Acts of Contrition, and give me 5% of the gross on those truck contracts unless you’ll be wantin’ to see me parishioners picketin’ outside City Hall.

(knock knock)

VOICE
Pssst…. heist meeting tonight at Barry Obama’s.

LITTLE RICHIE
Errr…. was dat message fer me or you?

PADDY O’PFLEGER
Why don’t you take it Richie. I’m picketing against the US military occupation of Haiti this weekend.

************

(Outside Keebler Headquarters, Elmhurst, IL)

JESSE “PUSH” JACKSON SR.
The voices of our community cry out. For too long. the Keebler Company has engaged. in the bigoted policies. of. Jim Crow. Elves of color continue. to be denied. cookie baking. opportunities. Ernie Keebler. must step down. as the tiny cookie cracker Bull Conner. of this. hollow tree. of shame. We call on the community. to boycott. Keebler. until they apologize. with $200,000. in small unmarked. bills.

(aide whispers into ear)

Or. best offer. I must. go now.

*************

(back inside the Oval Hospitality Suite, Obama’s Eleven is gathered around the boardroom table, drinking cocktails and getting neck massages from the Congressional Showgirl Caucus)

BABS BOXER
Refill on that Cosmopolitan, Fat Tony?

FAT TONY
Don’t mind if I do, doll. Make it a double. I gotta hand it to ya Barry, you’ve come a long way since Hyde Park.

DAGREEK
Yeah, dis Washington sure is da life! Maybe I’ll move here somedime.

BARRY
Sorry fellas, it’s time to get down to business. Okay dollies, time to go take a nap.

SHOWGIRLS
Aww!

BLANCHE LINCOLN
Must we, sugar? We were just getting all comfy and cozy-like with your big strong friends from Chicago.

DIXIE LANDRIEU
I do declare, these boys have political muscles on top of their political muscles.

BARRY
You heard me, ladies, scram. Here, take a billion and go buy yourselves some pretty little earmarks.

DIXIE
Oh Barry, aren’t you the sweetest thing! Come on girls, let’s get to K Street before it closes. I’m gonna buy my momma a Tiffany freeway bypass.

BARRY
Dames. Whattaya gonna do.

BLAGO
We appreciate da high roller treatment, Barry, but why don’t you tell us what youse guys got up yer sleeve.

BARRY
Gentlemen, I don’t have to tell you that inside this room sits the greatest assemblage of bag men, shakedown artist, fixers, and demolition experts that Cook County has ever produced. And deep underneath this humble Potomac Casino lies the ultimate whale: the United States Treasury. And, as the headliner in the main lounge, I have the combination. Together, gentlemen, we are going to liberate it.

PREACHER
Tell us something we don’t know, fool! You talkin’ crazy!

BARRY
Crazy like a fox, Preacher. In fact, this job will be like taking candy from a baby. An entire generation of babies.

LITTLE RICHIE
Dat’s what you said about the Olympics caper.

BLAGO
Yeah, dat place is crawlin’ wit dem Tea Party Pinkertons. They got security webcams everywhere!

SPATS
That’s why we’ve cooked up a little wing-a-ding-ding distraction.

LITTLE RICHIE
Distriction?

BARRY
It’s a new bossa nova number we call… shutting the lights off in Vegas.

OBAMA’S ELEVEN
Whuuuh—huhhhh!??

TWINKLETOES
Dat’s right boys. In fact, thanks to Ol’ Brown Eyes here, Glitter Gulch is already running on half power. After Andy Stern and the Nevada SEIU boys go on strike and Barry doobie-doobie-doos another anti-Vegas press conference ballad, then, pow! Lights out, baby.

SPATS
And for a little added insurance, Barry has some emergency stimulus funds for Brain and Boom Boom to do a little deconstruction on Hoover Dam.

BRAIN
Burn baby burn!

BOOM BOOM
Wild, man! I’m hip, I’m hip!

FAT TONY
Like I’m diggin’ your arpeggio, Daddy-O. Keep croonin’.

BARRY
In the confusion, that’s when the rest of you boys get to work. Little Richie is gonna crack the lock. Preacher and Push, you’re gonna back a couple of disguised ACORN buses to the loading dock. The rest of you mugs are gonna make like Teamsters with the forklifts.

DAGREEK
It’s so friggin’ crazy it just might wirk.

BARRY
Gentlemen, a toast to Lady Luck… and to the reuniting of the Rat Pack.

OBAMA’S ELEVEN
To da Rat Pack!

BARRY
Now… (slamming palm on the pool table) who’s with me?

(one by one, Obama’s Eleven stack their hands on top of Barry’s)

******************

(at the Press Conference lounge, where Barry is performing an early dinner show)

SPATS (backstage on lapel mic)
Come in Team O. This is leader base. Sychronize Rolexes at 1900 hours.

(montage of Obama’s Eleven at designated locations, wearing jumpsuits and cat burglar gear)

LITTLE RICHIE
Check.

PUSH AND PREACHER
Check.

BLAGO, FAT TONY, DAGREEK
Check.

BRAIN AND BOOM BOOM
Wild, man!

SPATS (to BARRY)
All systems are go. You’re on, kid.

TWINKLETOES
Ladies and Gentlemen, and media nutsack swingers of all ages, please put your hands together for America’s favorite entertainer, the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Barry Albert Obama!

(thunderous applause)

BARRY

How lucky can America be,
they elected little ol’ me,
Like the fella once said,
Ain’t That a Kick in the Fed?
Your future was completely black,
’til you hugged me and I hugged you back.
Like Soros said quote,
Don’t that make your interest rate float?
Your head keeps spinning;
You go to sleep and keep grinning;
If this is just the beginning,
Your life’s gonna be beautiful.
I’ve stimulus enough to spread;
It’s like the fella said,
Tell me quick, Ain’t love like a kick in the Fed?

Ain’t thaaaat… a kick in the Fehhhhd!

Yeah!

Questions?

SCOOP TAPPER
Tell us Champ, what’s your latest take on the economic situation?

BARRY
Lemme tell you. The big problem is we got too many of these big shot corporations throwin’ around their money. They gotta stop wastin’ their cash at dese fancy schmancy conventions.

SCOOP
Conventions? Like where?

BARRY
I’m glad you asked that. I’m talking specifically about…

SPATS (backstage on lapel mic)
Go go go! We have lift off!

(jump scene inside Hoover Dam; Brain and Boom Boom are wiring a bomb)

BRAIN
Roger that Spats! Now, where’s that wire…

BOOM BOOM
Off the pigs! Hey, what’s this button for?

KABLOOOOOIEEEE

(jump scene back to press room; lights flicker)

TWINKLETOES
Holy crap! Those two beatnik morons blew up the wrong power supply! Barry’s TelePrompter just went out!

BARRY
…about… places like… uhm… it’s right on the tip of my… inside-mouth lick-thing…

SPATS (sweating profusely)
Come oooooonnnn… you can do it… think, Barry, think!

BARRY
… place like… um… is it Vas Legas?

SCOOP
You mean Las Vegas?

BARRY
Yeah, yeah! That’s it! Las Vegas, uhhhh, bad. Bye bye, I go now!

TWINKLETOES
Phew! Dat was too close for comfort.

SPATS
You said it! If my calculations are correct Vegas will be going dark in precisely 47 seconds. Come on Barry, let’s get you to the motorcade pronto.

BARRY
But Prompty!

SPATS
Exnay on the Teleprompter! No time! We gotta rendezvous with the boys at exactly 2130 hours.

******************

(inside the Treasury vault)

LITTLE RICHIE
Left 33… left 21… left 666. Bingo! Come on youse clowns, open dat door.

BLAGO
Holy mackerel, feast your peepers on that pile of cabbage!

DAGREEK
14 trillion… 14 trillion bucks… 14 trillion sweet simolian smackerinos of legal tenner! Come to papa!

FAT TONY
And how. Now dat kinda dough would buy a lotta rental slum property in Englewood!

LITTLE RICHIE
If you goons are finished playin’ pocket pool, get busy loadin’ that dough on da pallets.

HORN
Beeeeep

LITTLE RICHIE
Hurry it up youse mugs! Push and Preacher are here with the buses!

(Outside, at the loading docks)

PREACHER
Where are them goddamn crackers? I got a goddamn sermon to prepare for Sunday.

PUSH
I am. going to. put in for. overtime.

******************

(Barry, Spats, and Twinky are hurtling down the Pennsylvania Avenue Strip when a mysterious Prius races by and cuts them off. They are forced to stop. A strange figure exits the Prius, wildly waving hands)

SPATS
What the hell is going on? Is that some kinda cop?

TWINKLETOES
No.. it’s some fat ugly blonde broad in an evening gown… with a butcher knife!

BARRY
That ain’t no broad! That’s dat lunatic autograph stalker Freak Olberman!

FREAK
I knew it! Oooooh, I just knew it! I knew it was you, Barry. I can see you in there, even behind the delicious smoked glass. Mmmmm, llll-lll-lll. Do you know what this means, Barry? This can’t be chance, it’s destiny! No matter what Mother says, we were meant to be together. Forever. That’s why I will always defend you on my television show. That’s why I always carefully and lovingly save my stools to send to your enemies. Have you get my latest Countdown Special Comment stoolcam video? Mother promised she sent it to you by certified mail, but I don’t believe her. Just like Mother doesn’t believe in us. She says it’s silly for me to keep a wig and gown in my car in case I see you. But we proved her wrong. Didn’t we, Barry? SEE, MOMMY??? Ha hah hah heh. Heh! And now, for your birthday, I would like to writhe on your big black hood and perform a special comment in song. Happy birthday toooo yoouuuu, happy birrrr-iiirrrthdayyyy to you, happy birthday mister Baaaarrryyyy O-baaa-maaa, Happy birthdaaaaay to yooooou. Giggle.

SPATS

TWINKLETOES

BARRY
Fer God’s sake hit the gas!

Fluhmppf Fladummpppfff

******************

(at the loading dock)

LITTLE RICHIE
Come on you dopes, get da lead out! Dis ain’t no union shop! We got one minute to load that last trillion.

FAT TONY
Aaaiiieee! My back! I tink I broke it!

BLAGO
Congrats, Tony! Lemme get you in touch wit a personal injury lawyer friend of mine.

LITTLE RICHIE
Leave ‘em for the cops you moron! We gotta go – now. Get these buses rolling. And Tony — remember what we do ta snitches.

FAT TONY
*gulp*

PREACHER (struggling to start his bus)
This goddamn thing won’t start!

(the team gathers around to inspect the disabled bus)

PUSH (reading the bus registration plate)
“This vehicle is a product of General Motors. Detroit, Michigan and Washington DC.”

LITTLE RICHIE
Dammit Blago, what’d I tell you about buyin’ two bit government equipment for this heist?

BLAGO
It’s Dagreek’s fault, Richie! I swear! I wanted to buy some good buses but Dagreek said we could skim the rebates.

DAGREEK
Shaddup you lousy rat!

LITTLE RICHIE
Shaddup da two of yers! At least we got one bus dat wirks. Everybody get on dat one. And dis time, I’m drivin’.

******************

(at the deserted Washington Mall rendezvous point, Barry, Spats and Twinky are pacing around the limo)

SPATS (on the radio)
Where the hell are youse guys?

LITTLE RICHIE
Keep your shirts on, we had some trouble. Fat Tony went down and we’re short about 8 trillion. Aw crap, cheese it! Da cops!

BARRY (grabbing radio)
FBI?

LITTLE RICHIE
No, CBO.

BARRY
Dammit! The Manchurian bond syndicate must have tipped them off. Can you outrun them?

LITTLE RICHIE
Not under full load. This bus is a freakin’ hybrid!

BARRY
Then you’re gonna have to lose some weight. You know the drill, Richie.

LITTLE RICHIE
Radger dat.

(One by one, Blago, Dagreek, Preacher and Push are thrown under the bus as it speeds down the Strip)

LITTLE RICHIE
Heh heh hah! I lost ‘em! I lost da cops! I should be at da rendezvous point in 30 seconds!

BARRY
Richie. Listen to me carefully. Did you remember to unload all those firebombs that Brain was hauling on that bus?

LITTLE RICHIE
Firebombs?

BLAFLOOSHHHH

(The rear of the ACORN bus bursts into flames, engulfing the $6 trillion cargo. Little Richie white-knuckles it on to the Washington Mall. The flaming bus hits an inexplicable ramp at 85 mph, spirals three times, and t-bones into the Reflecting Pool where it makes one last incendiary explosion. Little Richie swims to safety.)

TWINKLETOES (pulling a scorched and dripping wet Richie from the pool)
You okay dere Richie?

LITTLE RICHIE
Eh, no big deal. I ride the CTA sometimes.

SPATS (looking morosely on the $6 trillion going up in smoke on the flaming bus carcass)
*Sigh*. So close.

BARRY
We’ll get ‘em next fiscal year, Spats. You gotta admit, though, it is kind of a pretty sight. Kinda peaceful even. Like some kinda abstract sculpture, with them flames reflectin’ in the water.

TWINKLETOES
Yeah. Maybe we could dedicate it as the Barry Obama Memorial.

(Twinky, Spats, Richie and Barry walk glumly down the sidewalks of Pennsylvania Avenue with their hands in their pockets, to a bluesy harmonica theme)

VOICE OVER (BARRY)
Just another day at the craps tables in this nutty kookoo casino we call Washington DC. Sometimes you’re rolling sevens, sometimes no matter what you do you come up snake eyes. But Mister, that just means it’s time to dust yourself off and tip the cigarette dolly. Because in this crazy City of Dreams a jackpot is always one pull away. And there’s always a sequel around the corner.

BARRY

Show me a man without a dream, and I’ll show you a man that’s dead.
Reeeaaal dead. Daddy-o.
Once I had me a dream, but that dream got kicked in the head.
By the Fed.
Some electors say, I’m puttin’ you away,
Three more years not seven.
In the meantime,
O-o-ba-ma’s Eleven.
Eleven.
E-le-ven.

THE END?

Michael Dukakis riding around in a tank destroyed his presidential run. So is the power of imagery.

When I was a teenager a street artist named Robbie Conal put up grotesque pictures around Los Angeles of Ronald Reagan and his cabinet members like James Watt and Ed Meese.

These images had power over the long term and many street posters by Conal, other artists, a left-wing media and academia all worked in aggregate to change West LA which was Reagan’s home district to the left-wing bastion of “people’s republics” communities it is today. I am not asserting that Conal alone had this affect, but in interviews from the mid-eighties, Conal clearly stated that it was his goal to change public perception and public opinion with his art.

That brings us full circle with what’s happening today. Patrick Courrielche’s pieces here on BH blew the lid off of the Obama administration’s support of NEA grants to leftist artists who would harness art, image systems and ideas into political action and power to move the President’s agenda forward. I found this support in action today at the corner of Sunset and Mandaville Canyon in Brentwood California. Yes, this is the same Brentwood made famous by an ex-NFL player and his decapitated ex-wife.

It is an image of the “Monopoly Guy” demanding health care. I have seen this poster at some other locations in West LA too and this artist, who signs his art “Alec,” if that’s his real name, has done some other pictures of “Monopoly Guy” grousing about the economy. This one is at a shopping center in Malibu.

It will be interesting to find out if Alec received NEA funding for these efforts. The first problem I see if he has gotten money from the NEA is that he is committing vandalism by posting graffiti on public property and to rub salt in the wound, doing it on the public dime. He would also be receiving taxpayer money to influence electoral issues. It may be OK to use public money to support art for the public good (I don’t think so, but some do) but the public good is art in a museum or in a public square that is commissioned and approved by the community. It should also support good, high quality art, not graffiti or cheap posters.

The most insidious thing about this graffiti vandalism is that it works. It does influence elections, public perceptions and the zeitgeist of popular culture. When a lie is repeated enough it becomes true in people’s minds. The political left understands this and utilizes these techniques. To adequately compete, those of us on the right must learn to be versed in Alinsky, Soviet propaganda and Machiavelli so we can fight for these ideas in the trenches of popular culture. It is not easy, though. When you have reason, it is hard to fight emotion because emotion lends itself so easily to image systems and simplistic ideas and phrases like “War is not the answer,” “Bush lied, people died,” and “No blood for oil,” etc.

Perhaps we on the right need to use the “Monopoly Guy” image and marry it to a phrase like “No taxation without competent representation”? You know what, I kind of like that one!

The bottom line is that image has power. We had better learn to fight this new form of political warfare with the weapons our opponents have mastered. Like gasoline, matches and empty glass bottles, the raw material for these weapons are cheap and accessible. The battlefield has changed, we must adapt or we will lose.

Card Sharks.

I’d also appreciate it if Sean Hannity would wake up to the fact that a lot of us change the channel the second that Bob Beckel shows up on the Great American Panel.

On the other hand, I wish that merely as an experiment a dozen or so liberals could be forced to watch Glenn Beck for an entire week. I would be dying to know how they would react after watching videos of Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Cass Sunstein, Anita Dunn, Andy Stern and John Holdren spouting off when they think nobody outside the room will hear about their plans to transform America.  They would have made Dr. Frankenstein blanch but put a smile on Karl Marx’s ugly mug.

Back in 1990, the police raided Barney Frank’s home because his lover, Steve Gobie, was running a male prostitution ring out of his condo. In 2007, the police raided the home of James Ready and arrested him for possession of marijuana. Ready, who is Barney’s main squeeze these days, didn’t just smoke the weed, Farmer Ready was growing the stuff. The congressman was there at the time of the raid but denied he had any idea that those plants in the backyard weren’t rhododendrons. I believe he told the police that he was perfectly clueless when it came to plant life. I guess, like Clinton, he too never inhaled.

Because I am always prepared to grant a liberal politician the benefit of the doubt, I’m sure it’s only a coincidence that Barney has long led the fight to decriminalize the use and sale of the narcotic.

Finally, I understand why so many folks are eager to impeach the president, but that obviously isn’t going to happen. Unfortunately, being a Red and despising America isn’t an impeachable offense. However, there’s nothing to prevent people from gathering signatures in order to recall their arrogant representatives.

I suggest we begin with every single one of those ACORN-loving crumbs who voted for the stimulus bill, cash for clunkers, and ObamaCare.

If their voting against the best interests of present-day American taxpayers, not to mention future generations, isn’t reason enough to throw the bums out, I can’t imagine what would be.

As with the weather, or at least the way it used to be with the weather prior to Al Gore’s turning it into his personal ATM, everyone complains about incumbents, but nobody does anything about them.