Daily Gut: Fall of Wall All About Obama

So President Obama says he’d like to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki – something no sitting U.S. president has ever done. Of course, there’s a reason they haven’t: it could be seen as criticism of a painful decision that ended the bloodiest war in history.

Now, I don’t mind if Obama wants to go, and it’s probably presumptuous of me to criticize him for what he might say there, since he hasn’t gone yet.

But if I didn’t, then I wouldn’t have a Gregalogue, and that’s not fair to me, or to those delightful unicorn voices in my head.

And besides, I can pretty much go by what I’ve seen of Obama already. Fact is, whenever he’s overseas, he tends to translate American success into past arrogance. Plus, I don’t think he’ll go to Hiroshima and say, “We did it to save lives,” because that undermines his whole point about nuclear weapons being evil. (more…)

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Tags: Berlin Wall, Hiroshima, MTV, Nagasaki, Obama
Posted Nov 11th 2009 at 4:46 pm in Politics | 261606141 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/11/11/daily-gut-fall-of-wall-all-about-obama/Daily+Gut%3A+Fall+of+Wall+All+About+Obama2009-11-12+00%3A46%3A33Greg+Gutfeld

The Ghost Of Ronald Reagan

“Let’s take a break fellas, I am sick of being in damage control mode. I gotta kick it for a few minutes” President Obama complained .

“Okay everyone, let’s leave the President alone for a bit of a rest” announces the President’s chief of staff, then whispering into his bosses ear he adds: “I think in a few days, our pals at CBS, NBC and ABC will have some surprises for them and this onslaught will stop. It’s just real tough trying to get anything on this Big Hollywood/Big Government bunch, they’re all pretty clean, even that nut Mannix.” (more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, george w. bush, health care, Obama, ObamaCare
Posted Sep 26th 2009 at 10:51 am in Political Humor | 23228251 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/emannix/2009/09/26/the-ghost-of-ronald-reagan/The+Ghost+Of+Ronald+Reagan2009-09-26+17%3A51%3A13Ernie+Mannix

Treasonous Teddy: Chappaquiddick Only the Beginning

As Gloucester in Henry VI beguiled like the mournful crocodile, so the political praises and tears for the late Democratic Senator from Taxachusets mouthed by his enemies have diminished and signaled the time for candor. Teddy Kennedy was a cheat, a proven liar, a shameless demagogue and a probable murderer. Those character traits were well known. But did you know he was a security risk dropped from the US Army intelligence school and a genuine traitor who offered Cold War US nuclear arms negotiation secrets to the Soviet Union if it would help the Democrats beat Ronald Reagan and further his own presidential ambitions?

That’s why my blood went to full boil a couple of days before he died when I glanced at the TV in a rural Bates motel — been staying in a lot of those lately — and saw Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz laud the youngest Camelotian as the greatest Senator and humanitarian of all time from the deck of Geraldo Rivera’s berthed yacht in Martha’s Vineyard. Dershowitz went on to tell the FOX mustachioed-one how he had rushed to Teddy’s aid with expert legal skills “in his hour of need” after Kennedy had left his date, Mary Jo Kopechne, to die in a Chappaquiddick Island tidal pond during the summer of 1969. Dershowitz’ considerable skills aside, the fact that full media attention was diverted from Kennedy by the coming Moon landing and walk to take place two days later probably helped the Kennedy fixers regroup and save his political hide. (more…)

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Tags: Alan Dershowitz, Andropov, Chappaquidick, cold war, Forbes
Posted Sep 2nd 2009 at 12:45 pm in Featured Story, Politics | 214574134 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dgifford/2009/09/02/moon-over-chappaquidick/Treasonous+Teddy%3A+Chappaquiddick+Only+the+Beginning2009-09-02+19%3A45%3A29Dan+Gifford

The Remakes, Reboots, Ripoffs, and Re-imaginings of Politics

Actor and comedian Sammy Petrillo passed away over the weekend.  Who is Sammy Petrillo?  Good question.  I wasn’t familiar with him either when I heard the news, but after a few minutes on Al Gore’s Internet I found out a lot.

Sammy was a Bronx born actor and comedian who had some minor success in the 1950s.  He took his physical similarity to Jerry Lewis and ran with it.  He became known as the “fake Jerry Lewis” after creating an onstage and onscreen persona that mimicked Lewis’ shtick.  He even went as far as to hook up with a Dean Martinesque straight man named Duke Mitchell.  The real Jerry Lewis wasn’t amused and even went so far as to intimidate others in Hollywood not to feature Petrillo on their shows and bullied Vegas venues into blackballing his act. 

Most reboots are epic fails.

The point of bringing up Petrillo (besides encouraging you to watch his funny performance in “Bela Lugosi meets the Brooklyn Gorilla” on YouTube) is to illustrate that the “trend” of ripoffs, remakes, reboots, and re-imaginings is nothing new. Take it from me, the guy who shamelessly made “Transmorphers,” remakes and ripoffs are part of Hollywood history.  What is more depressing is the fact that re-imagining and remakes are also part of the political culture.

Our society has a sort of “political amnesia”; forcing us to repeat the same economic and policy mistakes every thirty years or so.  What else is the Obama administration but a “remake” of the Clinton administration (with almost half the original cast!)?  You can almost hear the pitch meeting.  “It’s FDR meets Clinton!  We reboot the franchise.  We forget about the Carter episode just like we pretended that Superman III and IV never happened.” (more…)

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Tags: Krugman, palin, Reagan, Remakes, superman
Posted Aug 21st 2009 at 5:03 am in Culture, Featured Story, Politics | 20778690 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lscott/2009/08/21/the-remakes-reboots-ripoffs-and-reimaginings-of-politics/The+Remakes%2C+Reboots%2C+Ripoffs%2C+and+Re-imaginings+of+Politics2009-08-21+12%3A03%3A33Leigh+Scott

G.I. Hans: The Rise of the Obama

For forty years, GI Joe has been a bellweather for America’s view of the military.  If the new GI Joe movie is any indicator, we’re headed for a dry spell for pro-military sentiment under President Obama. 

Originally launched in 1963 as a male version of the Barbie doll, GI Joe’s creators intended for the “action figures” to be a tribute to the armed services (prototypes included “Rocky,” the Army soldier, “Skip,” the sailor, and “Ace,” the pilot). GI Joe wore WWII or Korean War issue uniforms.  For the next five years, GI Joes (including black GI Joe figures in particular areas) would dominate the market. 

During the Vietnam era, Hasbro, GI Joe’s maker and distributor, decided to tone down the action figure’s military theme as a result of the Vietnam War. Instead, Hasbro shifted the marketing to “Adventure Team,” which included turning GI Joes into superheroes and having them fight “The Intruders: Strong Men from Another World.” 

With the coming of Reagan, GI Joe regained his footing. Hasbro began marketing the product again as “GI Joe: A Real American Hero.” The action figure even spawned a successful TV series, which touted GI Joe as “the code name for America’s daring, highly trained special mission force. Its purpose: to defend freedom against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world.”  (more…)

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Tags: GI Joe, GI Joe: The Movie, Obama, Reagan, Stephen Sommers
Posted Aug 4th 2009 at 2:17 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Film, Politics | 19795469 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bshapiro/2009/08/04/gi-hans-the-rise-of-the-obama/G.I.+Hans%3A+The+Rise+of+the+Obama2009-08-04+21%3A17%3A20Ben+Shapiro

Popular Music Abandons Everyone Over Forty

Those damn kids today and their strange and frightening music raise an important question for me:  When did I become my dad?

Back in the eighties – when popular music reached its pinnacle of achievement - I would be home from college, in my room, cranking cool tunes and my father would get home from work, peer in, scrunch up his face and ask how I could listen to that infernal racket.  The answer, of course, was that I had (and still have, dammit) really awesome taste in music.

–

I actually pitied my Dad for being unable to appreciate the Midwestern-inflected post-punk glory of The Replacements, or the sonic frenzy of their Minneapolis brothers-in-noise Husker Du, or the soaring, roaring guitar heroics of The Clash.  I don’t know what music he actually liked.  There were some LPs lying around the house – kids, you can ask your parents what those are – but they were things like the Kingston Trio and the Sound of Music soundtrack.  This last one was a particular sore point for me since my mom got the idea to name me Kurt, which is the German equivalent of Melvin, from the little Von Trapp twerp who sang “Fa.” (more…)

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Tags: 50 cent, Black-Eyes Peas, fergie, Flo Rida, Husker Du
Posted Jul 31st 2009 at 5:03 am in Celebrity News, Featured Story, Music | 193510252 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/kschlichter/2009/07/31/popular-music-abandons-everyone-over-40/Popular+Music+Abandons+Everyone+Over+Forty2009-07-31+12%3A03%3A46Kurt+Schlichter

Democrat Utopia Nothing More Than a Fantasy

Cap and Trade, the biggest tax increase in American History, sailed through Congress without anybody even bothering to read it. What will prove to be perhaps the biggest historical change to the American way of life seemed nothing more than a Congressional mouse click, the Terms of Service Agreement on a new software installation. What is it about Democrats that they have such trust in other Democrats?

There was no debate, no discussion; in fact the bill wasn’t even finished when they started voting on it. Yet they all knew they would like everything in the bill, and rushed the vote. I’m somewhat envious of the common goal they all seem to share, but I’m also suspicious of why nobody bothered to read it. Granted it was fifteen hundred pages, Fourth of July recess, and the deposit on the Martha’s Vineyard cottage wasn’t refundable.

I think there is also something else at work here: Democrats tend to have more faith in the system than they have in the individual. When President Reagan tried to close the Department of Education, he was considered to be against education. It’s not just spin, Democrats really think that way. They feel it’s important to keep the Department of Education, because without it, there will be no education. Without the Department of Health, we would all be sick; without the Department of Commerce, the economy would fold. Ditto for the FDA, the FCC, FAA, and the rest of the alphabet soup. (more…)

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Tags: Al Gore, Cap and Trade, charit, Congressional Budget Office, Department of Commerce
Posted Jul 3rd 2009 at 11:56 am in Politics | 175046174 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/tslagle/2009/07/03/trust/Democrat+Utopia+Nothing+More+Than+a+Fantasy2009-07-03+18%3A56%3A03Tim+Slagle

Her Name Was Neda: A Generational Chance for Freedom

Her name was Neda. In Farsi, it means “the voice.” True to her name, she loved music; sought freedom; and she’s dead – shot down in the streets by the Iranian regime’s state sanctioned murderers. She must not have died in vain.

Today, Iranians and Americans face a generational chance for freedom – one that ensures a rogue regime’s implosion prevents a nuclear confrontation.

Regrettably, our president’s “post-American” foreign policy presumes talk can thaw the murderous mullahs’ hearts and attain a “grand bargain” for peace in our time; consequently, while Iranians demanded their freedom from a barbarous regime, the president vapidly opined: “It is up to Iranians to make decisions about who Iran’s leaders will be… We respect Iranian sovereignty.” (more…)

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Tags: Carter, Freedom, iran, liberty, Neda
Posted Jun 23rd 2009 at 6:39 pm in Military, News, Politics | 16780613 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/tgmccotter/2009/06/23/her-name-was-neda-a-generational-chance-for-freedom/Her+Name+Was+Neda%3A+A+Generational+Chance+for+Freedom2009-06-24+01%3A39%3A23Rep.+Thaddeus+G.+McCotter+%28R-MI%29

Monday’s Gregalogue – Now, Because I’m Pissed

Am I an old fart or am I right to be pissed that some jackass is skateboarding down the halls of the White House while all this Iranian shit is going down?

We truly have succumbed to the idiocy of the MTV/Mountain Dew/Road Rules backward hat and baggy short culture. Did I miss something, or is the White House the future set for the next Real World? Where are the wallet chains? Is Hot Topic handling our foreign policy? Obama should be grounded for a week for letting Tony Hawk play in OUR house. Where in hell are the adults?

Look: Tony Hawk is in his mid forties. He’s a grown man…and he skateboards. Could you imagine your dad or anyone who lived during World War II treating a man who skateboards with anything less than scorn and ridicule?

Right now, people are risking their lives for the glimmer of freedom, and Tony Hawk is in the White House tweeting about Frosted Flakes. (more…)

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Tags: iran, Obama, Reagan, skateboard, Tony Hawk
Posted Jun 20th 2009 at 10:33 pm in Daily Gut, Featured Story | 1657785 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/06/20/mondays-gregalogue-now-because-im-pissed/Monday%27s+Gregalogue+-+Now%2C+Because+I%27m+Pissed2009-06-21+05%3A33%3A03Greg+Gutfeld

Iran at a Crossroad: Mr. President, Where Are You?

After Friday’s Iranian Presidential election, Mohammad Asgari allegedly released results showing that the Iranian government used new software to rig the results in favor of Ahmadinejad.  After a mysterious car accident, Mr. Asgari is now dead.

Mohammad Asgari worked for the Iranian Interior Ministry to protect the security of their IT network. Officially President Ahmadinejad received two thirds of the vote with around 24.5 million votes, while his closest rival, Mir Hassein Mousavi, received over 13 million votes. According to figures leaked by Asgari, President Ahmadinejad came in third. 

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians are in the streets demanding liberty. Officially 37 have been killed: shot in the streets and in their dorm rooms. Iranians are standing up to the Mullahs. They are standing up for freedom and they are being killed.

These are not people who were promised a day in the park for a free rock concert, sausages and beer. These are people who are risking everything to go against an evil theocracy. It is no longer simply a matter of candidates, the Mullahs are in real danger of losing their power, and they know it. (more…)

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Tags: green, iran, Mohammad Asgari, President Ahmadinejad, President Obama
Posted Jun 19th 2009 at 9:22 am in Uncategorized | 164922No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cburgard/2009/06/19/iran-at-a-crossroad-mr-president-where-are-you/Iran+at+a+Crossroad%3A+Mr.+President%2C+Where+Are+You%3F2009-06-19+16%3A22%3A11Chris+Burgard

It Sucks To Be You, Dave!

I have had it with Letterman! I used to defend this guy to all of my friends who liked Leno better. I would say from a comic stand point that Jay was a great comic but Letterman was more original and had more style and class than Leno. Two recent events have changed my mind: Jay’s classy departure from the “Tonight Show” and Letterman’s classless left-wing attacks on the kids of politicians.

A comic needs to be an equal opportunity offender. We can’t pick sides in politics. We can have a point of view and a favorite but being a comic means when our guy drops the ball, you have to pick it up and smash it in his face. My friend and political opposite, Will Durst, said this a few years back about Mort Saul (I am paraphrasing here), “You can’t sit down to dinner with the Reagan’s and then pretend you’re still willing to sling mud at them.”

That is what is wrong with comedians like Letterman, Garofalo, and Stewart. They only see one side. Why do none of them at least give love taps to Obama? Why didn’t at least one of them make some comedic hay out of Obama gaffs like “57 states” and a reference to speaking “Austrian?” (more…)

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Tags: Alfred E. Newman, Bill O'Reilly, Billy Ray Cyrus, Botox, cbs
Posted Jun 14th 2009 at 2:24 pm in Entertainment, Media Criticism, News, Political Humor, Politics | 1592586 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjena/2009/06/14/it-sucks-to-be-you-dave/It+Sucks+To+Be+You%2C+Dave%212009-06-14+21%3A24%3A22Jeffrey+Jena

My Weekly Date with a Liberal – ‘American Heart’

In my mind, I have received thousands upon thousands of emails from folks wondering why “My Weekly Date with a Liberal” is anything but weekly. This is certainly a legitimate question which deserves a legitimate answer. But who has the time to answer thousands of emails that were never actually written? So for this chapter, I’ve decided that I will address this issue right here, right now, by explaining the process which occurs between these dates, and more importantly, to relay a recent encounter I had with a liberal woman, girl, child, who unnerved me enough such that my response could very well put my anonymity in jeopardy. This will all make sense by the end of this installment which I am entitling “American Heart.”

I understood when I took on this project that I could easily suffer severe trauma, mentally, emotionally, spiritually…and sexually, although depending on your proclivities, the latter could be considered a bonus. Be that as it may, I am writing to let you all know, that the trauma I anticipated did in fact materialize in a way that has profoundly affected me: I have developed a strong affinity for night blooming jasmine, I cry all the time, and I apologize incessantly for things for which I am not responsible.  Now I can tell you with no uncertainty, extensive knowledge of Cestrum Nocturnum accompanied by inexplicable outbursts of tears is no way to procure a date. My mojo has deteriorated, as if I didn’t pinch its foliage and cut back after flowering to maintain compact growth. What’s happening to me? (more…)

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Tags: "American Heart", DCS, Decompression Sickness, God, My Weekly Date with a Liberal
Posted Jun 10th 2009 at 5:01 am in Featured Story, Political Humor, Politics | 1561543 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jdavid/2009/06/10/my-weekly-date-with-a-liberal-%e2%80%93-american-heart/My+Weekly+Date+with+a+Liberal+%E2%80%93+%27American+Heart%272009-06-10+12%3A01%3A06Jon+David

Daily Gut: Breakfast in Egypt

So Obama’s speech Thursday morning was like the free buffet at a low-level hotel: a balanced breakfast served way too early, and I slept right through it.

However, lucky for me, I found the transcript, and what a balanced meal it was! Muslim outreach on one side of the plate, the Jews were the kosher meat of choice, 9/11 were the hash browns, with Al Qaeda the bitter, decorative sprig on top.

If you look at the response, you can’t say it was a bad speech. On one side there were Arabs who wanted more, and then there was CNN fondling themselves in public. Everyone else seemed okay with it.

Sure, if it were Ronald Reagan, he would have praised America more, as the “shining city upon a hill.” If it were Moveon.org, it would have been war crimes for Bush and praise for Hezbollah. If it were Joe Biden, it would have been all about Joe Biden. And it would have been hilarious, with or without Neil Kinnock’s assistance. (more…)

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Tags: 9/11, al qaeda, bush, CNN, Hezbollah
Posted Jun 4th 2009 at 11:21 am in Daily Gut, Featured Story, News, Political Humor | 1521063 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/06/04/daily-gut-breakfast-in-egypt/Daily+Gut%3A+Breakfast+in+Egypt+2009-06-04+18%3A21%3A24Greg+Gutfeld

The Power of Language

In the 1930’s, when world audiences were asked to name the capital of the U.S.A., one answer was high on the list: “Hollywood.” That was the location listed at the end of every amazing movie: “Made In Hollywood.” How could such magic not come from America’s capital?

Such is the power of a single word.

That power has not diminished but only increased with an ADD, multi-channel, hyperactive media-centric world. The silver screen has long given us immortal dialogue which now blends so deeply into the culture that people may not know their origin, but we know the meaning.  A wise man I know said, “Image creates perception, perception creates reality.”  It couldn’t be more true in the film business.

–

In a media-centric world, from motion pictures to internet to phones, we are pounded with images, forming our perceptions and then creating our reality. How fast did the Internet meme “Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys” become a daily reference at the coffee klatch, in your email, or on phone calls?  Not long.  We forget how powerful words can be when written in a clever and pithy way.  The masters of dialogue like Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, and the Epstein brothers, knew irreverent and immortal lines.  And as producers, writers or just Americans who appreciate a good, nimble turn of a phrase, we should excel at creating phrases that demonstrate the values we hold dear.  Don’t understand?  “What we have here is a failure to communicate!” (more…)

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Tags: "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys", "China", activism, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, Charles Brackett
Posted Jun 2nd 2009 at 11:11 am in Political Humor, Politics, Video | 145802No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mmandaville/2009/06/02/daily-dialogue/The+Power+of+Language2009-06-02+18%3A11%3A46Michael+Mandaville

The Most Powerful Weapon

During the Cold War, a slew of movies came out that dealt with the possibility of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union. This is not surprising since the atom and hydrogen bombs were the most powerful weapons ever devised by man. Well, almost.

I’ll get to that somewhat nervy assertion in a bit, but first a little background.

Among the cinematic slew released during those years of cold, are two of my favorite films, Dr. Strangelove and Fail-Safe. Both dealt with strikingly similar themes, unintentional nuclear holocaust, yet in entirely different tones.  But cold war themes weren’t that varied by their very nature, since inevitably the worst case scenario was the best case plot device and nothing brings down the house like bringing down the house.

With that said, still, there’s so much similarity between the two stories that law suits were indeed filed and production schedules slowed. This worked out to Stanley Kubrick’s advantage as his Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was released almost a year ahead of Sidney Lumet’s Fail-Safe. In my opinion Kubrick’s is a better film than Lumet’s and not due to slowed schedules, either. But both are magnificent, and because of their approaches to the topic, very different  and essential part of the genre. (more…)

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Tags: 2001: a space odyssey, a6m zero-sen, an american in paris, army motion picture unit, Auschwitz
Posted May 6th 2009 at 9:56 am in Entertainment, Politics | 1284064 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smann/2009/05/06/the-most-powerful-weapon/The+Most+Powerful+Weapon2009-05-06+16%3A56%3A35Schizoid+Mann

Holding The High Watch

Do not rage against corrupt politicians; if it were not for politicians we should fall into anarchy, and your opportunity will be wasted. God has worked a long time and very patiently to bring us up to where we are in industry and government, and He is going right on with His work. There is not the least doubt that He will do away with plutocrats, trust magnates, captains of industry, and politicians as soon as they can be spared; but in the meantime, behold they are all very good. – Wallace D. Wattles, “The Science Of Getting Rich”

In a moment I will show you why we should all be happy and should be thanking these ridiculous politicians selling us all down the river. Or up $#!* Creek without a paddle, whichever you prefer. But first, allow me to get a little wordy on something about which I am very passionate. (more…)

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Tags: "The Science Of Getting Rich", clinton, Obama, positive thinking, Reagan
Posted Apr 18th 2009 at 5:03 pm in Politics | 1086942 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sspencer/2009/04/18/holding-the-high-watch/Holding+The+High+Watch2009-04-19+00%3A03%3A08Spike+Spencer

We Must Protect the ‘Shining City’

With Washington and Hollywood acting with one unified radically liberal voice for the first time in American history, it’s become crystal clear that what the Democrats really want is simply to rule the world.

It was reported recently that box office receipts rose to a record $28.1 billion with 65% of that take coming from foreign countries. Bottom line, Hollywood is all about money and no one denies that. But now that the good old U.S.A. represents the smaller market share it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the studios couldn’t care less what kind of anti-American low-brow product the town’s liberal elite continue to produce and promote. (more…)

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Tags: Bill Clinton, Immigration, Michael McGruther, Obama, Reagan
Posted Apr 7th 2009 at 8:07 am in Politics | 9447872 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mmcgruther/2009/04/07/democrats-just-want-to-rule-the-world/We+Must+Protect+the+%27Shining+City%272009-04-07+15%3A07%3A44Michael+McGruther

Final Four: Why Team Bush Beats Team Obama

“Win one for the Gipper”

As the NCAA final four is again upon us I thought it would be fun to take the last four years of President Bush’s team, and square them off against President Obama’s team in a presidential team pick, and policy play.

Team Bush

Coach: The spirit of Ronald Reagan.
As a coach Reagan brings this team together with a play that’s tough, conservative and full of compassion for those who are being oppressed on both sides of the stands. He instructs his team to trudge forward no matter what the score, and to not concern themselves with attempting to get cheers from both sides of the stands or those in other leagues who don’t like the way they play. Bonus: Tear down this wall. (more…)

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Tags: basketball, bush, cheney, Condi Rice, Final Four
Posted Apr 4th 2009 at 11:03 am in Political Humor | 9673832 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jlindsey/2009/04/04/the-final-four-why-team-bush-beats-team-obama/Final+Four%3A+Why+Team+Bush+Beats+Team+Obama2009-04-04+18%3A03%3A22Joseph+Lindsey

Notes From a Lapsed Democrat

I was born in 1940, which means that during my lifetime 13 men have been the president of the United States.  For many of those years, I was a Democrat.  As was the case with Ronald Reagan, I didn’t feel I had left the party, but that the party had gone stark raving mad and left me. 

By and large, I don’t find the baker’s dozen to be overly impressive, either as leaders or as individuals.  There are only three or four of them I can even imagine being friends with or wanting to have as next-door neighbors.  But there are only two of them, Carter and Obama, whom I regard as unmitigated disasters.  While it took Carter four years in office and 29 years out to achieve his greatly deserved recognition as an incompetent, a phony and a sanctimonious anti-Semite, Obama has pulled it off in just a few short months.  (more…)

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Tags: Carter, Democrat, General Motors, Obama, Pat Sajak
Posted Apr 3rd 2009 at 9:17 am in Politics | 9513099 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/04/03/notes-from-a-lapsed-democrat/Notes+From+a+Lapsed+Democrat2009-04-03+16%3A17%3A29Burt+Prelutsky

Are We a Nation of Serfs?

“Give me control of a nation’s money supply and I care not who makes its laws.” — Mayer Amschel Rothschild

I thought I’d take the opportunity I have through Big Hollywood to ask about a documentary I’ve recently seen. I consider myself fortunate to have been introduced to this site and all the intelligent, well informed, talented and humorous individuals it has attracted, so what better place than here for some answers, maybe more questions, or just some plain old feedback/dialogue.

Has anyone seen or heard about the 2005 documentary, “America: Freedom to Fascism” by award winning film maker Aaron Russo? (more…)

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Tags: Aaron Russo, America: Freedom to Fascism, clinton, Federal Reserve, Obama
Posted Apr 3rd 2009 at 7:40 am in Politics | 9544674 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aalvillar/2009/04/03/are-we-a-nation-of-serfs/Are+We+a+Nation+of+Serfs%3F2009-04-03+14%3A40%3A02Alvaro+Alvillar

Watchmen: Lots to Like, Little to Love

I don’t judge movies by their source material, so I won’t judge “Watchmen” by the amazing graphic novel from which it comes. When we pay our 12 bucks to see a movie, nobody hands us a book to go along with it, so the moral contract between consumer and story-teller is that the story has to hold up on its own.

“Watchmen” works as a dark, post-modern, revisionist middle finger to the icons of our optimistic past. The plot isn’t its strong suit, the characters are what make “Watchmen” an impressive experience. Dr. Manhattan is a being who lost his unique electric field in a lab accident. He didn’t keep his hair, but he kept his blue penis, which is useful in revealing that he’s not Jewish. A Materialist god, Dr. Manhattan is losing his grasp on what it means to be human, even as he gains the ability to see life one molecule at a time. (more…)

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Tags: 300, abortion, alan moore, bush, Carter
Posted Mar 6th 2009 at 4:07 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics, Reviews | 7424242 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/03/06/watchmen-has-lots-to-like-little-to-love/Watchmen%3A+Lots+to+Like%2C+Little+to+Love2009-03-07+00%3A07%3A01Doug+TenNapel

Watch Out For ‘Watchmen’

Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published Jan. 7th. It returns today for obvious reasons, but also for the benefit of new readers. The original post and comments can be found here.  

Last summer, Joss Whedon (yes, he’s my master now), caused a minor sensation with his Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. One of the reasons the musical comedy about a would-be super-villain’s miserable love life was so successful — other than Whedon’s pact with Satan whereby he traded his soul, his mint condition Giant Size X-Men # 1 and a lifetime supply of HoHos in exchange for mystical word-talent – was that Whedon was standing on the shoulders of Alan Moore, the author of the landmark comic book Watchmen. More than anyone else, Moore is credited with “deconstructing” the comic book super-hero, and he probably deserves that credit. Though like with all great artistic innovators, Moore had his influences in this regard. Every artist has in his background a mob of ghostly helpers bigger than the crowd of phone technicians in that Verizon commercial. For instance, Marvel Comics (where my first loyalties lie, for the record) had already broken considerable ground in humanizing its heroes long before Moore started writing. Peter Parker, after all, was a terrible dork. (more…)

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Tags: alan moore, cold war, JFK, Nixon, Reagan
Posted Mar 5th 2009 at 7:45 am in Entertainment, Politics | 7305845 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jgoldberg/2009/03/05/watch-out-for-%e2%80%98watchmen%e2%80%99/Watch+Out+For+%E2%80%98Watchmen%E2%80%992009-03-05+15%3A45%3A56Jonah+Goldberg

A View From Stage Right; Part 2

Part 1 of what I half-jokingly called my “Manifesto.”

In a fiscal conservative’s utopian dreamworld, there would be no federal funding for the arts (or so many other government agencies or programs for that matter).  This has been our position since the inception of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in the early 1970’s.  We’ve been saying that if elected, we would abolish these misguided programs and departments and bring our government back to the bare-bones constitutionally described role that it has and leave everything else to the states.

We’ve held the influential bully pulpit of the presidency for twenty of the past twenty-eight years, and what has happened to the NEA?  It has grown.  While we have stood on principle,  we have also stood on the sidelines.  The founding fathers would be outraged that the federal government is funding art with taxpayer money, but because we are on the sidelines standing on our principles, all of that money is going to the people creating art with messages that undermine our very existence. (more…)

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Tags: "And the Band Played On", "Angels in America", abortion, AIDS, Andre Bishop
Posted Mar 4th 2009 at 5:50 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 7162661 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/03/04/a-view-from-stage-right-part-2/A+View+From+Stage+Right%3B++Part+22009-03-05+01%3A50%3A22Stage+Right

Eat Yer Peas, Drink Yer Milk

Surely many gay Americans have seen Gus Van Sant’s Milk through tears of joy because it marks a long-hoped-for arrival. For the first time in mainstream entertainment (at least, this is the picture that got all the fanfare), the history of the gay rights movement is presented as an elemental and welcome part of the story of the U.S., and not as a sidebar or novel supplement to the Great Historical Narrative.

Gays deserve equal rights. As a human being, that’s the only position I can possibly hold. However, you can be in complete solidarity with the cause of gay rights and not care much for Milk. (Whether you will be allowed to claim that distinction sincerely is yet another question. During the last election, Slate’s Jacob Weisberg wrote that the only reason you might oppose Obama is that you are a bigot. Is that the only reason one might dislike the similarly politically correct Milk?) (more…)

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Tags: dustin lance black, Gay, gay rights, Gus Van Sant, Harvey Milk
Posted Feb 19th 2009 at 5:19 pm in Reviews | 55370177 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mlong/2009/02/19/eat-yer-peas-drink-yer-milk/Eat+Yer+Peas%2C+Drink+Yer+Milk2009-02-20+01%3A19%3A47Mike+Long

George Bailey Wasn’t Born Here

Simple beginnings

We all get into show business for the right reasons — because we love entertainment and want to have a hand in creating that special magic. I don’t think anyone begins down the road to Hollywood because they feel the urgent need to inject politics into their work in order to change the world. I certainly didn’t. And I bet George Clooney wasn’t thinking that way when he was on the set of “Facts of Life” for the first time at the start of his career. 

I started young, first as an actor, and now a writer. This is the only thing I have ever pursued and I have been at it since the day I left my small town in the summer of 1991. The Reagan/Bush era was coming to a close and I voted for Bill Clinton in 92 because as a reasonable person who watched the six o’clock news I could tell we needed something fresh. It was the first year I was old enough to vote and I was very excited to do it. However, in all those years that I was booking commercials or bit parts in movies and TV, no one ever made a peep about politics. To me politics was something separate and pretty boring compared to the dream I was after. If you asked me back then which political party my friends belonged to, I couldn’t tell you who was a Republican or who was a Democrat because it just wasn’t an issue.  

(more…)

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Tags: George Bailey, hollywood, Michael McGruther, Reagan
Posted Jan 13th 2009 at 2:10 pm in Entertainment, Media Criticism | 790538 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mmcgruther/2009/01/13/up-on-the-big-screen/George+Bailey+Wasn%27t+Born+Here2009-01-13+22%3A10%3A50Michael+McGruther