British rocker Sting had had a home in the United States for decades but retains his British citizenship. Still, he’s got enough experience in U.S. celebrity circles to know the drill – it’s not President Barack Obama’s fault.

Sting, chatting up a reporter from Time magazine, decried the current state of political discourse in the country before weighing in on Obama’s track record as an environmental leader. The erstwhile Gordon Sumner took a page from the new playbook - just wait ’til his second term!

As an environmentalist, how do you think the Obama Administration is doing?

I was disappointed when he abandoned plans to tighten smog standards [in September]. But I understand the realpolitik of being President. Hopefully, with a second term, he will be able to be greener.

The unintentional howler here is calling Sting an “environmentalist.”

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I’ve been a fan of Comedian Nick Di Paolo ever since seeing him on Comedy Central’s “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn“ some 7 or 8 years ago. His humor was cutting, politically incorrect, and truthful. In fact, it’s been through listening to Di Paolo that I’ve learned that good comedy is funny because it’s based on truth.

However, Di Paolo has another quality which may be even more valuable than his ability to make people laugh, and that’s his love for this country. He supports the troops, he believes in “American Exceptionalism,” and he understands the dangers that lurk behind the current administration’s attempts to Europeanize the United States of America. Thus it goes without saying that it was a thrill for me to interview Di Paolo for BigHollywood, as it presented me with an opportunity to enjoy the best of two worlds: one of stomach-cramping laughs and one of pride in America.

AWR: Compared to other people in the entertainment industry, your views are often labeled conservative or libertarian. Did something happen in your life that drove you toward a more patriotic position – a greater appreciation for this country – or have you always held such convictions? (more…)

Some of Hollywood’s biggest environmentalist stars got together on Larry King last night, to rally the nation around helping the gulf crisis. A special two-hour show aired on the barely-watched CNN network, to raise money and awareness. The money they raised was a little short, and the awareness they raised was of celebrity ignorance. Much like Obama’s new energy commission, there were very few experts out last night.

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While most telethons are about helping people this one seemed more concerned about the oil soaked animals. In fact two thirds of the proceeds went to environmental activist groups, The Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation. The United Way was there for the human victims, although very few of the stars seemed concerned about that aspect of the tragedy. Robert Redford made a response so comical; that it looked like it was a SNL skit (I’m saving that for the end).

The best example of the Telethon’s focus was voiced by Chelsea Handler:

“Everybody now is thinking about the animals, and and it’s really scary, especially for anybody, you know, espec… for-for a mill…  a bevy of reasons I mean we have to think about the animals out there. Everybody needs to be thinking about animals.”

Perhaps victims of the Nashville flood could have activated Hollywood behind their disaster had they shown pictures of drowning possums. (more…)

I once suggested to Big Hollywood editor John Nolte that to draw a tidal wave of comments we needed to somehow figure out a piece where I simultaneously attack birthers, praise Sarah Palin, and raise issues involving Star Trek.  Now, I guess I’d have to somehow work in drug legalization, too. 

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The tsunami hit in the wake of my recent column on Sting, Soros and their pro-drug partnership, which both cast doubt on the sacred truths of the very vocal drug legalization fans and defied George Soros.  Accordingly, I had to be stopped.  What happened next tells us much about the tactics, techniques and procedures we will come up against fighting for our culture – and how we can fight back.

The counter-attack came first came in the form of over 400 angry comments from drug legalizers (oh, sorry – “decrimminalizers”) and bong-fueled Twitter tweets from hemp-focused lay-abouts.  Next came columns by Huffington Post nonentities and other dope-o-centric fellow travelers.  Topping it off came at least one semi-veiled threat.  (more…)

Seeing that George Soros and Sting are working together to “end the drug war” puts me in mind of a story an Army buddy who works in the DEA told me about busting in the door of a drug house only to find three occupants – the oldest four years old, having been left in charge while his “parents” went out to score meth.  Yeah, drug use is a victimless crime – if you ignore the victims.

Apparently not content to subsidize the whining of the nonentities at Media Matters, Soros is taking a break from his adventures in currency manipulation and general scuzziness to enlist entertainment celebrities like Sting in his newest quest.  The Drug Policy Alliance is the result, a group whose members, as its founder puts it, “come from across the drug use spectrum.”  Yes, the junkies, stoners, hopheads, dope fiends, pill-poppers, and Lindsay Lohan are unanimous:  Drug laws are bad, and it’s probably BusHitler’s fault.

The threshold problem with comments by Sting such as, “The war on drugs represents an extraordinary violation of human rights,” is that Sting presumably not only believes this piffle, but further believes that he can put down his bass and offer meaningful input into the discussion.  This assumption of competence is a common delusion among celebrities, and here it has more potential for damage than most mindless celebribabble.

Now, Sting is not alone – no one in that clip says anything worthwhile.  One woman, who is bald for no apparent reason, states that “The War on Drugs is a war on people of color,” as if Americans decided they would outlaw crack because they fear that black people might enjoy themselves.  Montel Williams shows up to explain that drug laws prevent him from making choices about his own body, but the awful tie and ridiculous earring he chose to wear make a powerful argument against allowing him to make any kind of choices at all. (more…)

Former Police frontman Gordon “Sting” Sumner has once again made news – this time with his insistence that “the people” are clamoring for big government (read: a socialist nanny state):

“Well, you can see the enthusiasm out there. And people are here to really tell big government that we want big government to make big decisions about the most important problems we face. And also to pressure our corporations to behave properly, as consumers, but we’re here to — we’re asking for big government, basically.”

First of all, who is this “we?” Don’t include me in that statement, bucko - or the readers of Big Hollywood, for that matter. And don’t include the millions of Tea Party attendees all across this still great nation of ours. Obviously someone’s too busy polishing the Grammys on his mantel to pay much attention to the news – except to watch videos of his own CNN appearances, natch.

And I have to ask the obvious question – is Mr. Sumner even an American citizen, or is he just here because the US (for now) taxes him at a lower rate than the UK? Either way, he’s a blowhard who doesn’t speak for me. (more…)

Hotshot singer-songwriter, actor, activist and philanthropist Sting (known to his mum and dad as Gordon Sumner) can add “money grubbing hypocrite” to his impressive resume.

Hypocrisy in the entertainment industry? Say it ain’t so!

Sting has come under fire by human rights groups for performing a private gig back in November of 2009 for the daughter of the president of Uzbekistan. (Doncha love how dictators and dictators-in-waiting use the title “president?” Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Penn; I didn’t mean to upset you. Please don’t call for my imprisonment; I have two kids and a cat to worry about.)

Rocker STING has been urged to donate concert cash he received after performing for the daughter of Uzbek dictator President Islam Karimov to charity by critics opposed to the private show.

The former The Police star, an avid human rights campaigner and environmental activist, has come under fire for playing the secret gig in Tashkent in November (09). Protesters claim Sting should have rejected the offer to sing for Gulnara Karimova, whose father rules a country with one of the world’s worst records for human rights abuses.

Karimov has been criticised repeatedly by the international community and non-governmental organisations like the United Nations and the European Commission of running a brutal dictatorship, violently suppressing political activism, free speech and religious worship with torture.

Karimov’s administration has also been embroiled in allegations of financial corruption.

According to the above report, his management team ignored pleas to cancel the performance even after being informed of Karimov’s abysmal track record. (more…)

Last year,  I went to see The Police when they came to Columbus.  I could not have been more disappointed with the show.  They looked uninterested — like three solo acts who weren’t willing to play together. On top of it, they didn’t let Sting play any of his hit songs.  When someone pays a lot of money to see a show, you expect them to put some effort into entertaining you.  I drove home, hoping that the band just had an off night. (more…)