Leno crosses the line from “Tonight Show” host to something closer to a journalist, but at the very least he’s respectful, inquisitive, and lets Congresswoman Bachmann speak — which is how I wish more so-called journalists would behave.  Obviously this issue was going to be the elephant in the studio, so Leno probably felt it was necessary to discuss it, and I’d say he handled the elephant with some class.

It’s some of the reaction to it – which stinks of justification.

Says one anarchist, while punks steal chocolate: “This is the uprising of the working class. We’re redistributing the wealth.”

Yep – free sweets – that’s a revolution.

I’m sure those folks in Syria are inspired.

I tell you – I’d hate to be a shopkeeper, knowing that the man looting the store is viewed more romantically than the man stocking the shelves.

But you can find this idiocy anywhere: academia, TV, movies, music… the belief that despicable behavior is okay if you dress it up as a response to “the man.”

But what’s worse is the way we now respond to this crap.

It is the curse of political correctness: Our fear of demanding good behavior now allows for bad.

The collective low expectations creates a world of broken spines – not just in London, but in Philadelphia and Milwaukee where flash mobs rage – with the media too timid to follow.

Could it be that if you expect civilized behavior from the modern class, you’re a racist? Is it better to just look the other way, and lock your doors?

Or move?

Finally, I ask, why does looting occur?

Well, it happens because you let it. Without fear of punishment, or harm, there is no need for the looter to stop – especially when he’s got apologists behind you.

I guess what I’m saying is – this would never happen in Texas.

Tonight:

Remi Spencer

K.T. McFarland

Joe Devito.

and a beard contest!

The plot revolves around the recently widowed (and beautiful) Amanda Vaughn, whose husband Bill died in a car crash. Just about everything the couple owns has been seized by federal marshals because the recently deceased Bill was indicted in a Ponzi scheme, leaving his wife and teenaged children (Will and Sara) with little choice but to pack up what’s left and leave California for Amanda’s native Texas – Dallas, to be precise – and move in with Amanda’s mother Gigi until Amanda can find a job and support herself and the kids.

Amanda not only has to cope with the shame surrounding Bill’s death and helping her children transition, but moving back to her hometown. As daughter Sara discovers one of Amanda’s old high school yearbooks at Gigi’s (who does not want her grandchildren to call her Grandma), it prompts a discussion of Amanda’s past as a popular cheerleader who wasn’t above being a manipulative bitch to get what she wanted. Not proud of her past, Amanda is determined to make a fresh start. Too bad some of the girls she grew up with aren’t willing to let bygones be bygones.

Darlene Cockburn, Cricket Caruth and Sharon Pevy are gleefully plotting their revenge, which is 20 years overdue. Darlene is the former ugly duckling who is now a miracle of plastic surgery. Cricket’s looks have also improved since her high school days (and she isn’t above giving her daughter breast implants for her 16th birthday), but Sharon has gone from being a svelte beauty queen to a woman who has to wear queen-sized panty hose. She even defends herself when gobbling food that she’s supposed to be putting into baskets for charity by saying she’s testing the food before giving it away. All three women are regular churchgoers who go to Bible study and wrap their revengeful plans and general – well, bitchiness and cattiness – in a false robe of godliness. I guess having one’s bikini area waxed in the shape of a cross and having Bible verses etched on one’s car has to count for something.

Amanda’s first trial comes the first Sunday she’s in town, when Gigi forces her and the kids to go to church. Amanda’s argument against it is that she and her husband didn’t raise Will and Sara with any particular religion, figuring they could find their own spirituality. (Cue liberal soundtrack.) But Gigi tells her daughter that while they live under her roof, they follow her rules, which include church every Sunday. This is where Amanda meets up with her former classmates for the first time in two decades. Darlene begins the assault by “praying” for Amanda during the service, using the parable of the prodigal son and saying that it’s not their place to judge others’ lack of morality. Afterward, during the coffee hour, the only person who is genuinely kind to Amanda is Heather Sappington, who has become very successful in real estate. She admits that life is still like high school, only with more money and power behind the petty machinations. Men are still very much hot for Amanda, even though she doesn’t do anything to attract their attention. This does not go unnoticed by her foes. And as Amanda leaves church, she comes to the realization that she’s back in Dallas so she can atone for her past sins.

It’s a hard slog. Just when Amanda thinks she’s found a job, she loses it due to Cricket’s behind-the-scenes machinations. Her daughter Sara makes friends quickly, but doesn’t realize that she’s just being pumped for information by Cricket’s daughter Alexandra. Son Will has more difficulty fitting in, getting into a fight on his first day at school. And suddenly Amanda finds she has a secret admirer, who sends her a new Mercedes and an entire household worth of goods from a local department store. To top it all off, Sharon’s husband Zack catches Amanda off guard and forces a kiss on her when Amanda goes to his car dealership to find out who bought her the car that she doesn’t want – a kiss seen by Darlene, who is torn about whether to tell Sharon about it.

There’s a lot more – all of it somewhat nauseating. At the end of the pilot, Amanda manages to turn the tables on her foes, which gives the viewer the promise of more estrogen-fueled, sex-infused catfights to come in future episodes. Will America embrace Good Christian Belles in same way they embraced Desperate Housewives? No idea – new shows are always a gamble, no matter what the plot line. But the anti-Christian tone in this one is more than obvious. The main characters are all portrayed as a bunch of grasping, grabbing women who claim to follow the word of the Lord but live the life of the sinner. Are there real people like that? Sure. But hypocrites and immoral people come in all shapes and sizes. They certainly aren’t all Christians.

Notice, too, the location: Dallas, Texas. Sure, it’s a big city, but Texas is deep in the heart of red state flyover country. Can you imagine Good Christian Belles being set in, say, New York City or Los Angeles?

Now, if Hollywood were to play equal opportunity offender and create a television show called Good Muslim Bitches, or Belles, or whatever, that showed Muslim women as a bunch of grasping, grabbing women who use their religion as a convenient shield, then perhaps I wouldn’t be so quick to complain about Good Christian Belles. But unlike Christians, Southerners, gun owners and fat people, Muslims are a protected minority.

Besides, Christians don’t issue fatwas when their religion is insulted – they organize boycotts and write letters to the editor.

I was in Austin Wednesday for the Texas Unions Day Off as they paraded around demanding state government keep its dirty paws off their pensions because, you know, we should keep cutting Child Support Programs and the Cancer Research & Prevention Institute so they can continue planning their retirement party in Jamaica, but whatever.

These two aren't going anywhere!

After the crowds dispersed to collect on the boxed lunch they were promised, I was approached by a guy who I immediately identified as a liberal, but not a union member (he wasn’t wearing a solid-color t-shirt, but he did reek of hipster).  We exchanged niceties and politely told each other what we did: I’m a conservative blogger and he works for Moveon.org.

Yah.

Niceties continued and he asked me if I’d mind taking a few minutes to speak with him on camera.  I believe both sides can engage in civil discussions and he was being very kind, so I agreed.

“What are some of your childhood Sesame Street memories?”
Um, what? Keeping up with the polite conversation, I answered about Elmo, Big Bird, counting – you know, Sesame Street stuff.

“Do you believe taking away federal funds for Public Broadcasting will rob future children of Sesame Street memories, like what you still clearly recall fondly today?”
Seriously?  We’re really still talking about Sesame Street funding?  14 trillion in debt…

“If Sesame Street were to be privately funded, do you think having a small group of people in charge would change the messaging and educational standards of the program?”
How on earth did you find a way to make letters and numbers partisan?

The questions went on and on, but he was being so nice about it that I continued to politely answer until I asked to be excused to make an appointment (which he kindly respected).  Overall, it was a very pleasant experience, except I just wouldn’t give him the answers that he wanted.

He lives in a trashcan. Would homeless really be that much worse?

If we de-fund Sesame Street, I promise you Oscar the Grouch won’t lose his trashcan.  Big Bird will still have his big ol’ nest and Bert & Ernie will still have that ambiguously awkward roommate situation.  The cultural icon that is Sesame Street will be snatched up by a private company, individual, or coalition of such for millions and millions of dollars.  There is a boatload of money to be made selling Sesame Street toys, clothes, books, DVDs, and live performance tickets.  Trust me, Sesame Street isn’t going anywhere.

As for the programming, well, there’s only so much room for interpretation of the alphabet and numbers, shapes and colors.  Sure, you can teach it in different languages and use flashy graphics, but the fundamentals of toddler education remain the same at home and abroad.  If, however, some Big Shot at 123 Sesame Street Corporate decided he wanted to change it up, I promise you that if he put one well-manicured toe tucked inside a Gucci ostrich loafer out of line, mothers around the world would retaliate.  If there is one group you don’t want to poke with a big stick, it’s new mamas.

That said, it’s evident to me that the market would drive the content of Sesame Street.  Parents will remain vigilant about the content, presentation, and products of the program regardless of who funds it, but perhaps even more so if it’s privately run.  Don’t put it past an infuriated mother to put the kid in the Pack-N-Play, make phone calls, write emails, and tell all of their mommy friends about the disgrace of Sesame Street if such a folly should occur.  The show’d be in the tank before it even knew it messed up.

So, with this great American icon in check, I say: Screw you, Big Bird. You’ve been living on handouts

Brush up your resume, dude - it's time to be a productive member of society.

long enough; it’s time for you to put your big bird pants on and go get a job, work for a living.  No more tax dollars, entitlements, or kickbacks.  You’re big enough to support yourself now, so get off your feathered hiney and go do it.  And take Snuffy with you – heavens knows he could use a haircut.

A note to Cole, the Moveon.org guy: Thank you so much for being so polite on and off camera.  Although I imagine we don’t agree on much of anything, I have great respect for you as an individual.

I say this, because when I examine the opinion I am about to give – the reason for that opinion could be that I’m a jerk. So here goes:

Apparently, A DNA test on a strand of hair has cast doubt on the guilt of a dude named Claude Jones, who was executed a decade ago in Texas, while evil George W. Bush was governor.

The guy had been found guilty for shooting a liquor store owner named Allen Hilzendager to death in 1989.

His getaway driver Danny (they’re always named Danny) had been previously convicted of shooting a girl between the eyes – and dumping her in a graveyard.

So, a wonderful pair.

Anyway, much of the “primary” evidence against Jones came from his accomplices. But the hair had been the only physical evidence linking Jones to the scene -and the DNA analysis said it wasn’t his, and could in fact be the victim’s instead.

So the guy was executed, when he shouldn’t have been.

Sad story.

But not for me.

Jones was a brutal, career criminal, who – while serving a 21-year jail sentence, set fire to his cellmate, killing him. Even though a lot of people are now making hay about this DNA finding – life’s too short for me to care if the court messed up.

This guy was involved, and had a history of cruelty against fellow humans- strand of hair or not. An innocent person died – either directly, or indirectly – cuz of him. Even Jones said, before he died, that he hoped his death “can bring some closure to y’all.”

It did. And I thank him for that.

That makes me a jerk. I know I am wrong – yep I do – But I can live with it.

And if you disagree with me, you’re a racist, homophobic jerkophobe.

Tonight!

Patti Ann Browne!

Andrew Klavan!

Joe Devito!

I believe football inspires more widespread passion than any of the other major sports in America. Dismissing football when praising Friday Night Lights, therefore, is a bit disingenuous in my opinion. Yes, it’s really about passion, but I don’t think there’s another sport or activity that could replace football and allow the show to remain as honest and relatable. And you don’t have to like football to agree with that, you simply have to recognize football’s place in America in the 21st Century. Especially in small towns, and even more especially in Texas.

To say the fictional town of Dillon, Texas loves them some football is beyond understating. They live it and breathe it. Dillon’s not a big city, not really a small town, either (it’s never really defined, though it doesn’t seem to be a replica of Odessa, the town from the book and movie that inspired the show). Regardless, the show brilliantly captures the highs and lows that come with  living vicariously through the local team, perhaps more brilliantly than did Hoosiers or any other sports related entertainment.

While the show’s qualities – directing, writing, acting, etc. – are many, the best things it has going for it are its characters, brought to life by an achingly good cast. The writers know the archetypes, and so do we, and we know when we meet stud running back Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) that there is a great chance he will blow any and all opportunities to excel and will become one of those guys whose love of the glory days will haunt him forever. Riggins may become a stereotypical small town loser, but FNL takes great pains to show how that comes about. Still, other characters defy our expectations, like Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki), who in addition to being hotter than Texas asphalt on the Fourth of July, seems doomed to surviving off of tips from The Landing Strip. But her choices prove there’s more to her than we first realize. Her rivalry with another character, Lyla Garrity (you hear that name and you know she’s cuter than a person should be, and you’re right), transcends the typical bad girl/good girl scenario.

When we first meet Coach Eric Taylor (Georgia’s own Kyle Chandler), he is just learning the pressures he will face as head coach of the Dillon Panthers. While he is not new to coaching, he has been up to this point, a member of various coaching staffs, usually in the capacity of Quarterback Coach.

What I find most interesting about Coach Taylor is that he constantly seems to be surprised by the level of devotion the boosters and the town have for the team and the game, and how incredulous he often seems when this devotion instantly turns into animosity. In one episode, he tells his wife Tami (Connie Britton, who incidentally, is pretty easy on the eyes — maybe I don’t watch for the football after all) that he doesn’t understand the pressure, doesn’t know what to do about the pressure, but that one thing is certain, “I love football. I love football.” This sort of duality makes Coach Taylor relatable for the “It’s not really about football” elitists and the “It’s totally about football” regular Joes.

His relationship with his wife is key to the show. They don’t always agree, but they always support one another. In her capacity as school guidance counselor, Tami makes decisions in the kids’ best interest, which doesn’t always work in the best interest of the Dillon Panthers. When she becomes the school principal, her decisions further complicate matters for Eric, and yet he remains in her corner providing support.

The most recent season was thick with drama and off-field issues, including an abortion that caused a stir on the show and a debate in cyberspace. The only thing I’ll say about the abortion is that it was downright refreshing to have the liberal point of view come from Cheryl (Alicia Witt, trying to look not-good-looking, and failing), whose morals are consistently questionable. When we first meet her, she’s working in a bar, and on the verge of a one-night-stand that is later defined as not at all unusual. Upon learning of her daughter’s pregnancy, Cheryl considers no option other than abortion. When she takes her daughter for counseling, she calls the doctor a right-wing Republican for merely following the law and informing them of other options. In short, she’s not really the spokesperson the pro-choice crowd would choose.

Despite this and other dramatic situations, there was, for me, a serious football deficiency in this most recent season. Ousted from his job, Coach Taylor took a job across town coaching the East Dillon Lions. The poor school with poor students had been closed for years, but crowding at Dillon and other schools necessitated its reopening. I thought the show missed an opportunity to illustrate how the passion felt at Dillon High School might have evolved from scratch. There’s some of that, and Taylor teaches the boys how to be winners, but it feels just a bit empty because of the lack of on-field football action.

The same Left whose standards are so low that opposition to ObamaCare, same-sex marriage, and the Ground Zero Mosque can only be driven by a “phobia” or “ist” — the same PC Left that hides ”silly” old Bugs Bunny cartoons and can’t broadcast a season of “24″ without including a patronizing Don’t Be Racist to Muslims PSA — sees the vicious portrayal of white Texans in “Machete” as nothing more than a silly goof. I guess it’s easy to convince yourself of that when your principles are based on an agenda as opposed to any sense of consistency or intellectual honesty.

The bottom line, however, is that whether Rodriguez likes it or not, this is still the United States of America, which means he has the right to make whatever film he wants and 20th Century-Fox has the same right to distribute it. But does that mean Texas taxpayers should foot part of the bill for a cinematic slandering of both their state and identity? [emphasis mine]

A tax incentives bill passed by the Texas Legislature in 2007 and strengthened in 2009 offers grants of five per cent to 17.5 per cent, based on the type of project and the amount of money spent in the state, the Austin Statesman reported.

But the law requires that productions meet certain standards. It also rules out incentives for movies that cast Texas in a negative light. ….

The film was released this weekend, meaning Rodriguez now has about two months to submit it to the Texas Film Commission.

The Commission’s head Bob Hudgins, has to decide whether to approve funds for the film, which was filmed in and around the Texan city of Austin.

He recently told Texan media that he was nervous about turning down the state’s most prolific film director.

However, he added: ‘I have to make my determination on the final version of the film. I have to be Switzerland about it.’

If Commissioner Hudgins is going to be “Switzerland about it”  then Commissioner Hudgins should always be “Switzerland about it.” Meaning, the awarding of “Machete” with taxpayer dollars is also the setting of a precedent that might come back to haunt both him and the state somewhere down the line:

Alamo Dawn:  Set in 2030, this affectionate nod to low-budget, paranoid, political actioner-thrillers like Red Dawn, finds Texas overrun and under the thumb of lazy, shiftless Mexicans who may not need no steenkin’ badges but do need their tequila and white women. Tired of being racially oppressed, a group of good ole’ boys militia up to yee-haw and gun down all those who brought the failed and corrupt policies of Mexico to America.

“This time they f*cked with the wrong Southerner.”

If Commissioner Hudgins is going to force Texas taxpayers to foot the bill for “Machete” he had better ask himself what he would do if a bunch of rich, white “rednecks” got $30 million together to produce, market and self-distribute a “Bizarro-Machete.”

Could happen, right?

After all, we are a bunch of racists.

The irony of the most anti-capitalist industry in America begging for tax credits/incentives/welfare in order to keep pumping out their anti-corporate/American product is just too rich. Nevertheless, from this story, it’s obvious “Machete” creator Robert Rodriguez is very much counting on mucho tax dollars to make his film… And may still receive them:

Oddly, Machete may have been shot in a different state if not for Perry, who signed a bill last year giving his office the ability to grant larger tax incentives to lure filmmakers to shoot in Texas.

Perry signed the bill at an April 2009 ceremony at Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios. Rodriguez told The Associated Press at the time that, without the bill, he would have had to move the production of projects including Machete to another state.

“Thanks to this bill, I don’t have to go shoot out of the state,” Rodriguez said.

“The movie is very over-the-top satirical, and it’s only because of what’s happened in Arizona that some scenes actually feel at all grounded in reality, which is pretty nuts and says more about Arizona than any fictional movie[.]“

I’m assuming this statement is in reference to ”Machete.” But Rodriguez wasn’t going to to shoot “Machete” in Texas without the promise of tax incentives:

****END UPDATE

Not sure which is more revealing about our friends in Leftist Hollywood; the blatantly racist double standard at work in Robert Rodriguez’s ”Machete,” or the fact that the same industry relentlessly lobbying both behind the scenes and up on that big screen to “soak the rich for socialism” is also the biggest group of corporate welfare-whores we’ve ever seen. The Worst People In The World are fully aware tax cuts/credits help businesses to create jobs and obviously feel that they’re the only industry entitled to them.

—–

In the case of “Machete” the tax cuts/credits you and I pay for are being used to intentionally stoke racial tensions.

Infowars.com not only discovered that “Machete” sucked hard on the public teat for funding, but a copy of the script they managed to get their hands on confirms that the actual film is somehow more incendiary than the ”Fuck Arizona” trailer Rodriguez released last week:

Worst of all, Robert Rodriguez’ incendiary race film ‘Machete‘ was made, in part, with help from tax incentives and location access provided by the Texas Film Commission, a division of Governor Rick Perry’s Office. A spokesperson from the organization confirmed that Rodriguez has indeed applied for funding.

The film, originally based on a largely satirical mock-trailer inserted into Rodriguez & Taratino’s Grindhouse, has expanded into full production, and developed a message that many have criticized as glorifying a race war. Among those critics are two anonymous crew members from the production– who happen to be Hispanic– that came forward to warn Alex confidentially about the upsetting script. Further, two individuals who were privy to early screenings of ‘Machete’ have warned that the film is far more racially inflammatory than either the trailer or leaked script have indicated. …

In addition to state funds, Robert Rodriguez has long had use of the state & city funded studios based at the former Austin airport. His Troublemaker Studios utilizes the Austin Studios facilities, which is managed by the Austin Film Society. Are racial-revenge fantasies the intended use of such publicly and community supported institutions?

Be sure to read the whole thing and check out the videos.

The Left using racial divisiveness to keep their fractured coalition together is nothing new. Those who figure out they’re not disenfranchised don’t vote Democrat, after all. Unless of course they’re people like director Rodriguez who can profit from telling lies about Arizona’s immigration law and make infamous history by stoking a race war.

Hey, does that make Rodriguez a war-profiteer? Methinks it does.

We all know that if the situation were reversed, if the film’s hook was Caucasian Border Minutemen declaring a race war on Mexican Illegals, no one would find that acceptable. Sure, we live in a free country where such a project would be legal, but not acceptable.

But those who profit from racial divisions financially and especially at the ballot box will further sell their already rancid souls and say nothing about this. Especially, the MSM. And if they do, it will only be to push the open border agenda that floods our country with those who disproportionately help Democrats win elections — if not through outright voter fraud, certainly through activism on the left’s behalf. Thus far the MSM has been mostly silent about the incendiary Machete” trailer. They’re too busy labelling Tea Partiers as racist for daring to call Socialists Socialists. If and when they are forced to talk about it, you can expect Rodriguez’a racist propaganda to be framed as some kind of  important and socially relevant warning or protest – benevolent Hollywood giving voice to the disenfranchised – a symptom of a divisive law… A perfectly Constitutional law passed by those who govern a sovereign state currently under siege by an unprecedented drug and kidnapping crime wave.

It’s not Rodriguez’s fault that an idea he’s had for years is about to be realized in the middle of the Arizona debate. But the multi-millionaire is no innocent victim of bad timing. The overrated filmmaker grabbed the Arizona issue by both lapels and intentionally exploited the situation to gin up attention to his project.

On a lesser scale, the shame of it all is that from a film fan point of view, before it was revealed that D.W. Hack was making “Birth of a La Raza,” ”Machete” was looking like the only good that might come out of “Grindhouse.” Danny Trejo starring in a pulpy, unapologetic revenger? Who wouldn’t enjoy that? Well, effete leftist critics and film writers for starters. So now that we know this one plays into their racist agenda, their reaction to “Machete” should be interesting.

I say “your child,” because I have no kids – unless you count my ferrets “Captain Sparkles” and “Dangerzone.”

They’re children to me, but alas they don’t read books.

Yet.

Anyway, this 15 member board will be deciding what’s in and what’s out, and then publishers will follow – since Texas, after all, is one of the largest textbook buyers in the world.

Now, I keep hearing rumors about scary changes being made to the books. But, I think, we’re missing the point. It’s not about what’s being replaced in textbooks, but what’s being excluded entirely, from the process.

I am refering to things kids really need to know, to prevent them from a life of failure.

Here’s a list.

1.If you keep food in your bedroom, you’re probably going to be a shut-in later in life.

2. Getting laid regularly in high school correlates with career failure later in life. Get what you want before you’ve earned it, and the rainbow ends in misery. See Leif Garrett.

3.Geeks inherit the earth, not jocks. See above.

4.Your opinion means little until you pay taxes or fight wars.

5.The views of people you think are really cool – like actors or pop stars – should never be trusted. They live a life independent of consequence.

6. Tattoos and piercings are just modern versions of conformity, and will get you nowhere in life except working the counter at Hot Topic

7. Achievement is more gratifying than fame. Being known for being good at something is better than just being known. Look at any O’Neal.

8. As much as you hate your parents, you’ll end up needing them more than they need you.

9. Unicorns rule, and griffins suck. Get that through your thick skull, and you may end up a raving success.

10. Make your bed.

And if you disagree with me, you’re probably a homophobic racist who wants to ban Christmas.

Tonight, we’ve got Bret Michaels (yippee), comedian Joe DeVito, author Ezra Levant, and attorney Tamara Holder!

Fun, fuN, fUN, FUN!