The National Endowment for the Art of Persuasion?

I recently wrote a critique of the art community’s lack of dissent in the face of many controversial decisions made by the current administration. Entitled “The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident,” one of the key points argued in the article was the potential danger associated with the use of the art community as a tool of the state. Little did I know how quickly this concern would be elevated to an outright probability. 

Sometime between when I finished the critique and when it went live online, I was invited by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to take part in a conference call that invited a group of rising artist and art community luminaries “to help lay a new foundation for growth, focusing on core areas of the recovery agenda – health care, energy and environment, safety and security, education, community renewal.”  (more…)

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Tags: "The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident", 'Health Care Reform, Buffy Wicks, Cap and Trade, Lyndon B. Johnson
Posted Aug 25th 2009 at 12:44 pm in Art, Culture, Featured Story, Politics | 209182602 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/08/25/the-national-endowment-for-the-art-of-persuasion-patrick-courrielche/The+National+Endowment+for+the+Art+of+Persuasion%3F2009-08-25+19%3A44%3A51Patrick+Courrielche

Hollywood’s Oxymoronic Definition of ‘Liberal Tolerance’

The left’s dominance over the media, entertainment and the classroom forms a triangular grip that seeks to denigrate and nullify intrinsic American values. Hollywood, in particular, shows an inability to embrace even a rudimentary understanding of opposing viewpoints, as celebrities who claim to be liberal and “open” continuously berate those who champion differing viewpoints.

Fortunately, the liberal seasoning that flavors Hollywood’s narcissistic lunacy has yet to permeate mainstream American society. While the ideologues that control Hollywood (not to mention the media and university classrooms) make it seem as though ultra-leftism trumped conservatism in a battle lost long ago, a surprising new poll shows that the plurality of Americans still see themselves as politically conservative. (more…)

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Tags: Black Eyed Peas, born-again Christian, Carrie Prejean, Cher, Gallup
Posted Jul 13th 2009 at 2:21 pm in Celebrity News, Politics | 181778168 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bhallowell/2009/07/13/hollywoods-assault-on-free-speech/Hollywood%27s+Oxymoronic+Definition+of+%27Liberal+Tolerance%272009-07-13+21%3A21%3A55Billy+Hallowell

Fifteen Minutes of H8: The Rise and Fall of Perez Hilton

This week’s Washington Times column:

Mario Lavandeira, the mean-spirited impresario behind the celebrity-obsessed mega-Web site PerezHilton.com, was left scratching his pink-tinged pompadour last week, wondering aloud in a campy cry-baby YouTube classic why, after being physically assaulted in public, he is now universally scorned and widely considered the villain of an incident that left him appropriately “black eyed.”

Aside from the basic rules of karma, here’s why: The calculus of political correctness is like roshambo, the “rock-paper-scissors” game. Different identity groups hold specific levels of power over others when their battles play out in the media. To wit: Black beats white. Gay beats white. Black beats gay.

Don’t ask why. It just is.

For those not paying attention to this tawdry tale, Mr. Lavandeira, aka Perez Hilton and the self-proclaimed “Queen of All Media,” referred to Will.I.Am, the black frontman of the platinum-selling Black Eyed Peas, by an anti-gay slur at an after-party of the MuchMusic Awards in Canada.

This interlude was born of the L.A.-based hip hop trio’s displeasure over critical comments about their recent album on the Perez Hilton Web site. The affair later culminated in the band’s black manager, Polo Molina, reportedly slugging Mr. Lavandeira after an evening of silly ego- skirmishes between the two parties. (more…)

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Tags: Black Eyed Peas, Canada, Carrie Prejean, Mario Lavandeira, MuchMusic Awards
Posted Jun 28th 2009 at 6:08 pm in Featured Story, News | 1732225 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/06/28/fifteen-minutes-of-h8-the-rise-and-fall-of-perez-hilton/Fifteen+Minutes+of+H8%3A+The+Rise+and+Fall+of+Perez+Hilton2009-06-29+01%3A08%3A32Andrew+Breitbart

Perez Hilton: Violence Isn’t the Answer, Violent Laughter Is

Perez Hilton aka Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. is the worst.  I’m not just referring to his much-publicized hit job on Carrie Prejean during the Miss USA contest.  I’m referring to his entire career.  His website, PerezHilton.com, is a parade of puerile garbage, a sleazy attempt to raise himself to celebrity status by tearing down other celebrities.

So it was not unsatisfying to watch his latest run-in with fellow Obama-supporter, assumed-name-fellow-traveler, Will.i.am.  In fact, it was delicious. Perez Hilton/Mario got into a verbal confrontation with Will.i.am, which ended with gay Mario calling Will.i.am a “faggot.”  Will.i.am’s manager then got into the act, punching Mario in the eye.  To which Mario responded with an enraged and hilarious YouTube video.  Because, after all, what better way to respond to being punched than to bitch about it on your blog?  (more…)

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Tags: "faggot", GLAAD, Perez Hilton, Police, will.iam
Posted Jun 26th 2009 at 4:35 pm in Celebrity News | 1689583 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bshapiro/2009/06/26/perez-hilton-violence-isnt-the-answer-violent-laughter-is/Perez+Hilton%3A+Violence+Isn%27t+the+Answer%2C+Violent+Laughter+Is2009-06-26+23%3A35%3A37Ben+Shapiro

People Magazine’s Pathetic Predictability

In the 1984 NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers used the second pick to select University of Kentucky star Sam Bowie over then 21-year-old Michael Jordan, marking the greatest oversight in our nation’s history.  Until now.  On newsstands today you’ll find People Magazine’s “100 Most Beautiful” edition.  Anyone modestly attentive to American culture will notice the conspicuous absence of the flyest honey ever to rep the GOP on the national stage: Sarah Palin.

This error would be egregious even without context, but wait until you hear who actually made the list:

There is an entire spread called “Barack’s Beauties” featuring seven Obama staffers who are among the USA’s finest 100–easily the highest number of executive branch hotties since the Coolidge administration. (more…)

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Tags: 100 Most Beautiful, 1984 NBA draft, Adonis, beehive, ben affleck
Posted May 6th 2009 at 5:03 am in Featured Story, Media Criticism, Political Humor | 12693817 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/amarlow/2009/05/06/working-title-people-palin-piece/People+Magazine%27s+Pathetic+Predictability+2009-05-06+12%3A03%3A43Alexander+Marlow

‘Wolverine’ claws to $34.75M Friday & Could Scratch Out $86.8M Opening! All-Time 4th-Best Performer for First-Weekend-of-May Summer Kickoff!

In my Final Weekend Tracking column posted on Wednesday, I predicted that X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox) would reach $92M on opening weekend, despite soft reviews (now only 38% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). My first fearless forecast of the 2009 summer blockbuster season appears to be close to dead-on (missed by only 5%).

Star-turned-producer Hugh Jackman has scored his second-biggest opening ever and, easily, his biggest as a solo star. Wolverine has mauled the competition with a massive $34.75M opening day (including $5M or so in Thursday midnight sales). That could translate to a 3-day of $86.8M, getting Hollywood’s most lucrative season off to a spectacular start.

(more…)

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Tags: "Fast & Furious", 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee
Posted May 2nd 2009 at 5:29 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 1244022 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/05/02/estimates51/%27Wolverine%27+claws+to+%2434.75M+Friday+%26amp%3B+Could+Scratch+Out+%2486.8M+Opening%21+All-Time+4th-Best+Performer+for+First-Weekend-of-May+Summer+Kickoff%212009-05-02+12%3A29%3A38Steve+Mason

The Summer Blockbuster Season is Set to Start Huge! Spin-Off ‘Wolverine’ could Claw to $92M Opening Weekend!

The great thing about a sequel is that it has a built-in audience. The problem with sequels is that, as the numbers after the title go up, so does the production budget. Very hard to know for sure, but sources have told me that the production budget for X-Men was in the $75M range. X-2: X-Men United may have had a budget of about $110M, while the cost of X-Men: The Last Stand was, in all likelihood, as much as $210M. Why doesn’t it make sense to just churn out X-Men 4?

Look at these numbers.

(more…)

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Tags: 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee, academy award winner
Posted Apr 29th 2009 at 10:10 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 121806One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/29/finaltracking51/The+Summer+Blockbuster+Season+is+Set+to+Start+Huge%21+Spin-Off+%27Wolverine%27+could+Claw+to+%2492M+Opening+Weekend%212009-04-30+05%3A10%3A03Steve+Mason

I Pledge to Ridicule Celebrities Who Refuse to Recognize We Are At War With People Who Want to Kill Them, Too

Many of the celebrities that were central to demonizing and making life impossible for President Bush for eight loathsome years NOW want to help with the heavy lifting of bringing America back together under President Barack Obama.

Witness Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s cavalcade of shiny, happy situational patriots appearing in a derivative public servitude announcement: A “Presidential Pledge” to President Barack Obama.

Forgive and forget? Right.

(more…)

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Tags: "Oceans" franchise, 9/11, Afghanistan, AIDS, Anthony Kiedis
Posted Jan 19th 2009 at 2:42 pm in Celebrity News, Featured Story, Video | 24317382 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/01/19/where-were-you-celebrities-after-911/I+Pledge+to+Ridicule+Celebrities+Who+Refuse+to+Recognize+We+Are+At+War+With+People+Who+Want+to+Kill+Them%2C+Too2009-01-19+22%3A42%3A40Andrew+Breitbart