Crony Capitalism Update for Today

Even the Obama-worshipping apologists at the Washington Post found this newsworthy:

Big donors considering whether to work the phones raising money for President Obama’s reelection campaign might consider the fate of his 2008 bundlers. Many of them, it turns out, won plum jobs in his administration.

Obama campaigned on what he called “the most sweeping ethics reform in history” and has frequently criticized the role of money in politics. That hasn’t stopped him from offering government jobs to some of his biggest bundlers, volunteer fundraisers who gather political contributions from other rich donors.

More than half of Obama’s 47 biggest fundraisers, those who collected at least $500,000 for his campaign, have been given administration jobs. Nine more have been appointed to presidential boards and committees.

Let's not forget that Obama has taken in more cash from Wall Street fat cats, a.k.a. the 1%, than any political candidate in history.


 

Limbaugh, Maher, and the Outrage Double Standard

How much more cable news airtime will this manufactured controversy about Rush Limbaugh's dumb comments about the Georgetown law student/political activist take up?

It's times like these that make us thankful for alternative entertainment such as Netflix streaming.

Whether you like Limbaugh or not, the efforts to force his radio show off the air will likely fail. At the same time, why is it okay for the left to bad-mouth Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, and other right-of-center women while the mainstream media stays silent? [What you hear next is the sound of crickets.]

For example, as many have pointed out, HBO's Bill Maher, who practically has a part-time gig as a CNN co-host, gave one million bucks to the Obama SuperPac.

Given Maher's history of "anti-woman" trash talking, shouldn't there be a media outcry for the Obama campaign to return that cash immediately? Moreover, will Palin (and others similarly situated) be receiving a phone call from the president [more crickets]?

Kirsten Powers, one of the few pundits whose cable news commentary made any sense on Super Tuesday, published a piece at The Daily Beast that makes this very point. Powers, a liberal, discussed her article on FNC:


In this video, two Capitol Hill Democrats who denounced Limbaugh make complete fools of themselves by refusing to condemn Maher's misogynistic outbursts:



Near the end of this interview, Bernard Goldberg talks about how the media ignores personal attacks on conservative women:  

Is an Israeli Attack on Iran Inevitable?

Now that it is an election year, President Obama let it be known this week that he is a strong supporter of the state of Israel. Despite this new bromance, he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aren't on the same page as far as the nuclear threat posed by Iran is concerned.

Today's New York Post contained this interesting claim:

The US offered to give Israel advanced weaponry -- including bunker-busting bombs and refueling planes -- in exchange for Israel's agreement not to attack Iranian nuclear sites, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported Thursday.

President Obama reportedly made the offer during Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week.

Under the proposed deal, Israel would not attack Iran until 2013, after US elections in November this year. The newspaper cited unnamed Western diplomatic and intelligence sources.

This leak may or may not be just more posturing. Netanyahu said on FNC this week (see video below) that war with Iran is not inevitable. The prime minister added that "The paradox is that if they actually believe that they are going to face the military option, then you probably will not need the military option."

Super Tuesday on Toast

                                                    [photo credit: Jonathunder]

The 2012 Super Tuesday (so-called) primary results tomorrow may or not bring clarity to the GOP presidential race, but the backbiting, hostility, and bashing against other candidates evidence in the right-of-center political blogs appears to have little chance of abating.

Many of the commenters seem to be experts on one subject:  Toast.

After a given candidate loses a primary (or even wins one) or makes yet another dumb statement, any number of commenters rush to upload posts that pronounce that candidate toast.

With all the talk about toast, you'd think these guys work at Denny's or the Waffle House.

And what's with this doom-and-gloom defeatism from some of the toast-masters about the upcoming presidential election? Some of these are paid trolls from the Democrats, but that aside, no one knows what's going to happen in November, including those authoring those blanket blog indictments.

And this almost childish threat that "I'm going to stay home unless my candidate wins the nomination" is ridiculous.

If you haven't noticed, all politicians are full of it, including the four remaining, flawed candidates that are vying for the Republican presidential nomination. But any of them would be a huge upgrade over the current occupant of the White House.

Do you really want four more years of socialism, crony capitalism, and out-of-control government spending and regulation? Do you want Obama making more radical-left Supreme Court appointments or other lifetime nominations to the lower courts? Then by all means, stay home.

As we have written previously, those on the right and in the middle must unite in support of whoever becomes the Republican nominee--whether that's Romney or Not-Romney--in the 2012 general election.

Otherwise, the country could be toast.

 

Lilyhammer Review: "Silvio" from The Sopranos Relocates from Jersey to Norway

 photo credit: TonyFelgueiras via photopin cc

Bruce Springsteen band member Steven Van Zandt, a.k.a. "Silvio Dante" from The Sopranos, stars in the new fish-out-of-water, Norwegian-produced comedy drama Lilyhammer, the first venture by Netflix into original series content.

Van Zandt plays New York gangster Frank Tagliano who enters the Witness Protection Program after he testifies in court against a mob rival who tried to wack him. Van Zandt also gets a writing, executive producing, and composing credit in the series.

With the same scowl, vocal style, hunched shoulders, excessive f-bombs, and hideous hairpiece that were on display in The Sopranos, the Tagliano character hides out in Lilyhammer (Lillehammer), Norway, with a new identity, Giovanni Henriksen.

In the process, "Johnny" Henriksen manages to find shortcuts through the Norwegian socialist bureaucracy. In so doing, the show raises an interesting question. What's worse--an ineffectual government functionary or a crooked "businessman"? Further, if a former crime boss corrupts everyone in his path with a "direct-action strategy," is that an upgrade?

As Lars Walker writes at the American Spectator website...

Imagine a television comedy about an American who moves to an exotic foreign country. He utterly refuses to assimilate, flouts the local laws, beats up people who offend him... acts in pretty much every way as the stereotypical Ugly American, and yet comes out as a sort of a hero?

And imagine that this series was produced, not by some jingoistic American company, but by people from that very foreign land. And what if most of their countrymen loved it?

Big Hollywood's John Nolte lauds the show for its perhaps inadvertent counter-balance against political correctness that would likely never find its way into American television:

Every year Norway holds their own 4th of July, and when Johnny sees that his girlfriend’s son has written a speech about tolerance, peace, love, and multiculturalism — he tells the kid not to apologize for Norway, but to be proud of his country and to stand up for it. The end result is one of the series’ highlights.

Whether the series will "go left" in future installments to make up for its departure from PC orthodoxy remains to be seen.

The subplots and characters in Lilyhammer are interconnected like--to some degree--Curb Your Enthusiasm. And although those in the Witness Protection Program have sometimes gotten into further trouble with the law in real life, would someone on the run from the mob really get mixed up in all kinds of high-profile schemes?

The eight-episode series, which apparently set ratings records in Norway, takes a darker, less-comedic turn in episode five, and becomes somewhat unbelievable by the series finale. It has been renewed for a second season, however.

Perhaps the most charming aspect of the show is how the generally friendly and quirky Norwegian characters switch seamlessly between their native language and English.

Lilyhammer does not necessarily pack a wallop or hit the nail on the head, but if you subscribe to Netflix streaming, it's definitely worth a look.

 

Most Viewed Posts in February 2012

• The People's Court: Justice or Just Us? 
• Did Tim Tebow and Tom Brady Vote for Rick Santorum in Minnesota?
•  The Oscars Broadcast--Must Miss TV? 
•  The Disputed People's Court Episode that You Almost Didn't See
•  The Most Interesting Man in the...South Carolina Primary
•  League of Legends Gamer Dies at Internet Cafe; No One Notices
•  Paglia: Limousine Liberals Driving Blind 
•  Boston Red Sox Like Fried Chicken and Beer
•  Saudis Green Light Bombing Raid On Iran's Nuclear Facilities  
•  Lawyer Sues Ex For Online Posting Claiming He Cheated 

Internet Journalist/Activist Andrew Breitbart, R.I.P.

In casually scanning a news website first thing this morning, we saw the report of Andrew Breitbart's passing.

At first we thought it was a gag or a hoax but sadly other websites had confirmation of this stunning, unbelievable news.

Breitbart was the remarkable Internet impresario who created "the bigs"--i.e., BigHollywood.com, BigGovernment.com, and BigPeace.com--and who helped launch the Drudge Report and the Huffington Post.

Commenter "righthearted" posted this on NationalReview.com and sums it up well:

I don't have a clue who can or will attempt to replace Andrew Breitbart...and it's probably way too soon to even think about such things...but at the end of this sad day in which we all recognize his passing and pay our much deserved respects for this hero, I do hope and pray that somebody of wisdom and boundless courage will at least take up his mantle and begin to try to do so. Indispensable is a great word for Andrew and his work...it speaks of the great and urgent need we have for men and women of his stature to keep the movement going forward. RIP, Andrew...We'll all be praying for your family and friends in their great loss today. Thank you for all you did for all of us.

Tributes to Breitbart are ongoing.

Earlier today, National Review's Jonah Goldberg and The Five's Greg Gutfeld reacted to the breaking news on FNC:


 
Added: Commenter "BurkeanBadger" posted these thoughts at LegalInsurrection:

...More than any other prominent conservative journalist/pundit/blogger, Andrew deeply understood the left. He understood the will to power which underlies left-leaning ideologies from orthodox Marxism-Leninism to mild mannered welfare-liberalism. He understood the utopian obsession, the elitism, the echo-chamber style of discourse (almost completely ignorant of the political/social opinions of the broader society…and proud of that ignorance) which are omnipresent in most leftist circles. Most importantly, he understood that the left will use any means to achieve its ends.

But that’s not all: He was also fearless. He successfully used leftist tactics against the left, and he did so mercilessly, masterfully, and without hesitation...

And the London Telegraph's James Delingpole had this to say:

I keep going back to @andrewbreitbart's Twitter feed, still unable to believe that one of my conservative heroes has dropped down dead at the age of just 43. Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised: Breitbart did enjoy a voraciously Type A lifestyle – smoking, drinking and burger-scoffing like there was no tomorrow. Which, sadly, for this big-hearted, generous, witty, rumbustious, intelligent, fearless father-of-four there now isn't. Like PJ O'Rourke, Breitbart was one of those rare types who manages to make conservatism look both fun and cool..