Sean Penn – Clairvoyant!

Sean Penn is clairvoyant. Or, so he believes.

He was in San Francisco wrapping up filming on a new movie about Harvey Milk (Penn is shown at left during the filming), the first city supervisor that had openly admitted choosing a homosexual lifestyle. Sean Penn, of course, was playing Milk. But, because he's a "method actor," he wanted to be called Harvey in between shots.

Between scenes a production assistant was following Penn around the front of City Hall with a large umbrella to shield him from the sun. Seeing he had a captive audience, he moved out from under the umbrella to deliver an impromptu speech to the crowd of extras.

"I almost wish Jerry Falwell were alive to see this. Almost," Penn shouted to the crowd. After dropping some names of conservatives who are still with us - "Bill O'Reilly, who is too stupid to talk about," and "Sean Hannity, the butt boy of Rupert Murdoch," Penn said, "We know something more. WE KNOW THEIR END IS NEAR (emphasis mine)."

Sean, stick to acting. I think you are a good actor. But you are not a clairvoyant. Let’s look at the ratings for Monday, March 17, 2008 to see the facts.

CABLE NEWS RACE MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2008 VIEWERS

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,040,000

FNC HANNITY/COLMES 2,337,000

FNC GRETA 1,862,000

FNC SHEP 1,583,000

FNC HUME 1,508,000

CNN DOBBS 1,227,000

CNN KING 983,000

CNN COOPER 976,000

MSNBC OLBERMANN 962,000

CNN BLITZER 839,000

CNNHN GRACE 663,000

MSNBC HARDBALL 604,000

Sean, one doesn’t have to be good at math to see the facts here. Although you liberals hate FOXNEWS, they are cleaning up in the ratings. You can see from the numbers that Bill O’Reilly has almost 2.5X the viewers of the highest rated CNN show with Lou Dobbs (and some liberals don’t like him either). In fact, the lowest rated FNC show (Brit Hume’s) had almost 25% more viewers than the highest rated CNN or MSNBC show.

Sean, math doesn’t seem to be one of your strong suits so stick to something that you seem to be able to do well – pretending to be someone you’re not! Or, maybe you should stay at a Holiday Inn Express before launching into your liberal mantra.

A-6Dude

Benedict Arnold Martini
1 part Whiskey
1 part Benedictine

Shake over ice until very cold and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry and a mint sprig (optional).

Berkeley Declares War on Marines

Among the classifications that liberals use to describe conservatives and republicans are: intolerant, narrow-minded, racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic and mean spirited, and the list goes on. Basically, we are not tolerant of alternative and different points of view.

Here’s what I’ve noticed about liberals: the very same people that accuse us of being any one or more of the above adjectives exhibit those traits FAR beyond that with which we are said to do. It starts with their intolerance of any opposing viewpoint and spreads out from there.

So, we shouldn’t be surprised by a story coming out of Berkeley, CA today. It appears that the local government wants the Marines out. We’re not talking about a Marine Corps base or airfield or supply depot. We’re talking about a recruiting office. The recruiting office opened in Berkeley a little over a year ago. They were quietly doing their business of recruiting volunteers to become Marine officers. That is, until about four months ago when Code Pink began regular sidewalk protests against these baby killers.

Then, the Berkeley City Council passed a measure by a vote of 8-1 to tell the Marines their downtown recruiting station is not welcome and "if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests."

Who would make better guests then? Perhaps Osama bin Laden or three or four of his followers? Or maybe they could turn the place into a day worker site. As long as it’s something that is against America I’m sure it will be acceptable.

The council also voted to explore enforcing a city anti-discrimination law, focusing on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. This is where they expose their hypocrisy. Remember the tolerance and inclusion that they say we don’t exhibit? Well, I don’t see it on display by them either. In fact, I see bigotry, intolerance, discrimination and absolute un-patriotic behavior.

Liberals are HYPOCRITES! They are all for tolerance and diversity as long as you are agreeing with them. Just ask the liberal that keyed my car during the 2004 election because I had a Bush sticker on it. I had to check my Webster’s dictionary to make sure I new where to send the updated definition of tolerance to for inclusion in their next edition.

Then, in a separate 8-1 vote, the council voted to give protest group Code Pink a parking space in front of the recruiting office once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week.

Now, I wonder if they would have voted to give a pro-war group that same type of privilege to protest in front of City Hall. Or, would they give Pro-Life group the same deal to protest in front of a baby killing clinic.

And then, it gets even more telling about who these people are.

"I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don't belong here, they shouldn't have come here, and they should leave," said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.

Mayor Bates, you are entitled to your opinions. And you are free to express them regardless of how idiotic you sound doing so. But do you know why you are able to say these things and make a fool of yourself? Because the very Marines that you so despise and want out of your city are the same ones that freely put their lives on the line so that you can express your 1st Amendment rights, you ungrateful piece of s**t!

And now Code Pink is circulating petitions to get a measure on the ballot in November making it more difficult to open military recruiting offices in Berkeley if they are near homes, parks, schools, churches, libraries or health clinics (read: baby killing clinics) or anywhere else that anyone of the very tolerant citizens of Berkeley might find themselves having to endure the offense of the presence of a United States Marine.

Code Pink has the right to protest. And though I don’t agree with them I wouldn’t begrudge them their constitutional right to protest, even against the very people that secure that right. But they are protesting the wrong people.

Marines, or any other service for that matter, do not determine whether or not we go to war or when. Their job is to execute policy. That policy is set by the government. The President decides on taking us to war and the Congress must approve it. Like it or not, that is what has happened.

So, if these sheep want to protest, they should be outside of the White House and Capitol letting the politicians that approved this war know what they think. Insulting and impugning the honor of the Marines that protect their right to protest is ludicrous and deplorable.

Some business owners aren't happy with the weekly protests. "My husband's business is right upstairs, and this (protesting) is bordering on harassment," Dori Schmidt told the council. "I hope this stops."

Dori, you have just as much right to counter-protest if you wish. Why not do it? At least you’d be protesting against the right people – Code Pink.

These people, the Berkeley liberals and Code Pink, have no honor or courage. As far as I’m concerned they can protest all day long. They are hypocrites and cowards and do not represent what is good in America.

But at least they are not trying to convince us they support the troops like their liberal counterparts in Congress.

A-6Dude

Here’s an appropriate martini for this post:
Pink Gin Martini
2 parts gin
Bitters to taste

Shake over ice until COLD and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist.

The End of Hollywood?

Julian Myers, a longtime publicist, is afraid that the end may be near for Hollywood. He feels that the WGA strike will be the doom for Tinseltown.

He sees people crossing the lines and believes that violence and even fatalities are probably inevitable.

"Does a dying Hollywood need a civil war today to hasten its erosion?" he asks.

I'm afraid Mr. Myers is worried about the wrong end to Hollywood. Of course, I don't believe that Hollywood will end. But I would like to see it become less relevant - and I think that it is heading in that direction.

I think Hollywood has taken up the liberal agenda of dumbing down society in order to make moral relativism the status quo. They are the mass marketers of immorality. I'm no prude, by any stretch, but they make movies and television shows that glamorize the various social ills of our society.

Hollywood used to be FOR America. It had stars like John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, and others of that genre, that actually loved this country. They made movies that showed America in a positive light. Now, we get movie after movie like Redacted, Rendition, In the Valley of Elah, The Kingdom and Lions for Lambs. They are all anti-American films - some more subtle than others.

These recent films, set against the backdrop of war in Iraq and post-9/11 security, have failed to win over movie-goers. They are scratching their heads and they can't figure out why.

I know why...Americans don't think of themselves as losers. At least, not real Americans.

I believe Americans are positive people. Americans are upbeat and believe in this country. Hollywood does not reflect America. Oh, they think they do and they try to engineer our social morals, but the recent spate of 'hate America' movies have been utter box office failures because Hollywood, like liberals, are out of touch with real America.

Americans, real Americans, believe in the greatness of this country. When was the last time a Hollywood movie had that as its theme?

So, Mr. Myers, Hollywood will not ever go away. I don't want it too. But Hollywood's demise, to whatever extent it will be, will not be due to a bunch of writers that want more money for their work and may resort to physical violence.

Instead, it's erosion will be from the fact that they forget that real Americans love this country and don't want to pay money for the anti-American garbage that they overwhelmingly produce.

A-6Dude

And in keeping with the theme of this post I give you the Hollywood Martini:

6 parts Gin

1 part Goldwasser

1 part Dry Vermouth

Shake over ice and strain into cold cocktail glass. Garnish with bleu cheese stuffed olives

Citizen Journalists

I’m not a fan of the ‘mainstream media’. I don’t trust them to report the news accurately or fairly. I believe they have an agenda. And I wish they would just be honest and say what they really believe in and not try to hide it behind the façade of trying to be impartial.

Bloggers, on the other hand, are usually transparent as to their real beliefs. I don’t have to agree with them but at least I find them honest about what they believe.

But we’re not real journalists and we expose the journalist industry to fraud and abuse. We’re dangerous!

That’s what David Hazinski, an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, said in a recent piece in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. I wonder what his students think of his comments. I’m sure that a lot of them are bloggers and users of You Tube and other ‘dangerous’ forms of non-journalistic media.

Although a graduate of that fine institution, I am not a journalist. Nor do I wish to be one. It’s more fun being dangerous and fraudulent! Maybe that’s what Hazinski doesn’t like. And because bloggers are not part of the mainstream media we should be regulated.

After all, bloggers can write opinions and our readers know that they are, in large part, opinions. Too often, the mainstream media write their opinions and try to pass them off as facts and unbiased journalism.

Hazinski writes, “Education, skill and standards are really what make people into trusted professionals. Information without journalistic standards is called gossip.”

Perhaps he hasn’t seen that we don’t trust journalists. CNN, once the go-to station for 24 hour news, has dropped from 42% to 28% in its trust ranking among viewers. That drop occurred in a 6 year period from 1998 to 2004. I looked at several different polls and studies by Pew and others that also show that trust in our mainstream media is sinking lower and lower.

I predict that one day Congress will have approval ratings higher than that of journalists.

But Hazinski offers a solution…regulate us. He thinks citizen journalists offer much but that our work should be verified to prevent having fake stories surface (you mean, like, Dan Rather and his fraudulent documents about George Bush’s National Guard service?). I know, I know. Fact checking takes time. But isn’t that their job?

Of his suggestions on how to regulate us are:

- “[Citizen Media] should clarify and reinforce their own standards and work through trade organizations to enforce national standards so they have real meaning.”

So I am “abusive and fraudulent” and now I have no “real meaning”. The difference here is that I don’t pretend to be something I’m not. I’m not a journalist. I’m a guy that lives at the end of a cul de sac and writes opinions on things I see.

And:

- “Journalism schools such as mine at the University of Georgia should create mini-courses to certify citizen journalists in proper ethics and procedures, much as volunteer teachers, paramedics and sheriff's auxiliaries are trained and certified.”

Journalists are taught ethics and such too. I don’t want to lump all journalists in the category of those I don’t trust but I don’t find many of them truly honest. Outlets like CNN should just say that they are a liberal leaning organization. Then, viewers will truly know what they are getting when they watch. I see FOX News as more balanced but they’re leaning is to the right and they should admit it.

But remember earlier that Hazinski said “…standards are really what make people into trusted professionals” … then he hits the nail on the head with this one:

“Journalists generally don't like any kind of standards or regulation. Many argue that standards could infringe on freedom of the press and journalism shouldn't be regulated. But we have already seen the line between news and entertainment blur enough to destroy significant credibility.”

While he knows that his own profession doesn’t want to be regulated, he feels that, since we are not professionals, the citizen journalists need to be. Maybe he doesn’t like the fact that the citizen journalists often shine the light on the mainstream media’s errors.

“Continuing to do nothing as information flow changes will further erode [credibility]. Journalism organizations who choose to do nothing may soon find the line between professional and citizen journalism gone as well as the trust of their audiences.”

I have news for you David, if you look at the latest approval numbers for the mainstream media you’ll find that we don’t trust journalists. But don’t worry, our approval rating of this Congress is lower – for now!

But typical of liberals, they want more control. So I have another suggestion for you David – move to Iran. The way a lot of the mainstream media cozy up to the enemies of America perhaps you’ll like the solution Ahma-genocide uses takes care of his citizen journalists – shut down the internet cafes. Regulation at its finest!

Yes, citizen journalists serve a purpose as long as we don’t challenge the views of the mainstream media and we support their current action line.

I don’t think most people confuse blogs with real news outlets. But then I don’t confuse real news with reality in most cases, either.

A-6Dude