Below is a commentary forwarded by Bruce. First watch the video, then read the article, to the end (as Bruce suggests). Click on comments atr the bottom to submit a comment (they are moderated and I will check and post.
MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst present The Presidential Pledge
I Pledge to Ridicule Celebrities Who Refuse to Recognize We Are At War With People Who Want to Kill Them, Too
Posted By Andrew Breitbart On January 19, 2009 (2:42 pm)
In Celebrity News, Featured Story, Video
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.
President Bush was not holding back Moore from “free[ing] one million people from slavery in the next five years.” Nor was he holding back the Obama-biquitous Will.I.Am from “chang[ing] how [he] live[s].” Ditto: Aaron Ekhart (”To be a better person,”) Marisa Tomei (”To integrate into my heart what I already know in my head which is that we are all in this together,”) Kutcher (”To the abolition to 21st century slavery,”) Anthony Kiedis (”To be of service to Barack Obama,”) P. Diddy (” pledge to turn the lights off, cause I used to leave the lights on but we want to conserve energy so I’ma turn the lights off, you turn the lights off,) and all-in-unison (”Because together we can, together we are, and together we will be the change that we seek.”)
Missing are pledges not to kiss the ring of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and other pledged enemies of America. Nor are there pledges not to make movies that glorify these tyrants. Nor are there pledges to take seriously that we are at war, will continue to be at war under President Obama and that our precious and under-appreciated military is fighting an avowed and evil enemy — so that, among other things, Hollywood can continue to make decadent crap that actually motivates our enemy to fight us harder!
Unfortunately, what happens in Hollywood does not stay in Hollywood. For more mind-numbing background read Kutcher’s companion piece at the… you got it… the Huffington Post .
The conservatives, Republicans and sundry non-lefties I know in show business have had nothing to say but positive and helpful things about the coming Obama presidency. “We wish him well.” “He is our president now and he needs our help.” These are the types of things I keep hearing. And this is exactly the right attitude and exactly the right message. God bless, President Obama. Even though I didn’t vote for him, and disagree with much of his agenda, he has my best wishes and all of my best efforts.
But that doesn’t mean I will forgive and forget an era of narcissism, petty complaining and conspiracy theory peddling from the majority celebrity class that began well before Iraq. [See "Hollywood, Interrupted " -- my book co-written with Mark Ebner -- which was written before and during the build-up to the Iraq war and before the WMDs weren't found. The public behavior from Hollywood even then was almost uniformly deplorable.]
Conspiracy theories of America’s complicity in 9/11 dominated cocktail party discussions for eight tedious years. They couldn’t simply disagree with Bush. They had to ascribe evil to his motivations and make sure the whole world agreed on that flawed premise.
Yet, hating the president doesn’t mean one can’t still help out the country in a great time of need. But many went to foreign countries and demeaned it instead. Called those that disagreed with them rubes and hicks. The elitism of the celebrities against flyover country America could not have been more pronounced. They made a boat-load of movies that affirmed this narrow and patronizing world view.
And now they want us back. We’re all Americans — NOW. It’s a convenient lie the celebrity left peddles that they were with us during the initial Afghanistan phase of the war, and even after 9/11. No syrupy revisionism will change this fact.
[As I was writing this piece, I received the following unsolicited email from a Big Hollywood reader: "Reminder to liberal celebrities: It's time to set your Fluctuating Patriotism Clock from "Hate America" to "Love America" on Jan. 20th. Remember, it's "Springsteen Ahead - Falwell Behind." Funny.]
Featured in Moore’s goofy, derivative and pretty-in-a-grotesque-way video is none other than
Cameron Diaz who had this to say before the 2004 election:
We have a voice now, and we’re not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies…if you think that rape should be legal , then don’t vote. But if you think that you have a right to your body, and you have a right to say what happens to you and fight off that danger of losing that, then you should vote…
Such mental insanity posing as erudition usually earns ostracism. But Diaz and her self-serious cohorts have no moral compass, no sense of proportion, no decency and, certainly, no shame.
This video illustrates that the current celebrity class are not citizens but serfs. They need a leader to put their minds in the right place to do the right thing. They are not heroic individualists seeking to extend America’s promise but conformists who chose to sit out and complain during the tough years in order to ensure their guy got in the next go-around.
The celebrity decadence during the “oppressive” Bush years was world class. The clubs raged. The boutique hotels rocked. The private jet industry at Van Nuys airport flourished. The party never stopped. And only a precious few (Thank you, dearly!!!) stepped up to support the American troops who have been valiantly fighting for Hollywood’s right to do lines off of each others’ buttocks at $10 million Hollywood Hills mansions.
They never spoke up against the movies that demonized our military.
They never made movies to counter the libel.
They took the easy route. And blamed Bush for everything.
Moore’s nauseating video — which, like Steven Soderbergh’s “Oceans” franchise, grants a pristine look into the modern celebrity’s sense of self-importance — is not a sign of desire to serve the country under Obama. Watch, by March this pledge like New Year’s resolutions will fall by the wayside. It is a sign that the Democrat is in the White House now. It is a sign that they get to sleep again in the Lincoln Bedroom.
Twenty years ago AIDS was the number one cause for the Hollywood left. Remember the trendy red ribbons at all the self-aggrandizing awards shows? Hollywood has moved on (dot org) to better blame-your-fellow-American causes. But President Bush didn’t. And aside from Bob Geldof and Bono , they ignore this president’s demonstrable goodness .
Amazing that Geldof and Bono could valiantly fight their battles and serve humanity without being paralyzed by the Leader of the Free World 2000-2008’s all-encompassing awfulness.
Remember this video: It is a instructive relic of the era of celebrity decadence and boutique anti-Republican activism under President Bush. It is a sickening display that they want fast and easy absolution for having comported themselves like ill-behaved children for eight difficult and war-torn years.
Good luck, President Obama. The rest of you can go to hell.
Breitbart.com where-were-you-celebrities-after-911
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.
Marie Curie
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I pledge to turn off my television when I see these clowns. I pledge to only obtain music and movies from bootleggers....
ReplyDeleteAs the editorial suggested, what human personification of evil manage to suppress their abilities to do any of these things for the last 8 (or 50) years? Why should I be impressed because someone who's never done a thing for me is going to quit using plastic bags at the grocery? What about the brain-child who's going to sell his gas-guzzler for a hybrid...Hello! It's still on the road, bubba; if you want to be the good guy, junk the hummer, and don't make a dime off of it!
The problem: down deep, they're shallow.
shallow?? ah... they're movie-stars!
ReplyDeleteI think shallow is part of the definition.
I can't disagree with dtr2...
But, the commentator did mention one important fact: They need a leader.
Many people suffer that same affliction. Without leadership, some float along aimlessly... and leave the lights on when nobody's home...
Bush is a good Republican (in some old, twisted sense of the word): he believes all government to be bad, and went on to try and prove it. By doing so, he has gotten some people and groups off their behinds to start taking action - which is a good thing. Maybe that was the kick we all needed... when you leave the work to others, you may not get what you want, let alone what you need.
If nothing else, Bush has shown us how important it is for everyone to stand up and make their voice heard, that together we can make a difference, that leaving this country up to one man at the top of the ladder is not good enough. We all need to participate in our own futures.
Obama just happened to step in the middle of this 'revolution' and put words to the movement. Now... he gets the great job of leading us through this morass without letting people slip back into their former, apathetic selves.
And, for that, true leadership will be required. I have great hope that Obama is that leader. Just look at how the Hollywood minions are falling in behind him - that's got to say something, doesn't it?
Now, when he gets the rest of the country - including business leaders - behind him, we will be able to get some real work done!