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I’ve written several articles skewering HBO for producing political projects destined to air immediately prior to the 2012 election, where the vast majority of the cast and crew are passionate Barack Obama supporters, and where the content is aimed at the Democrat’s two favorite Republican villains… Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney. So, when I sat down to watch HBO’s Too Big to Fail, I prepared myself for the worst. What I didn’t expect was the big surprise awaiting me.

Too Big to Fail, which premieres on HBO on May 23, 2011, features a star studded cast recounting the events that led to the financial crisis and bailouts by the U.S. government in 2008. It is a mini-series packed into a 98-minute made-for-television movie where several essential characters are quickly introduced and where finance and economics are casually discussed. It may help if one has a baseline of knowledge about the crisis before watching the movie. If one doesn’t know who Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner are or what Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and AIG are, it may prove slightly difficult to follow.

Although the Director, Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile), was limited to telling a very long and complicated story in a very short amount of time, he was able to skillfully pull it off. Perhaps this is because the screenwriter, Peter Gould (Breaking Bad), deftly adapted Andrew Ross Sorkin’s 2009 prize winning New York Times Bestseller, Too Big to Fail.

The cast was right out of a Robert Altman film, there was a large number of well known actors including William Hurt (Paulson – Sec. Treasury), James Woods (Fuld – Lehman Bros), Paul Giamatti (Bernanke – Chair, Federal Reserve), Bill Pullman (Dimon – JPMorgan Chase), Ed Asner (Buffet – Berkshire Hathaway), Billy Crudup (Geithner – President, Federal Reserve), Matthew Modine (Thain – CIT Group), Tony Shalhoub (Mack – Morgan Stanley), Topher Grace (Wilkinson), Cynthia Nixon (Davis) and many others. They all looked and played their parts very well with the exception that there seemed to be no effort made toward sounding like the people they played. It was difficult to get past the notable voices of the actors. Paul Giamatti sounds like Paul Giamatti and nothing like Ben Bernanke. Hurt sounded nothing like Paulson. Crudup nothing like Geithner. Perfection wasn’t necessary, but it seemed as though there was little to no effort made at all by the actors to at least sound a little more like the real people they were portraying and less like themselves.

The story opens on a head shot of Ronald Reagan. It is news footage of a speech he gives on deregulation. Credits play as we see an image of Clinton signing a piece of legislation as the audio of newsmakers make mention that this is Congress’ bill being singed. Alan Greenspan is seen and states, “Don’t regulate for regulation’s sake,” which is followed by Bush proclaiming everyone should live out the American dream and own their own home. Miscellaneous clips talks of high profits and subprime loans, and then mortgage meltdown and government bailout.

At this point, I am thinking this film is going to be about blame… and that blame is going to be deregulation ushered in by Reagan, the Republican Congress during the Clinton years, Bush 43, and Reagan through Bush’s Federal Reserve Alan appointee, Alan Greenspan.

This prompts me to check the cast and crew to see who they support and if they are bringing their agenda to this story in their hopes to rewrite history and put Republicans in a negative light and Democrats in a positive light before the election in 2012. And, of course, the Director and the Writer are both ardent Obama supporters. All those at HBO support Obama like Co-President Eric Kessler, Co-President Richard Plepler, President of HBO entertainment Sue Naegle, President of HBO Films Len Amato and Executive Producers Paula Weinstein, Carol Fenelon and Ezra Swerdlow. Even the Cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau and Casting Director Alexa Fogel have contributed to Obama’s 2008 campaign. And the Obama supporting list of actors is long too: Topher Grace, William Hurt, Matthew Modine, Cynthia Nixon and Amy Carlson. As if that’s not enough, there are many other ardent Democrats like Paul Giamatti, Bill Pullman, Tony Shalhoub and Ed Asner.

Then the story opens on James Woods playing Dick Fuld, Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers… an ardent Democrat and Obama supporter. James Woods stands out as the political maverick in the cast. In a recent interview with New York Magazine, Woods is quoted as saying, “I’ve always said that the next Obama slogan should be, ‘Barack Obama: Putting America Out of Business,’ because that’s what he’s doing.” So I decided to turn off my bias filter and give this story a chance.

As the story unfolded, I saw that the villains in this film weren’t the Republicans, rather it was a single villain… the total and complete financial collapse of our nation, or as Bernanke puts it, “[replaying] the depression of the 1930s. Only this time… far, far worse.” So, regardless of any one American’s political affiliation watching this film, total and complete financial collapse is an enemy we can all collectively desire to defeat.

The heroes, however, that’s a little more complicated. The actual heroes of the story are Republicans Henry Paulson (Secretary of the Treasury), Ben Bernanke (Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve) and Independent Timothy Geithner (President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York). They artfully maneuver their way through the minefield of economic collapse. Bear Stearns has already collapsed, Lehman Brothers is on the brink, Merrill Lynch next and with all this going on, AIG – the safety net for all these creditors – was in the process of imploding from its own lack of liquidity and inability to meet its obligations. If AIG falls, all the banks fall. People would pull their money out of their banks and there would be no George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) trying to stop the “run on the bank” by convincing his depositors to take only what they need from his honeymoon stash. America, as we know it, would be in ruins.

Every maneuver in their quest to stabilize the markets is met with unpredictable reactions. Once they believe they’ve averted disaster, the pundits, investors and citizens react differently than expected. It’s a reminder of Nobel winning economist F.A. Hayek’s precept that “The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”

But in the end, as we all know, it was capital injections in the form of a Troubled Asset Relied Plan (TARP) that would “save the day.” In short, the plan would see the U.S. government purchase assets and equity from all financial institutions, even if they didn’t need it, in order to stabilize and strengthen the financial sector. As Bernanke put it, the upside would stabilize banks faster, the downside it was nationalizing a few banks. Their plan to soften the blow was that they would force private banks to participate in this plan under law, but that the government would not have a voting interest or the ability to tell the banks how they use the money injected into their coffers… leaving the question to the viewer, “They will lend it out, won’t they?”

But, was TARP the right solution? If one believes it was, then the heroes of this story are without a doubt Republicans Paulson and Bernanke. But, if one believes it wasn’t the right solution, then the Republicans are just kicking the can down the road. Regardless, the story is a quest for a private solution, according to Paulson.

As Republican public relations guru Jim Wilkson (Topher Grace) says at one point, “You just can’t hand the banks massive piles of cash. Nobody’s going to go for it. To the Republicans, it’s nationalization. To the Democrats it’s a bailout. And the banks are going to go ballistic.”

The story is well crafted and builds suspense out of the unexciting topics of finance and economics. There were parts that bothered me, like making the Republican Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Christopher Cox, look like an immature boob, or Republican presidential candidate Senator McCain look like he is clueless on economic matters contrasted by Senator Obama’s grip on the subject, or simplistically blaming deregulation while omitting the fault of Carter’s Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, or that derivatives and subprime loans were born during Clinton’s presidency, or more importantly that in 2006 Republicans pleaded with the Democratically-controlled Congress to begin taking measures by pulling the reigns back on Fannie and Freddie to mitigate the impending economic disaster.

Those criticisms, however, were offset by so many of the lines delivered by Topher Grace’s character, Jim Wilkson, who best resembled the attitudes and feelings of most Americans during this time. At one point, it is suggested that the government purchases up the toxic assets of the banks, to which he responds, “Ohhh, call it cash for trash,” he also calls nationalization the N word and that it is un-American, and he suggests that the government running the banks would be like the government running the Post Office because they “run like a dream.” Another character addresses the issue that the government having the ability to dictate compensation would be the biggest “brain drain this country has ever seen.” And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is characterized as something like the Pope, or better yet, the head of the Mafia. Her character comes across as an elitist snob, which I particularly enjoyed.

The movie was a surprise. Although it wasn’t 100 percent balanced, it was enough for this right winger to actually enjoy it. And the filmmakers did a pretty decent job packing in a lot of characters and a lot of story into a short amount of time. If Obama-loving HBO can pull off the upcoming Sarah Palin story, Game Change, and the Dick Cheney movie, Angler, with the same deftness and fairness, I will be pleasantly surprised, better yet… I will be astonished.

Trailer:

In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Party members of Orwell’s futuristic society are forced to watch daily the government’s Two Minutes’ Hate… a film projected on telescreens depicting The Party’s enemies. The purpose was to brainwash its own skeptical citizens and reinforce the rest using emotionally based sound and images.  Today, we just call it television.

The marriage between the Democrat Party and Hollywood is the new Big Brother.  And Big Brother is tasked with indoctrinating a large society into a left wing perspective.  The most efficient way is to present a single message to a massive audience and this is done organically, yet methodically, through your television using story, character, dialogue, comedy and/or drama.

Just as Sergey Eisenstein realized in 1925 he could manipulate the audience emotions through editing and contrasting images in Battleship Potemkin, Socialist Joseph Stalin realized that film was a propaganda tool that could rewrite history and control a nation.  And almost 100 years later, Hollywood has perfected this art into subtly promoting their political agenda and demonizing their political enemies.

This past week the White House delayed the announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden by an hour, clearly harming the viewership numbers and success NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, a show produced and hosted by potential Republican nominee and President Obama’s political enemy Donald Trump.

While the announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden was good news that all Americans could rejoice in hearing (with the exception of Michael Moore), many of the celebrities in Hollywood, those same celebrities who demonized the previous Republican administration for its “War on Terror,” took the opportunity to Tweet and give all the credit to Obama.

NeNe Leakes, a competitor on this season’s Celebrity Apprentice who also stars on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta, tweeted: “Mr Trump, Barack Obama is kicking yo ass! Now what?”

Comedian Jimmy Fallon tweeted, “Got Bin Laden AND interrupted Celebrity Apprentice? Win for Obama all around.”

Actor Neil Patrick Harris tweeted: “Everyone is sitting around my living room, mouths agape. Wow, what a night. Thank you, Mr. President, for such an eloquent speech.”

Director Spike Lee tweeted: “President Obama ‘May God Bless you and May God Bless The United States of America.”

The news of Osama bin Laden’s death bumped Barack Obama’s approval ratings by approximately 5 points.  Nevermind rising gas prices, rising inflation, a weakening of the dollar, an over-inflated stock market, the unemployment rate getting worse, a horrible housing market, the public debt getting out of control, the broken campaign promise after broken campaign promise as well as all the utter hypocrisy… No, Hollywood celebrities are hell bent on singing the praises of the President with whom they share a left wing agenda.

But singing the praises of those in their own party is not enough.

Just like every good story that comes out of Hollywood, there must be an evil villain.  Vilifying President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney worked for Democrats in 2006 and 2008.  Bush was often presented as a red neck idiot and Cheney as Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, or Mr. Potter from It’s A Wonderful Life, or Darth Vader from Star Wars. Take your pick.

This past week, there seemed to be an uptick in hateful rhetoric coming out of Hollywood and hitting our television screens.

On Wednesday night, ABC’s Happy Endings aired an episode where a gay character tells a black character (who previously stated he voted for Hillary Clinton) the following line:

“So, in [the video game] Penalty of Death, you can create your own character. So, I made myself Glenn Beck.  So, if I die, I don’t feel bad.”

Really?  The writers and Network Executive could’ve chosen Adolf Hitler, or Genghis Khan, or Attila the Hun, or Vlad the Impaler, or even a dozen other notoriously horrible people in world history that all individuals wouldn’t feel bad about dying, but instead chose to go with an individual that represents a right wing agenda and whom is supported mainly by Republicans.

On Saturday night, NBC’s Saturday Night Live hosted by Tina Fey lived up to their usual left wing agenda.

In a skit titled, GOP Debate, Fox News’ Shepard Smith was said to have an “unsettling voice.”  Gov. Mitt Romney was characterized as “rich, disconnected, dead fish, and looks like a villain in a Lifetime movie.”  Rep. Michelle Bachmann was portrayed as a psychotic woman straight out of Fatal Attraction who “comes across as intense and a little sexy” before becoming totally crazy.  And then there was favorite SNL target Gov. Sarah Palin.  Tina Fey portrayed the governor and stated that she was happy to be back on Fox, a network that not only pays her, but gives her the questions ahead of time and that “I hope the lame-stream media won’t twist my words by repeating them verbatim.”  She finished up her role as Palin suggesting that aside from reality television and Twitter, she offers the American people an increase in her knowledge of policy matters because she recently filmed Hangover 3 in the Middle East and that she recently purchased Rosetta Stone English.

They end the skit with this line, “In Conclusion, we would like to congratulate Barack Obama on his re-election.”  Really?

Seth Meyers, head writer of SNL and anchor of Weekend Update, suggested that Obama should currently be at a 100% approval rating following the death of Osama bin Laden, yet his approval rating was only up to 56%… his highest in two years (one of Obama’s highest ratings from one selected poll several days prior).  And as Seth concluded, “Which means there is absolutely nothing he can do to please the other 44%.”

Had this current administration been a Republican administration, there is no doubt that Obama would’ve been lampooned for playing golf that day and being the most underdressed man in the Situation Room… and Hillary would’ve been made fun of for holding her hand over her mouth in what appears to be a gasp, yet trying to explain it away as her covering her mouth due to an allergy-induced cough.

But wait, our modern day Big Brother wasn’t finished.

On Sunday Night, A&E’s “Breakout Kings,” a show that has been absent of politics up to this point, finally took a side.  One felon says to Special Deputy U.S. Marshal, “Why do heart transplant recipients prefer hearts from Republicans?” To which the Marshal says, “Because they’ve never been used.”  Why does such a stereotype exist?  Nobody can really say, yet the Left in this nation continues to utter such clichés in the face of contradictory evidence.

In 2007, Syracuse Professor Arthur C. Brooks, published a book titled, “Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism.”   Quite frankly, those on the right have much bigger hearts than those on the left.  For example:

1. Although left wing families’ incomes average 6% higher than those of right wing families, right wing-headed households give 30% more to charity than the average left wing-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).

2. Right wingers also donate more time and give more blood.

3. Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.

4. Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.

5. In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60% majorities, the average personal income donated to charity was 3.5%. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40%, donated just 1.9%.

6. People who reject the idea that “government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality” give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.

Hollywood finds a way to subvert the prevailing truth using sinister platitudes cleverly disguised as a funny line whose main purpose is to make the audience laugh, but sole purpose is to indoctrinate.  And that was just a few shows caught out of hundreds on television and in a short period of time.

But there is more currently being produced.  HBO is currently working on Game Change, presumably an anti-Palin movie produced almost exclusively by Barack Obama supporters.  HBO has also green lit a mini-series project on Dick Cheney based on Barton Gellman’s book “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency” and the Frontline documentary The Dark Side (insert Darth Vader joke here), which is also almost exclusively produced by Obama supporters. TNT is currently producing an episode of Rizzoli & Isles in which Bill O’Reilly, another favorite of Republicans, will play himself… a murder suspect.

So, there you have this week’s Hollywood’s version of Two Minutes’ Hate.  Hopefully, your emotions, thoughts and political perspectives weren’t as manipulated as the Party members in Nineteen Eighty-Four. And hopefully, the marriage between the Democrat Party and Hollywood will soon end in a divorce.

In the meantime, everyone has to remain vigilant as we watch television… no matter how innocuous it seems.

Get a sneak peek at Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin HBO‘s latest anti-Republican flick.  The former Boogie Nights star Julianne Moore, 50, will play a 43 year old Sarah Palin during the 2008 Presidential election based on the 2010 book, Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.

Here is a look at the Cast & Crew:

Eric Kessler, Co-President of HBO – Gave $2,300 to Obama for America

Richard Plepler, Co-President of HBO – Contributed over $15,000 to Democrats in 2008, including $2,300 to Obama for America and another $500 to Obama for America, on 7/31/08 (isn’t that more than the allowable campaign contribution?)

Sue Naegle, President of HBO Entertainment – Gave $2,500 to Al Franken for Senate and $1,150 to Friends of Rahm Emanuel, who would later be Obama Chief of Staff

Len Amato, President of HBO Films – Gave $500 to Obama for America on 1/27/08

Gary Goetzman, Producer –Gave $2,300 to John Edwards For President on 3/31/07

Tom Hanks, Producer – Gave $28,500 to the Obama’s Victory Fund on 9/29/08 and another $4,600 to Obama For America on 3/21/07.

John Heilemann, Co-writer of Game Change – No found donations; however, on an April 18, 2010 airing of “The Chris Matthews Show,” Time columnist Joe Klein stated that Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, “rub right up close to being seditious.” To that, Heilemann added, “”And Joe’s right and I’ll name another person, I’ll name Rush Limbaugh…”

Mark Halperin, Co-writer of Game Change – No found donations; however, in October 2004 Halperin sent to ABC News staff a memo about coverage of the U.S. presidential election directing them not to “reflexively and artificially hold both sides ‘equally’ accountable” and that both John Kerry and George W. Bush used “distortion” in their campaign, but that Kerry’s distortions were not “central to his efforts to win.”

Danny Strong, Adapting Game Change for the television – Gave $2,500 to the Obama Victory Fund on 9/30/08. In addition, he wrote Recount, a 2008 fictionalization inspired by the true events regarding the 2000 Presidential. It starred Democrat Kevin Spacey and was also produced by HBO. ABC newscaster and consultant on the film, Jake Tapper, stated the film is “a fictional version of what happened” and “tilts to the left.”

Jay Roach, Director – Gave $2,300 to Obama For America on 1/31/08. In addition, he directed the left-leaning HBO film “Recount.”

Julianne Moore, Actress – Gave $5,000 to the Democratic White House Victory Fund on 6/30/08 and another $250 to the Obama Victory Fund on 9/06/08 for good measure

Ed Harris, Actor – Gave over $20,000 to Democrats and Democrat interests including $2,000 to Obama For America on 6/30/08

Woody Harrelson, Actor – Gave over $7,000 to Democrats and Democrat interests

Brian Howe, Actor – Gave $3,000 to Democrats and Democrat interests since 2004

Jim Denault, Cinematography – Gave $350 to MoveOn.org on 7/23/09 and $250 to Obama for America on 9/04/08

Kathleen Chopin, Casting – Gave $1,000 to Obama Victory Fund on 9/14/08 and $250 to Obama for America on 3/06/08

Richard Hicks, Casting – Gave $200 to the DNC on 7/21/10 and $250 to Obama for America on 2/09/08

The Leftist list working on this project just keeps getting longer.

So, when this made for pay television comes out before the 2012 election, don’t expect an unbiased look at the story behind the 2008 election.  In fact, expect unkind and an unflattering look at the Republican Party, Republican voters and Republican candidates.   Clearly, timed to be aired before the 2012 election.

Just one more reason why HBO is no longer an acronym for “Home Box Office,” but for “Helping Barack Obama.”

Obama’s reelection team sent the announcement to their supporters this morning via email, along with a snazzy campaign launch video titled, “It Begins With Us.”  The video features real people from political battleground states North Carolina, Nevada and Colorado as well as a few others from Michigan and New York providing interviews about the upcoming election and their support for Obama.  As a former member of the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) and producer of campaign videos, I took great interest in this video and this is my critique.

At their core, campaign videos can take two different approaches, they can go positive about their candidate or they can go negative about their opponent.  When taking the positive approach one must think of the filmmakers as police officers trying to talk a suicidal person off the ledge… even in amidst tragedy, chaos and depression always use positive phrases and never use any negative words.  In other words, it’s okay to bring up depressing news, but it needs to be done in a careful and methodical way as to not conjure up anything negative in the viewer’s mind.

Unfortunately for Obama, his campaign launch video is fraught with negative sound bites.

Right out of the gate Ed from North Carolina reminds the viewer that “the last couple elections that we’ve had have been, um, almost turning point campaigns.”  That sound bite harkens the viewer to two specific elections… 2008 and 2010.  In 2008, Obama, riding a wave of Hope and Change, won the election with 52.9% of the vote.  But just two years into his presidency, the citizens of the United States went back to the ballot box and rejected Obama’s Hope and Change marking the greatest midterm landslide defeat for a President since 1938.  Without uttering the details, Ed from North Carolina reminded the viewer that Republicans gained 63 seats in the House of Representatives (recapturing the majority), six seats in the Senate, six governorships, as well as 680 seats in state legislative races.

The next interviewee is Gladys of Nevada who claims she is “nervous.”  Being nervous invokes an uneasiness or apprehension toward something.  It is the opposite of being confident and bold.  In past political arenas, nervousness about a campaign reminds one of Walter Mondale running against Ronald Reagan in 1984 or Bob Dole running against Bill Clinton in 1996.  It’s definitely not a word a campaign wants associated with their candidate.

Katherine of Colorado appears next talks about “the changes we’ve seen the last two and a half years.”  Which any informed person knows have not been positive changes.  Aside from the highly unpopular and unconstitutional Obamacare bill being passed vis-à-vis backroom shenanigans, sweetheart deals, middle of the night votes and other high jinks, or the unconstitutional attack on Libya, or all the broken promise that stretch from Gitmo to Iraq and back, what positive changes is Katherine talking about?  Troubling unemployment numbers?  The looming inflation?  The weakening dollar?  Soaring food, gasoline and energy prices?  One of the most depressed housing markets in history?  Or is she referring to the massive spending and skyrocketing deficits in our government?  While I give the filmmakers credit for using positive language, it does more harm in the end because the obvious contrast between the statement and the truth.

Next is Mike from New York, representing Obama’s base… the naïve first time voter.  He discusses the energy and hope for this country that Obama “had for this country” a few years ago and that he plans to help reelect him based on that platform now.  The fact that it is past tense, referring to an expired enthusiasm, isn’t going to help Obama next year.

Alice from Michigan is the next interviewee who starts off her sound bite with “Unfortunately…”  She’s only talking about Obama not being able to spend the time and energy to reelect himself so it is intended to be a call to action for those Obama supporters watching the video; however, I couldn’t get past the negative word “unfortunately” being so prominently exclaimed at the start of her segment.

From this point forward, the individuals are recycled.

Gladys mentions how American voters all have the same concerns, “we want jobs to be out there and we want people to have homes and we want people to have opportunity.”  Yet, these are the areas where Obama has failed the most.  Obama promised the American people that if the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed, unemployment would not exceed 8% and it has been over 8% ever since.   And wanting everyone to have homes?  With millions of Americans unemployed and banks tightening their regulations on loaning money, there are no loans available to the average American looking to have a home.  Housing prices see the biggest drop in over twenty-five years which CNBC described as “depression territory” in January 2011.  This would be like Jimmy Carter running his reelection campaign on gas prices and his handling of the Iran hostage crisis.

And we revisit Ed from North Carolina who delivers the best line of the whole video while shaking his head, “I don’t agree with Obama…”  Did they just not have any other sound bites available to use?  Of course he goes on to say that he doesn’t agree with Obama on everything and he respects and trusts him, but when he says “I don’t agree with Obama,” the damage is done.

At this point it doesn’t matter that they suggest more things need to be done or that politics is how we govern ourselves and that it really takes place at the grassroots level.  It doesn’t matter because the viewer is reminded of recent major Republican victories, negative changes the last two years, Obama’s shortcomings, and that he had enthusiasm years ago, but unfortunately, we don’t agree with Obama now.

Currently, the video, “It Begins With Us,” has 71,771 views on YouTube which include 1,470 likes and 1,022 dislikes.  That is in contrast of his “Barack Obama at the 2008 DNC” video two and half years ago which has 952,132 views with 3,267 likes and only 241 dislikes.  If “dislikes” on YouTube are future indicators of anything, I think the Obama campaign really has something to be nervous about in 2012.

By contrast, in 1984 America was emerging from a recession as President Ronald Reagan began his reelection campaign bid.  One of the great political commercials ever created, “Morning In America,” (formerly titled “Prouder, Stronger, Better”) aired in support of Reagan.  There was not one negative connation in the entire commercial.  In fact, it contained statements like:

• “Today more men and women will go to work than ever before in our country’s history.”
• “With interest rates at about half the record highs of 1980, nearly 2,000 families today will buy new homes, more than at any time in the past four years.”
• “This afternoon 6,500 young men and women will be married, and with inflation at less than half of what it was just four years ago, they can look forward with confidence to the future.”
• “…our country is prouder and stronger and better.”

There are stark differences between Reagan and Obama and those differences are manifested in their own promotional media during their midterm elections.  Reagan gave America a reason for optimism.  Obama just gave vacant hope and quite a bit of frustrating change.

So, if you find yourself on a ledge thinking you might want to jump, I sincerely hope that the filmmakers of “Morning in America” come to your rescue.

Cross-posted at HollywoodRepublican

HBO just can’t help themselves.  Less than two weeks after the pay television giant announced Julianne Moore, 50, will play a 43 year old Sarah Palin during the 2008 Presidential election, the network announced its intentions to make another anti-GOP movie based on the 2008 Barton Gellman book, Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency as well as The Dark Side, a 2006 documentary which aired on Frontline, a PBS public affairs series.

There is no argument that Gellman’s book casts a very dark and negative shadow over Republican Vice President, Dick Cheney.  His own website describes the book as taking on “the full scope of Cheney’s work and its consequences, including his hidden role in the Bush administration’s most fateful choices in war: shifting focus from al Qaeda to Iraq, unleashing the National Security Agency to spy at home, and promoting ‘cruel and inhuman’ methods of interrogation.”  If you didn’t know any better, you might think that description fits a member of the KGB, or even the Gestapo.
The Dark Side, not to be confused with the UK horror film publication or as the general concept of evil in the Star Wars universe or the anthology horror TV series produced by George A. Romero or the DC comics supervillain, no The Dark Side is a documentary produced by David Fanning and Michael Kirk of Frontline.  The title of the documentary perverts a quote from Cheney a few days after the 9/11 attacks in which he stated that in order to defend America against future Osama bin Laden and al Queda attacks, we would have to work “sort of the dark side, if you will,” because, “That’s the world these folks operate in…” and depicts the struggle between the CIA and the vice president and how Cheney was the chief architect of the war on terror and invasion of Iraq.

HBO optioned the book for the mini-series, which should air just before the 2012 election.  Naturally, David Fanning and Michael Kirk of Frontline are slated as Executive Producers.  Also, listed as Executive Producers are Jeffrey Levine and David Kennedy of Fair Catch Productions, a company the California Secretary of State currently shows as “suspended.”  Who are the rest of the players?

Eric Kessler (Co-President of HBO) – Gave $2,300 to Obama for America

Richard Plepler (Co-President of HBO) – Contributed over $15,000 to Democrats in 2008, including $2,300 to Obama for America and another $500 to Obama for America

Sue Naegle (President of HBO Entertainment) – Gave $2,500 to Al Franken for Senate and $1,150 to Friends of Rahm Emanuel, who would later be Obama Chief of Staff

Len Amato (President of HBO Films) – Gave $500 to Obama for America in 2008

Paula Weinstein  (Executive Producer) –  Donated over $20,000 to Democrat candidates and organizations including John Edwards, Barbara Boxer, Barack Obama, MoveOn.org and the DNC in just the last three years.

Barton Gellman  (Writer) – $500 to Democrat Bruce Babbitt in 1987; Writer of Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency

Rick Cleveland  (Screenwriter) – $500 to Howard Dean in 2003 and $1,000 to John Kerry in 2004; worked with Aaron Sorkin, an ardent Democrat who has donated nearly a quarter million dollars in a little over a decade to Democrats and their committees.

This is not much different from HBO’s team on Game Change, where there was not one Republican among the whole bunch.  How can they possibly be trusted to make an unbiased political film that is set to air right before the 2012 election?  Quite simply, they can’t.

Frankly, HBO is quickly becoming the MSNBC of premium television.   What’s next from the network that brings you Bill Maher?  I wouldn’t be surprised if in two more weeks they greenlit John Wilkes Booth: An American Hero.

In the meantime, I suggest you cancel your subscription to HBO.

In 2003, Charles Krauthammer coined the term, Bush Derangement Syndrome, defined as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.” By 2008, the syndrome progressed into Palin Derangement Syndrome. And in 2011, HBO caught the bug.

On March 9th 2011, HBO announced former Boogie Nights star Julianne Moore, 50, will play a 43 year old Sarah Palin during the 2008 Presidential election based on the 2010 book, Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. They actually optioned the rights to the book long before it was published. Adapting the book to screenplay will be actor/writer Danny Strong and it will be directed by Jay Roach.

I’m not sure it is relevant, but I thought it important for everyone to know who these folks are making this pay television movie.

Eric Kessler, Co-President of HBO – Gave $2,300 to Obama for America

Richard Plepler, Co-President of HBO – Contributed over $15,000 to Democrats in 2008, including $2,300 to Obama for America and another $500 to Obama for America, on 7/31/08 (isn’t that more than the allowable campaign contribution?)

Sue Naegle, President of HBO Entertainment – Gave $2,500 to Al Franken for Senate and $1,150 to Friends of Rahm Emanuel, who would later be Obama Chief of Staff

Len Amato, President of HBO Films – Gave $500 to Obama for America on 1/27/08

John Heilemann, Co-writer of Game Change – No found donations; however, on an April 18, 2010 airing of “The Chris Matthews Show,” Time columnist Joe Klein stated that Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, “rub right up close to being seditious.” To that, Heilemann added, “”And Joe’s right and I’ll name another person, I’ll name Rush Limbaugh…”

Mark Halperin, Co-writer of Game Change – No found donations; however, in October 2004 Halperin sent to ABC News staff a memo about coverage of the U.S. presidential election directing them not to “reflexively and artificially hold both sides ‘equally’ accountable” and that both John Kerry and George W. Bush used “distortion” in their campaign, but that Kerry’s distortions were not “central to his efforts to win.”

Danny Strong, Adapting Game Change for the television – Gave $2,500 to the Obama Victory Fund on 9/30/08. In addition, he wrote Recount, a 2008 fictionalization inspired by the true events regarding the 2000 Presidential. It starred Democrat Kevin Spacey and was also produced by HBO. ABC newscaster and consultant on the film, Jake Tapper, stated the film is “a fictional version of what happened” and “tilts to the left.”

Jay Roach, Director – Gave $2,300 to Obama For America on 1/31/08. In addition, he directed the left-leaning HBO film “Recount.”

Julianne Moore, Actress – Gave $5,000 to the Democratic White House Victory Fund and 6/30/08 and another $250 to the Obama Victory Fund on 9/06/08 for good measure

Not that I am worried that there will be a left wing biased at all, well, actually I am. First, we know that the authors of the book, Game Change, bring with them a left wing perspective. Second, most of the sources in the book are “anonymous.” Third, the authors didn’t verify the accounts in the book (which they were even criticized by Joe Biden’s communication director). And third, just look at everyone involved in producing this film… they are, by and large, Obama supporters, Palin’s main political opponent during the 2008 election.

When are the left in Hollywood going to stop producing films about right wing icons and set their targets on those on the left? There is plenty juicy filmmaking to be done within the Democrat Party. Here, I will help them with a short list of possible titles:

ROMANCE
Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky: A Love Story
Al Gore and Laurie David: A Love Story
John Edwards and Rielle Hunter: A Love Story
Elliot Spitzer and Ashley Alexandra Dupré: A Love Story

ACTION
Bill Clinton and the Aspirin Factory
John Kerry and Swift Boat PCF-44
Barack Obama: Community Organizer

DRAMA
Barack Obama: In Contempt of Court
Al Franken: Stolen Election
The 110th United States Congress Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Rahm Emanuel’s Good Fellas

COMEDY
Pelosi: Snakes on a Plane
Michelle Obama: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
The Clinton’s: Animal House
Barney Frank: Dr. Strangelove
Harry Reid: The Jerk
Barack Obama: Caddy Shack

There are just so many excellent stories out there just waiting to be optioned before they ever get published. But so long as the power and the derangement syndrome exist with the left in Hollywood, they will never get told.

In the meantime, I suggest you cancel your subscription to HBO.