Category: Frankly, My Dear

Embrace Hollywood!

Democrats Embrace Hollywood Frankly, My Dear 3 Comments

“Democrats need to embrace Hollywood because this is where they need to come to learn how to tell a story.” – Michael Moore

I’ll admit, I missed big by predicting something “delightfully sordid.” Instead, we got something unpleasantly sordid: The final nail in the coffin for the Netflix bid [for Warner Bros] was almost certainly board member Susan Rice’s ill-timed appearance on a podcast hosted by Preet Bharara on February 20, where she promised “accountability” for Trump administration wrongdoers once the Democrats took office. This was interpreted by MAGA’s most agitated online voices as a promise of lawfare against the administration — the irony of complaining about this is apparently completely lost upon them — and led to Laura Loomer loudly demanding the former national security adviser resign her position on the board of Netflix.

Since Loomer has Trump’s ear, that meant that Trump himself began to instantly parrot Loomer’s line, demanding Rice resign from Netflix or “pay the consequences.” That put Netflix in an impossible position — they were not going to earn the eternal wrath of progressives by caving to Trump and firing Rice, not for a bid they were going to have extreme difficulty getting Trump’s approval on anyway. So they have bowed to the inevitable and cut their losses.

Gradually, Then Suddenly

Frankly, My Dear Gradually Then Suddenly 18 Comments

Now, factor in the crash coming to vacation condos in Mexico.

New Rules

47 Frankly, My Dear Freespeechers 22 Comments

@HansMahncke


This is remarkable to watch on multiple levels. There is the diplomatic dimension, where an American Under Secretary of State is not supposed to call a spade a spade. But when the people demanding deference to those outdated conventions are the very same elites who fear their own citizens and suppress them through increasingly tyrannical censorship, they have forfeited any claim to courtesy. You can almost picture German elites getting whiplash just from reading it.

Then there is the tactical side of it. Sarah Rodgers knows perfectly well that what she is saying is not permitted speech in Germany. That is precisely why she says it so bluntly and forcefully, almost daring the German government to react. The point is the opposite of subtle persuasion (that did not work). Instead, she’s inviting the German government to lash out at her, which would make their repression even more visible and self-incriminating.

There is also a deeper historical message embedded in this. The United States did not sacrifice blood and treasure to liberate Germany after World War II so that it could quietly slide back into old authoritarian habits under a different pretext. And if it insists on doing so, it should not assume American indulgence or silence. That era is over.

“Die mad, Eurotrash.”

Frankly, My Dear What He Said 32 Comments

This is personal to me because I’ve spent a substantial part of my life doing the jobs that Europeans would not do. From November 1988 to April 1991, with a multi-month tangent to the Persian Gulf War, I was part of NATO in what was then West Germany. It’s always great to have people tell me how important NATO is when I was part of it, and they weren’t, but let’s put that aside. I was there at the end of the Cold War. We were still doing things like having REFORGER exercises and going out on alerts at 3 a.m., where we would shiver in our assembly areas knowing that if the balloon really went up, our role was to die in place so the locals could continue to consume strudel and bitch about Ronald Reagan.

Related.

Embrace Hollywood!

Embrace Hollywood Frankly, My Dear 39 Comments

He was never funny.

He was the epitome of the downfall of late night comedy into what could be called late night clapter, where the applauding of conservative misfortunes replaced wit or cleverness. Under Colbert, The Late Show became an avenue for liberals to vent their frustration at conservatives through cathartic booing.

Colbert was the most likely of all the permanent late night hosts to bring on liberal guests. His show would have been a must-visit place for 2028 Democratic hopefuls. Even on this Thursday, Colbert is scheduled to have Sen. Adam Schiff on.

The future of light night is bleak. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel has mused about retiring next year and is pessimistic about the state of the industry, a sentiment shared by NBC’s Seth Meyers. The death of late night was caused by many things, including increased competition that comes from streaming platforms and YouTube, but Colbert-like liberals also played a role. You can’t just write off half the country and expect a 30+ year-old institution to survive forever.

For old times’ sake.

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