The Left Coast Report: A Political Look at Hollywood
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Alec Baldwin Hangs Cheney on WikiLeaks Gallows
2. Johnny Depp Stays Single to Save Lover’s Good Name
3. Washington Post Finds ‘Fair Game’ Unfair
4. Curses Be Upon the Grammy Nominations
5. Bristol Palin Defends Sarah Against Margaret Cho
1. Alec Baldwin Hangs Cheney on WikiLeaks Gallows
Alec Baldwin is a talented actor, but that doesn’t make him a particularly good legal analyst.
In one of his rants on the Huffington Post, he equates the mythical crimes that the left attributes to Dick Cheney with real criminal offenses committed by the head of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.
Baldwin’s screed acknowledges that Assange should be caught and prosecuted. But he likens Assange’s crime with attempted murder, arguing that “you cannot prove that anyone directly suffered as the result of those leaks.”
The comparison is absurd, because in Assange’s case the crime is achieved, not merely attempted.
Under the Espionage Act of 1917, prosecutors would have to prove three things: First, that Assange had unauthorized possession of information related to national security; second, that the information could bring harm to the U.S. or aid an enemy; and third, that Assange had willfully kept the information after a demand for its return.
In addition, the WikiLeaks founder is wanted in connection with allegations of sex offenses in Sweden.
Baldwin did have a caveat concerning an Assange prosecution scenario.
“Only one condition,” the actor declared. “You hold formal hearings on the Valerie Plame scandal. And you put that Low-Down-Gutless-Excuse-For-A-Vice-President Dick Cheney and that crypto-fascist maniac Richard Armitage on trial. Same as Julian Assange.”
Baldwin punctuated his rhetoric with a final demand: “Cheney and Armitage. Assange goes on trial, they go on trial.”
The actor, who serves on the board of People for the American Way (he’s also a vegetarian, an animal rights activist, and a strong PETA supporter), has never tried to hide his animus toward Republican establishment figures, Dick Cheney in particular.
In a past blog, he posted that Cheney “terrorizes our enemies abroad and innocent citizens here at home indiscriminately.”
In another post, he called the former vice president “a lying, thieving Oil Whore” and “a murderer” of the U.S. Constitution.
With all of his pent-up emotion, maybe Alec would benefit from a guest spot on “Glee” where he sings some Justin Bieber tunes.
2. Johnny Depp Stays Single to Save Lover’s Good Name
Johnny Depp, best known for portrayals of peculiar characters, holds a view of marriage that is as eccentric as anything expressed by one of his onscreen alter egos.
The actor has a long-running relationship with Vanessa Paradis, a French actress and singer he met while filming “The Ninth Gate.” They have two children, 11-year-old Lily-Rose Melody and 8-year-old John “Jack” Christopher III.
Depp apparently isn’t planning to marry Paradis any time soon. This could be because his own parents went through a divorce. As a child Johnny was so unhappy about his family situation, he engaged in self-mutilation and still bears several scars as a result.
Depp’s stated reason for nixing nuptials seems somewhat trivial, if it’s to be believed.
Initially, he responded to Extra with the usual celebrity cliché for avoiding the altar, saying, “I never found myself needing that piece of paper. Marriage is really from soul to soul, heart to heart. You don’t need somebody to say, okay, you’re married.”
But then he added: “If Vanessa wanted to get hitched, why not? But the thing is, I’d be so scared of ruining her last name. She’s got such a good last name.”
3. Washington Post Finds ‘Fair Game’ Unfair
Apparently, a lot of Hollywood lefties failed to read a recent editorial from The Washington Post, which slammed the Valerie Plame-Joe Wilson mythology as chronicled in the movie “Fair Game.”
The Post evidently felt compelled to speak out on the screen adaptation of Plame’s memoir, opining that it is “full of distortions — not to mention outright inventions.”
The newspaper cites the depiction of Plame’s relationship with a group of Iraqi scientists and involvement with arranging for them to leave the country. The movie gives the impression that because her cover was blown, the scientists were left hanging.
This, of course, is untrue. Plame did not work directly on that program, and it was not shut down because of her having been “outed.”
The film presents Plame’s diplomat husband, Wilson, as a heroic whistle-blower who exposes a Bush “lie” concerning the claim that Iraq had tried to purchase uranium from the African country of Niger.
However, an official British investigation concluded President Bush’s public statement that Britain believed Iraq had sought uranium in Niger was well-founded.
Despite the film’s claim that a White House conspiracy engineered Plame’s exposure, a lengthy investigation by a special prosecutor found no evidence of any White House involvement.
4. Curses Be Upon the Grammy Nominations
This year profanity-laced tunes dominated the nominations for the most coveted award in the music industry, the Grammy.
As a long-time member of the Academy, I am heartsick over the decline.
Cee Lo Green’s song was nominated for two top Grammy honors: Record and Song of the Year. Unlike other artists who weave profanity into their lyrics, Green’s song has the expletive built right into the title, “F*** You.”
In order to air on radio, the title and lyrics had to be changed to “Forget You,” which was the lyric performed by Gwyneth Paltrow on “Glee.”
I was put off when Eminem was first nominated for Album of the Year a decade ago for his curse-laden “The Marshall Mathers LP.” This time around he has received a whopping 10 nominations including Album, Song, and Record of the Year.
The person with the second highest number of Grammy nominations is Bruno Mars, who garnered seven. This honor came after Mars was arrested in Las Vegas in a cocaine possession case, which is still pending.
Mars co-wrote the aforementioned cuss-happy Cee Lo song.
5. Bristol Palin Defends Sarah Against Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho may regret messing with a certain famed family from Alaska.
Cho, a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars” this season who lost her dancing shoes early in the competition, recently lashed out in a blog post at fellow hoofer Bristol Palin.
The comic claimed that Bristol’s mom, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, had “forced” her daughter to appear on the reality show for public relations and political reasons.
Cho wrote that “the only reason Bristol was on the show was because Sarah Palin forced her to do it. Sarah supposedly blames Bristol harshly and openly . . . for not winning the election, and so she told Bristol she ‘owed’ it to her to do DWTS.”
“Bristol the Pistol” fired back with a fury. Like her mother, Bristol has a Facebook page, and she used it to set Cho straight.
In a post titled “CHA-CHA-CHA to CHO-CHO-CHO — HERE’S A HINT: THREE DOG NIGHT,” Bristol called Cho out for “getting so many ‘facts’ wrong in so few sentences.”
Her motivation for accepting the show’s invitation, she wrote, included “the simple fact that I was ready to get out of my comfort zone and try something new and challenging.”
Moreover, “I thought dancing would also be a great way to exercise — and it was. I thought it would boost my confidence — and it did. Notably absent from this calculus were political considerations.”
The driving force behind Bristol’s spirited defense of her mother is touchingly set forth in the following post:
“Why do I want to set the record straight? Because it is this type of hurtful and false narrative that people promote to make my mom look bad. For 20 years my mom had my back — and for the rest of my life I will have hers.”
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