I must say this at the outset: Insofar as dancing is concerned, I have two left feet. And when it comes to singing, I can hold a tune, but no one will ever confuse me with Josh Groban. That my wife likes to dance with me and listen to me sing speaks to her absolute love for me overtaking her good taste.
Because my wife enjoys both dancing and singing, she became a fan of the shows Dancing With the Stars and The Voice. Because I love my wife, and because I can sit quietly and read while she watches her shows, I spend time with her in the living room absorbing the goings-on. That doesn't mean I haven't seen a thing or two.
First, allow me to reiterate: I may have been a good athlete in my day, but when in comes to dancing, I always suggest that we do it in the middle of a large crowd with the lights dimmed so no one is repulsed by the sight of my awkward jiggling. Someone may get the mistaken impression that I'm having a seizure and call paramedics. And as for singing, I enjoy it, but I don't have the skill to perform in front of people. The closest I would ever come to doing that is karaoke fortified by adult beverages in a place to which I'll never return. I was a member of my high school choir, but no one ever suggested I audition for a solo. Wisely.
Still, I am a watcher of television, and having done that capably for over fifty years, I have developed a taste for what's good and bad about television shows. DWTS is downright horrible and The Voice is troublesome. Allow me to explain:
DWTS billed itself, at its inception, as ballroom dancing being brought to the masses. It has devolved into vaudeville crossed with tawdry carnality. It's almost as if Andy Hardy and Betsy Booth got lost in a kinky jazzercise club. Scantily clad men and women with undeniably toned bodies incorporate as few ballroom dance moves into routines that stray as far from ballroom as they can and still earn points. Sure, they call them foxtrot, waltz and tango, but the truth is, over the course of the season, few dances are true ballroom dances and are more properly fusion dances that allow for entertainment to overwhelm the dancing.
How do I know this? Once upon a time I took a ballroom dance course. Admittedly, I'm no good at anything beyond a waltz, but I know what's supposed to happen. What happens on DWTS strays from what I was taught.
As if that weren't bad enough, the schmaltz factor is neverending. Pro dancers are turned into interviewers cum therapists as these staged discussions about the celebrities insecurities are examined for the cameras. Nevermind that these celebrities are typically off the C list; that they try to rope the audience into feeling for them because -- look! they're just like the rest of us! -- they have problems which, in turn, garners votes that have nothing to do with the performances, is nauseating. It's almost as if I'm watching some sort of dancing therapy show for celebrities.
Then combine that with the fact that there are ringers in the crowd. This year's winner is from the Broadway plan Hamilton...in which he dances. Other winners have included an ice dancer, Olympic gymnasts and professional athletes. Sure, a few outliers have won, but the thing is rigged. It's largely a popularity contest until the finale, when the one or two celebrities with any dancing chops are pitted against each other and the popular non-dancers have been eliminated, forcing people to actually vote for someone who can dance.
The judges on the show include some woman who in her effusiveness once infamously misused coño with cojones, a superannuated Brit who tries to keep the dancing on the rails and an Italian dancer whose claim to fame is having appeared as a background dancer in an Elton John video. Their antics add to the lack of luster the show presents. They've decided to add guest judges from time to time, including Shania Twain. Egads.
Little vignettes are staged as props for the dancing. The singing, which is just covers of popular songs, leaves a lot to be desired. The endless mugging for the camera is sickening, as is the over-the-top cutesy behavior of couples who are introduced before their dances is something I would expect from children, not professionals and celebrities. I've seen teenagers act with more aplomb in public. That this is encouraged is beyond belief.
Usually, when a celebrity is eliminated, there are unctuous thanks for the pro's tutoring, a profession of undying love and a promise that the celebrity will continue dancing in the future. It's like revisiting high school where everyone professes things when they sign each other's yearbooks.
From time to time, no doubt, there's a dance or two that is memorable or moving. But most of the dances are just overwrought productions designed to tug on viewers' heartstrings. Some of the professional dancers are excellent. Derek Hough is a genius, as is Mark Ballas. The problem with Ballas' involvement in the show is that his strengths are more suited to Broadway than the ballroom.
The Voice, on the other hand, started out trying to play it straight. Contestants sing for four celebrity judges whose chairs are turned so they aren't swayed by the appearance of the contestant. If a judge likes what he or she hears, a buzzer is hit to turn the chair around announcing to the contestant that that judge wants him or her on his team. If multiple judges turn around, the contestant picks which judge will be his coach. Once the teams are picked, there are knockout rounds within the teams. This is the first problem that I have with the show.
The two teammates sing a song together, alternating lyrics. How anyone is supposed to decide which vocalist is better from this is anyone's guess. I suppose professional singers can tell; Karen always points out when someone it pitchy, something that completely escapes me, so I'm probably wrong on this point.
After the teams are set, a further winnowing down of the teams is made. The vocalists are guided not only by their coaches but by celebrity coaches brought in to tutor them. Admittedly, they do instruct the contestants. Then the contestants sing songs either they chose or that were chosen for them by their coaches.
Here's another problem I have with the show. At this juncture, the singers are all marvelously gifted. Virtually any of these people could win the competition. Sure, there are styles that I don't particularly like, but the talent that reaches this level is astounding. If the touchstone for this show is American Idol, at no point in that show's history did it have the abundance of quality that The Voice has at this stage in the competition every single year. This year alone there have to be between five and ten contestants who could have their own recording contracts, When did that ever happen at Idol?
The judges' votes at this point seem random. I guess their positioning themselves to have the best contestants for the finale when the public actually votes for the winner. And this hits another problem with the show: When they're interviewed prior to singing for the first time -- and at various points as they progress -- more backstories are elicited that play on the viewers' emotions. I understand people have lives and histories, but the editing that puts these stories out there is done for effect. And as much as the novelty of having judges not see the vocalists when they do the blind auditions is cool, the viewers see the contestants from the get-go, so hot women and men must earn extra votes for that.
Despite its superior production values, The Voice has fallen victim to its popularity. At times, it engages in cutesy segments that detract from the purpose of the show just to fill time. It's not as bad as DWTS, but it's annoying nonetheless.
One final comparison between the shows is worth pointing out: For as bad as DWTS is, Tom Bergeron is an excellent host. In fact, he's the only reason I pay any attention. He's as quick-witted as anyone in show business. On The Voice, Carson Daly, for as nice a person as he is, is a wooden host, given to over-exuberant reactions at the most inappropriate times. He's a seemingly nice guy, but he's as stolid in his role as Bergeron is easily personable.
The Voice is the superior show if for no other reason than the product it produces is better. The talent level of the contestants is so much higher than that on DWTS. Even if it weren't, the stupid schmaltzy vignettes, the unctuous love everyone has for each other, the attempt at creating a DWTS family -- it all just rubs the wrong way.
But again, there's a reason I don't dance or sing for a living.
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Friday, November 10, 2017
Implosions
Fall is my favorite time of year. The weather is perfect, the smells are heightened, the foods are more to my liking, college football is upon us and holiday season is back. Add to that it was in October when I first met my bride and it's understandable why I enjoy fall so much.
This fall, however, has an added bonus. Simultaneously, three industries are imploding. Two of them I detest, one of them I tolerate with indifference. Never in my wildest dreams did I think any one of them would teeter so much, let alone all three of them teeter at the same time. But the planets aligned perfectly to cause the NFL, the Democratic Party and Hollywood to all go through massive implosions one right after the other. And the beauty of each one is that each implosion just keeps going and going and going....
The NFL has faced a backlash of fan discontent when the players decided to emulate Colin Kapernick and kneel during the national anthem. Reports vary as to the motivation behind the kneeling, but it hasn't resonated with the fans. Fans in droves are staying away from the stadia to the point that the owners are concerned. This weekend there's supposed to be a boycott of the games to show support for veterans, given that tomorrow is Veteran's Day. Add to that the ongoing struggles addressing abuse of women and the CTE issue and the NFL is a hot mess. It's so hot that now renegade owner Jerry Jones is threatening to sue the NFL a la Al Davis because the compensation committee is about to renew commissioner Roger Goodell's contract for $44M. Needless to say, it hasn't been a good year for the NFL.
If the NFL has issues, the Democratic Party is beside itself. Having lost the presidential election to a non-politician after harrumphing that there was no way on God's green earth that Donald Trump would ever be president, Cankles lost all but the coastal elites at the end of her Inevitability Tour. She then took to the book tour where she tried to explain away her loss on everyone but herself, further casting the party into disrepute. In the meantime Wikileaks provided evidence that the DNC rigged the primary so that Cankles would win and Bernie, despite the groundswell of grassroot support, didn't have a chance. Recently, Donna Brazile, who took over the chair of the DNC for the disgraced Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, has written a book wherein she pointed the finger at Cankles for taking over the DNC. As if all that weren't bad enough, an ultra-liberal activist group referring to itself as Antifa (short for Anti-Fascist) has been wreaking havoc nationwide because it feels that President Trump is racist and fascist, for some reason. In the process, antifa has highjacked the Democratic Party, causing even such liberal stalwarts as Nancy Pelosi to criticize its tactics, which are, ironically, reminiscent of Nazi tactics. Donna Brazile is now sniping with Cankles and Cankles is accusing Ms. Brazile of being a Russian agent. It's so aburd that it almost sounds like the plot of a Hollywood political farce...
...Speaking of Hollywood, I've detailed the notorious indiscretions and possible crimes of movie czar Harvey Weinstein. Given Weinstein's girth, it's not a stretch to claim that his fall broke the dam, so to speak, on other powerful men who have groped their ways to power. Now, other moguls have been accused of being Weinsteinian, as have high-profile actors like Kevin Spacey. The shooting inside Hollywood's tent is fascinating. People are claiming everyone knew, while others claim not everything was known. As this goes on, movie ticket sales plummet, a la the NFL's attendance figures. Virtually every day another story comes out about some actor or actress who was violated in some fashion. The interesting spin on the Hollywood implosion is that it goes from heterosexual to homosexual abuse and, sadly, even into abuse of minors.
Why am I so tickled by all of this? First, the NFL is a behemoth that I've said for years is too full of itself. Football is football, but compared to the college game, the NFL is sterile, stoic, almost robotic. The Democrats have been fooling people for years, touting itself as the more moral of the political parties (is that even possible?) and hypocritical as hell. That they've been shown to resort to decidedly undemocratic tricks to win elections even within their own ranks is telling. And Hollywood? Those people who imitate other people for a living have been so busy telling the rest of us that we don't know what we're doing, that we are racists, rapist enablers and worse, and yet within their own community, they're worse than anyone. Either they were involved in the abuse, or they knew about the abuse and condoned it with their silence, or they were willfully ignorant of the rumors. Yet they acted as if they owned the moral imperative and had the right to criticize the rest of us.
I don't know much about the story of Nero fiddling while Rome burned, but I wonder if anything that was burning while he fiddled was like the NFL, the Democrats or Hollywood...
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
This fall, however, has an added bonus. Simultaneously, three industries are imploding. Two of them I detest, one of them I tolerate with indifference. Never in my wildest dreams did I think any one of them would teeter so much, let alone all three of them teeter at the same time. But the planets aligned perfectly to cause the NFL, the Democratic Party and Hollywood to all go through massive implosions one right after the other. And the beauty of each one is that each implosion just keeps going and going and going....
The NFL has faced a backlash of fan discontent when the players decided to emulate Colin Kapernick and kneel during the national anthem. Reports vary as to the motivation behind the kneeling, but it hasn't resonated with the fans. Fans in droves are staying away from the stadia to the point that the owners are concerned. This weekend there's supposed to be a boycott of the games to show support for veterans, given that tomorrow is Veteran's Day. Add to that the ongoing struggles addressing abuse of women and the CTE issue and the NFL is a hot mess. It's so hot that now renegade owner Jerry Jones is threatening to sue the NFL a la Al Davis because the compensation committee is about to renew commissioner Roger Goodell's contract for $44M. Needless to say, it hasn't been a good year for the NFL.
If the NFL has issues, the Democratic Party is beside itself. Having lost the presidential election to a non-politician after harrumphing that there was no way on God's green earth that Donald Trump would ever be president, Cankles lost all but the coastal elites at the end of her Inevitability Tour. She then took to the book tour where she tried to explain away her loss on everyone but herself, further casting the party into disrepute. In the meantime Wikileaks provided evidence that the DNC rigged the primary so that Cankles would win and Bernie, despite the groundswell of grassroot support, didn't have a chance. Recently, Donna Brazile, who took over the chair of the DNC for the disgraced Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, has written a book wherein she pointed the finger at Cankles for taking over the DNC. As if all that weren't bad enough, an ultra-liberal activist group referring to itself as Antifa (short for Anti-Fascist) has been wreaking havoc nationwide because it feels that President Trump is racist and fascist, for some reason. In the process, antifa has highjacked the Democratic Party, causing even such liberal stalwarts as Nancy Pelosi to criticize its tactics, which are, ironically, reminiscent of Nazi tactics. Donna Brazile is now sniping with Cankles and Cankles is accusing Ms. Brazile of being a Russian agent. It's so aburd that it almost sounds like the plot of a Hollywood political farce...
...Speaking of Hollywood, I've detailed the notorious indiscretions and possible crimes of movie czar Harvey Weinstein. Given Weinstein's girth, it's not a stretch to claim that his fall broke the dam, so to speak, on other powerful men who have groped their ways to power. Now, other moguls have been accused of being Weinsteinian, as have high-profile actors like Kevin Spacey. The shooting inside Hollywood's tent is fascinating. People are claiming everyone knew, while others claim not everything was known. As this goes on, movie ticket sales plummet, a la the NFL's attendance figures. Virtually every day another story comes out about some actor or actress who was violated in some fashion. The interesting spin on the Hollywood implosion is that it goes from heterosexual to homosexual abuse and, sadly, even into abuse of minors.
Why am I so tickled by all of this? First, the NFL is a behemoth that I've said for years is too full of itself. Football is football, but compared to the college game, the NFL is sterile, stoic, almost robotic. The Democrats have been fooling people for years, touting itself as the more moral of the political parties (is that even possible?) and hypocritical as hell. That they've been shown to resort to decidedly undemocratic tricks to win elections even within their own ranks is telling. And Hollywood? Those people who imitate other people for a living have been so busy telling the rest of us that we don't know what we're doing, that we are racists, rapist enablers and worse, and yet within their own community, they're worse than anyone. Either they were involved in the abuse, or they knew about the abuse and condoned it with their silence, or they were willfully ignorant of the rumors. Yet they acted as if they owned the moral imperative and had the right to criticize the rest of us.
I don't know much about the story of Nero fiddling while Rome burned, but I wonder if anything that was burning while he fiddled was like the NFL, the Democrats or Hollywood...
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Friday, October 20, 2017
Bowe Bergdahl Revisited
This week, Bowe Bergdahl pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The man whom Obama's White House claimed served the United States with honor and distinction now faces penalties including life in prison. The sentencing phase of his court martial begins on Monday.
As many will recall, on May 31, 2014, in a much ballyhooed ceremony in the Rose Garden, then-President Obama, flanked by Bergdahl's parents, announced the deal that was to return Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl from captivity with the Taliban in exchange for five terrorists then held in Guantanamo Bay. Immediately after the announcement, murmurs were heard in the military community that grew to shouts that Bergdahl was a deserter. No doubt the Obama administration was moved by Bergdahl's father's sympathetic beard and his efforts to learn Pashtun, the language of his son's captors. This was, after all, the era of compassionate globalism. Leave no man behind, was the mantra.
Since then, the military conducted its investigation and brought charges against Bergdahl. Many in the military, both veterans and those who served in theater during the time of Bergdahl's misconduct, called for him to be jailed for life, if not put to death. Troops sent out to look for him were injured and six were killed in their searches. Those losses had an effect on the active military and veterans who called for harsh punishment of Bergdahl.
There were several rulings by the court that compelled Bergdahl to plead guilty. Arguments can be had whether the court erred in making its rulings; I don't believe it did. But for those not paying close attention to the case, the plea may have come as a surprise. For those of us monitoring it, it comes as a relief. There was little reason to see this play out in a trial; there was very little evidence to support Bergdahl's tale that he simple took off for a walk and was captured.
What's more interesting is the public reaction from a couple of quarters. First, what's the MSM been doing to report on this? I mean, besides announcing his guilty plea, has the MSM been investigating the deal that brought us a deserter in exchange for five hardened terrorists who've vowed to kill Americans? As far as I can tell, Bergdahl hasn't taken up arms in defense of this country and now he's admitted abandoning his post. Does the MSM see a problem with releasing five terrorists for a deserter? Does it disagree with the precedent set by the Bergdahl trade? Is it interested in holding the former president and his human piñata accountable for their gross overstatements?
How about the parents? Sure, they're glad to have their son back and out of harm's way, but are they proud of the child and his brand of patriotism, duty and loyalty? Is the father glad he grew that ridiculous beard and learned to speak Pashtun (which I'm sure is useful in Idaho). Do they feel as if their son brought shame to them and their family name?
But most of all, has anyone asked the former president or Susan Rice about the Bergdahl plea? Do they feel at all responsible for making the worst trade since Lou Brock was traded for Ernie Broglio? Are they sheepish about having been played by Bergdahl? Are they angry about his perfidy? Do they regret making the trade? What do they think should be his punishment? Or will the MSM not even ask them questions about one of the worst decisions they made while in power?
Bergdahl will get what he has coming. He'll be in jail; the only question will be for how long. Nothing will bring back the six brave souls who lost their lives searching for him, or the lost limbs others lost on patrol trying to rescue him. But for those who hailed or approved the deal, I wonder what they're thinking. I also wonder if the MSM, which is trying so hard to find a Russian collusion allegation to stick despite evidence to the contrary, will tear itself away for a moment to look at a real scandal that's been under their collective noses for more than a couple of years.
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
As many will recall, on May 31, 2014, in a much ballyhooed ceremony in the Rose Garden, then-President Obama, flanked by Bergdahl's parents, announced the deal that was to return Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl from captivity with the Taliban in exchange for five terrorists then held in Guantanamo Bay. Immediately after the announcement, murmurs were heard in the military community that grew to shouts that Bergdahl was a deserter. No doubt the Obama administration was moved by Bergdahl's father's sympathetic beard and his efforts to learn Pashtun, the language of his son's captors. This was, after all, the era of compassionate globalism. Leave no man behind, was the mantra.
Since then, the military conducted its investigation and brought charges against Bergdahl. Many in the military, both veterans and those who served in theater during the time of Bergdahl's misconduct, called for him to be jailed for life, if not put to death. Troops sent out to look for him were injured and six were killed in their searches. Those losses had an effect on the active military and veterans who called for harsh punishment of Bergdahl.
There were several rulings by the court that compelled Bergdahl to plead guilty. Arguments can be had whether the court erred in making its rulings; I don't believe it did. But for those not paying close attention to the case, the plea may have come as a surprise. For those of us monitoring it, it comes as a relief. There was little reason to see this play out in a trial; there was very little evidence to support Bergdahl's tale that he simple took off for a walk and was captured.
What's more interesting is the public reaction from a couple of quarters. First, what's the MSM been doing to report on this? I mean, besides announcing his guilty plea, has the MSM been investigating the deal that brought us a deserter in exchange for five hardened terrorists who've vowed to kill Americans? As far as I can tell, Bergdahl hasn't taken up arms in defense of this country and now he's admitted abandoning his post. Does the MSM see a problem with releasing five terrorists for a deserter? Does it disagree with the precedent set by the Bergdahl trade? Is it interested in holding the former president and his human piñata accountable for their gross overstatements?
How about the parents? Sure, they're glad to have their son back and out of harm's way, but are they proud of the child and his brand of patriotism, duty and loyalty? Is the father glad he grew that ridiculous beard and learned to speak Pashtun (which I'm sure is useful in Idaho). Do they feel as if their son brought shame to them and their family name?
But most of all, has anyone asked the former president or Susan Rice about the Bergdahl plea? Do they feel at all responsible for making the worst trade since Lou Brock was traded for Ernie Broglio? Are they sheepish about having been played by Bergdahl? Are they angry about his perfidy? Do they regret making the trade? What do they think should be his punishment? Or will the MSM not even ask them questions about one of the worst decisions they made while in power?
Bergdahl will get what he has coming. He'll be in jail; the only question will be for how long. Nothing will bring back the six brave souls who lost their lives searching for him, or the lost limbs others lost on patrol trying to rescue him. But for those who hailed or approved the deal, I wonder what they're thinking. I also wonder if the MSM, which is trying so hard to find a Russian collusion allegation to stick despite evidence to the contrary, will tear itself away for a moment to look at a real scandal that's been under their collective noses for more than a couple of years.
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Monday, October 16, 2017
Weinstein -- More Fallout
If it seems like I'm obsesses with the Weinstein scandal, I'm not. I'm just reveling in the hypocrisy of the Left who lectures those of us who voted for President Trump despite his indiscretions involving women, given the fact that many people now caught up in the aftermath of the revelations of Harvey Weinstein's conduct were lecturing us for over a year about how stupid we were for voting for President Trump, all the while it was an open secret that Weinstein ruled Hollywood with his penis.
Weinstein is now in a hermetic cocoon called therapy where he's allegedly going to be taught how not to be a cretin. Good luck with that. On his way to Arizona, he told the gathering throng of reporters that he was going to therapy but would be training his sights on the NRA, whatever that meant, as if he was going to curry favor with the Left. If that's what he really thought, he's even more of a buffoon than I thought.
But the interesting fallout for me is how women are coming out of the woodwork not only to accuse Weinstein, a la the Bill Cosby accusers, but also other celebrities who have followed the Weinstein Power Trip Career Path. Some of Hollywood's most outspoken liberals are now being dragged kicking and screaming into the limelight, something they typically embrace but from which they are now running.
Ben Affleck, he of the boorish behavior and the wandering eye, was outed by Rose McGowan for having known of Weinstein's misbehavior. Ms. McGowan, who is quickly becoming a favorite of mine for her no-holds-barred style, tweeted of Affleck You Lie after he tweeted a milquetoast denunciation of Weinstein that was probably drafted by one of his handlers. Affleck sheepishly admitted it and hasn't been heard from since. Of course, Ben was beaten to the punch by his younger brother Casey, who'd been accused of sexual harassment before Harvey's indiscretions became public.
His buddy, Matt Damon, who had been reported to have intervened for Weinstein for an Italian victim, came out and invoked the Three Monkeys. So far, he hasn't been pressed about his response to the matter.
Jimmy Kimmel, the darling of the Left and the self-appointed spokesperson for all things Lefty, has been outed for some of his more immature behavior, nothing that approaches Weinstein territory but that is nonetheless unflattering.
George Clooney has now been accused of blackballing an actress of Mexican descent who appeared on the television show ER. I wonder how Amal liked that.
Has Hollywood never heard of the Glass Houses rule? Apparently, going after President Trump was easy for them because they were protected, in part, but the unwritten rules of Hollywood but also by the MSM, with whom they were in league against the President. It's frightening at the same time it's enjoyable to watch all these mega-Leftists who accused the President now fighting accusations of their own. It's a feeding frenzy and for once I don't feel sorry for the targets. They've brought this on themselves not only by their conduct but by their hypocrisy. In fact, this weekend, I learned a new term from a friend online whom I've never met (a friend of a friend...).
The Left should rename itself the Hypocrats.
It's fitting.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings....
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Weinstein is now in a hermetic cocoon called therapy where he's allegedly going to be taught how not to be a cretin. Good luck with that. On his way to Arizona, he told the gathering throng of reporters that he was going to therapy but would be training his sights on the NRA, whatever that meant, as if he was going to curry favor with the Left. If that's what he really thought, he's even more of a buffoon than I thought.
But the interesting fallout for me is how women are coming out of the woodwork not only to accuse Weinstein, a la the Bill Cosby accusers, but also other celebrities who have followed the Weinstein Power Trip Career Path. Some of Hollywood's most outspoken liberals are now being dragged kicking and screaming into the limelight, something they typically embrace but from which they are now running.
Ben Affleck, he of the boorish behavior and the wandering eye, was outed by Rose McGowan for having known of Weinstein's misbehavior. Ms. McGowan, who is quickly becoming a favorite of mine for her no-holds-barred style, tweeted of Affleck You Lie after he tweeted a milquetoast denunciation of Weinstein that was probably drafted by one of his handlers. Affleck sheepishly admitted it and hasn't been heard from since. Of course, Ben was beaten to the punch by his younger brother Casey, who'd been accused of sexual harassment before Harvey's indiscretions became public.
His buddy, Matt Damon, who had been reported to have intervened for Weinstein for an Italian victim, came out and invoked the Three Monkeys. So far, he hasn't been pressed about his response to the matter.
Jimmy Kimmel, the darling of the Left and the self-appointed spokesperson for all things Lefty, has been outed for some of his more immature behavior, nothing that approaches Weinstein territory but that is nonetheless unflattering.
George Clooney has now been accused of blackballing an actress of Mexican descent who appeared on the television show ER. I wonder how Amal liked that.
Has Hollywood never heard of the Glass Houses rule? Apparently, going after President Trump was easy for them because they were protected, in part, but the unwritten rules of Hollywood but also by the MSM, with whom they were in league against the President. It's frightening at the same time it's enjoyable to watch all these mega-Leftists who accused the President now fighting accusations of their own. It's a feeding frenzy and for once I don't feel sorry for the targets. They've brought this on themselves not only by their conduct but by their hypocrisy. In fact, this weekend, I learned a new term from a friend online whom I've never met (a friend of a friend...).
The Left should rename itself the Hypocrats.
It's fitting.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings....
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Harvey Weinstein -- The Saga Continues
Another day, more dirty laundry. The allegations -- stories? -- coming out are tawdry at best, disgusting and reprehensible at worst, and I'm not just referring to Weinstein's antics.
The reports coming out suggest that Weinstein had a fetish for massages and having women watch him shower. As someone for whom massages do nothing, I don't understand that, although I will confess that many people, including my dear wife, not only love them but need massages. I'm not sure anyone who doesn't have an unusual fetish, like Rex Ryan, would understand the business about showering with an audience. Unless, of course, audience participation was expected.
For as bad as this is getting, there are some interesting sidebars that are occurring. I touched on a couple of them yesterday, but a few more have arisen today and I think they're worth mentioning.
First and foremost, She Who Would Be President, the defender of all things female, the person who referred in her book to President Trump as a creep took an exceptionally long time to condemn her benefactor's misdeeds:
I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein," Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said in a statement. "The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.
As condemnations go, it's a little weak. But what should we expect from a woman who has stood by her philandering husband, vilifying women who made very similar accusations about him, and whose charity took money from countries where women's rights are still mired in pre-suffrage day? Yet there are those who still feel cheated by the less-than-inevitable outcome of the Inevitability Tour that left Cankles walking around forests trolling for admirers?
At least she's come out publicly...finally. Scores of other recipients of Weinstein's largesse have quietly returned the money to charities as if these returns will cleanse their political souls.
The Obamas, meanwhile, have evoked Nero and remained silent, despite having benefited from Weinstein's celebrity connections over the years. Wasn't Obama the President women loved? Wasn't he just the coolest? And now...? Where's his statement of condemnation? Where is his repugnance? O', wait. His eldest daughter interned for Weinstein. Can't bite the hand that feeds now can they?
Meryl Streep, who was silent only a day or two less than Cankles, broke out the old Yalie textbooks and made the following public statement about Weinstein:
The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported. The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes.
One thing can be clarified. Not everybody knew. Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally. I didn’t know about these other offenses: I did not know about his financial settlements with actresses and colleagues; I did not know about his having meetings in his hotel room, his bathroom, or other inappropriate, coercive acts. And if everybody knew, I don’t believe that all the investigative reporters in the entertainment and the hard news media would
have neglected for decades to write about it.
The behavior is inexcusable, but the abuse of power familiar. Each brave voice that is raised, heard and credited by our watchdog media will ultimately change the game.
Well.
Ostrich, meet Meryl. Meryl, meet Ostrich. It's one thing to play make-believe for a living. It's quite another to try to pass it off when serious, real-life actions with doleful consequences come to light.
How would I know that Meryl is fibbing? Well, I don't. But listen to others in the entertainment industry:
Jessica Chastain, the comely actress from one of my favorite movies, Zero Dark Thirty, and a noted liberal, said this today:
I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an enviornment (sic) for it to happen again.
If Ms. Chastain, a relative ingénue compared to Dame Meryl, heard the stories, how is it Meryl was ignorant of them...unless she was in character as an ostrich for an upcoming nature film? It would be one thing for a conservative such as Dean Cain to assert, when asked whether the news about Weinstin's behavior became public:
Not in the least. You hear rumors about this, this was the worst kept secret in Hollywood, no question about it ... Hollywood loves to wear the self-righteous finger and tell everybody what they should be doing and what is going on but this is not known as the bastion of morality, Harvey Weinstein is an extremely powerful man, an absolute bully and he clearly had an M.O. -- something that he did — you were aware of it, everybody knew. I wasn’t somebody that would be a target for him but it’s something that he had done for a long time
The stories were everywhere...the worst kept secret in Hollywood...yet Dame Meryl heard nothing. Or did she choose to hear nothing? This from the woman who excoriated the President publicly...it only goes to show that what I tell my wife Karen is true: Higher education isn't proof of intelligence, only that someone passed a series of tests. Or it taught Meryl to dissemble really well. Come to think of it...
As if all this weren't bad enough, Weinstein's wife, Georgina Chapman, is concerned about the fallout from the scandal, but not for the reasons one might expect. If she's troubled by how hurt the women harassed by her husband are, there's little in public to support that. There is, however, a report that she's concerned for the effect this scandal will have on her couture line, because Weinstein gave her entrée to the celebrity world which provided her with free advertising. Weinstein would also order actresses and models to wear the Marchesa line to red carpet events to maximize the effect for his wife's business. So her greatest concern, at least insofar as information available publicly is concerned, is for her business. Not their minor children, not their marriage, but for her business.
And these are the people lecturing us about politics.
Yes, I'm enjoying this. This has all the marks of a huge crash and burn in slow motion playing out over a course of days, not minutes. Each day brings more recriminations against Weinstein and the people that enabled him, like Russell Crowe and Matt Damon, the latter of whom was a stalwart defender of Liberalism (until it came to his life, when he was free to choose for his family the way they want to live). More than anything, though, is the display of hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance that is on display from people who hold themselves out as smarter and better than the rest of us.
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
The reports coming out suggest that Weinstein had a fetish for massages and having women watch him shower. As someone for whom massages do nothing, I don't understand that, although I will confess that many people, including my dear wife, not only love them but need massages. I'm not sure anyone who doesn't have an unusual fetish, like Rex Ryan, would understand the business about showering with an audience. Unless, of course, audience participation was expected.
For as bad as this is getting, there are some interesting sidebars that are occurring. I touched on a couple of them yesterday, but a few more have arisen today and I think they're worth mentioning.
First and foremost, She Who Would Be President, the defender of all things female, the person who referred in her book to President Trump as a creep took an exceptionally long time to condemn her benefactor's misdeeds:
I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein," Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said in a statement. "The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.
As condemnations go, it's a little weak. But what should we expect from a woman who has stood by her philandering husband, vilifying women who made very similar accusations about him, and whose charity took money from countries where women's rights are still mired in pre-suffrage day? Yet there are those who still feel cheated by the less-than-inevitable outcome of the Inevitability Tour that left Cankles walking around forests trolling for admirers?
At least she's come out publicly...finally. Scores of other recipients of Weinstein's largesse have quietly returned the money to charities as if these returns will cleanse their political souls.
The Obamas, meanwhile, have evoked Nero and remained silent, despite having benefited from Weinstein's celebrity connections over the years. Wasn't Obama the President women loved? Wasn't he just the coolest? And now...? Where's his statement of condemnation? Where is his repugnance? O', wait. His eldest daughter interned for Weinstein. Can't bite the hand that feeds now can they?
Meryl Streep, who was silent only a day or two less than Cankles, broke out the old Yalie textbooks and made the following public statement about Weinstein:
The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported. The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes.
One thing can be clarified. Not everybody knew. Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally. I didn’t know about these other offenses: I did not know about his financial settlements with actresses and colleagues; I did not know about his having meetings in his hotel room, his bathroom, or other inappropriate, coercive acts. And if everybody knew, I don’t believe that all the investigative reporters in the entertainment and the hard news media would
have neglected for decades to write about it.
The behavior is inexcusable, but the abuse of power familiar. Each brave voice that is raised, heard and credited by our watchdog media will ultimately change the game.
Well.
Ostrich, meet Meryl. Meryl, meet Ostrich. It's one thing to play make-believe for a living. It's quite another to try to pass it off when serious, real-life actions with doleful consequences come to light.
How would I know that Meryl is fibbing? Well, I don't. But listen to others in the entertainment industry:
Jessica Chastain, the comely actress from one of my favorite movies, Zero Dark Thirty, and a noted liberal, said this today:
I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an enviornment (sic) for it to happen again.
If Ms. Chastain, a relative ingénue compared to Dame Meryl, heard the stories, how is it Meryl was ignorant of them...unless she was in character as an ostrich for an upcoming nature film? It would be one thing for a conservative such as Dean Cain to assert, when asked whether the news about Weinstin's behavior became public:
Not in the least. You hear rumors about this, this was the worst kept secret in Hollywood, no question about it ... Hollywood loves to wear the self-righteous finger and tell everybody what they should be doing and what is going on but this is not known as the bastion of morality, Harvey Weinstein is an extremely powerful man, an absolute bully and he clearly had an M.O. -- something that he did — you were aware of it, everybody knew. I wasn’t somebody that would be a target for him but it’s something that he had done for a long time
The stories were everywhere...the worst kept secret in Hollywood...yet Dame Meryl heard nothing. Or did she choose to hear nothing? This from the woman who excoriated the President publicly...it only goes to show that what I tell my wife Karen is true: Higher education isn't proof of intelligence, only that someone passed a series of tests. Or it taught Meryl to dissemble really well. Come to think of it...
As if all this weren't bad enough, Weinstein's wife, Georgina Chapman, is concerned about the fallout from the scandal, but not for the reasons one might expect. If she's troubled by how hurt the women harassed by her husband are, there's little in public to support that. There is, however, a report that she's concerned for the effect this scandal will have on her couture line, because Weinstein gave her entrée to the celebrity world which provided her with free advertising. Weinstein would also order actresses and models to wear the Marchesa line to red carpet events to maximize the effect for his wife's business. So her greatest concern, at least insofar as information available publicly is concerned, is for her business. Not their minor children, not their marriage, but for her business.
And these are the people lecturing us about politics.
Yes, I'm enjoying this. This has all the marks of a huge crash and burn in slow motion playing out over a course of days, not minutes. Each day brings more recriminations against Weinstein and the people that enabled him, like Russell Crowe and Matt Damon, the latter of whom was a stalwart defender of Liberalism (until it came to his life, when he was free to choose for his family the way they want to live). More than anything, though, is the display of hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance that is on display from people who hold themselves out as smarter and better than the rest of us.
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Monday, October 9, 2017
Harvey Weinstein and Liberal Hypocrisy
Well, another week, another example of liberal hypocrisy.
Reports surfaced last week that Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood heavyweight mega-producer, had been sexually harassing Hollywood starlets and others for years, some of the allegations going back over twenty years. Nasty woman Ashley Judd, a beauty of the first order and equally annoying and unhinged, brought the allegations to light last week, telling people that Weinstein made inappropriate suggestions involving massages and stages of undress. Then the payoff to Rose McGowan came out. After that, the stories came out faster than the rain came down in the Houston floods.
Weinstein, the brash, piggish power-broker who could make or break careers, has lawyered up and started pointing fingers. He even went so far as to say that he would now be tutored how to act more appropriately and would channel his energies into forcing President Trump to resign. This, apparently, was a sop to Leftist Hollywood to garner sympathy. If it's worked, it isn't showing.
Some women, like Judd and Ms. McGowan and, oddly, Lena Dunham, have bravely stepped forward. Others, like Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench and Catherine Zeta-Jones, have so far remained silent. Weinstein's reign of terror still casts its dark shadow over the industry, causing even these highly visible and powerful women to stay out of the limelight.
Weinstein has been forced out of his own company by its board of directors. He's been subjected to some ridicule, a few stories in newspapers, but nowhere near the universal condemnation that President Trump made for his reckless and sexist comments years ago. Apparently, in Hollywood, Weinstein's behavior was such an open secret that it was tolerated and overlooked. But it went farther than even Hollywood. Several Democratic politicians, whom Weinstein favored, received campaign contributions, including Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker and the Clintons. Now, the politicians are scrambling to divest themselves of this dirty money, money they had to know came from a sexist pig.
But the difference with which it's being treated by the same industry that pilloried Donald Trump and Fox News for their similar indiscretions is telling. The late night talk shows mention it but don't beat it to death like they did with Mr. Trump. Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live, which has feasted on Donald Trump, had nary a sketch about Weinstein. When asked about it, Lorne Michaels said that during dress rehearsal, the jokes fell flat so the sketches were pulled from the live telecast. Later, he said it was a New York thing...which, given Donald Trump's New York bona fides, begs a very obvious question.
These are the same people -- celebrities in the entertainment industry -- who lecture us in the heartland about how we should vote, how we should view things, what should be important to us and, above all, how horrible Donald Trump is. Yet, when their own industry's president does things that are in the same vein yet more reprehensible, they clam up and refuse to condemn a man who has wrought havoc on women for decades. Moreover, two of the women who came to defend him were late of the Obama administration. Progressive indeed.
And that woman who championed women in her bid to be the first female president? Cankles is even more quiet. She's not been heard from since the story broke. She can attack Donald Trump, but when an abusive man who can help further her career does something similar, she's silent on the matter. This, Cankles supporters, is the disingenuous, two-faced candidate who lost the election through her own fecklessness, not Russian meddling. Then again, Cankles is used to using men who sexually harass women to get ahead. Frankly, Weinstein is getting off lightly.
At least he's not married to her.
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Reports surfaced last week that Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood heavyweight mega-producer, had been sexually harassing Hollywood starlets and others for years, some of the allegations going back over twenty years. Nasty woman Ashley Judd, a beauty of the first order and equally annoying and unhinged, brought the allegations to light last week, telling people that Weinstein made inappropriate suggestions involving massages and stages of undress. Then the payoff to Rose McGowan came out. After that, the stories came out faster than the rain came down in the Houston floods.
Weinstein, the brash, piggish power-broker who could make or break careers, has lawyered up and started pointing fingers. He even went so far as to say that he would now be tutored how to act more appropriately and would channel his energies into forcing President Trump to resign. This, apparently, was a sop to Leftist Hollywood to garner sympathy. If it's worked, it isn't showing.
Some women, like Judd and Ms. McGowan and, oddly, Lena Dunham, have bravely stepped forward. Others, like Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench and Catherine Zeta-Jones, have so far remained silent. Weinstein's reign of terror still casts its dark shadow over the industry, causing even these highly visible and powerful women to stay out of the limelight.
Weinstein has been forced out of his own company by its board of directors. He's been subjected to some ridicule, a few stories in newspapers, but nowhere near the universal condemnation that President Trump made for his reckless and sexist comments years ago. Apparently, in Hollywood, Weinstein's behavior was such an open secret that it was tolerated and overlooked. But it went farther than even Hollywood. Several Democratic politicians, whom Weinstein favored, received campaign contributions, including Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker and the Clintons. Now, the politicians are scrambling to divest themselves of this dirty money, money they had to know came from a sexist pig.
But the difference with which it's being treated by the same industry that pilloried Donald Trump and Fox News for their similar indiscretions is telling. The late night talk shows mention it but don't beat it to death like they did with Mr. Trump. Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live, which has feasted on Donald Trump, had nary a sketch about Weinstein. When asked about it, Lorne Michaels said that during dress rehearsal, the jokes fell flat so the sketches were pulled from the live telecast. Later, he said it was a New York thing...which, given Donald Trump's New York bona fides, begs a very obvious question.
These are the same people -- celebrities in the entertainment industry -- who lecture us in the heartland about how we should vote, how we should view things, what should be important to us and, above all, how horrible Donald Trump is. Yet, when their own industry's president does things that are in the same vein yet more reprehensible, they clam up and refuse to condemn a man who has wrought havoc on women for decades. Moreover, two of the women who came to defend him were late of the Obama administration. Progressive indeed.
And that woman who championed women in her bid to be the first female president? Cankles is even more quiet. She's not been heard from since the story broke. She can attack Donald Trump, but when an abusive man who can help further her career does something similar, she's silent on the matter. This, Cankles supporters, is the disingenuous, two-faced candidate who lost the election through her own fecklessness, not Russian meddling. Then again, Cankles is used to using men who sexually harass women to get ahead. Frankly, Weinstein is getting off lightly.
At least he's not married to her.
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Las Vegas and Liberals
Another day, another shooting, only this time it's the worst in our country's history. Some deranged nutjob in a room on the thirty-second floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel overlooking the Strip in Las Vegas opened fire on a crowd below enjoying (if that word can be used in connection with) a Jason Aldean concert. So far, fifty-eight innocent lives were taken and over one hundred people are still in the hospital or have been released after being wounded. The shooter is dead.
Americans were horrified when they heard the news Monday morning as they woke up. For no reason other than the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, people had their lives snuffed out by a man whom many if not all had never met. Stories of selfless heroism abounded. Across the country, blood drives and fundraisers sprang up immediately. Americans are nothing if not charitable in times of crisis.
There are some Americans, however, who have a completely different reaction.
A now-former executive with CBS said, I’m actually not even sympathetic [because] country music fans often are Republican gun toters. Unsurprisingly, Hayley Geftman-Gold, a 2000 Columbia law school grad was fired after making these reprehensible comments.
Two Democratic congressmen from Massachusetts refused to take part in a moment of silence on the House floor claiming that it was nothing more than an excuse for inaction. As in the aftermath of any shooting, Leftists are calling for gun control and the abolition of the NRA. Even Cankles herself has used the platform to advocate for gun control and the dismantling of the NRA.
Jimmy Kimmel gave an impassioned monologue and Steven Colbert used the shootings to pillory his favorite punching bag, Mr. Trump. Many Leftists are blaming the shooting on Trumpism.
At this point, no one knows for certain what prompted the shooter to commit this heinous deed. No one knows exactly whether the firearms he used were legal or illegally bought. No one knows whether he was mentally imbalanced or had a political agenda. But that it happened suffices for the Left to follow the Rahm Emanuel dictum of never letting a tragedy go to waste to make political hay out of it no matter the truth of the assertion.
The only facts of which we are certain is the number of dead and the shooter's identity. We know nothing more at this point; the rest is conjecture.
Check that: We know that the Left has but one agenda, and that's its own. What's good for America takes second place after whatever promotes the Left's agenda.
The American people need to wake up and take stock not only of what antifa is doing but what the stalwart protector of the American people, the Democratic party, is doing and saying in the aftermath of this tragedy. For people to cackle about the deaths of innocent people because of the perception of who it forwards a political ideology is disgusting.
I hope the American people are paying attention.
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Americans were horrified when they heard the news Monday morning as they woke up. For no reason other than the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, people had their lives snuffed out by a man whom many if not all had never met. Stories of selfless heroism abounded. Across the country, blood drives and fundraisers sprang up immediately. Americans are nothing if not charitable in times of crisis.
There are some Americans, however, who have a completely different reaction.
A now-former executive with CBS said, I’m actually not even sympathetic [because] country music fans often are Republican gun toters. Unsurprisingly, Hayley Geftman-Gold, a 2000 Columbia law school grad was fired after making these reprehensible comments.
Two Democratic congressmen from Massachusetts refused to take part in a moment of silence on the House floor claiming that it was nothing more than an excuse for inaction. As in the aftermath of any shooting, Leftists are calling for gun control and the abolition of the NRA. Even Cankles herself has used the platform to advocate for gun control and the dismantling of the NRA.
Jimmy Kimmel gave an impassioned monologue and Steven Colbert used the shootings to pillory his favorite punching bag, Mr. Trump. Many Leftists are blaming the shooting on Trumpism.
At this point, no one knows for certain what prompted the shooter to commit this heinous deed. No one knows exactly whether the firearms he used were legal or illegally bought. No one knows whether he was mentally imbalanced or had a political agenda. But that it happened suffices for the Left to follow the Rahm Emanuel dictum of never letting a tragedy go to waste to make political hay out of it no matter the truth of the assertion.
The only facts of which we are certain is the number of dead and the shooter's identity. We know nothing more at this point; the rest is conjecture.
Check that: We know that the Left has but one agenda, and that's its own. What's good for America takes second place after whatever promotes the Left's agenda.
The American people need to wake up and take stock not only of what antifa is doing but what the stalwart protector of the American people, the Democratic party, is doing and saying in the aftermath of this tragedy. For people to cackle about the deaths of innocent people because of the perception of who it forwards a political ideology is disgusting.
I hope the American people are paying attention.
(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
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