America Is a Nation of Immigrants That Has Not Lived Up to Its Promise
The huddled masses yearning to breathe free have not always been received with open arms.
How Tyranny Begins
Tyranny doesn’t happen overnight. Take it from the people who missed the first signs.
Trump’s Hollywood advisors signal ‘political shift’ in Tinseltown: experts
President Donald Trump ’s announcement last week that Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone would serve as “special envoys” to Hollywood has raised questions about their role as the industry reckons with a rocky state of affairs.
On Thursday, via his Truth Social platform, President Trump wrote, “It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.”
“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”
TRUMP’S INAUGURATION CELEBRATED BY CANDACE CAMERON BURE, MORE HOLLYWOOD STARS: ‘GOD BLESS AMERICA
He added, “These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!”
What Stallone, Gibson, and Voight will specifically do remains to be seen, but there is some speculation.
Travis Knox, associate professor at Chapman University, explained to Fox News Digital, “As of right now, the special ambassadors’ specific duties are ambiguous. Either curbing runaway production or convincing China, the 2nd largest film market in the world, to expand its quota of imported Hollywood films would be a win for the American film industry. However, without clear directives, we’ll have to see how Voight, Gibson, and Stallone approach their roles as Trump’s ‘eyes and ears’ in Hollywood.”
“It’s not so much that they’re official government employees or they have specific powers. I think it’s a lot more symbolic in the idea of trying to bring back or bring in a cooperation between Hollywood and the more conservative or right side of the current administration,” said Jason Cherubini, executive in residence at Loyola University, Maryland and co-founder of Dawn’s Light Media.
He continued, “Because you’ve seen so much of the entertainment industry on the left, the support of the Democratic Party, of [former Vice President Kamala] Harris. And in this last election, seeing a little bit more of a shift that it was OK to announce or talk about being on the right or center right. I think this is, if anything, Trump trying to push a little bit of support and continue that growth of the media industry and establishment not being solely to the left, but at least if not for further right, at least center right.”
At last November’s America First Policy Institute Gala, Stallone called Trump the “second George Washington” while introducing him to the crowd.
“When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world because, without him, you could imagine what the world would look like? Guess what? We’ve got the second George Washington. Congratulations!”
Doug Eldridge of Achilles PR agreed that there will likely be changes in how politics are handled in Hollywood.
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“This marks a continued (albeit gradual) political shift across Hollywood, in terms of ideology and alignment. The last two prominent, conservatives to come out of the industry: Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the decades since, Hollywood has leaned decided liberal; this arguably peaked during the Obama years, when actors, athletes, and musicians lined up to endorse and support the 44th President of the United States. I wouldn’t say this realignment is akin to a light switch (meaning immediate in its pace and effect) but it certainly seems like the early stages of a dimmer switch.”
And while those shifts are certainly likely, film expert and producer-actor Scott Hamm Duenas sees a potential for differing political stances clashing.
WATCH: TRUMP’S HOLLYWOOD ADVISORS SIGNAL POLITICAL SHIFT, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS
“Having leaders in Hollywood who are huge stars but also happen to be conservatives could potentially cause a lot of friction. Since becoming president in 2016, Hollywood, Trump, and Trump supporters are like oil and water; they do not mix. I think you would have to influence many very important people to open their minds to the thought of taking these people and their ambassadorship seriously,” he said.
Cherubini predicts that Stallone, Gibson, and Voight’s roles will also lead to a shift in the kinds of stories being produced.
MARIO LOPEZ ‘NOT ASHAMED’ OF HIS FAITH AS HE BUILDS MORE ‘SPIRITUAL MUSCLE’ IN HOLLYWOOD
“I think the impact is going to be more support for different types of productions with maybe different content or areas that I think especially outside of your major studio system,” he said. “It’s not studio executives, it’s household name actors.”
He noted that some of the biggest studio leaders in Hollywood, like Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Disney’s Bob Iger , weren’t the ones selected for the position, meaning it’s not so much “a switch in the studio system in those productions, but bringing more of an awareness to those other filmmakers or those filmmakers who may be making outside [films] of the mainstream,” specifically faith-based productions.
“It’s an area that is not always been fully embraced by Hollywood in the media industry. And I think this is a little bit of extra support and push for potentially those types of projects and those filmmakers,” the “Money Plane” producer said.
While Hamm Duenas does see a potential for friction, it will all come down to how any changes or suggestions are presented, as well as where money from audiences leads.
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“If they don’t come in overly aggressive, trying to force their views on people and instead come up with a plan to push for a return to more traditional forms of storytelling, emphasizing themes like patriotism and resilience, which are often associated with their work, I think that could possibly work, especially if that type of programming is a hit with audiences,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the industry is all about making a profit,” Duenas added. “If that type of contest equates to clicks, streams, and butts in seats, Hollywood will shift its content without hesitation. That being said, it wouldn’t alter Hollywood’s core values or diminish its commitment to telling progressive stories and giving a platform to issues they deeply believe in and feel deserve to be heard.”
WATCH: Expert weighs in on whether Trump’s Hollywood envoys could bring production back to California
For example, “Sound of Freedom,” produced by Angel Studios, known for its Christian-themed content, was a box office hit in 2023, earning around $250 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo , and becoming a blockbuster hit alongside “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” It also happened to star Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” star Jim Caviezel as real-life anti-child-trafficking activist Tim Ballard.
For his part, Gibson admitted he was a bit surprised by his role as an envoy but was ready to fulfill his yet-to-be determined duties.
HUMAN-TRAFFICKING FILM ‘SOUND OF FREEDOM’ TRASHED BY LIBERAL OUTLETS AS ‘QANON-ADJACENT’
“I got the tweet at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised,” Gibson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Nevertheless, I heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give any help and insight I can. Any chance the position comes with an Ambassador’s residence?”
Duenas added, “Realistically, the ambassadors’ involvement could really rub a lot of heavy hitters, including studios, producers, actors, directors, and writers, the wrong way. This could even deepen existing divides within the industry, as Hollywood is very proud of its liberal stance, and the last thing they want is lectures about how to do business from conservatives.”
Voight was vocal in his support of his new role, declaring he’s seen a “slow deterioration” of Hollywood over his nearly seven-decade career.
“I’m old enough to have touched some years of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and I’ve seen its slow deterioration since,” he said. “Today, we are in pretty bad shape. Very few films are made here now, but we are fortunate to have an incoming President who wants to restore Hollywood to its former glory, and with his help, I feel we can get done.”
ADAM CAROLLA CALLS LA FIRES ‘BOTTOMING OUT’ MOMENT THAT WILL FLIP HOLLYWOOD POLITICALLY
“Now we have been through these horrible fires and our spirits are down, but we are resilient. We will help each other and we will rebuild. Love to everyone across the nation who has come to our aid.”
The “Midnight Cowboy” star’s mention of “very few films” being made in Los Angeles has been an ongoing issue following the triple hit of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dual writers and actors strikes in 2023, and now the fires that ravaged large portions of the city.
“Will we see a shift in production location?” Eldridge said. “In the immediate sense, yes, but that will be due in large part to the utter devastation caused by the Los Angeles fires. If the Writers Guild strike delayed production by an entire year, there’s no telling when Hollywood will get back to ‘business as usual’ based on the images we’ve seen on TV over the last week.”
He continued, “But the inevitable outsourcing of production won’t be caused by the fires themselves; several years ago, states like Georgia and Texas began giving significant tax incentives to filmmakers in order to move production to their states. California might be home to Hollywood, but it’s also home to one of the most prohibitive (and arguably, punitive) tax structures in the entire country. We had already seen the beginning of a slow migration of production out of California; I think these fires will only serve to fast-track that creative exodus.”
‘YELLOWSTONE,’ ‘TWISTERS’ SHOW FILMMAKERS WITH NO ‘HIDDEN AGENDA’ CHOOSING HEARTLAND OVER HOLLYWOOD
Cherubini said that the envoys won’t necessarily focus on keeping production in California but that the state will have to focus on itself.
“If there is a switch at the state level government, there may be something that happens there. But even at the state level, I think that’s a decision on working with major studios versus your mini studios or even your independent films on what can be done within California versus what is easier to do or cheaper to do or more efficient to do in these other locations.”
Duenas said, “While they could advocate for bringing production back to California, I don’t know how much credit they would get, as things are already moving in that direction for 2025. Plans for tax incentives are already in the works to bring more production back from other states and countries, which would be huge for California and the enormous number of people this industry provides income for in the Golden State.”
As Stallone, Gibson, and Voight, along with the rest of Hollywood, await the answers as to what their positions will entail, experts remain mixed on how they will be received.
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Hamm Duenas said, “No matter how their ideas are presented, they will definitely conjure up mixed reactions. Some stars may support their initiatives, some will stay neutral, and others—I think the majority—will oppose them.”
“I think there’s always going to be the[se] polarized extremes,” Cherubini said. “There’s going to be people who are adamantly against anything this administration does in the same way proponents of this administration are going to be adamantly against everything from the other side.”
But even with the potential for disagreements, Cherubini thinks any push for more production of any kind, especially ones that stay not just in California, but the United States entirely, would be welcome.
“I think a lot of people, again, outside of your polarized extremes, will be very happy for anything that starts putting more productions back on its feet and getting us into a situation where more productions are being made and being made stateside. Because outside of just projects going from California to other states, we’ve seen a drastic increase in productions moving abroad that have no necessity to move abroad.
“It’s all financial and legal implications on what you’re able to do in other places at different price points. So, if more of that can be brought stateside or brought back California, I think a lot of people will be not just OK with it, I think they’ll be in favor of it.”
Need a Break From Doomscrolling? I Recommend This Addison Rae Profile
On Tuesday, Rolling Stone unveiled its latest cover star, none other than the former TikTok darling and forthcoming pop sensation (?!), Addison Rae. In a
Musk’s Nazi Salute
So, a friend texts me that Elon Musk gave a Nazi salute, so I checked out X.
And, indeed,
This is just one of those things that a person has to know what they are doing. And for anyone who wants to play, “it’s just a joke card,” I would point them to my post, “Just Joking .”
One can say that this is just Musk “owning the libs” but it is no different than him walking out with a KKK hood on and then saying it was for the lulz. It should be unacceptable behavior.
Here’s broader context, which is weird enough insofar as he almost sounds like he won the election (which I guess he kind of did). The rhetoric is also waaaay over the top.
Today’s Front Pages
Here are the front pages of the three major national papers:
And one of the more prominent conservative-leaning papers:
The New York Post is not archived.
The Los Angeles Times, perhaps surprisingly, is focused entirely on the fires engulfing their community.
The degree to which both NYT and WaPo are underplaying what’s already happened, after years of warning about the threat to democracy a second Trump term posed, is . . . interesting.
The Day After Forum
Trump Pardons Capitol Rioters, Even Most Violent
NYT (“Trump Grants Sweeping Clemency to All Jan. 6 Rioters“):
President Donald J. Trump, in one of his first official acts, issued a sweeping grant of clemency on Monday to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, issuing pardons to most of the defendants and commuting the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, most of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Mr. Trump’s moves amounted to an extraordinary reversal for rioters accused of both low-level, nonviolent offenses and for those who had assaulted police officers.
And they effectively erased years of efforts by federal investigators to seek accountability for the mob assault on the peaceful transfer of presidential power after Mr. Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. As part of his pardon order, Mr. Trump also directed the Justice Department to dismiss “all pending indictments” that remained against people facing charges for Jan. 6.
Sitting in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said he hoped that many of the defendants could be released from prison as early as tonight.
“They’ve already been in jail for a long time,” he said. “These people have been destroyed.”
The pardons Mr. Trump issued — “full, complete and unconditional,” he wrote — will touch the lives of about 1,000 defendants accused of misdemeanors like disorderly conduct, breaching the Capitol’s restricted grounds and trespassing at the building. Many of these rioters have served only days, weeks or months in prison — if any time at all.
The pardons will also wipe the slate clean for violent offenders who went after the police on Jan. 6 with baseball bats, two-by-fours and bear spray and are serving prison terms, in some cases of more than a decade.
Moreover, Mr. Trump pardoned Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, who was serving a 22-year prison term after being convicted at trial of seditious conspiracy — a crime that requires prosecutors to prove that a defendant used violent force against the government.
A representative for Mr. Tarrio said he had been released from a federal prison in Louisiana and was expected to return to Miami, his hometown, by Tuesday afternoon.
CNN (“Trump commutes sentences of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders as he pardons over 1,000 January 6 US Capitol rioters“) adds:
The “full, complete and unconditional” pardons extend to people who were convicted of some of the worst crimes committed the day of the Capitol attack.
That group includes individuals like Julian Khater, who assaulted US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and later pled guilty to assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon; Devlyn Thompson, who hit a police officer with a metal baton; and Robert Palmer, a Florida man who attacked police with a fire extinguisher, a wooden plank and a pole.
More than 140 police officers were injured during the seven-hour siege, which also led directly and indirectly to the deaths of four Trump supporters in the mob and five police officers.
Late Monday night, two brothers convicted for their roles in the attack on the US Capitol were released from a DC jail, hours after Trump issued the sweeping set of pardons.
Andrew Valentin and Matthew Valentin, who both pleaded guilty in September to assaulting police and were each sentenced last week to two-and-a-half years in prison, walked out of the DC Central Detention Facility Monday night, according to Paul Ingrassia, who identified himself to reporters as the Trump White House’s liaison to the Justice Department.
“The first two January 6 defendants have been released,” Ingrassia told reporters gathered outside the jail. CNN previously reported that Matthew Valentin had tried to tear a baton from a police officer on January 6, and Andrew Valentin threw a chair at a police line.
[…]About 55% of January 6 prosecutions are misdemeanor cases, with charges like disorderly conduct or trespassing, according to Justice Department data. For those convicted, the vast majority were sentenced to probation or a few months in prison and were already released.
Some defendants are elderly people who got caught up in the frenzy. Others went inside the Capitol for a handful of minutes but never attacked anyone or vandalized anything. Most have no criminal record. A large chunk of the people in the mob said they never intended to infiltrate the Capitol, let alone disrupt Congress’ certification of the 2020 election results. Some believe they were waved into the building by police.
This is shameful.
Once the dust settled on January 6, I began arguing that, rather than a simple insurrection—my initial instinct after watching the horror unfold on television and, indeed, that of Mitch McConnell and other prominent Republicans—it was a series of overlapping events. There was indeed a violent attempt to overturn a free and fair election, organized and instigated by white nationalist groups, with the groundwork laid by Trump and others on his team. But there were people who simply got caught up in a mob and others still, who were essentially tourists.
I’ve argued for treating these groups differently in terms of how they were prosecuted and punished. As best I can tell, that mostly happened. As is inevitable in a justice system run by humans, some judges and prosecutors treated like offenses more harshly than others.
To the extent Trump sees those who arrived in DC to attend his rally and then got caught up in the adrenaline as allies who have been prosecuted in a politically-motivated manner, I can at least see an argument for pardoning them so that they can resume productive lives without the stain of a felony conviction.
But it is beyond outrageous for the nation’s chief law enforcement officer to pardon men who planned a violent insurrection. It is an insult to the Capitol Police officers who were killed and injured as a direct result of their plot. To say nothing of the Members of Congress who feared for their lives as an angry mob came in to stop them from executing their sworn duty.
Alas, Trump gave every indication that he would do this On Day One. And so here we are.
Tarnishing the Presidency and the Nation
So we have a felon as president. In addition to the New York charges, part of the special counsel Jack Smith’s report was just released, showing that Trump was definitely responsible for the riots and attacks on the capitol on January 6. Trump did everything he could to overturn the valid results of the 2020 election and remain in the White House. He did not want to be labeled as a loser even if it required criminal actions. Now, because he was re-elected president by an uninformed electorate, he will not be punished for his crime of insurrection in 2020. A sitting president can escape prosecution for virtually anything he does.
One cannot really blame Trump for his actions. He is driven by his emotions and his gut, instead of his brain. He does not carefully think things out before making statements and announcing policy. Though Biden’s age and mental capacity have been questioned, Trump has also shown signs of cognitive impairment, mixing up names of people and nations. He was not terribly smart to begin with, and the ravages of time, his diet and lack of exercise have probably caught up to him.
Trump’s immediate goal is to enact revenge on those people who opposed him in the past and currently, in and outside of government. That will happen after he is inaugurated. These so-called adversaries acted in good faith to do what they considered as benefiting the nation. But Trump doesn’t see it that way. He believes that loyalty to him is more important than allegiance to the Constitution. And who knows now what crazy schemes he will pursue once he’s in office. Will the military be used to occupy Greenland and invade Panama? Perhaps also Canada. Will Bitcoin replace the dollar to increase Trump’s wealth? Will vaccines be prohibited?
The travesty of Trump’s election does not rest on Trump’s shoulders but on those of the American people. Instead of investigating all of Trump’s purported crimes and odd behavior, they took Trump’s words as gospel and believed what he said while campaigning, as well as before and afterward. Billionaires will certainly benefit from Trump’s tax cuts as will corporate entities. The middle class not so much. And the poor will suffer even more. Trump has no feelings of compassion and may cut programs that helped the poor and middle classes, like Medicaid, Obamacare, SNAP and so forth. Our national debt will also balloon because of the tax cuts. Trump talks about tariffs replacing taxes, but really has no idea how effective they will be and how much suffering they will cause the American people.
America’s standing in the world will plummet with Trump as president as people globally will wonder how Americans could have elected Trump as president. Our alliances will be destroyed with NATO probably the first to be dissolved. Uninformed about the repercussions of another Trump presidency, the people have spoken. Now we will have to await the consequences.
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and at your local bookstore
Posted at 10:05 AM in 2024 presidential election, Authoritarianism, billionaires, Constitution, Donald Trump, election denial, imperialist, Insurrection, NATO, political lies, Republican Party, Vaccines | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: 2024 presidential election, incompetent appointees, Jan 6 Capitol invasion, loyalty, revenge, Trump
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Canada’s ‘red state tariff plan’ should be the model for the rest of the world
What do orange juice from Florida; bourbon from Kentucky; potatoes from Idaho; Coca-Cola from Georgia; and automobiles from Alabama and South Carolina have in common? These red state goods may be on a potential list of imports slated for tariffs in Canada.
Incoming President Donald Trump has threatened Canada with a 25% tariff on items it exports to the United States.
“The Americans would be starting a trade war against us ,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said on Friday.
Approximately 3-in-4 Canadian exports land in the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canadian officials have developed a three-phase response to the threat.
First, Canadian leaders will continue to work with U.S. officials to attempt to prevent tariffs. Canada has already pledged a “$1.3-billion border security plan ,” for example.
Second, Canadian leaders are preparing a tariff response should Trump go through with his threat. For example, Canada might establish tariffs on consumer goods “made in Republican or swing states, where the pain of tariffs, like pressure on jobs and the bottom lines of local businesses, would affect Trump allies.”
Canada imports U.S. goods valued at $150,000,000,000 Canadian.
The detailed list of goods is closely held, but it includes dozens of consumer goods from various categories, such as food and beverages, as well as other types of daily products, including dishwashers and porcelain goods like bathtubs and toilets.
Other nations threatened with U.S. tariffs should take the same targeted approach in response. You cannot expect those countries to sit quietly while the U.S. imposes tariffs. That’s not how trade agreements work.
The third is a long-term effort: “diversify Canada’s export market and [ensure] there are no trade barriers across the country.”
Should Trump proceed, the results will be disastrous.
According to Sunday’s WSJ , for at least the next two years both inflation and interest rates are likely to be worse than forecasters anticipated before the election. Does that mean forecasters didn’t take Trump’s rhetoric seriously? Because he’s been planning this for months.
The post Canada’s ‘red state tariff plan’ should be the model for the rest of the world appeared first on The Moderate Voice .