Tag Archives: Progressive

Ben Shapiro interviews Hollywood producers about their liberal bias

Ben Shapiro
Ben Shapiro

I spotted this book review of the new book “Primetime Propaganda, The True Hollywood Story Of How The Left Took Over Your  TV” by Ben Shapiro, posted on Newsbusters.

Excerpt:

[The book’s title] may sound like an overblown title, but if you read Ben Shapiro’s new book, “Primetime Propaganda, The True Hollywood Story Of How The Left Took Over Your  TV,” you will see it isn’t overblown in the least. Ben doesn’t just speculate here. He goes to the source.

He interviews the movers and the shakers of Hollywood who admit their own bias and their own agenda… this fascinating book takes us into the minds of the people who bring television into our home. They clearly state how they want to influence our kids with their political views.

I sat down to read Ben’s book thinking it wouldn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know, but I was wrong. This book isn’t just about looking at the actual shows that are influencing our kids, it takes us backstage in the industry and gives us a glimpse of the people who create these shows and why. First and foremost, there is a blacklisting in Hollywood regarding conservatives. They as much as admit it in Ben’s interviews.

[…]Ben gives us all the details of the presidents of the networks, the producers, and  the writers, and how they were determined to systematically bring liberal views to television family shows. But most disturbing to me is Ben’s account of how they infused liberal messages into children’s television. Ben met with the producer of Captain Planet and The Planeteers, a cartoon with a far left environmental message. He asked the producer whether he thought Captain Planet promoted a politicized point of view. The producer responded by asking what other point of view would their be?

And I noticed that Ari has been posting some of the interviews on RuthBlog.

Here’s is the most popular one:

And another:

And this one has really bad language, so watch out for the F-word if you click the link.

Personal application

This book and these interviews confirm to me why I shouldn’t have a television in my apartment. I only watch Special Report with Bret Baier if I am in the gym, or Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace if I am at my parents’ house visiting. I would watch the Canadian Sun News Network if I were in Canada, because I hear that Theo Caldwell says very frank things like this and this. I am shocked that Canadians talk like that about moral issues.

I rarely watch movies at all, except maybe one a year.

Here’s my list of movies that I do find useful:

  • Rules of Engagement (Samuel L. Jackson)
  • Bella
  • Henry V (Kenneth Brannagh)
  • The Lives of Others
  • United 93
  • Taken (Liam Neeson)
  • Cinderella Man
  • The Blind Side
  • Cyrano de Bergerac (Gerard Depardieu)
  • Amazing Grace (Ioan Gruffudd)
  • Gettysburg
  • We Were Soldiers
  • Stand and Deliver
  • Blackhawk Down
  • The Pursuit of Happyness
  • High Noon (Gary Cooper)
  • The Long Walk

I also like older TV shows like Danger Man. Here is an episode on Youtube: clip1, clip2, clip3. And even some newer stuff like Band of Brothers is worth watching. (Check this out this well-known battle: clip1 and clip2 and you can read the history here. I would love it if there were more good television shows and movies, but there aren’t, and I’m not going to let my need to be entertained cause me to watch things that are designed to manipulate me.

NY state public schools spend the most money but get lousy results

Eastern United States Map
Eastern United States Map

From the New York Post. (H/T Jammie Wearing Fool)

Excerpt:

New York state’s school systems deserve an F — in financial accountability.

State taxpayers spend substantially more money on education than any other state in the nation but get far less in return on their investment, according to a shocking new federal study released yesterday.

New York schools on average spent $18,126 per student in the 2008-2009 school year — tops in the nation, the Census Bureau reports.

That’s nearly $2,000 more than the $16,271 spent in neighboring New Jersey and 80 percent higher than the national average of $10,499.

But the Empire State’s four-year high-school graduation rate of 73.5 percent ranked a lowly 39th in the nation, two points below the national average, according to a separate analysis by the National Center for Education Statistics.

By comparison, Massachusetts — which spends $4,000 less per student — has an 83 percent graduation rate.

New York has doubled its per-student spending over 10 years. For five consecutive years the state has spent the most per student in the nation.

[…]One main reason for New York’s sky-high spending is it pays its teachers significantly more in salaries and benefits than any other state.

New York spent $12,524 per student to cover instructional salaries and benefits, nearly double the national average of $6,369. Even New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts spent $3,000 less per student than New York did on teacher pay and benefits.

Teacher unions are one of the main Democrat special interest groups. Teacher unions oppose being held accountable by parents. They don’t want to have their pay and benefits be conditional on producing quality educations for children. They just want to be able to collect exorbitant salaries and benefits while they indoctrinate your children with leftist politics and liberal values. They don’t care what parents want, and they don’t care about whether your children learn anything that will allow them to achieve independence and prosperity.

Must-see videos on education policy

Related posts

Is Newt Gingrich conservative or liberal?

From the Wall Street Journal. (H/T Reason to Stand)

Excerpt:

White House hopeful Newt Gingrich called the House Republican plan for Medicare “right-wing social engineering,” injecting a discordant GOP voice into the party’s efforts to reshape both entitlements and the broader budget debate.

In the same interview on Sunday, Mr. Gingrich backed a requirement that all Americans buy health insurance, complicating a Republican line of attack on President Barack Obama’s health law.

The former House speaker’s decision to stick with his previous support for an individual mandate comes days after former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney defended the health revamp he championed as governor, which includes a mandate.

The moves suggest the Republican primary contest, which will include both men, could feature a robust debate on health care, with GOP candidates challenging the Democratic law while defending their own variations.

Consider this article from the conservative National Review. (H/T Michelle Malkin)

Excerpt:

Newt Gingrich’s appearance on “Meet the Press” today could leave some wondering which party’s nomination he is running for. The former speaker had some harsh words for Paul Ryan’s (and by extension, nearly every House Republican’s) plan to reform Medicare, calling it “radical.”

“I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering,” he said when asked about Ryan’s plan to transition to a “premium support” model for Medicare. “I don’t think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate.”

As far as an alternative, Gingrich trotted out the same appeal employed by Obama/Reid/Pelosi — for a “national conversation” on how to “improve” Medicare, and promised to eliminate ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ etc.

More from the leftist New York Times.

Excerpt:

For Ms. Clinton, standing side by side with her husband’s onetime nemesis gives her the chance to burnish her credentials among the moderates she has been courting during her time in the Senate.

But in comments this week, she portrayed the rapprochement as one born of shared policy interests, not calculated politics.

“I know it’s a bit of an odd-fellow, or odd-woman, mix,” she said. “But the speaker and I have been talking about health care and national security now for several years, and I find that he and I have a lot in common in the way we see the problem.”

For his part, Mr. Gingrich, who helped lead the impeachment fight against President Bill Clinton, called Mrs. Clinton “very practical” and “very smart and very hard working,” adding, “I have been very struck working with her.”

Maybe he is actually running to win the Democrat nomination this time.