Who Said It? Davos Edition

It’s time for another installment of  “Who Said It?”

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have been taking potshots at capitalism during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Their comments sound eerily similar to some of President Obama’s recent statements about the current economic crisis.

Can you tell the difference between Chinese communism, KGB-style democratic-socialism and Obamanomics?

Read the quote and guess who said it… Click on (or mouseover) the name and see if you are correct.

So have at it:

Quote #1:

“A considerable share of the world’s population still cannot afford comfortable housing, education and quality health care.”

Wen Jiabo or Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama?

Quote #2:

“We must do our first-quarter economic work with all our strength to reverse this downward economic trend as quickly as possible.”

Wen Jiabo or Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama?

Quote #3:

“There are some similarities, though, to what happened back in the late 20s and early 30s and what’s been happening now, and the biggest similarity is how we’ve been dealing with Wall Street and what’s happening in the financial markets.”

Wen Jiabo or Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama?

Quote #4:

“The ongoing international financial crisis has landed the world economy in the most difficult situation since last century’s Great Depression.”

Wen Jiabo or Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama?

Quote #5:

“We arrived at this point due to an era of profound irresponsibility that stretched from corporate boardrooms to the halls of power in Washington, D.C.”

Wen Jiabo or Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama?

Quote #6:

“Events urgently require that we reorganise our economy and update our social sphere. We do not intend to pass up this chance. Our country must emerge from the crisis renewed, stronger and more competitive.”

Wen Jiabo or Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama?

Quote #7:

“This crisis is attributable to a variety of factors and the major ones are: inappropriate macroeconomic policies of some economies and their unsustainable model of development characterized by prolonged low savings and high consumption; excessive expansion of financial institutions in a blind pursuit of profit…”

Wen Jiabo or Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama?

Quote #8:

For years, too many Wall Street executives made imprudent and dangerous decisions, seeking profits with too little regard for risk, too little regulatory scrutiny, and too little accountability.

Wen Jiabo or Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama?

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Breaking News: That 70′s Guy Wakes Up, Whines

[via WWTDD]

Noted Obama supporter and Kabbalah-enthusiast Ashton Kutcher donned a goofy hat and shot this video recently:

Gee whiz, Ashton. You had to wake up early because someone had the nerve to work within earshot of you? Wait till Obama’s make-work infrastructure projects get underway – that shit is gonna be LOUD.

Of course, Ashton Kutcher was one of the most vocal – and annoying – Obama supporters in Hollywood during the 2008 campaign:

UPDATE (2/1/09): Andrew Breitbart at BigHollywood points out that Kutcher was supplementing his video whine with some Twitter whines (twines?):

• “this SOB owl feces cougar placenta jack bone dick!”
• “Jack ass 7am building a goddamn fort next to my house f’in up my view and noise polluting the entire f’in neighborhood with pounding steal”
• “holy moly I’m gonna lose it!”
• “this ass clown has another thing coming!”
• “I’m gonna kill my neighbor”

Adding fuel to the funny fire, Breitbart points out that Kutcher appeared in that nauseating pro-Bama “I Pledge” PSA, which included the following lines:

Ioan Gruffudd: “to meet my neighbors”…
Rex Lee: “Find out their names”…
Cameron Diaz: “I am gonna give ‘em a smile”…
Tatyana Ali: “And ask them how I can be of service to them”…

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Time Magazine: “The Curious Case of Gran Torino”

According to Time Magazine, the success of Gran Torino continues to baffle Hollywood:

“Yet while the critics have been fussing over wrestlers and Mumbai quiz shows, audiences have been flocking to Gran Torino — an Oscar outcast that’s been doing laps around the competition at the box office. At some point this week, the Clint Eastwood drama will pass the $100 million mark, easily surpassing the box-office receipts brought in by not only some of the Oscar front-runners (Slumdog Millionaire now totals $56 million, Milk $21 million) but also Eastwood’s last Oscar winner, Million Dollar Baby.”

The article continues to dance around the 800-pound gorilla in the room:

“It’s an amazing story that no one’s really talking about,” says Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst with Hollywood.com. “For a movie starring a 78-year-old to have a $29 million opening weekend in wide release, and in the process to beat out the likes of Anne Hathaway in Bride Wars, I don’t know if I’ve seen that before … It’s a testament to how people still feel about Clint Eastwood.”

Wrong.

While Eastwood is great in Gran Torino, I would attribute much of the film’s success to its themes of mentoring, pride, hard work, vigilantism and sacrifice. In other words, Gran Torino is dripping with themes of American exceptionalism and  individualism.

And people are clearly connecting with it.

If you haven’t seen Gran Torino, check out the trailer below and read last week’s post about it:

(via Thanos at Little Green Footballs)

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FOXNews: Vatican Declares War on Space Aliens…

Note to Fox News producers… Keep a close eye on your lower third titles and remember that thousands of people watch TV with no sound (ie, barbershops, diners, restaurants, etc.). I imagine this may have caused some people to do a double take:

Note: This is from an interview of Nick Pope, who is an alleged UFOlogist. It must be a slow news day over at FoxNews.

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The Left Doesn’t Like the Arizona Cardinals

Why is the left afraid of American heroes?

Apparently, the leftist sportswriters who despise Tim Tebow also have a healthy distaste for the Arizona Cardinals. Slate columnist Charles P. Pierce fires an early salvo in his article, “Razing Arizona: The Cardinals’ presence in the Super Bowl is fluky and disgraceful.“

Much of Pierce’s reasoning rests on the basic premise that the Cardinals aren’t good and the whole thing is just so, like, unfair:

“The Cardinals are a glorified Arena Football League team with a soft defense and a running game unworthy of the name… between the jiggering of the schedule and the conniving of the draft and the socialistic revenue schemes, and the desperate grab for any mechanism that will flatten out the differences between really good teams and really bad ones, the NFL is the league that comes closest to the biddy soccer league philosophy of making sure that everyone gets a trophy.”

Not much of a fan of the classic underdog story, apparently.

Pierce tries to pass off his opinion as merely a response to broadcasters and corporate sponsors for being – ostensibly – pro-American:

“This happens a lot in football. The game is afflicted by announcers who spend an awful lot of time wrapping football in the Great American Family Values comforter. They festoon it with jingoistic baubles and cheap patriotic gewgaws.”

Would you look at that? He was able to throw “Great American,” “American Family,” “Family Values,” into one continous string of words! Then he follows it with “jingoistic baubles” and “cheap patriotic gewgaws”! Baubles and Gewgaws? Pierce’s article is dripping with so much leftist elitism,  it may as well be written in French.

Pierce doesn’t have the guts to admit it outright, but the left’s biggest issues with Arizona can be summed up like this: Kurt Warner and Pat Tillman.

Cardinals QB Kurt Warner is a devout born-again Christian and an outspoken critic of embryonic stem cell research. Pat Tillman played for the Cardinals before joining the US Army after 9/11.  He was tragically killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan.

ESPN has called Warner, “arguably the most high-profile Christian in professional football,” and Tillman’s story is well-known by now (if you don’t know it, go here and learn about it).

There will be more evidence of the bias of the left-leaning sportswriters in coming days and it is unfortunate. The left would love to frame the Super Bowl as a left/right thing, but we shouldn’t let them.

Hell, Rush Limbaugh is one of the most high-profile Pittsburgh Steelers fans. It just goes to show that football is just a game, but that won’t stop the left-wing sportswriters from injecting their worldview into their stories.

Just pick a team and root for them.

(via WithLeather)

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Who Said It? Caroline Kennedy vs. Paris Hilton

It’s time for a new feature here at PopCON. It’s called “Who Said It?”

Read the quote and guess who said it… Click on the name and see if you were right.

So have at it:

Quote #1:

“I’m not as shy as everybody makes me out to be.”

Caroline Kennedy or Paris Hilton?

Quote #2:

“…You have to live life by your own terms and you have to not worry about what other people think, and you have to have the courage to do the unexpected.”

Caroline Kennedy or Paris Hilton?

Quote #3

“I’m like an American princess.”

Caroline Kennedy or Paris Hilton?

Quote #4

“Have you guys ever thought about writing for, like, a woman’s magazine or something?”

Caroline Kennedy or Paris Hilton?

Quote #5

“I’m a really good person. I’m down to earth. I have a big heart. I have feelings. And I’m just like everybody else.”

Caroline Kennedy or Paris Hilton?

UPDATE: Bonus questions!

BONUS QUESTION #1!

“That wrinkly white-haired guy used me in his campaign ad, which means I’m running for President. So thanks for the endorsement white-haired dude, and I want America to know I’m, like, totally ready to lead.”

Caroline Kennedy or Paris Hilton?

BONUS QUESTION #2!

“Um, this is a fairly unique moment both in our, you know, in our country’s history, and, and in, in, you know, my own life, and um, you know, we are facing, you know, unbelievable challenges, our economy, you know, healthcare, people are losing their jobs here in New York obviously um, arh, you know. . . ”

Caroline Kennedy or Paris Hilton?

For more quotes from these two icons of fashion, fame and other people’s money, click here: Paris Hilton Quotes Caroline Kennedy Quotes

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Oscar Travesty: Gran Torino Shut Out

He ain't shootin' skeet

The Oscar nominations have been announced and Clint Eastwood’s new film, “Gran Torino,” has been shut out.

I’m not surprised… “Gran Torino” is a direct threat to the liberal view of everything from race relations to inner city gangs and the Second Amendment.

The story revolves around Clint Eastwood’s main character, Walter Kowalski. Imagine George Patton and Rudy Giuliani had a baby – and that baby was an 80-year old Korean war vet with a sore spot for Pabst blue ribbon and the ability to strike fear in the hearts of gangbangers by simply pointing his finger at them and whispering the word “pow.”

In a word, badass.

Eastwood’s Kowalski is a complex and conflicted guy… He owns and uses firearms… He has a strained relationship with his family… He uses racial epithets… He is open minded… He is a mentor and a father figure to his Korean Hmong Lao neighbors… He has no time for religion… He laments the erosion of the inner city… He takes direct action instead of calling the police…

I won’t spoil it for you – just go see the movie. This is the type of film that conservatives should support by going to see it in the theater. Not on Netflix. Pay money to see this now, while it can still make an impact on Hollywood.

Go see Gran Torino.

Rating: 5/5 Cheneys

For those of you who have already seen the movie…

Although it might be easy to think the Korean gangs are the villians of the movie, I would say the real villian is the Baby Boomer generation. Thoughts?

UPDATE: Thanks for the commenters (Watson and Jim Copp) who have pointed out that Walt Kowalski’s neighbors are not Korean. They are Hmong. There is a lengthy scene where this is explained and I completely screwed that up – sorry about that.  Apparently, many of the Hmong characters had never acted before – they do an outstanding job, nonetheless.

I also disagree with the notion that the story is slow and undeserving of an Oscar. If you compare it to some recently nominated films, you’ll see that the story, direction and acting are very similar in style and substance.

Put it this way: If Walt Kowalski was an aging hippie who had fled to Canada to avoid going to Vietnam, “Gran Torino” would be the darling of this year’s Oscar nominations.

Hollywood Shills for Obama (Again)

Andrew Breitbart of Big Hollywood has a link to a new PSA featuring several of the dumbest actors in Hollywood telling YOU why YOU should go out and, you know, like, volunteer or something, you know?

I can’t embed the video here because it is still a MySpace exclusive (WordPress and MySpace don’t mix, apparently) but you can watch the video here. Then come back to PoPCON for some more video stuffs:

MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst present The Presidential Pledge

I pledge to never forget that these are the same jackasses who were ashamed to be American for the last 8 years and who have been in the tank for Obama since Day 1 of his campaign, just like the mainstream media.

Fools:

Morning Quickie: Breitbart’s Big Hollywood, Kung Fu Panda and Conservative Pop Culture

PopCon is about a week old. I’ve been meaning to write a post explain why this blog exists and where it will be headed… That post isn’t ready yet, but this post will be a very abbreviated preview of that post… Got me?

PopCon has been stirring in my head for months, possibly years. My motivation to actually begin writing was the creation of Andrew Breitbart’s Big Hollywood blog. Big Hollywood has a range of writers and topics focusing on the theme of conservatism in Hollywood. It’s a very interesting read, although it is certainly in the “hit or miss” stage.

So that’s kinda what inspired the creation of PopCon… Kinda sorta (sorta).

Which brings me to a recent post at Big Hollywood by Michael van der Galien. In his post titled, “Kung Fu Panda: An American Story,” Michael gives rave reviews the animated film “Kung Fu Panda,” citing the film’s supposedly conservative message.

“it’s also a movie that makes a fundamentally sound and conservative (and American! ) principle: If you work hard, you can become anything you want. You may face obstacles along the way - No, you will face obstacles – but the only one able to stop is you .“

See, I have a problem with this logic. The basic story arc being described here can be seen in thousands of films. Movies from Rocky to Star Wars to Deuce Bigalow and any Adam Sandler movie have the same basic premise – loser has to work hard and overcome increasingly difficult obstactles to defeat an enemy and reach his destiny. Hell, even Obama’s autobiography has a similar theme and that was written by Bill Ayres! (Joking…?)

But seriously, Kung Fu Panda probably has a very positive, uplifting message. I haven’t seen it yet (nor do I plan to), but I believe Michael when he writes:

“…this animation movie perfectly combines humor with a message conservatives can believe in; no matter who you are, no matter who your parents are… you can become everything you want, as long as you work hard and refuse to give up.”

What I’m saying here is that a positive message is not the same as a conservative message. If a movie is politically neutral but it exhibits a theme rooted in American values, that’s a good thing. However, Conservatives shouldn’t claim ownership of these types of films for the following reasons:

-They are not political films. If you’re looking for an example of a politically-charged animated movie aimed at kids, watch Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. Make sure you have a remote or a vomit bucket handy (or both).

-Mistaking a positive message for a Conservative message will confuse people. In the end, some moderates may avoid these films and miss the positive message entirely.

-Making blanket statements that link politically neutral kid’s movies to Conservatives is giving more ammunition to leftists in the media who are looking to vilify conservatives for even attempting to comment on pop culture. Why give the left any more low hanging fruit than it already has when it comes to pop culture?

In short, Kung Fu Panda sounds like a decent movie, but let’s not get carried away.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

CBS – Watering Down the Presidency for Fun & Profit

The left-wing media is working to distribute Obama propaganda in the days before the inauguration and CBS is clearly leading the way. Entertainment Tonight’s website has 15 stories on its front page. Eight (count ‘em, EIGHT!) of those front page stories involve the Inauguration.

Slow day in the entertainment world, eh?

Meanwhile, CBS is “celebrating” (or “capitalizing on”) the Inauguration by cribbing the imagery and slogans of Obama’s campaign and renaming their programming lineup “YES WE CAN MONDAY”:

CBS Yes We Can Monday

PopCon Perspective:

The forced marriage of American politics with disposable pop culture waters down the office of the President. The Inauguration is being given the same treatment that you’d expect for a red carpet awards show.

*

This whole thing is intellectually lazy. What would these ad wizards be doing if McCain has won the election? America First Monday? The Palin Primetime Lineup?

For more on these screencaps, visit TheKansasCitian.