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Summary: Hollywood's Love Affair with Liberal Politics
Review: Hollywood stars like Rob Reiner, Susan Sarandon, Alec Bladwin, Julia Roberts, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, and others can be counted on for many things. We know that, sooner or later, we will see them in a movie production or making a television appearance. We also know that, sooner or later, we will hear them voicing their concerns about any number of political issues. And we know that, more often than not, the political side they take will have a distinctly left- leaning direction. This book takes a close look at the entertainers that make the Hollywood world go round and it discusses the background and the different events over the past 50 plus years that have led to the present "liberal" Hollywood mindset. Communist infiltration into the American way of life back during the McCarthy era, the Vietnam War, and other events were decisive in shaping Hollywood politics. These liberal views have precipitated over the years to more and more generations of Hollywood entertainers. They are shared by a large majority of Hollywood folk, in proportions that do not reflect the population as a whole. The Hollywood elite can often be counted on to voice some wild opinions, and author James Hirsen presents some of them in this book. Quotes like Chevy Chase's comment that "Cuba has proven that socialism can work" and Sean Penn's nutty statement that he would like to "trade news personality Bill O'Reilly for Osama Bin Laden" are just a sample of some of the crazy things that have come out of the mouths of our beloved movie making friends in La La land. I like the way Hirsen keeps this book on an entertaining and humorous level. He doesn't hit below the belt, like some other political writers are prone to doing. Rather, he keeps things lightened up and funny as he shows how biased the members of Hollywood often are in their collectivist political mindset. They almost always favor a government- intervention position (except for issues like abortion and a few others) and they often cozy up with authoritarian- type individuals, like Fidel Castro and others. The dry humor contained in this book and the one- sidedness makes it the type that many readers will scorn. However, I think it's an entertaining read for people of all political stripes and colors. Hollywood stars are entitled to their own opinions, but what some of them say and do will surprise many readers. Hirsen includes lots of amusing quotes and stories about the bigwigs in Hollywood and others in the entertainment industry, enough to have readers simultaneously rolling their eyes and shaking their heads as they read some of the outrageousness that comes out of Tinseltown.
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Summary: CSPAN appearance (and book)
Review: I also saw Mr. Hirsen on C-SPAN (Book TV) and found his comments very cogent and timely. Additionally, I found this book very enlightening.
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Summary: Inaccurate and Reaching
Review: I read this book last year and was disappointed by it. I don't like ideologues who don't look at both sides of an issue. I consider myself an independent that leans more towards the conservative side of most issues. Most of the issues he discusses in the book are well known. Nothing new. But was surprised by some of his comments because they are inaccurate. For example, he claims that Bono wants to raise our taxes. As a U2 fan he never said this. He also stated that he's rich and doesn't pay taxes in on his money in Ireland which makes him a hypocrite. ???? So you have to be poor in order to help people in Africa with AIDS. That's crap.
In another part of the book a celebrity said Fidel Castro was smart. So what. It doesn't make Fidel Castro any less heinous than any other dictator. He tried way too hard to make points. So I was doubting some of his other facts in the book. I would recommend Ann Coulter's book Slander or Treason. Getting read to ready Peggy Noonan's The Case against Hilary Clinton and When Character was King (Ronald Reagan).
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Summary: Many better books out there
Review: I'm a big fan of many conservative political books, and found this one lacking in both readability and humor. I recommend instead any Ann Coulter book or especially "Useful Idiots"
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Summary: Pretty Weak Effort
Review: I'm a conservative blogger who LOVES to laugh at liberal celebrities, but there's not much meat here. Hirsen's book feels pretty slapdash and disjointed; the writing is nothing special, and the stories have been told with more flair elsewhere. I wanted to like it...it's just not very good.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, though the point was not always clear
Review: The basic premise of this book is that most of those in Hollywood are way left in their politics. I think this is pretty obvious, but there is some great background in here on where and why this may have originated.
For example, some in Hollywood have a history of supporting communism, made famous in the "blacklist" era, and this view is even more prevalent today. The book gives dozens of accounts of one-sided support and glorification of Castro. This is actually quite odd considering Castro has a long tradition of placing homosexuals in prison, based on mere suspicion or rumor. When the various stars are pledging their devotion to Castro, do they have any idea what Castro's response to AIDS has been? (Page 75)
This is typical of how Hollywood stars often are hypocritical in their pet causes. Whether it is slamming the President for not attending the Earth Summit and then of course failing to show themselves (Page 103), or wearing fur after being outspoken against it, the duplicity is actually quite hilarious, however this pales in comparison to some of the quotes about PETA.
Michael J. Fox, former advisor to the Humane Society, wrote a book called "Inhumane Society: The American Way of Exploiting Animals", and in it he states "The life of an ant and that of my child should be granted equal consideration". (Page 123). Um, okay...rright. The many examples of these kinds of absurd statements abound. There is also considerable space documenting the "intolerance" of Hollywood towards any beliefs that do not align with the far left.
However, the author spent a whole chapter on smoking. I have to honestly say that I didn't get the point. Was he speaking out against smoking censorship? Why? Does he support smoking? This section was unclear. The other concern I had was the way in which Bono and others were depicted for their support for the poor and other causes. These sections were also not very clear. It seems that much good is done by some of these people, and that needs to be acknowledged. So, minus one star for that.
Overall, it is a very interesting book. I thought the research and history in the beginning sections was fascinating. Towards the end the book gets a bit shrill, but overall the point regarding the politics of the Hollywood "caste" system, and the hypocrisy of the intolerance towards anyone conservative, republican or Christian is of course shameful. The book is written well, easy to read, and the topics are presented in a logical format. Overall, the book suffers a bit from being what it is speaking out against - being too one-sided.
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Summary: Meandering and unfocused - I'm disappointed
Review: The writer is no Ann Coulter. He mostly retells well-known anecdotes about show-business liberals without adding much inside background. Has a puerile and snide writing style that reminds me alot of Maureen Dowd. The first chapter on the liberal show business establishment's animosity against conservative colleagues was the only one to hold my interest. Fitting to his juvenile style, that chapter is titled "Baa Baa Blacklist". The book starts out with an intro chapter titled "Why Hollywood Leans Left". In it, the author gives a Dave Letterman-type listing of 17 reasons, the first of which is "The San Andreas Fault has caused the continental plate located under Hollywood to buckle left.". The second one is "Extraterrestrials have bombarded the West Coast area with brain-wave projections that are capable of turning minds into macaroni and cheeses". And another 15 reasons just as clever. Right after the introduction, a chapter titled "You Know You're a Closet Conservative..." where he takes on Jeff Foxworthy brand humor. Later on, a chapter of "The Left Coast's Greatest Hits", matching song titles to celebrities, such as "Shop Around-Winona Ryder" and "Both Sides Now-Ann Heche". He has a 20-page chapter on the 60's discussing Woodstock, movies like "The Graduate" and "Easy Rider" and "Bonnie and Clyde", and frankly, I don't know what point the writer was trying to make in this chapter. The majority of the good stuff, what little there is outside the blacklist chapter, can be found in the blurbs and excerpts used to promote the book. I expected better.
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Summary: This book is a MUST read!
Review: This book explains so much - so many things that always were nagging at the back of my mind. It definitely puts things into perspective as far as the extreme left leanings that are now so evident in the liberal media, etc. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is curious about the trends we are seeing today - you will be shocked, then angry at the way the American people are being used, duped and manipulated.
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Summary: Pass it up.
Review: This book simultaneously talks down to the reader, while assuming he/she is very knowledgabe in international affairs and recent history. It is a compilation of brief vignettes and anecdotes loosely tied into 293 pages. Don't waste your time. Read one of Ann Coulter's books instead, you'l get more out of it and enjoy it more.
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Summary: Many better books out there
Review: Very funny and truthful book about celebrities' passion for leftist, hypocritical behavior. While stars champion homelessness and other "poor" issues, they live like royalty. While claiming to defend the "little people" they demand free designer clothes, cut ahead in airport lines, and turn their noses up at fans. You won't believe some of the excesses and wastes of these idiots. In the 80s they yelled about Reagan's years of greed, yet they now won't be seen without thousand-dollar purses on their arms. Some of these morons straddle the line between idiocy and hatred for America.
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