Yeah D’Souza got his hat handed to him ;’}
My younger brother won’t watch anything with Tom Cruise in it. Because of his politics, not his acting (such as it is). Same for a bunch of other lefty Hollyweirders. My attitude is “live & let live” - you’re only cutting off your own nose in order to spite someone who doesn’t GAD about you. As a musician in a cover band I am often asked to play songs by artists whom I abhor. For example, the singer in my band loves Sheryl Crow so we do a couple of her songs. I’m able to compartmentalize myself sufficiently to continue to despise her but play the song.
I grew up with Reagan’s “Trust but verify” as a code of conduct. Listen to what a guy is saying but do your own homework to verify accuracy. Don’t blindly accept everything that anyone says. Consequently I’m not trapped by my own bias from learning something new - even if it comes from a questionable source. If he’s right he’s right.
My first real test of this was with Michael Medved. A talk show “hometown hero” (as he was marketed here in Washington) Medved was a leftist turned conservative but who relapsed. He became a virulent anti-Trumper and revealed his truer (leftist) self in the process.
Was he still capable of saying the right things? Yes, and he often did. Was he right about Trump and the Trumpsters? Absolutely, categorically, offensively NO! In Medved’s case the bad outdid any possible good and I quit following him.
Another example is Glenn Beck. I really like the guy - but rarely seek out his “wisdom”. He’s a nice guy and (I believe) very sincere. But he is casually reckless with the facts. I don’t know if he has writers preparing his scripts or if it is he himself, but he needs to be better about checking his sources before making bold declarations. He firmly believes that his highly watched show crashed because he “got too close to the truth”. I believe it crashed because he was sloppy and negligent.
That said, he is still capable of solid analysis and I do read his stuff from time to time.
D'Souza is intellectually lazy and tells people what they want to hear.
Hanson is intelligent and insightful, but a lot of what he wrote in the Bush years is embarrassing. He was enthusiastic for the Iraq War and too willing to pretend that his classical education made him an expert on things military. I generally agree with him now, though.
Glenn Beck? Well, like he says, he's a fusion of entertainment and enlightenment. He's right about a lot of things, but I wouldn't trust him to give me the big picture on anything.
Happy Easter to you too!
rockrr: "My younger brother won’t watch anything with Tom Cruise in it."
I never watched Top Gun, but did like his Mission Impossible movies, maybe not quite as much as the original TV series with Barbara Bain & Martin Landau. ;-)
Tom Hanks is a different matter -- loved Saving Private Ryan & Forrest Gump, but can't watch his recent movies since his politics became so loathsome.
rockrr: "For example, the singer in my band loves Sheryl Crow so we do a couple of her songs.
I’m able to compartmentalize myself sufficiently to continue to despise her but play the song."
My tastes in music are pretty broad, but also shallow, meaning I love the best of most any genre, quickly grow tired of their lesser stuff.
In country music I love Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash... here's one of my favorite pieces of all time:
Bill Monroe, My Last Days.
Note the bass player... ;-)
You mentioned Sheryl who?
She eats what?
Anyway, the music I can most listen to is just old-time Rock N Roll, especially Doo-wop.
Platters, Twilight Time
rockrr: "My first real test of this was with Michael Medved."
I used to like Medved somewhat, have heard nothing from him lately, never heard what happened.
Another such "whatever happened to?" John Batchelor.
rockrr: "Another example is Glenn Beck. I really like the guy..."
Likewise, I find I agree with Beck about half the time, the other half I have to shut him off.
You know what's odd?
Here on Free Republic, guys like wardaddy, Pelham & Diogenes Lamp -- we disagree like h*ll on the Civil War & aftermath, but so far as I can tell are totally in sync on current events & hopes for America's future.
Have a great day, FRiend. ![]()