Tea Baggers Pour Money Into O'Palin's Campaign. Time for Democrats to Do the Same for Coons

There is no more critical a race in the November midterms than the Delaware battle between Tea Party princess Christine O'Donnell and Democrat Chris Coons for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by vice-president Joe Biden. I say this with the utmost gravity and concern for the future of our nation. Quite simply, a victory by O'Palin (as I like to call her given her chilling clone-like attributes of the Queen herself) will tip the scales of political logic, rationality and decency into the hands of the crazies. I am not a fear-mongerer, but I can assure you that an America led by the likes of Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Sharon Angle, Rand Paul, Newt Gingrich, Jim DeMint and O'Palin will make the Bush/Cheney/Rove years seem like the Carter administration.

Let me say that I don't think there's a chance in hell that O'Palin can win. And I have GOP guru Karl Rove on my side. But I also don't expect to die anytime soon either, yet I still have life insurance. So think of supporting the campaign of Coons as life insurance. We don't think we'll need it, but boy will our loved ones be happy that we sprung for it. Click here to contribute money to Coons.

Prior to Tuesday's Republican primary, in which O'Palin in a stunning upset defeated 42-year Delaware career-politician Mike Castle, she had about $20,000 in the bank to Coons' $944,000. Since then, the radical Tea Baggin' crazies have cracked open their piggy banks and sent her $850,000 through her website. Coons has raised $125,000 this week.

Expect the crazies to keep sending money; funds that O'Palin will use in an unprecedented barrage of television ads between now and November 2nd to raise her awareness and character-assassinate Coons. Which is why Democrats across the nation must head to Coons' website immediately and donate as much as they can so he can combat this ad campaign with his own.

What's happening in America today is reminiscent of what the Rovians did to the electorate in 2004. They scared and distracted voters with terrorism, gay marriage, abortion and gun control in an effort to divert them away from the disastrous Iraq war and their own economic self-interests. Well, the Tea Party consists of Rovians on steroids. A small subset of Republican voters have been dumbed-down so far to the point that, as evidenced in the video below, they have no idea what the hell they're so angry about and find it difficult to articulate their thoughts. With this level of ignorance they should be called the Kool-Aid Party. Talk about being brainwashed.



So I say again, we cannot allow this woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Here's what O'Palin represents: she's got zero experience in business or politics. She owes the IRS $12,000 in back taxes. She's defaulted on her home. She was sued by Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2004 for unpaid tuition, and didn't get her Bachelor's degree until 2010 when she took a final electives course, but that didn't stop her from lying about her education. She advocates teen-abstinence and has waged a very public campaign against masturbation. She's accused Coons of having a gay affair. And she's made very bizarre accusations that her "opponents" hide in the bushes outside her home. O'Palin is not someone who deserves to walk the Senate's hallowed halls. Democrats must visit Coons' website now and make sure he has the necessary funds to combat her soon-to-be massive TV campaign.

Democrats need to show the crazies how much money they are capable of raising for a real candidate. One who's a distinguished humanitarian aid volunteer, lawyer and politician. It's time to show Sarah & the GOPettes that Americans aren't as dumb as they'd like them to be.

Sarah & the GOPettes: Assessing the O'Donnell Victory

It's the hottest band in politics: Sarah & the GOPettes. Ya got Palin, Michelle Bachman, Nikki Haley and Christine O'Donnell. They're young, personable and attractive, and are out there on the 2010 Tea Party Tour whipping the radical right-wing fringe base into a veritable frenzy. O'Donnell's the latest addition, with her stunning defeat of 42-year Delaware Republican career-politician Mike Castle in Tuesday's Senate primary. Heck, I'll even throw the 61-year-old Sharon Angle into this group.

Palin, her GOPettes and all the other Tea Baggers like Newt Gingrich, Rand Paul and Joe Miller speak in racist code language ("restoring America," "taking the country back"), portray themselves as grass-roots revolutionaries, but lack any real qualifications commensurate with one of the most important jobs in the world. What they're expert at is throwing around irresponsible, incendiary rhetoric at every turn while claiming to be part of America's diverse fabric.

Yet during O'Donnell's victory speech there appeared to be just one black person in the entire room. In a pathetic attempt to prove the Tea Party's 'big tent' claim, he was quickly ushered to the stage and very noticeably and awkwardly pushed right beside her as she began to speak. But then O'Donnell introduced him as the campaign's lawyer. And truth is, he had a decidedly uncomfortable look on his face the entire time as if to say, "Hey, I'm not so sure how much I'm into this whole 'returning America back to what our Founding Fathers envisioned' thing. In case you hadn't noticed, black folks didn't fare too well back then!"

To be sure, O'Donnell knows how to fire up voters. But in a virtually all-Democratic state like Delaware, she's gonna fire up more Democrats and Independents against her, which is why she's unelectable in the general election, and which is why iconic Republican operative Karl Rove gave a delicious smackdown to Fox's Sean Hannity Tuesday night in telling him how utterly wrong he was about her chances of winning in November against Democrat Chris Coons. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Kind of like the wise old parent trying to knock some sense into the young, hot-headed, know-it-all kid. Hannity was very visibly shaken by Rove's on-air lecturing.

Rove also spoke of O'Donnell's questionable character, and that she owes $12,000 in taxes; foreclosed on her home; lied about her education; and has made very bizarre claims that her opponents "Follow me home at night. I make sure that I come back to the townhouse and then we have our team come out and check all the bushes and check all the cars to make sure that — they follow me....They're hiding in the bushes."

These skeletons are also why the GOP won't be throwing its support behind O'Donnell's futile campaign. As Rove authoritatively assured Hannity, "This is not a race we're going to be able to win." And he lamented how O'Donnell's victory could translate to the GOP's failure to win a Senate majority. Give Rove credit. He knows a thing or two about winning.

The emergence and success of the Tea Party is a direct result of the Bush/Cheney/Rove dumbing-down of the Republican electorate. For eight years they lied to them about the Iraq war, fear-mongered over terrorism, distracted them with gay marriage and veered them so far away from their own economic self-interests to the point where they were well-primed for Sarah & the GOPettes' ignorant, empty-suited populist rhetoric. They literally dumbed 'em down so far that it didn't take much for Mama Grizzly's even dumber Tea Bag minions to steal them away from Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and the mainstream GOP leadership. I guess you reap what you sow. The Tea Party fanatics are Rove's chickens coming home to roost.

And now the unthinkable is occurring: O'Donnell, Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and others are attacking the heretofore venerable Rove, turning on him as if he was Sean Penn:

"I think he's seeing that he was one of the so-called experts whose credibility was hurt last night," said O'Donnell Wednesday morning. Oh no she d'int just say so-called expert, did she? Is she kidding? Rove was smart enough to get a knucklehead like George W. Bush elected president while she was running around the country with bad 80's hair telling teens to be abstinent and that masturbation was wrong: "The Bible says that lust in your heart is committing adultery" and that "You can't masturbate without lust." Jeez, Chrissie, stop embarrassing yourself. I'll bet you $1000 that come November 2nd you're gonna learn the hard way just how much of an expert Rove really is on the subject of your electability.

"Karl has admitted that one of his mistakes was not defending Bush against all of these insane, stupid, slanderous, libelous attacks against Bush for eight years," Limbaugh said. "But I've never heard ... Karl so animated against a Democrat as he was against Christine O'Donnell last night....Why is he so mad at a Republican?" Well Rush, when Coons wins in November and costs the GOP what would've been a very likely Senate seat and perhaps the majority, you'll have your answer.

With O'Donnell's victory, Tea Baggers are sending the same kind of naive, misguided, anger-fueled message to the Republican Party that the Naderites sent to Democrats in the 2000 presidential election. Syphoning precious votes away from then-vice president Al Gore, these foolish voters' real message soon became quite clear: "Welcome to the White House, Mr Bush." And for eight miserable years they got in return the exact opposite of everything they stood for. Now with nominees O'Donnell and Angle, for example, this same sort of Tea-Party-poured message will not only cost Republicans key seats, but could very well be the thing that keeps Democrats at the controls.


On another note, get ready for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation's 3rd Annual eBay Celebrity Auction which launches in just 5 days on September 20th! Wanna go to exclusive, one-on-one lunches with stars like Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, Cheryl Hines, Michelle Williams, Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson, Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Harris, Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto, Mark Cuban, Rosanna Arquette, Gina Gershon, Lili Taylor among others? Or how about VIP tickets and meet & greets at Joan Rivers' new stand-up show, Maroon 5, Dar Williams, Semi-Precious Weapons and the hilarious NYC show Celebrity Autobiography? We also have VIP tickets to The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, Ellen, Rachael Ray and The View; VIP tickets to Jimmy Buffett; TV show set visits/meet & greets for The Good Wife, Breaking Bad, Castle, United States of Tara, Nurse Jackie, Rachel Maddow and Stephanie Miller.; walk-on extra roles on Community, Hung and Todd Solondz's next film Dark Horse. Mark your calendars for September 20!

The The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is a 501 c 3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated in my late wife's honor, and with a simple mission: supporting women filmmakers. Adrienne, who wrote, directed and starred in the hit film WAITRESS, was killed November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've established scholarships, grants, finishing funds, screenwriting fellowships and living stipends at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; Columbia University; American Film Institute; Women in Film; IFP; the Nantucket Film Festival; the Tribeca Film Institute; and the Sundance Institute. Your generous contribution will go a long way towards helping us achieve this very important mission. Please click here to make a donation. Thank you.

MTV's VMA's Make Me Feel 100 Years Old

Politics isn't my only love. Being a music lover as well I decided to tune in to MTV's Video Music Awards Sunday evening. I regret that I did. Though only 50, watching this show left me feeling completely out of touch with today's music scene. I'm sorry, but I'm still trying to make my way through the Pearl Jam catalogue. I simply have no idea who or what a Drake or a Ne-yo is. And what about Kings and Queens? Isn't that the sitcom with the chubby guy?

So watch I did, taking notes, and wondering how the entire music biz has seemingly passed me by.

The program was hosted by comedienne and talk show host Chelsea Handler, who proudly acknowledged that she was the first female host in the show's 16 years. And what a great choice she was. This woman is not only funny, as my much-cooler-than-I 24 and 22-year-old daughters have been trying to tell me, she's also smart, sexy and wickedly brash, with a tongue so sharp she could cut right through Pauly D's hair. In her intro she threw props to toddler heartthrob Justin Bieber:

"His song "Baby" is so amazing, an amazing love song...imagine how good his music will be when he sees a vagina."

Poor Bieber. During his performance he surrounded himself with a gaggle of 6-year-old back-up dancers in a desperate attempt to look older than 10.

And am I the only one who was a little tired of seeing the uber-tanned and talentless Jersey Shore mooks? Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is clearly starting to believe his own hype, while "Snookers" can't, no matter how hard she tries, hide her "what the fuck am I doing here" look, as if she knows she's in minute-9 of her countdown from 15.

Will.i.am came out looking like a cross between Blue Man Group and Al Jolson in a wet-suit. He did a duet with Nicki Minaj, a hip-hop cutie with an ass so big the Israelis could build settlements on it. She makes J-Lo look like she needs butt-cheek implants.

And what's with all the futuristic garb? Why does every performer have to look like they're auditioning for the next Star Wars film? Can we please bring back a little flannel for the old man? Also, must every singer have a phalanx of dancer boys/girls behind them like some cheesy Vegas burlesque revue? Whatever happened to just coming out and singing? Maybe all the dancers are just a distraction from the lack of real talent in front of them?

Outside of the awesome Eminem and Mary J. Blige, the room seemed all style and no substance. And speaking of Mary, did they have to pair her up with Drake? Blige has such an amazingly beautiful, soulful voice which was drowned out by the young ring-ding. Having her do a duet with the Canadian rapper was like having to watch George Clooney do a table-reading with Snooki. Jeez, you know there's slim pickings for a 50-year old when he starts rooting for Taylor Swift.

Sofia Vergara looked gorgeous, but was so hard to understand she made 70's Latin star Charo sound like William F. Buckley.

My favorite moment of the night was a very "If I Could Turn Back Time" decked out Cher (looking about 35, mind you), handing out the Video of the Year award to pop sensation Lady Gaga, who took home a total of eight awards. It was sort of a cool passing-of-the-torch moment. Only thing is, Cher's torch officially blew out about 40 years ago. (By the way, if Lady Gaga married Goo Goo Dolls lead singer John Rzeznik, would she be Lady GooGoo GaGa?)

And my least favorite moment? The megalomaniacal, pathetically self-important Kanye West's closing number with the following chorus: "Let's have a toast for the douchebags, let's have a toast for the assholes, let's have a toast for the scumbags, let's have a toast for the jerkoffs?" Clearly, West dug from deep within for the inspiration for this one.

An Open Letter From God

Dear Faithful.....
As I sit here thousands of years after creating you all (although some would have you believe in "evolution" or that even crazier notion, the "Big Bang Theory"), I can't help but think, "What the f**k is wrong with you people?! What I have I done? Where have I gone wrong?" Oy vey!

The world is a freakin' mess, defiled and ravaged by hunger, poverty, disease, racism, terrorism, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, global warming and a heretical force of evil called Sarah Palin. And they say President Obama has his hands full...

And as if all this wasn't enough, there are now people who are committing the ultimate blasphemy by using my good name to justify their acts of bigotry and hatred. This includes that nitwit down in Gainseville, Florida who wants to burn Korans. And this bedlamite's a preacher? I must've missed his application somehow. When I find out who approved him, heads are gonna roll.

For the record, my mom, dad and I love everyone and sit in judgement of no one. You are all my children. I don't care whether you're Christian, Jew, Protestant, Baptist, Muslim or Mormon....well, maybe not Mormon....nah, just kidding! (Honestly? I do wonder about those Jehovah's Witnesses, though. That whole Armageddon thing freaks me out). Hell (can I say that?), I even love Atheists!

So the idea of burning a sacred religious book like the Koran is just plain heresy. It's religious intolerance of the worst kind. It's racist, and it's nothing I condone. And for someone like Pastor Terry Jones to claim burning these books is God's work...that I told him to do it... man, that really pisses me off. Well, this is me very clearly telling him not to do it. Jeez, what kind of church does he lead? What kind of church preaches such hate and intolerance? Exactly which God and which scripture does this behavior ascribe to? Funny, I don't remember anything in the Bible about burning Korans, and I oughtta know because I wrote the damn thing (shit, I can't say "damn" either, right?)

Let me be clear to Jones and those like him who hide behind my cloak as they spew their vitriol: you're no Christians! You say Islam is evil? No, you're the evil ones. You are vile and hateful and the exact opposite of what Christianity is all about. I didn't start this religion just to have people like you disrespect everything for which I sacrificed.

And while I'm writing, I'd like to address something else that's really been bothering me; something I need to clear the air about once and for all. I am NOT a Republican! You see, conservatives have been laying claim to faith and God (that's me) while portraying Democrats and liberals as being faithless non-believers. Well let me tell ya something. My whole family and I are liberals. That's right, raging libs. Have you seen my sandals? They're the original Birkenstocks. Seriously, have you read my book? "Love thy neighbor?" "Treat the poor fairly?" "Feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked?" "Turn the other cheek?" Not exactly the sort of crunchy stuff you'll hear often on Fox News. Come to think of it, much of modern conservatives' behavior doesn't really follow my teachings at all.


On another note, get ready for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation's 3rd Annual eBay Auction which launches September 24th. Wanna go to exclusive, one-on-one lunches with stars like Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, Cheryl Hines, Michelle Williams, Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson, Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Harris, Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto, Mark Cuban among others? Or how about VIP tickets and meet/greet to Joan Rivers' new stand-up show? We'll also be offering VIP tickets to THE COLBERT REPORT, THE DAILY SHOW, RACHEL RAY, ELLEN, Maroon 5 and Jimmy Buffett concerts; plus TV show set visits/meet & greets for THE GOOD WIFE, BREAKING BAD, CASTLE, UNITES STATES OF TARA, CASTLE and RACHEL MADDOW; walk-on extra roles on COMMUNITY and HUNG; as well as movie walk-ons. Mark your calendars for September 24!

The The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is a 501 c 3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated in my late wife's honor, and with a simple mission: supporting women filmmakers. Adrienne, who wrote, directed and starred in the hit film WAITRESS, was killed November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've established scholarships, grants, finishing funds, screenwriting fellowships and living stipends at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; Columbia University; American Film Institute; Women in Film; IFP; the Nantucket Film Festival; the Tribeca Film Institute; and the Sundance Institute. Your generous contribution will go a long way towards helping us achieve this very important mission. Please click here to make a donation. Thank you.

Donald Trump Needs to Shut His Mouth

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As if the heated debate over the proposed Islamic Community Center two blocks from Ground Zero wasn't controversial and divisive enough, Donald Trump has decided to exploit the situation in a pathetic attempt for attention while ratcheting up the inflammatory rhetoric.

Trump, the narcissistic, carnival-barking real estate developer in desperate need of a 12-step program for self-promotion addiction, offered this week to purchase the equity in the Park Place property held by one of it owners, Hisham Elzanaty. Of course, Trump portrayed his offer as an altruistic, selfless, patriotic act designed to diffuse and find a solution to the situation.

So what does Trump do? In an obvious and shameful publicity stunt, he made a low ball offer of 25% over the $4.8 million Elzanaty paid (a paltry sum he'd never accept on one of his own properties), and turned down the owner's counter for $25 million.

And then on MSNBC's Morning Joe Friday, The Donald made a baseless, trumped up prediction that "You're gonna have riots in the streets.. I believe September 11 is going to be a very bad day down there," referring to lower Manhattan on Saturday's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Trump was then aggressively challenged by one of the show's guests, Lawrence O'Donnell, who charged, "If you really wanted to buy this building you could do just like the movie, and 'make him an offer he can't refuse'...." He then accused Trump of having no real intention of purchasing the building. Major props to O'Donnell. That guy's got more balls than anyone else in the political media today.

Trump kept defending his decision by claiming the building's owner was asking way too much money and was looking to hose him. "He just wants to bludgeon a lot of money out of somebody and it's not gonna be me," Trump said, adding, "I don't want him saying Donald Trump is stupid."

O'Donnell brilliantly and swiftly replied, "Someone says you're stupid every day. It's water off your back."

In continuing to relentlessly press Trump on his ulterior motives, O'Donnell suggested that the billionaire entrepreneur, if he truly wanted to help New York, simply view the purchase as a charitable donation and not assess the price tag with his normal real estate due diligence. "Don't you give $25 million to charity each year?"

I'm willing to bet that Trump spends more than $25 million each year changing the faucets in his gazillion bathrooms, so if he really wanted to come to the city's rescue he could certainly afford to.

To be sure, the egomaniacal, self-aggrandizing Trump saw the mosque controversy as an opportunity to grab the media attention he so ravenously craves. He got himself in the papers and on TV, and he got to talk about himself and display his bloated self-importance yet again.

I can accept that from Trump, because that's who he is and what he does. But to predict violence and riots on this sacred day, without any reasonable or rational basis for which to make such an irresponsible and reprehensible claim, is despicable and anything but patriotic.


On another note, get ready for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation's 3rd Annual eBay Auction which launches September 24th. Wanna go to exclusive, one-on-one lunches with stars like Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, Cheryl Hines, Michelle Williams, Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson, Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Harris, Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto, Mark Cuban among others? Or how about VIP tickets and meet/greet to Joan Rivers' new stand-up show? We'll also be offering VIP tickets to THE COLBERT REPORT, THE DAILY SHOW, RACHEL RAY, ELLEN, Maroon 5 and Jimmy Buffett concerts; plus TV show set visits/meet & greets for THE GOOD WIFE, BREAKING BAD, CASTLE, UNITES STATES OF TARA, CASTLE and RACHEL MADDOW; walk-on extra roles on COMMUNITY and HUNG; as well as movie walk-ons. Mark your calendars for September 24!

The The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is a 501 c 3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated in my late wife's honor, and with a simple mission: supporting women filmmakers. Adrienne, who wrote, directed and starred in the hit film WAITRESS, was killed November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've established scholarships, grants, finishing funds, screenwriting fellowships and living stipends at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; Columbia University; American Film Institute; Women in Film; IFP; the Nantucket Film Festival; the Tribeca Film Institute; and the Sundance Institute. Your generous contribution will go a long way towards helping us achieve this very important mission. Please click here to make a donation. Thank you.

What I Miss About George W. Bush

The heated controversy over the planned construction of an Islamic Community Center two blocks from Ground Zero has sparked a range of emotions--some rational, some not--from fear, anger and resentment to ignorance, racism and religious intolerance. And it shows no sign of abating anytime soon.

But if there ever was a time when Americans would've been expected to express such animosity and sweeping bias towards Muslims it was in the days, weeks and months after the 9/11 attacks. But what kept blood from spilling into the streets was the relative calm and reassuring words from then-President Bush, urging them to rise above their shock, pain and anger.

The true historical significance of Bush's behavior back then, and perhaps his greatest legacy, was in tamping down the anti-Muslim rhetoric and keeping Americans from going on an Islamic witch-hunt. Americans today need to once again hear his impassioned plea in the speech at the Islamic Center of Washington just six days after the attacks:

..."The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war. When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world...America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect."...

..."Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear cover must be not intimidated in America. That's not the America I know. That's not the America I value...That should not and that will not stand in America. Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don't represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior."

Bush spoke from the heart which, for better or worse, was always his greatest strength. While I personally disagreed with virtually 99% of his policies and decisions, I still to this day respect and admire his conviction. We always knew where Bush stood on the issues. Not sure I can say the same for President Obama, who seems more concerned with playing the middle, trying to make everyone happy and in the process pleasing no one. Not liberals, not conservatives, and, unfortunately, not even himself.

So it would be an invaluable contribution to the Mosque debate, and to his legacy, to hear Bush once again be the oasis of reason in a sea of Islamophobic hate-mongering by the likes of Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rudy Giuliani, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and others who've opportunistically hijacked this issue.

"I Can Has Cheezburger," says Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer

Well, not really. I Can Has Cheezburger is funny-cat-picture web site. But what Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer did say during her opening remarks at her debate with Democratic challenger Terry Goddard Wednesday was just as grammatically horrifying.

Brewer opened with an embarrassingly weak, slow-motion, rambling, repetitive and brief statement: "I have, uh, done so much, and I just cannot believe that we have changed everything since I have become your governor in the last 600 days. Arizona has been brought back from its abyss. We have cut the budget. We have balanced the budget, and we are moving forward. We have done everything we could possibly do."

Brewer, realizing that a stammering, empty-suited 25-second summation of her accomplishments and why she deserves to be re-elected was woefully insufficient, put her head down, stared at her notes, fidgeted with her hands, laughed nervously and after 15 seconds of painful silence only managed to come with "We have did what was right for Arizona." O-tay, Spanky!

For a legislator who all but wants to crucify illegal aliens, at least they speak better English than she does.


On another note, get ready for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation's 3rd Annual eBay Auction which launches September 24th. Wanna go to exclusive, one-on-one lunches with stars like Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, Cheryl Hines, Michelle Williams, Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson, Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Harris, Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto, Mark Cuban among others? Or how about VIP tickets and meet/greet to Joan Rivers' new stand-up show? We'll also be offering VIP tickets to THE COLBERT REPORT, THE DAILY SHOW, RACHEL RAY, ELLEN, Maroon 5 and Jimmy Buffett concerts; plus TV show set visits/meet & greets for THE GOOD WIFE, RIZZOLI & ISLES, BREAKING BAD, CASTLE, UNITES STATES OF TARA and RACHEL MADDOW; walk-on extra roles on COMMUNITY and IN PLAIN SIGHT; as well as movie walk-ons. Mark your calendars for September 24!

The The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is a 501 c 3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated in my late wife's honor, and with a simple mission: supporting women filmmakers. Adrienne, who wrote, directed and starred in the hit film WAITRESS, was killed November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've established scholarships, grants, finishing funds, screenwriting fellowships and living stipends at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; Columbia University; American Film Institute; Women in Film; IFP; the Nantucket Film Festival; the Tribeca Film Institute; and the Sundance Institute. Your generous contribution will go a long way towards helping us achieve this very important mission. Please click here to make a donation. Thank you.

Sarah "The Quitter" Palin's Delusion

Some moments in politics seem to last forever, and other times the moments and the memories are short and quickly forgotten. So I think it's important to remind everyone from Wasilla to Washington that Sarah Palin, the Mama Grizzly who wants to be president, is a first-class quitter who didn't have the dedication and will to make it through a full term as Alaska governor.

That's right, the volatile, temperamental, policy-challenged queen of sarcasm who expects to convince us in 2012 that she's got the gravitas, character and integrity to hold the most important, challenging and stressful job in the world, bailed on Alaskans after just half her term. The pressure of the job just got too much for her, so she decided to screw voters and her commitment to public service and instead chase the almighty dollar giving rancorous, incendiary partisan speeches all over the country. This is a person who wants the toughest job on the planet? Does she think the media, Democrats and voters in general will forget this little resume blip? Palin's gubernatorial "no mas" is one pearly-white skeleton in the closet that will haunt her the rest of her political career.

And now the Wasilla Wonder has been criss-crossing the country, sending out more inane Tweets than a 15 year-old, while throwing her dubious support behind myriad Tea Party candidates, the most recent being Joe Miller, who upset Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska's Republican primary. Miller and others like him have been all too happy to accept The Quitter's endorsement. They know how ravenous the Tea Baggers are when it comes to Mama Grizzly and all her moose-shootin' charms and pearls of non-wisdom.

But the bigger question is with Palin herself, and whether this little-educated, inexperienced, bad-tempered rabble-rousing quitter who lacks cultural, literary and intellectual curiosity and passion truly expects to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate in 2012 or if she's just plain delusional and drunk on her own hype.

The 2008 election showed just how few Republicans and independents wanted her in the White House, as John McCain abruptly learned. And a new poll showed that 65% of Alaskans who voted for Miller weren't at all influenced by Palin's endorsement. My guess is that two years from now Palin will once again be reminded that while some voters may salivate at the thought of hearing her speak, they still cringe at the thought of her as president. She's a quitter, and when it's time to pull that voting booth lever, no one likes or respects a quitter.


On another note, get ready for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation's 3rd Annual eBay Auction which launches September 24th. Wanna go to exclusive, one-on-one lunches with stars like Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, Cheryl Hines, Michelle Williams, Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson, Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Harris, Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto, Mark Cuban among others? Or how about VIP tickets and meet/greet to Joan Rivers' new stand-up show? We'll also be offering VIP tickets to THE COLBERT REPORT, THE DAILY SHOW, RACHEL RAY, ELLEN, Maroon 5 and Jimmy Buffett concerts; plus TV show set visits/meet & greets for THE GOOD WIFE, RIZZOLI & ISLES, BREAKING BAD, CASTLE, UNITES STATES OF TARA and RACHEL MADDOW; walk-on extra roles on COMMUNITY and IN PLAIN SIGHT; as well as movie walk-ons. Mark your calendars for September 24!

The The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is a 501 c 3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated in my late wife's honor, and with a simple mission: supporting women filmmakers. Adrienne, who wrote, directed and starred in the hit film WAITRESS, was killed November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've established scholarships, grants, finishing funds, screenwriting fellowships and living stipends at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; Columbia University; American Film Institute; Women in Film; IFP; the Nantucket Film Festival; the Tribeca Film Institute; and the Sundance Institute. Your generous contribution will go a long way towards helping us achieve this very important mission. Please click here to make a donation. Thank you.

Mission Not Accomplished: The True Cost of the Iraq War

President Barack Obama will address the nation Tuesday evening to officially announce that combat operations in Iraq have come to an end, and that the drawdown of 90,000 U.S. troops is underway. When completed, a military presence of 50,000 troops will remain to assist the Iraqi government in keeping the peace. The real question about Obama's speech is, will anyone be watching.

Americans have simply grown bored, tired and indifferent to the Iraq War. Truth be told, it never felt like the nation was at war, except to the soldiers fighting it or to their families. On any given day, in any given city or town these past seven years, one would be hard-pressed to find the sort of collective awareness, unity and patriotism of World War II, or even the turbulence, outrage and protest of Vietnam. Americans simply went about their business, with no personal sacrifice. Housing prices skyrocketed, stock prices soared, personal wealth grew and then the bottom eventually fell out. And now, as Obama proudly goes before the cameras to boast of delivering on his promise to bring the troops home, does anyone really care? They're more worried about their homes, their savings and their jobs. Once again, it's the economy, stupid! Sorry, prez, but America tuned out of Iraq years ago.

For the record, I care very much about Iraq and the toll it's taken on our country, as do many other Democrats who opposed the war from the start. In seven years, over 4400 troops were killed, almost 40,000 injured or maimed, and we've spent close to $1-trillion. But those are just the obvious, and very unfortunate, stats. The war has had tremendous impact on so many other aspects of American life as well.

Ever since former President George W. Bush invaded Iraq under what as much as half the population believes was false and/or manufactured pretenses, the war has served to divide the country like no other event in history. It has driven a sharp political wedge straight down both Pennsylvania Avenue and Main Street. America has never been as polarized as it is now. Washington has never been as partisan. The vitriolic relationship between Red and Blue America no doubt has the war as its genesis. Bush, the self-anointed uniter, just may go down in history as the greatest divider we've ever had.

The war has also ravaged the U.S. economy. The $1-trillion cost, coupled with Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy which cost $2.5-trillion, have done more to balloon our deficit than health care reform, the economic stimulus package or any other of Obama's spending initiatives.

Another cost of the Iraq war is the distraction it's been from our mission in Afghanistan, where we took our eye off the real enemy, Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, who experts believe were able to cross into Pakistan and base themselves there as a result. The Afghanistan war is now nine years old, with no clear mission or end in sight, and with the country mired by increasing violence and political corruption. Fourteen U.S. soldiers have been killed there in just the last several days alone. It's an undisputed mess.

As for Iraq itself, Obama will not be using the term "mission accomplished" in his speech for a reason. That's because the mission is not accomplished, and won't be until Iraq can demonstrate in a lasting way that it can protect its citizens and sustain its fragile Democracy using its own police and military forces. To be sure, as David Brooks and Paul Wolfowitz wrote in their Tuesday NY Times op-eds, there has been much political, social, economic and national security progress made in Iraq, which is definitely a reason to celebrate. But it will take a couple of years at least before we can truly celebrate the success of this war. The fact is, Iraq is stuck in a six-month post-election stalemate, and, insurgent violence persists, as the recent coordinated multi-city terror attacks which killed 60 demonstrates. Lastly, there is still the great risk of civil war amongst the Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions which all have a great stake in Iraq's delicate balance of power.


On another note, get ready for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation's 3rd Annual eBay Auction which launches September 24th. Wanna go to exclusive, one-on-one lunches with stars like Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, Cheryl Hines, Michelle Williams, Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson, Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Harris, Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto, Mark Cuban among others? Or how about VIP tickets and meet/greet to Joan Rivers' new stand-up show? We'll also be offering VIP tickets to THE COLBERT REPORT, THE DAILY SHOW, RACHEL RAY, ELLEN, Maroon 5 and Jimmy Buffett concerts; plus TV show set visits/meet & greets for THE GOOD WIFE, HUNG, NURSE JACKIE, RIZZOLI & ISLES, BREAKING BAD; CASTLE and UNITES STATES OF TARA; walk-on extra roles on COMMUNITY and IN PLAIN SIGHT; as well as movie walk-ons. Mark your calendars for September 24!

The The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is a 501 c 3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated in my late wife's honor, and with a simple mission: supporting women filmmakers. Adrienne, who wrote, directed and starred in the hit film WAITRESS, was killed November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've established scholarships, grants, finishing funds, screenwriting fellowships and living stipends at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; Columbia University; American Film Institute; Women in Film; IFP; the Nantucket Film Festival; the Tribeca Film Institute; and the Sundance Institute. Your generous contribution will go a long way towards helping us achieve this very important mission. Please click here to make a donation. Thank you.

Racist Maniac Stabs Muslim Cabbie. Congratulations Republicans, Your Hate-Mongering is Working

The despicable partisan-fueled campaign waged by Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rudy Giuliani and other leading Republicans to demonize the entire Muslim faith is unfortunately starting to influence the misguided racist animals who hear this fear-mongering and in a warped sense of patriotism take it upon themselves to protect America against the big bad Islamic bogeyman they're told is out to get us.

What the GOP leaders and right wing media have been doing is spewing racist venom and heightening tensions over the planned Muslim community center and prayer room two blocks from Ground Zero. They've been stirring the pot of ignorance and hate with broad brush accusations against the center's leaders, its funding sources and alleged connections to terrorists (where have we heard that one before?).

"Are you a Muslim?" is what 21-year-old Michael Enright asked cabbie Ahmed H. Sharif Tuesday night in Manhattan, following up with "Salaam aleikum" (peace be with you) and "How's your Ramadan going?" It quickly turned ugly, with Enright cursing at the driver, screaming "This is the checkpoint, motherfucker" and "I have to bring you down." He then whipped out a hunting knife, slashed Sharif's throat and stabbed him in the face, arm and hand. The wounds required 22 stitches, and Sharif was released from the hospital ok but understandably scared and shaken.

Congratulations Newt. Congratulations Sarah. Congratulations Rudy. And congratulations Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and all the other Republican rabble-rousers who are front and center in this controversy. Sharif's blood is on your hands. You are the ones responsible for this attack....because you are doing exactly what George W. Bush did nine years ago when conflating al Qaeda terrorists with Saddam Hussein and Iraq, turning the masses against an easy scapegoat. You're the ones who are now conflating the 9/11 terrorist attacks with the entire Muslim faith. You're the ones filling Enright's and others' heads with not-so-subliminal suggestions of violence and revenge. Sharif was lucky. The next victim of your incendiary rhetoric and hate-speak may not be.

And, here's the kicker: as Jon Stewart brilliantly pointed out this week, Fox News has accused a Saudi prince as being behind the terrorist-sympathetic group funding the downtown NYC Islamic center. And this radical Saudi is none other than Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Saudi, who's just happens to be the second largest shareholder in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp which, you guessed it, owns Fox News!

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GOP's Golden Boy Boehner's Dark Economic Prognosis is About as Fake as His Freakishly Dark Skin Tone

House Minority Leader John Boehner (OH) is a hopeful man. He hopes that voters are both stupid and forgetful. He hopes they have no recollection whatsoever of the eight years of largely Republican rule during the Bush years; years that saw a loss of eight million jobs and the failed policies that led to the worst financial meltdown in America's history since the Great Depression over eighty years ago. And he's banking on this memory loss to propel his elitist, do-nothing party back into power in the November midterms. Boehner's GOP needs to have a net pick up of 39 seats to oust his political nemesis, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA), and re-take control of the House.

Boehner, the future-Speaker wannabe, challenged President Obama Tuesday to fire his economic team over what he called a failure to turn the economy around. "We do not have the luxury of waiting months for the president to pick scapegoats for his failing stimulus policies."

Boehner's disingenuous assertions ignore reality, and the huge economic improvements Obama's made since taking office. A new Congressional Budget Office report cited the president's stimulus package as having lowered the unemployment rate in the second quarter of the year; creating 1.4 million to 3.3 million jobs; and increasing productivity by approximately 4.5%. Boehner needs to remember where the economy was in January of 2009 as George W. Bush was preparing to exit the White House. The nation's output was contracting at an annual 6% rate, jobs were being lost at a 700,000 monthly clip, and American industry--from automobiles to banking to Wall Street to retail and housing--was on the precipice of disaster. While we still have a long way to go towards full employment and financial prosperity, America's economy has made monumental progress and is clearly headed in the right direction.

In response to Boehner's revisionist history, vice president Joe Biden came out swinging: "For eight years before we arrived, Mr. Boehner and his party ran this economy and the middle class into the ground. They took the $237 billion surplus they inherited from the Clinton administration and left us with a $1.3 trillion deficit, and, in the process, quadrupled the national debt — all before we had turned on the lights in the West Wing.

While acknowledging the GOP's Bush-era complicity in Congress's profligate spending, Boehner boasted of Republicans' near-unified opposition to Obama's stimulus bill, health care reform and environmental legislation. "We began to show people we are different." No, the only thing you're showing people is that your #1 goal as a party is to screw the poor and middle class while obsessively pursuing massive tax cuts for the rich. Sorry, Johnny, but you're singin' the same old Republican tune. The billion-dollar question is, will voters realize that come November....and remember why they kicked you and your useless party out of power in the first place.


On another note, get ready for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation's 3rd Annual eBay Auction which launches September 24th. Wanna go to exclusive, one-on-one lunches with stars like Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, Cheryl Hines, Michelle Williams, Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson, Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Harris, Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto, Mark Cuban among others? Or how about VIP tickets and meet/greet to Joan Rivers' new stand-up show? We'll also be offering VIP tickets to THE COLBERT REPORT, THE DAILY SHOW, RACHEL RAY, ELLEN, Maroon 5 and Jimmy Buffett concerts; plus TV show set visits/meet & greets for THE GOOD WIFE, HUNG, NURSE JACKIE, RIZZOLI & ISLES, BREAKING BAD; CASTLE and UNITES STATES OF TARA; walk-on extra roles on COMMUNITY and IN PLAIN SIGHT; as well as movie walk-ons. Mark your calendars for September 24!

The The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is a 501 c 3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated in my late wife's honor, and with a simple mission: supporting women filmmakers. Adrienne, who wrote, directed and starred in the hit film WAITRESS, was killed November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've established scholarships, grants, finishing funds, screenwriting fellowships and living stipends at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; Columbia University; American Film Institute; Women in Film; IFP; the Nantucket Film Festival; the Tribeca Film Institute; and the Sundance Institute. Your generous contribution will go a long way towards helping us achieve this very important mission. Please click here to make a donation. Thank you.

We Are All Victims of 9/11

Something very important seems to be getting lost in the Ground Zero community center and mosque debate. On September 11, 2001, 3000 innocent people died in the horrific attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania perpetrated by the terrorist group al Qaeda. To be sure, the families of those killed have experienced tremendous pain and suffering. No one denies their loss. And a majority of them have voiced vehement opposition to the planned mosque, saying that it is an affront and a dishonor to the victims and their families. But we need to be very clear about one thing: all Americans are victims of 9/11. We may have experienced this unfathomable tragedy on very different levels, but we all suffered that day, and all of our lives have changed since.

No American owns this tragedy more than any other American, and no one gets to speak for the rest of us. We are all entitled to our opinions on this very controversial mosque matter, and that's what seems to be getting lost in all the political posturing. While I did not lose a family member on that fateful day, I did lose a friend. And I live five blocks from Ground Zero, as I have for the last eighteen years. I breathed that polluted and potentially toxic air for months, and I have a very vested interest not only in affairs of national scope, but of those in my personal backyard as well. Does my voice not count? Does my opinion not count? Am I, and countless others like me, expected to yield to the forces of anger, revenge and bigotry simply because I did not lose a family member to terrorists?

The truth is, while I did not lose a loved one on 9/11 I have experienced unfathomable pain and suffering when my wife was brutally murdered in 2006 by a 19-year-old illegal alien, leaving me to raise our 2 year old daughter alone. Was I shocked? Horrified? Angry? Vengeful? Full of hate? Sure. During these past four years I've probably experienced every emotion one could. But this horrible experience did not fundamentally change who I was or what I believed in. It did not change my core values. It did not change my love of country or my respect for our rule of law. It did not give me the right to circumvent the U.S. Constitution or re-interpret the laws which protect and serve our citizenry simply because I was suffering. It also did not make me the de facto authority on illegal immigration, nor turn me into a xenophobe.

I am truly saddened by what's happening in America today. Saddened that so many are forgetting what our nation stands for and the principles on which it was built. America is a refuge for millions who suffer discrimination all over the world. This is where people come to be free, to escape religious persecution, not to find it. The conflating of the 9/11 terrorists with the overall Muslim faith, and the fear-mongering that goes along with all the incendiary political rhetoric being tossed around, conjures up memories of Japanese internment camps, McCarthyism, the KKK and other ugly chapters in U.S. history. Terrorists attacked us on 9/11, not the Muslim faith. As such, suggesting that this mosque shouldn't exist two blocks from Ground Zero is tantamount to suggesting that, because of the priesthood's pedophilia scandals, that a Catholic church shouldn't be two blocks from a school. Both assertions are equally irrational. Have we as a nation learned nothing since the 1940's?

Fear is ugly, and it makes people do and say awful things to each other. And the proposed community center and mosque near Ground Zero has, and rightly so, stirred the passions and emotions of many. But we cannot allow one group of 9/11 victims to demand that other 9/11 victims abrogate their core principles or change their perception of America's core values. We are all 9/11 victims, and we all have a say on this subject. And that includes the many Muslims who died that day as well, and their families. More so than anything else in this debate, American pluralism, and the U.S. Constitution which guarantees it, is what needs to be defended and honored.

An Open Letter to Newt Gingrich

Dear Newt (May I call you Newt? Not because I seek any sort of convivial familiarity, but simply because you remind me of a slimy lizard):

There's been lots of speculation lately as to your political motives and aspirations, and whether or not you're planning a run for the White House in 2012. So I am here to ask you, in fact beg you, to please run for president. There, I've said it. And I mean it with all the passion and dedication of a card-carrying liberal who wishes to see your political fortunes erupt like Mt. Vesuvius. And if I may be so bold as to ask, even beg, for another favor...please name Sarah Palin as your vice-presidential running mate. This would be a Tea Bagger's dream ticket, and a Democrat's wet dream ticket. My goodness, I believe I just soiled myself a little just thinking about it.

Yes, Newt (snake would be so much more of a fitting name, no?), you should definitely run for president. What else should a delusional, narcissistic, self-aggrandizing, hypocritical Republican such as yourself do, just sit around raising tens of millions of dollars a year for your 527? What good does that do the GOP when you can perhaps control the joystick on the Oval Office desk? You know you want it, man! In fact, you want it so bad you can taste it. You've wanted it for so long, and ya know what? You deserve that damn Republican nomination. After all you've done for the party? Who else should get it, some comatose drone like Tim Pawlenty? Paw-leeze! Or some bug-eyed cartoon-character like Bobby Jindal? Or the GOP's Breck Girl, Mitt Romney? Or the Mama Grizzly herself, Palin? No, Newt, this nomination is yours. You're the one all those anger-drippin' Tea Baggers want.

Just think, after you and The Wasilla Wonder are nominated you can start thinking about your cabinet, and how you can stock it with brilliant 21st Century thinkers and bridge-builders like Rand Paul, Ken Buck and Sharron Angle. Sean Hannity could be your Communications Director. Rush Limbaugh your head of Community Outreach. You can even revive Dick Cheney and appoint him your Middle East Special Envoy. I hear they just love him over there. Good grief, man, just think about the bazillions of fired up Tea Party peeps you'd draw to the polls.

Now here's the good part. If you run, we on the left will tear into you like a Republican Congressman on a House page. We'll remind everyone at every turn that you cheated on and shamelessly and unceremoniously dumped two sick wives. How you had an affair with your much older high school teacher and your much younger aide before marrying these mistresses. How you asked wife #2, Marianne, to "tolerate" your tawdry affair with future wife #3 Callista in some sick, kinky open-marriage fantasy. We'll resurrect the 1982 House Banking scandal and your 22 bounced checks. We'll bring up your 1984 and 1995 book scandals. We'll dust off the GOPAC scandal and revisit your illegal use of non-profit funds for political purposes. And we'll expose your "family-values" hypocrisy 'round the clock like a McDonald's drive-thru. We'll slap the immoral, radical, fringe, dangerous tag on you so often and so hard you'll feel like you went 15 rounds with Mike Tyson. We'll play your smug, arrogant, defiant "It doesn't matter what I live" quote so much you'll feel like you're in elevator-music hell. And by the time we're done with you, even someone like Dennis Kucinich will be able to beat you. And just think...I haven't even mentioned yet what we'll do with Ms. Hopey-Changey-I-Can-See-Russia-From-My-Window.

So whattya say, Snake, you up for the challenge?

What's Truly at Stake in the Ground Zero Mosque Debate

The controversy over the proposed Muslim community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero rages on, with President Obama issuing unequivocal support Friday night on Constitutional grounds, while asserting the next day that he will not comment on the "wisdom" of the decision to build it at that location.

On the other side, shameless politicizing radical right-wing fanatics like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are fanning the flames of hatred with their incendiary rhetoric, comparing Muslims behind the mosque project to Nazis and serving as the self-anointed spokespeople for 9/11 victims and their families.



But the truth is, not every 9/11 family opposes the center. In fact, there's quite a large group of supporters.

"There is no simple, singular 9/11 group who really should or could speak for all 9/11 family members," said Donna Marsh O'Connor of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a coalition of over 250 families who support the building of the mosque. O'Connor's 29-year-old pregnant daughter was killed in one of the World Trade Center towers. "This is not a small issue, this is what America has always been -- a place where people come to escape religious persecution. I can understand people saying that this is a slap. This does hurt. But we don't change fundamentally what our nation is about because it will hurt people."

Charles Wolf of New York City lost his wife, Katherine, 56, in the attacks. He supports the mosque "100 percent."

Herb Ouida's son Todd died on 9/11, and warns against harsh tone of the opposition. He said, "What we are doing is we are saying to the world that we are at war with Islam. And we can't be. I want my grandchildren to live in a better world."

Frank Tatum's mother was killed in the attacks as well. "I think it's important not to give into the hysteria. We do have religious freedom. I know the wounds are still very open, me myself included but you have to look at the big picture. You can't practice these freedoms only when it suits us. You have to practice them all along."

First responders have also voiced their support for the mosque. Former Emergency Medical Services worker Marvin Bethea, 50, was forced to retire six years ago because of 9/11-related breathing problems. "Even though my life has changed, I don't hate the Muslims....I understand the families are hurt and lost, but how do you sit here and condemn all Muslims as being terrorists? That's just bigotry and hatred. We're a better nation than that. The diversity that we have, this is what New York is about. But we have such prejudices, some of us. We have a long way to go."

Some claim that the building of a mosque so close to Ground Zero dishonors those who died that day. But I'd like to suggest the opposite; the the mosque actually honors the dead by symbolizing the upholding of the laws and freedoms that make America great. I cringe at the thought that those who died so innocently that fateful day would condone the mass discrimination of an entire religion of people in the name of revenge. That's no honor.

We live in a nation of laws. And we live by the rule of law. And the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. We don't govern in some ad hoc, knee-jerk, arbitrary manner based on the prejudices, sensitivities or whims of a select few. We also don't govern based on majority rule. If that were the case, despicable groups like the KKK and white supremacists would not be able to march and protest in places like Selma, Ala and Skokie, Ill against the wishes of blacks, Jews and others who find such activity highly insensitive and offensive, and rightly so. But the Constitution is quite clear about the freedoms we enjoy such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom to assemble, as well as the laws that prohibit religious discrimination. Sorry, but there's no gray area here. We may not like the words or actions of some people or groups and might find them reprehensible, but that still doesn't give us the right to impose our views on the rest of society and expect decisions to be made based on those narrow judgements.

We cannot become a nation where we allow the squeakiest wheel of ignorance and intolerance to get the most grease. We also don't live in a nation where victims of a crime, or their families, get to rewrite the Constitution... no matter how sensitive we are to their pain and suffering.

It's dangerous to suggest that the entire Muslim faith--and by extension the proposed mosque or mosques in general--is fundamentally incompatible with American pluralism, and therefore poses a greater risk to our citizenry than other faiths and houses of worship. And we cannot allow the 9/11 attacks to be used as a pawn in the political and race/religion wars. Let's remember, we're at war with al Qaeda, not Islam.

To be sure, some will find the mosque's location a 'slap in the face' and an act of supreme insensitivity to the families of those who died on that horrific day. But where do we draw that line in deciding the who/what/where of this community center? Is two blocks too close? Should it be three? Five? Ten? Should we also shut down the area's other mosques, Muslim prayer centers which have existed peacefully in the community for many years prior to 9/11? What about the area's strip clubs? Do we close them down too because some might find them offensive and a 'slap' as well? And who gets to decide all this? Clearly, there's strong, passionate views on both sides of this issue, and especially from the 9/11 families. Which is why Constitutional law should be the engine that drives this debate and not the very personal, subjective views of some.

Gingrich Family Values: Stick a Fork in Newt

If Newt Gingrich expects to run for president in 2012, let alone win, he better think again. Seems his ex-wife Marianne has a little score to settle, and has gone public in a scathing magazine interview about her former hubby's kinky past, especially as it relates to marriage. Thanks to Mrs. #2, we've now confirmed what most of us have known all along: that when it comes to family-values, Gingrich, like most Republicans, believes there's two sets...one for him and one for everyone else.

So what's in Newt's closet? Well, Marianne unloaded her bombshells in ESQUIRE's September profile of the former House Speaker. Here's some of the juiciest revelations:

-That he met his first wife Jackie when she was his high-school geometry teacher. They married when he was 19 and she 26.

-He later dumped Jackie, while she was recovering from cancer, to marry then-mistress Marianne.

-He later dumped Marianne, for mistress and eventual third wife Callista, while she suffered from Multiple Sclerosis (apparently Newt has huge issues with the marital vow "in sickness and in health"). While married to Marianne, Newt wanted her to "tolerate" his affair with Callista, who is 23 years his junior.

-In answering an incredulous Marianne who questioned his hypocritical public family-values grandstanding while cheating on her with his much younger aide Callista, Gingrich arrogantly replied: "It doesn't matter what I do. People need to hear what I have to say. There's no one else who can say what I say. It doesn't matter what I live." Talk about delusions of grandeur.

Now don't get me wrong. In general, I sit in judgement of no one, especially those with marital failure and even infidelity. There's often more to a story than meets the eye, and no one's perfect. What a couple does behind closed doors is their business, not mine. But what I do have a major issue with is arrogant, self-righteous morality-cops like Gingrich who sanctimoniously lecture the rest of us on family-values while they're out cheating on their wives, screwing everything in sight. And in Newt's case in particular, even suggesting that the Mrs. sanction the affair. What kind of sick, twisted, radical family-values is that?

We surely remember how these skeevy hypocrites like Gingrich crucified Bill Clinton back in the 90's over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. He became just the second sitting president in United States history to be impeached. Yet one by one these witch-hunting hypocrites including Gingrich, Bob Barr, Henry Hyde, Robert Livingston, Helen Chenoweth, Dan Burton, John Ensign, Larry Craig and others were all subsequently embroiled in their own humiliating public sex scandals. These philandering phonies went ahead with their Clintoncide despite knowing they couldn't keep their own pants on. What unmitigated gall.

I cannot tell you downright giddy I am to see Gingrich's marital indiscretions broadcast for the entire world to see in all their disgusting, shameful, specious glory. No one deserves to be metaphorically stoned in public with his integrity and reputation dragged through the mud more than the smug, duplicitous, self-aggrandizing phony Gingrich.

As Stephen Colbert noted about Gingrich Wednesday night, "He's so morally upright he's only had sex after he was married, just not always to the woman he was married to."

It's hard to image Gingrich setting sail next year for a run at the White House. As I've written here on this blog years ago, his serial philandering will keep him from ever sitting behind the Oval Office desk. But if he does decide to defy conventional wisdom and run anyway, it'll be a lot of fun to watch him implode.

When will these glass-house-dwellin' Republicans finally learn not to throw stones...


On another note, get ready for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation's 3rd Annual eBay Auction which launches September 24th. Wanna go to lunch with stars like Jon Hamm, Cheryl Hines, Michelle Williams, Rachael Harris, Julianna Margulies, Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto among others? Or how about VIP tickets and meet/greet to Joan Rivers' new stand-up show? We'll also be offering VIP tickets to THE COLBERT REPORT, RACHEL RAY, ELLEN, Maroon 5 and Jimmy Buffett concerts; plus TV show set visits on RIZZOLI & ISLES and IN PLAIN SIGHT; as well as movie walk-ons. Mark your calendars for September 24!

The The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is a 501 c 3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated in my late wife's honor, and with a simple mission: supporting women filmmakers. Adrienne, who wrote, directed and starred in the hit film WAITRESS, was killed November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've established scholarships, grants, finishing funds, screenwriting fellowships and living stipends at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; Columbia University; American Film Institute; Women in Film; IFP; the Nantucket Film Festival; the Tribeca Film Institute; and the Sundance Institute. Your generous contribution will go a long way towards helping us achieve this very important mission. Please click here to make a donation. Thank you.

Elite Republican Nepotism Nerds Are Out of Touch with Average Americans' Struggles

An interesting observation was made while watching Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. As usual, the second half's expert panel was mostly Republican, comprised of conservatives Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard; Liz Cheney, daughter of former Veep Darth Vader; and of course, the host himself. The left was held up by Juan Williams, who always tries his valiant best despite often being drowned out by the right-wingers.

When the panel discussed issues pertaining to the economy, jobs, health care reform, entitlement programs and taxes, they came at it all with the usual rhetoric which reinforces the partisan propaganda about how it's the rich who start businesses, create jobs and drive the economy....while liberals just want to give away the store to the have-nots at the expense of the haves through more government hand-outs. Why can't everyone just pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and make their own way?, is the common Republican refrain. No free lunches!

But what the children of privilege like Wallace, Kristol and Cheney so arrogantly and cavalierly ignore is that their prominent careers are built on the foundation of nepotism....that good old fashioned tradition of rich mommy and daddy giving you that first big break.

And that's the whole point. 99% of Americans don't have wealthy parents who can give them a start. They don't have a former U.S. vice president dad to help get them exposed and primed for a prominent job as a political analyst. They don't have a "Godfather of Neoconservative" and Commentary Magazine editor dad who helped pave the way for their coveted political and publishing positions. They don't have a 60 Minutes-famous pop who can open the kind of broadcast news doors that the average journalism student can only dream of. And that's why they can be so smug, so insensitive and in such denial. They're the kids who were born on 3rd base and think they hit a triple.

The truth is, most Americans do have to fend for themselves in this ravaged economy and ever-competitive jobs market. They don't have rich parents to fall back on. There's no security blanket. No cushion. In fact, for many Americans, all they have is the government. That's their rich mommy and daddy. That's who they go to when they need a start. Need a loan. Need help. Or when they crash and burn and have nowhere else to turn. It's easy for the famous last-named Cheneys, Kristols and Wallaces of the world to sanctimoniously lecture the rest of us on what it means to be independent and self-sufficient when they had their own privileged, elitist version of big government handouts......the family kind.

Will Prop 8 and Gay Marriage Derail the GOP this November?

Just when the sputtering economy was seemingly presenting Republicans with the well-paved road to victory this November along comes Proposition 8 and gay marriage, the political equivalent of GOP crack. And these self-righteous morality junkies just can't get enough. They're addicted to guns, God and gays, as well as immigration and abortion, and relapse during every campaign they wage. Watch it be the death of them in the midterms as they embark on this diversionary homophobic witch hunt while 14-million Americans are unemployed and the poor and middle classes have been financially ravaged. To Republicans, It's the homo's, stupid! Can Karl Rove be far behind?

The economy is still facing unprecedented challenges, especially in the jobs market, as Friday's disappointing employment report indicated. But all the GOP has to offer voters are spending cuts on the lower and middle classes and huge tax cuts for the rich. It's the same old song. Nothing innovative. And not terribly popular with middle-America. Which is why it's so easy for them to lose focus and fall back into their comfortable hot-button social issues trap yet again.

Voters lapped up that polarizing rhetoric during the Bush/Cheney/Rove glory days. They astoundingly put aside their own financial interests and tapped their personal prejudices instead. While Republicans are predicting massive victory this year and a repeat of their "revolution" of 1994, that victory was fueled by New Gingrich's Contract with America which focused on issues that had broad popular support like welfare reform, term limits, tax cuts and balancing the budget. The Gingrich army didn't invade our bedrooms, as the current leadership is trying to do. And that will be political suicide. Voters are much more focused on economic issues this year, and any attempt to divert them away from their pocketbooks will be a disaster for the GOP.

On a completely different note, here's a little question for my Republican friends: how come Obama, who you label as the most liberal president in history, is against gay marriage? And, why would he appoint a Supreme Court justice, Elena Kagen, who's said there's no constitutional right to gay marriage? I'll be waiting for your answer....

An Open Letter to Frightened Married Heterosexuals

In the wake of the overturning of California's Prop 8 ban on same sex marriage, you terrified straight folks are once again regurgitating the old homophobic propaganda that gay marriage threatens the great institution of "natural" heterosexual marriage. You know, the kind that Mel Gibson, O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, Joey Buttafuoco, Klaus von Bulow, Newt Gingrich, Mark Sanford, John Edwards and countless others have been so respectful of.

Of course, nothing could be as ridiculous and unfounded as this threat, which is based on ignorance and self-hatred. I'm sorry, but two gay dudes could literally be fisting each other on my front lawn while blasting Liza Minelli and it still won't threaten my straight relationship in any way. If you truly think it'll threaten yours then perhaps you're not as straight as you think you are. Maybe you actually want some of that gay action, and rather than be honest with yourself about who you really are, you amp up the testosterone and lash out at those who are living truthfully.

Listen, heteros, just what the hell are you so afraid of anyway? Why does it bother you so much...why does it arouse so much anger and passion... at the thought of two gay people in love who wish to marry? Do you think preventing gays from marrying will make homosexuality go away? Do you think preventing same sex marriages will end same sex relationships? Are you paranoid that a roving, predatory, wedding-banded rainbow-cock will come flying into your unsuspecting manly-man mouth if you walk down a street full of married gays? This issue is about human rights. Civil rights. Peace, love and happiness. So how about you just chill the fuck out and live your life and let gays live theirs?

All you petrified straights should get used to the idea that gays and gay marriage aren't going away. You should finally show some decency, respect and appreciation for our gay friends, as they are part of America's fabric. They stand beside you as they fight your wars, teach your kids, care for your sick elders, protect your homes, fight your fires, pay your salaries, do your taxes and more. They love this country just as you do, and they deserve the same freedoms as you, especially went it comes to sharing their lives with those they love.

To be sure, gays are not the first group to be discriminated against when it comes to marriage. Prior to a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1967, interracial marriage was against the law in many states. Think about how unfathomable it would be for it to still be illegal today. Well, this narrow-minded, infuriating, fear-based effort to keep gays from marrying is just as unfathomable..

Federal Court Overturns CA's Prop 8 Ban on Gay Marriage. Closeted Republicans Everywhere Rejoice

California's controversial Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriages, was overturned Wednesday by a U.S. district judge in San Francisco. The decision was a major victory for gay activists.

Prop 8, or California Marriage Protection Act, was a voter-approved ballot measure in the November 2008 elections. It reversed the prior California Supreme Court ruling that gay couples had a constitutional right to marry.

In his 130-page ruling, Chief US District Judge Vaughn Walker wrote: "The evidence shows that Prop. 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution, the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians and because Prop. 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes the Prop. 8 is unconstitutional."

The suit was brought by plaintiffs Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, a Burbank couple seeking to marry, and was argued by the legal team of Ted Olson and David Boies, bitter foes in the Gore v Bush battle of 2000.

As expected, gays from New York to California rejoiced over the decision, and were no doubt joined in celebration from the likes of Mark Foley, Larry Craig, Ted Haggard, Bob Allen and countless other closeted, formerly gay-bashing Washington conservatives humiliated in salacious gay-sex scandals. And while no seemingly heterosexual Republican politician currently serving could outwardly show his euphoria over the ban's reversal, we're certain it was a very different story for those in the GOP (Gay Ole Party) closet.

Bristol's Baby Daddy's Another Baby's Daddy!

First it was true teenage love, and then an unwed pregnancy and an imminent gunshot kiddie wedding. Then it was a sensational tabloid split, with Baby Daddy trashing his famous almost-in-laws. Then poor Grandma was horrified as these two crazy attention-starved, money-grubbing kids got back together, disingenuously avowing their love on the cover of People as Baby Daddy confessed to having lied about Granny's many warts. Then the unthinkable happened: Baby Daddy lied yet again, telling his Baby Mama he was headed to California for a hunting trip but instead visiting his other baby...the one his almost-soon-to-be-teen-bride didn't know about. And once again Baby Daddy, the nightmare who may finally go away for Granny, abruptly got kicked to the cold, Alaskan curb.

Welcome to the Palin family, where good old fashioned conservative family values are about as foreign as the Russian skyline.....ya know, the one Mamma Grizzly can see from her Wasilla window. While daughter Bristol and Baby Daddy Levi Johnston are the gossip gifts that keep on giving to Democrats, they've given Mama G nothing but fire-breathing heartburn. How can Ms. Death Panel possibly spin this PR fiasco? Remember during the 2008 campaign how she claimed Bristol's situation demonstrated true family grit? Yeah, maybe for The Adams Family.

And now with Palin on the campaign trail once again, with self-righteous, morality-police guns ablaze, it's comic relief listening to her Tea Party drivel about family values and "taking back America" to the way our Founding Fathers would want it. But ya know what would really make the Founding Fathers heads spin? The Palin family's media-whorish, amoral behavior. You betchya!

Mama Grizzly's Cojones

Sarah Palin's mouth is an indisputable train wreck. The self-proclaimed Mama Grizzly over the weekend was at her rhetorical best yet again. Commenting on Fox News over Arizona’s controversial immigration law, The Wasila Wonder said that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) “has the cojones (balls) that our president does not have.” And make no mistake, if anyone should know about balls it's the Alaskan Tea Bagger.

The current midterm election landscape has been fertile ground for Palin who, without official political perch or requisite intelligence, has been mouthing off against everything from health care and financial reform to the $20-billion BP claims fund. She's become the Queen of the Party of Hell No, relishing her role as rabble-rouser-in-chief.

But the key question remains: outside of her hard-core right wing Tea Party groupies who salivate at her every word like she's the Depression-era FDR, can Mama Grizzly's inciting, divisive, substance-lacking rhetoric appeal to moderate Republicans and independents as the GOP works to regain control of Congress, or will her hate-speak turn off these all-important voters? So far, like her Tea Baggin' pals Michelle Bachmann, Sharron Angle and Rand Paul, Palin offers nothing meaningful to the debate and excites no one beyond her narrow-minded, race-baiting base.