The Patriot Post® · Hollywood's Haters

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/51356-hollywoods-haters-2017-09-19

I don’t need to spend a lot of time explaining what you already know — that Sunday night’s Emmy Awards were a left-wing Trump-bashing hate fest. As one media reporter put it: “Donald Trump Overkill Stains Stephen Colbert’s Hosting Debut.”

Predictably, the “Handmaid’s Tale” was the big winner of the night. The series is based on a book written by a Canadian author who was terrified by Ronald Reagan’s election. Progressives have seized on its anti-Christian dystopian message as a warning for our day, as if women are at risk of being enslaved in Donald Trump's America.

As I pointed out earlier this year, the hell described in the “Handmaid’s Tale” is real for many women — in the Islamic world. But Hollywood’s so-called “progressives” refuse to confront real misogyny where it exists. Instead, they pretend that they are somehow under siege because Planned Parenthood’s funding may be at risk.

Here’s another observation: When did it become acceptable for someone who served in the White House to start bashing the president, not a year or two later, but just a few days after his departure? Perhaps some people were amused by former Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s brief appearance Sunday night, but for the life of me, I can’t imagine why he would join those jackals in piling on the president he served.

The only “good news” I can report on the Emmy Awards is that early figures indicate that this year’s show earned record low ratings. Trump’s tweets may have a bigger audience!

In some ways, Hollywood’s hatred of Trump is his ace in the hole. The more the left-wing elites despise the president, the more Middle America loves him. By the way, it is also worth noting that even as the White House is trying to find a way to work with liberals in Congress, the liberals in Hollywood are not taking a timeout from their non-stop bashing of the president.

Attacking Our History

As the nation struggles to deal with the legacy of Confederate monuments, news broke over the weekend that the Dallas Independent School District has launched a review of 20 schools named after historical figures. Among the “suspect” names are several of America’s Founding Fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Benjamin Franklin. Texas legends such as Sam Houston may also be on the chopping block.

I feel confident in saying that none of the politicians reportedly passing judgment on our Founding Fathers are capable of matching Jefferson’s wisdom. His words in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence — “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” — ultimately served as the death knell of slavery and segregation.

I doubt any of these pinhead progressives could match the genius of James Madison, the father of our Constitution, or the sheer brilliance of Benjamin Franklin. 

Not one of today’s malcontents who whine about George Washington’s faults has the courage to lead the Continental Army through the desperation of Valley Forge to ultimate victory at Yorktown. In fact, I doubt many of them even know the significance of Valley Forge and Yorktown.

Sadly, we are not doing a very good job of educating our children about America’s history. Too often we are teaching them anti-American history.

The idea that the typical big city elected official is qualified to sit in judgment of the giants who founded this nation is obscene. The really sad thing is that if these Dallas bureaucrats conduct a legitimate study of these historical figures, they will likely learn more about our founders than the children sitting in the schools for whom they are named.

Constitution Day

Speaking of things we are not teaching, Sunday was Constitution Day. According to a recent survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, “Many Americans are poorly informed about basic constitutional provisions.”

The survey found that 37% of those polled could not name a single right guaranteed by the First Amendment. Those essential liberties include the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the government.

Moreover, only 26% of those surveyed could name the three branches of government — the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch. Thirty-three percent of those surveyed could not name any of the branches of government.

Last week, President Trump issued a proclamation calling on Americans to “celebrate the enduring brilliance of our Founding Charter.” The president’s words are a refreshing affirmation of the vision our Founding Fathers had for this country. Here are a few excerpts:

Our Constitution is founded on a fundamental trust in America’s citizens… We are, as President Lincoln declared in the war torn fields of Gettysburg, a ‘Government of the People, by the People, for the People.’ That is why we must be particularly mindful of a would be ruling class that has lost sight of this foundational truth…

My solemn promise as President is to return power to the American People, to the workers and the warriors who made this Nation great and will make it great again. Restoring this founding principle of accountability requires us to once again respect the structural safeguards of our great Constitution…

Modern government, however, has rebelled against the constraints inherent in these defined roles, abandoning that original design in favor of a centralized system of out-of-control agencies that claim independence from elected leaders and demand deference from the courts…

On this day and during this week, I call on all citizens and all branches of government to reflect on the original meaning of our Constitution, and to recall the founding principles we too frequently forget: Our government exists to preserve freedom and to serve its citizens… We are here to enable the greatness of our Nation, not to restrain it.