Jay Leno is known for being middle-of-the-road. But compared to Scott Brown, Leno is a gay hippie communist smoking hash out in weirdo Los Angeles. Brown was on Leno tonight, and he set a new standard for normality.
One of the greatest experiences I have had in five years of Pundit Review Radio was getting to know the family of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps and Lt. Col. Michael Strobl. Chance was killed in Iraq in 2004 and Lt. Col. Strobl was assigned to escort his body home from Dover AFB to his final resting place in Wyoming. He wrote an incredibly moving account of his experience on Blackfive, which I HIGHLY recommend you read in its entirety. This incredible story was made into a sublime and beautiful movie by HBO called Taking Chance. Kevin Bacon plays Lt. Col. Michael Strobl in the movie.
Taking Chance Trailer
Last evening, he won a Golden Globe for the role.
In the days before the HBO movie was released, we did a very emotional interview with Chance’s mother Gretchen Mack and Lt. Col. Strobl, this was truly an unforgettable experience and interview,
Michael Strobl and Gretchen Mack on Pundit Review Radio
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales said, “Chase’s show became eerily fascinating to watch once the specter of Totally Lost Cause took over — which happened by about the middle of the second week, or maybe by the middle of the second show.”
The show was simply awful. Also for consideration in this slot was The Magic Hour, another terrible late night show. The only reason Magic Johnson didn’t make the cut was at least his show had this epic appearence from Howard Stern.
Number 4: David Caruso, movie star
Struggling character actor with minor roles in films like Rambo, Caruso hit the big time when he was cast in NYPD Blue, one of the great television shows ever. He took his diva act and left the show 4 episodes into the second season. He had his sights set on the big screen. How’d that work out for him? His first film, Kiss of Death, cost $40 million to make and earned only $14 million. His second film, Jade, earned less than $10 million. Just like Japan, two bombs were enough, and he finally made his way back to small screen success in CSI Miami.
Number 3: Eddie Murphy, pop star
Enough said, er, sung.
Number 2: President Sarah Palin
Brought up to the big leagues too soon, Palin has crashed and burned under the white hot lights of national politics. To be sure, she was treated viciously by the press and for that they should be ashamed. Still, she gave them plenty of grounds for legitimate criticism as well. As I said the day she was selected by McCain, she simply is not ready to handle the media at this level. Why? A combination of factors, from lack of knowledge on the issues to lack of media training. She is simply nowhere near ready for the presidency, no matter how much conservatives love her. Those who think she is qualified are believing rather than seeing.
Number 1: President Barack Obama’s first term
Elected on the back of country’s desire for “change”, President Obama is squandering. what may have been the greatest reservoir of good will ever accumulated by an American politician. Voters were tired of George Bush. They craved change from the usual way of doing business in Washington. They were tired of the influence of money and special interests, the closed doors, the earmarks, etc.
President Obama’s idea of change was to radically remake the American economy in the image of Western Europe. He’s pushing for a cap and trade scheme that has already failed spectacularly in Europe. He is pushing for nationalized healthcare that has also been a disaster across Western Europe. In order to implement this “change”, many trillions of dollars in new taxes will be required of American citizens and businesses at a time when he says we are in the “worst financial crisis since the great depression”. Not to mention his oft repeated promise not to raise taxes on anyone making over $250K. By overreaching on two major power grabs, President Obama may end up with nothing but a new dog at the end of his first term. Hopefully.
Michael Jackson’s problems started at home, with his father Joe. They are well documented. The Jackson family is first in line among those who used and abused him. It is hard to believe that his father, at least, ever had his best interests at heart. Exhibit A, his performance today, as reported by MTV,
Reporters gathered outside the Jackson family compound in Encino, California, on Monday morning for a press conference from Michael Jackson’s father, Joseph, during which they expected to hear about plans for the singer’s funeral.
But instead, Joe Jackson deflected most of those questions and talked about a new record label he’s launching with a former member of the classic R&B group the Chi-Lites, even as he defended detractors who questioned his comments about the label on the red carpet the previous night at the BET Awards, which were a tribute to the singer.
That got me thinking about pop tart Britney Spears. Like MJ, she was young, world famous and filthy rich. She was clearly going off the rails and headed for real problems. Her father, who may never have been a father of the year candidate, stepped up, stepped in and most likely saved his daughter from an early grave.
Is he the world’s greatest dad? Hardly. He has one teenage daughter who got pregnant and he allowed Britney to adopt the slutty school girl image to sell records. It worked like a charm, at first, thanks to shots like this 2003 Rolling Stone cover,
However, when it stopped working and things got really dark Jamie Spears did what he had to in order to save his daughter and for that I give him all the credit in the world. That is a lot more than can be said for Joe Jackson, that’s for sure.
We did something a little bit different last night, a segment on movies that moved you. The reason? I had just seen Gran Torino by Clint Eastwood, twice, in a matter of days. What an incredible movie. When people talk of our greatest actor the names Pacino and De Niro always come up before Eastwood. Sure, their resumes are outstanding, having made some of the greatest movies ever made. But what have they done lately, say the last decade or so? That is where their careers and Eastwood’s go in opposite directions. Pacino and DeNero are simply vaccuming as many paychecks as possible these days. If you don’t believe me, try to sit through Righteous Kill.
Clint Eastwood continues to make amazing movies. Unforgiven, In the Line of Fire, True Crimes, Gone Baby Gone and now Gran Torino, the best movie of his career. A reviewer at IMDB said this about Gran Torino and Eastwood and I agree completly,
If this is Clint Eastwood’s last film, I can only say that that his performance, in this stunning film, is what legends are made of.
People loved this topic, we had full lines and a lot of great movie recommendations. We’ll be revisiting this topic again soon, it was a lot of fun.
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 8-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
UPDATE: As you will see in the comments below, Chance Phelps mother Gretchen Mack was kind enough to contact us. It was an honor to get the opportunity to speak with her on Pundit Review Radio,
The best thing we do at Pundit Review Radio is our weekly tribute to the troops, a segment called Someone You Should Know. The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Today, Bruce McQuain from QandO does an incredible job with the series every week. Bruce is a veteran of the Vietnam war and spent 28 years in the U.S. Army. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match.
Marine Lieutenant Colonel Strobl’s account of escorting the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps. It’s a long and beautifully written and it deserves to be read in it’s entirety. It’s about Valor, Honor and Respect.
I cannot recommend this post more. I can’t imagine that you will ever read anything that will make you more proud to be an American.
We interviewed Blackfive about the book and the story of Taking Chance Home came up during a phone call from a Gulf War vet. Listen to Blackfive’s moving description of the story,
Today, Blackfive has an update. Taking Chance Home has been made into an HBO movie starring Kevin Bacon as Marine Lieutenant Colonel Strobl. Here is the trailer,
When the loony left gets its humanitarian groove on, they can bring a ray of sunshine to almost any kind of disaster, man made or natural.
Former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is back in the news for all the wrong reasons.
“A boat carrying international peace activists, including former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, and medical supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip sailed back into a Lebanese port on Tuesday after being turned back and damaged by the Israeli navy, organizers of the trip said.”
Hot Air says that McKinney “gets a warm Israeli welcome” and notes her long history of being on the wrong side of history.
This incident is the latest in a series of regrettable, celebrity seafaring humanitarian rescue mission disasters. Who could forget Sean Penn’s New Orleans adventure?
PHOTO CAPTION: Efforts by Hollywood actor Sean Penn to aid New Orleans victims stranded by Hurricane Katrina foundered badly overnight, when the boat he was piloting to launch a rescue attempt sprang a leak.
Mr Penn had planned to rescue children waylaid by Katrina’s flood waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch.
Feature Interview: Snowball: Warren Buffett and the business of life
Alice Schroeder has scored one of the most coveted assignments in financial journalism, writing the first authorized biography of the world’s greatest investor and one of its richest men, Warren Buffett. This is no fawning profile of a sainted figure. This is the warts and all story of a very complex human being. As much as there is to admire about Warren Buffett the investor, his personal life leaves a lot to be desired.
Here is my interview with Alice Schroeder
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Hollywood, Mass. State Politics | Kevin | 
January 29, 2010 5:47 am | 
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