The clip below is from Classic TV’s “Dragnet”.  No matter what side you stand on in the National Health Care Debate, you will find it quite interesting. I want to forget I am living in the year 2009 for a minute.  I want to go back to a time when it was cool to stand for and defend our country’s founding and principles. I want to go back to a time when everyone took responsibility for their actions. I want to go back to a time when a soldier was honored and not criticized, or mocked. I want to go back to basics. I have no problem with my country. Yes, like any country in the world we have both good and bad history. But America has come a long dam way and in my eyes she is redeemed of past mistakes.  America does not need fixing or a makeover. I do not accept the premise that America is bad. Despite what naysayers say, America is still the greatest country on the face of the earth, and other countries can only hope to one day be like us.  Please, I’ve had enough of this America bashing, and it is a paradox of sorts when it comes from those on top, who enjoy the very things they criticize.

These guys from “Dragnet” have come back from the past to tell President Obama a few things and it is Obama who must transport himself to the past and learn the great lessons that only history can teach.

The American widow who put the tombstone on auction is trying to pay her 1.6 million dollar mortgage in Beverly Hills.  I guess things are tough for everyone in every income bracket nowadays.  Boy the widow must be cursing up a storm. Currently her husband is lying in eternal rest facing down in this tomb, and right on top of Marilyn. Don’t ask me all I know is that her husband wanted to be buried on top of Marilyn, and yes, facing down. Since the bidder from Japan couldn’t come up with the money, the widow is contacting other bidders which came close to winning the bid. Once the tombstone is sold, the widow plans to move her husband elsewhere.

Oh well, sadly for the dearly departed husband, the eternal bliss is now interrupted. Not even the dead can escape the recession.

I hope that this administration does not turn a blind eye and a deaf ear for too much longer. The people are fed up and will speak at the polls and that will be the biggest revolution for sure. I don’t know about you, but I feel “change” is coming, and Obama will not be the cause of the change, the people will be. Enjoy the clip.

Archie had issues with race which eventually he worked out, but he never deviated from his principles when it came to the country. He spoke his political mind without shame, or fear and in fact, made us all laugh about it. Enjoy the clip.

1. A skinny Chicken
2. Interest from his sad savings account
3. Poker winnings
4. And lastly the horse with a clock in its stomach.

Well, if you are like me, we can identify with this. Here we are working, and middle class families terrified of the IRS. If we play the game these politicians have been playing lately, we’d be in jail! And the funny part is that we’d go to jail, or fined for as little as $1000. Both Thomas Daschle and Timothy Geithner get a “get out of jail” card, pat on the back, and a sweet gig to boot.

How can these men say this with a straight face? “I am deeply embarrassed and disappointed by the errors that required me to amend my tax returns,” Tom Daschle wrote to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). “I apologize for the errors and profoundly regret that you have had to devote time to them.” This from a man who made a $146,000 mistake on his taxes! This from a man who once said, “Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter.” Huh? The zenith in hypocrisy!

And to add insult to injury the Secretary of our Treasury Department, Timothy Geithner is another tax cheat, he did not pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for four years for some contracting job with the International Monetary Fund totaling to some $30,000. I watched some of the hearings and I just couldn’t believe how smug he looked as he explained his so called, stupidity and how it was Turbo Taxes’ fault! You try doing that citizen, and see if the IRS will eat this BS.

As for me, I will try do as Ralph in the clip does, stay “calm and cool,” and if ever I get audited by the IRS I will say as Ralph said to the IRS agent, “just like you to understand, that Ralph Kramden will never be accused of not putting a horse down with a clock in its stomach!” Integrity in Washington is dead, I am afraid.

Herr Tore (Max Von Sydow) is a wealthy farmer married to Mareta (Birgitta Valberg) in Medieval-era Sweden. They have a beautiful teenage daughter, Karin (Birgitta Pettersson). Both parents practice Christianity in the strictest form, but give Karin a little slack. Karin as any teenager, in any era, wants her way and she cajoles her mother into letting her wear her best finery to deliver candles to the family’s church. The ride to the church will take an entire day. Although these are medieval times, as you watch Karin get dressed, and excited about her finery; you forget the time she is living in, and you can’t help to think, “Teenagers have always been teenagers no matter the era.” I thought it to be an interesting insight by Bergman.

On her way to the church she sings, and takes in all that is good and fine, she inhales all of God’s goodness. In all this goodness, and light, darkness creeps in. She is lured by three herdsmen, raped, and then killed. They later seek shelter from the cold at the victim’s farm. The Tore family takes them in, feeds them, and gives them a place to rest. In the film’s most unforgettable moment, one of the rapists offers Karin’s mother the blood stained finery Karin used on the day of her murder, as a payment for their hospitality. Karin’s mom just freezes and steps back as if almost to pass out; you can almost read her thoughts. She quickly tells her husband. Herr’s stern façade disappears and he becomes anguished and confused. He exacts violent revenge on his guest, but that does not give him peace. Herr’s faith in a just and loving God is shaken; his whole world has fallen from under his feet. He feels there is no redemption for Karin or for him until he witnesses a miracle.

The movie will undoubtedly leave an impression on you. The focal point here is Herr, a pious man who did all things right, is shocked both by the tragedy that touched his life, and the sin he had to commit. But in the end learned, that for God there is no sin too great that he cannot forgive, and that sometimes bad things happen to good people, but a just and loving God will hold our hand through it all. Some may say that Tore’s faith was “medieval,” or “simple,” I say, it’s the faith we should all strive for.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see this documentary which aired on January 3rd, and am now searching for an encore presentation. What I am telling you now, I got from an article written in the LA Times, and from PBS’ web site. What happened to the arts in Germany during the rise of Hitler, and how it brought new talent to Hollywood was an eye opener for me. Over 800 actors, directors, writers, composers, and producers fled Europe to America when they noticed the ominous cloud hovering over their nation.

Many of the émigrés were secular Jews and their contribution to Hollywood was energizing and changed Hollywood forever. Among the many talents which came to America were: directors, Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, Henry Koster, Fred Zinnemann, Robert Sidodmak, actors like Hedy Lamarr, Marlene Dietrich and Peter Lorre to name just a few.

According to the writer of “Exiles,” Karen Thomas, what she found most surprising was that some of the artist that came to America after escaping Germany rarely, if ever, “looked back or appeared to be angry about what happened.” Some did go through changes, but were “too busy having a life.” Was it because they just used that inner protection we all have and blotted it out of their minds? Did they think that anger, bitterness, and resentment would get them nowhere, that if anything it would rob them of “life?” Maybe both. It’s not like they didn’t care about the loved ones they lost in Europe, they mourned the loss, but moved on. An example would be Billy Wilder who lost his mother, stepfather, and grandmother in Auschwitz.

The next time you watch the Oscar winning “Casablanca,” think of this: Paul Henreid, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, and Leonid Kinskey, Helmut Dantine, Marcel Dalio, Ludwig Stossel, and Wolfgang Zilzer, all starred in this movie, and all fled Europe’s Nazi rule and came to our shores. I am sure you will never see this film the same again.

The Nazis managed to run the artists out of town, and German Expressionist film all but disappeared, but in Hollywood a new dawn was coming.

TV was not around so these stars promoted War Bonds in theaters nationwide. The theaters had short films and newsreels where stars like James Cagney, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich and others would appear as themselves and encouraged the purchase of War Bonds. When the movie “Desperate Journey” (1942) opened in Illinois, each ticket required a purchase of a $25 War Bond. That’s how committed Americans were to the cause. Talk about patriotism. These stars used their talents not to hurt the country, but to help it because they believed in it.

Nobody likes War, but when Pearl Harbor was attacked the United States mobilized and came together, including those in Hollywood for the greater good. War Bonds were used to supply the US Army with supplies, food and weapons. These stars raised millions of dollars. One star that comes to my mind is Carol Lombard, who single-handedly raised two million dollars worth of War Bonds in her hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. She made the ultimate sacrifice, in my mind, she died in a plane crash as she was returning to California. President Roosevelt awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom as being the first woman killed in the line of duty for WWII.

These Classic Hollywood stars stepped outside of themselves to help, some in the war front, others in the home front, but both were soldiers in my book, and worthy of the highest honors indeed.

My feeling on this is that Hollywood has used their platform and still does to bring out their agenda. And this may have worked back in the day, but I don’t believe it works as well today. Americans know that Hollywood lives in fantasyland, completely out of touch with the people. And so their crude comments, movies, opinions, don’t matter. People turn to celebrities, or movies for entertainment, not political speak or advice. Do you really believe that celebrities have some special insight into politics?

What I find interesting in this article, is that it wasn’t just about movies, comments, or opinions like we have today; it was a bit more. I can’t say that it was all to sway the vote; it was more like the stars were fighting for a particular cause, thus swaying the vote or changing political views on whatever issue or cause they were standing up for.

Example: Ronald Reagan had been working since the 40’s going from state to state talking to “serious conservatives” who wanted to dismantle the New Deal. It was these efforts that made him governor of California for 2 terms, and started the “conservative revolution” of the 80’s.

Louis B. Mayer swayed the vote in 1928 when he arranged a meeting between Republican Herbert Hoover and William Randolph Hearst (Newspaper Tycoon) who then threw his complete support behind Hoover.

Again, Hollywood does things similarly today, but I believe that Americans today are not as easy to fool especially when opinions, comments, movies, are way over the top, seriously.

Read the article to read on other classic film stars and how they influenced their respective elections. And please go out to vote.

Sarah Palin will be debating Joe Biden today and I know that she has come under a lot of criticism for her few gaffes, which seems to trump Biden’s 100. But if I understand Palin well, she will be like Mr. Smith in this clip. She is no quitter.

Tonight we will see that like Mr. Smith, Sarah has “faith in something bigger” than the George Town elite (Taylors and Paines). She will demonstrate that she has “plain, decent, everyday common rightness.” “And this country can use some of that.” So Sarah, “don’t quit!” Give them all you’ve got. And remember that all the good that came into this world came from those who went against all the odds.