TORRANCE TRIBUNE October 12, 2017 Page 3
Politically Speaking
One Man’s Opinion Another Man’s Opinion
Late-Night Circuit Hosts
Needs to Stop Being Quiet
By Cristian Vasquez
Hollywood’s hush-hush reaction to Harvey
Weinstein’s predatory behavior comes as no
surprise, but it shows the hypocrisy of an
industry that will pick and choose who it
attacks. When the news that movie producer
and studio executive Harvey Weinstein had
reached legal settlements with at least eight
different women who accused him of sexual
harassment, I really wasn’t surprised. The
Hollywood mogul had dealt with such accusations
in the past the same way: via a
legal settlement. However, Hollywood’s lack
of commentary--whether it be in anger--to
ridicule the disgraced producer or simply draw
attention to sexual harassment, highlights a
disgusting hypocrisy in the industry.
For beginners, this is the type of news
that late-night talk show hosts would use to
mercilessly attack the accused and rightfully
so. Let’s not forget that it has been a year
since the infamous Access Hollywood tape
of the presidential candidate Trump was
released. To this day, it’s still referenced
to mock and attack the President by the
late-night talk show hosts and other comedians.
So, why is there a different standard for
Weinstein? It would be naïve to think that
there is no bias in Hollywood. Furthermore,
it would be wishful thinking to expect an
industry to not protect one of its own in
a time of crisis. However, the hypocrisy
behind the silence is appalling. I’m not
asking that a person get kicked when
they’re down, but these late-night talk show
hosts don’t usually hold back on who they
throw jabs at during their monologues.
While there might have been one or two
hosts who have addressed the news of these
settlements, the attention given is nowhere
near what this segment of the entertainment
industry would normally provide to a story
of this magnitude.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a defense for anyone
accused of prior wrongdoing, but rather
a sort of rhetorical question to highlight that
liberal Hollywood bias that conservatives
love to point out. Remember when comedian
Hannibal Buress noted that Bill Cosby was
being accused of several forms of sexual
assault? Much like with the President’s Access
Hollywood tape, it instantly became the
punchline for late-night talk shows hosts and
comedians in the country--and rightfully so.
Yet, here we are almost a week after the news
broke of Weinstein’s legal settlements and I
am yet to hear any jokes, condemnation or
any attempts to reach out to victims of his
predatory behavior.
I get it: Weinstein is part of the industry
and maybe there are “unspoken rules” and
lines they don’t cross. But it is that hypocrisy
that partially fuels resentment from people
with less liberal tendencies toward Hollywood
personalities. Weinstein’s behavior is
disgusting and his settlements are no more
than a payoff to make the headache go away.
By remaining silent, these talk show hosts
are assisting this predator in drowning out
the noise. It is disgusting and hypocritical. •
Is Tillerson Next One to Be
Jettisoned by Mr. Trump?
By Duane Plank
Okay, so the whirlwind continues as President
Trump continues to juggle all the responsibilities
of the presidency before he jets off to one of his
golf course properties early on Friday to cap off
his difficult four-and-a-half-day day workweek.
The lib talking heads were focused on the
fact that Secretary “Sexy Rexy” Tillerson may
have become a tad bit frustrated dealing with the
mercurial Mr. Trump. After all, when Tillerson
was negotiating, which is his job, with the
NOKO loonies last week, Trump undercut him,
blustering that negotiations weren’t working.
And to be fair, the past President’s attempts
at negotiation, although attacked with alacrity
with the Sec of States like the moribund Hillary
Clinton, did not work.
So, will Tillerson be shown the door? Who
knows--tune in next week.
More importantly (of course) than machinations
in Washington, the inside-the-beltway,
in-the-weeds Bolshoi that is raging 24-7 on
the lib networks was the horrific massacre that
occurred in Las Vegas.
I have never owned a gun. My dad never
technically owned a gun, though someone gave
him a little pearl-handled pistol. May have
been from the Civil War. Don’t know, don’t
care. Not sure where it is right now. After my
parents passed, we moved their stuff out of the
MB domain. Not sure who ended up with the
stylish firearm. Maybe the sis, who has had to
relocate to the confines of Redondo?
Anyway, I am just another of the gadzillions
of folks who are in the middle of this gun
control debate. I get the Second Amendment
defense, which the nuts in the NRA continue to
espouse. Yes, we need our muskets to prevent
the English from overrunning our shores. I get
it: “The British are coming.”
And I also, somewhat, hear the chimes
from crazies like Pelosi, and smart ladies like
Feinstein, to ban this, ban that. Where has
Mad Max been for this new deal? Cashing in
somewhere, one would assume?
So there is no way to stop a crazy like the Vegas
shooter. I am a huge studier of the long-ago
JFK assassination. Before Kennedy was taken
down by the loonie Oswald, maybe with a little
inside info from LBJ, Kennedy had opined that-
-and I paraphrase--if a pathetic scumbag loser
was willing to die and commit suicide as he
took folks down, then it would be adios to
the target.
So we can fulminate and parse why the fat
coward hunkered down on the 32nd floor of a
Vegas Taj Mahal to blow away innocent folks,
including South Bay workers.
As I said, never fired a gun in my life. Had
never heard about a “bump-stock” device.
Of course, in this loony country, heard those
killing devices were now top-sellers, with the
avaricious money-grabbers at Amazon delivering
death devices to you ASAP. Look for your
next drone delivery.
Why does it take a tragedy, a massacre, to
bring us together as Americans? Only after
they start firing away and put bullet holes in
many of our legal citizens… that’s when we
spring into action? •