Bruce Springsteen Tries to Distance Himself from Walmart

Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Bruce Springsteen Tries to Distance Himself from Walmart
2. Abortion-Happy Ashley Judd Revels in Obama
3. Rene Zellweger Crushing on Jimmy Carter?
4. From Little Screen to Big Screen to Magazine to White House Scene
5. Academy Snubs Eastwood, 'Torino' Over Politics
 

1. Bruce Springsteen Tries to Distance Himself from Walmart

No happy face for Bruce Springsteen.

The rocker recently told the New York Times that he “dropped the ball” when he made a deal to sell his latest album, a greatest hits CD, exclusively in Walmart stores.

Springsteen explained that his fans had called him on it — his left-winged ones, that is.

Maybe the Boss was intimidated by Web posts like the one in the Daily Kos, which read in part, “It's the fact that Bruce has written about and openly expressed his opinions on the treatment of the down-trodden in our society, and Walmart takes advantage of them by paying near slave wages and offering cheaply produced Chinese goods for prices so low that it has caused many mom and pop stores to go out of business.”

It kind of makes sense that the same guy who told Ronald Reagan not to use “Born in the USA” as a campaign song and who endorsed Barack Obama would buy the Dem party line on Walmart.

Something’s out of whack when a seasoned music industry professional goes on the attack against a company that he recently contracted with.

“It was a mistake,” Springsteen explained. “Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be.”

The truth is liberal politicians repeatedly slander Walmart because it has refused to allow unions to wreck its company like they have U.S. automakers.

Walmart is the nation’s largest employer. And it happens to sell more records than any other retailer.

Note that Springsteen’s compassion for the workingman didn’t move him to cancel the Walmart deal or give back the millions of dollars in profit that he’s raked in over the years from his records that were marketed in Walmart stores.

Can the Boss spell h-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e?

2. Abortion-Happy Ashley Judd Revels in Obama

Ashley Judd is elated over the election of President Obama.

But she’s apparently even more enthused about increasing the number of abortions that take place around the globe.

Judd recently emceed the 40th birthday luncheon for NARAL Pro-Choice America and experienced some difficulty in speaking.

After tripping over her tongue a few times, she paused and said, “I need to take a breath. I get so excited.”

The assembled crowd was treated to a slide show that had images of former President George Bush and other pro-life leaders, which elicited boos from the audience. Judd then commented, “It’s so nice to live in America again.”

The actress was referring to fact that our new president has issued executive orders that allow for taxpayer funding of abortions. In addition, legislation has been proposed that is the most drastic pro-abortion agenda ever pushed in American history. Judd is evidently pleased with this as well.

The proposed set of laws if passed would revoke pro-life laws at the state and federal level, create a contraceptive mandate for all private health plans and allow teens to go to local abortion facilities and have abortions performed without their parents’ knowledge.

It’s so nice to live in America again?

Well, not for babies.

3. Rene Zellweger Crushing on Jimmy Carter?

Rene Zellweger, star of the recent film “New in Town,” has disclosed that she is smitten with former peanut farmer and ex-prez Jimmy Carter.

“I have a crush on Jimmy Carter,” Zellweger confessed to USA Today. “I admit it. He has an extraordinary mind. He’s an exceptional human being. And he writes poetry, for crying out loud. He’s all good things.”

She apparently forgot to gush that he had her at hello.

Zellweger is so head over high heels for Carter she waited for hours in New York’s bitter cold just to obtain an autographed copy of his latest book about how to appease terrorists.

“It was super-cold,” she said. “I thought he was going to speak or read from his book, but he signed. And that was enough. I was not expecting 2 1/2 hours in 4-inch heels. That, I did not plan for.”

Wonder how long Zellweger would have endured the elements to get Neville Chamberlain’s signature.

4. From Little Screen to Big Screen to Magazine to the White House Scene

Change has come to the White House staff.

Alejandra Campoverdi, an assistant to one of President Obama’s deputy chiefs of staff, has an unusual resume, even by D.C. standards.

Campoverdi has gone from being a contestant on a reality television show to acting in Hollywood films to posing in lingerie for a men’s magazine to a high-level position in the Obama administration.

After graduating from college, Campoverdi tried out for “The Apprentice,” Donald Trump’s reality TV show, but she didn’t make the cut. However, she was able to get on as a contestant in the third season of NBC's “For Love Or Money,” one of the clones of “The Bachelor” on which young single women compete for an eligible man’s affection.

She managed to obtain minor roles in major movies, which include being a vampire who is pursued by Keanu Reeves (“Constantine”) and playing the girlfriend of a military character (“The Aviator”).

Campoverdi also has the resume enhancement of having donned a corset for a Maxim magazine photo spread.

In the fall of 2008, she worked as an intern on Obama's presidential campaign and was apparently able to leverage the position to become an assistant to a White House deputy chief of staff.

Makes you think Omarosa just may have a future in government.

5. Academy Snubs Eastwood, 'Torino' Over Politics

There were plenty of snubs in this year’s Oscar nominations.

Although the blockbuster, “The Dark Knight,” picked up eight nominations tying “Milk” for the third-highest total, the Batman sequel failed to snag either a Best Picture or Best Director nomination. Heath Ledger was given a posthumous Supporting Actor nomination as anticipated for his intense portrayal of The Joker. However, other “Dark Knight” nods were in technical categories such as Visual Effects, Art Direction and Cinematography.

Still, the Academy reserved its coldest shoulder for Clint Eastwood and his latest film “Gran Torino.”

Eastwood was on most Oscar-watching lists and was expected to be nominated and/or win in the Best Actor category. Many also picked the film as a Best Picture candidate. The sentiment for Eastwood had he been in the running would have been great since the 78-year-old actor had indicated that it was likely to be his last stint in front of the camera, and he had never won an Academy Award for acting. Oscars he did take were for direction and production.

“Gran Torino” is Eastwood at his best. The film is reminiscent in tone and texture of his Oscar-winning Western, “Unforgiven.”

Eastwood has an uncanny knack for the rhythm of storytelling, and it shows in “Gran Torino.” His onscreen character, Walt Kowalski, is a decorated yet crotchety Korean War vet who watches with suspicion as immigrants move into his neighborhood.

The tale launches with Walt refusing to fulfill his wife’s deathbed request that he confess his sins to a “27-year-old, over-educated, virgin priest.”

One of the neighborhood Hmung teens whom Walt fondly refers to as either a “zipperhead” or a “gook” attempts to steal his prized possession, a 1972 Ford Gran Torino. Walt almost kills him. But eventually he becomes a close friend to the young man, Thao, and his sister, Sue, defending them from a vicious gang that has terrorized the community.

While amazingly entertaining, Eastwood’s film simultaneously deals with universal themes of suffering, self-reliance, courage, justice, friendship and spiritual redemption.

So why did Hollywood snub Eastwood?

Industry folks have long memories. In the past, Eastwood was castigated for his “Dirty Harry” persona. In 1971 the “New Yorker” featured a piece on him by Pauline Kael in which she tagged “Dirty Harry” with the term “fascist medievalism.” Much in the style of Jack Bauer on TV's "24", Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” character tries to save a kidnap victim’s life by shooting a serial killing kidnapper in the leg and then stepping on the suspect’s wound to extract info from him.

Afterward Eastwood did some “penance” with more politically correct contributions such as “Mystic River” and “Million Dollar Baby,” and according to Hollywood’s cocktail crowd such cinematic moves exemplified “growth.” But “Gran Torino” marks a return to a “Dirty Harry”-style character that despises pacifists and antiwar types, and that kind of rugged individualist figure unfortunately works against getting Academy votes.

During the past “Dirty Harry” movie runs, there was a corresponding increase in sales of Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum revolvers, so it won’t be surprising if thanks to “Gran Torino” there’s a similarly high demand for M1 Garand rifles and Colt 1911 semiautomatics.

Guess a guy who admits voting Republican in the last election and who does a film that celebrates individualism and the right to bear arms always had a pretty slim chance against a film about a gay martyr or a flick about a GOP bogeyman.