This week, we begin our focus on feature film reviews. The week has ended both with an historic election and falls on the Veterans' Day holiday. So our first movie selection is going to have a double theme. Since Making America Great Again was the hope of the electorate; and since Veterans' Day originally commemorated WW1---our feature this weekend will be both about America at its former greatness, with WW1 as a part of it.
And to add to the whole theme of American excellence, this film was also the first winner of an Academy Award for Best Picture. The film is simply titled Wings, produced by Paramount Studios in 1927. The film had what would be in today's dollars, a $28 million production budget and took over 9 months to produce.
Wings is a WW1 action story with a romantic love theme deeply embedded in it. The plot concerns two men and two women in a typical town on the eve of America's entry into the war. The two men, Jack Powell (played by Buddy Rogers) and David Armstrong (played by Richard Arlen) are bitter enemies and rivals for the hand of the same girl, Sylvia Lewis (played by Jobyna Ralston). Jack believes that he has won Sylvia, though secretly she loves David. Meanwhile, the demure girl-next-door, Mary Preston (played by Clara Bow) is deeply in love with Jack. Such are the state of affairs when both men join the Air Force.
Mary, meanwhile, enlists as a volunteer in the Red Cross and goes to the Western Front as an ambulance driver, largely motivated by her love and concern for Jack. By then, Jack has become a fighter ace and the rigors of war have not only reconciled him and David, but they become as brothers, comrades-in-arms, fighting and flying every mission together.
Wings was released for the 10th Anniversary of America's entry into WW1 and its reception was phenomenal. The storyline took a different approach from most of the period's dramas, which focused on the cruelty and dehumanizing aspects of the war. The theme driving Wings was that love and service to a higher purpose brought out the best in human nature in spite of the war. Mary's love for Jack and Jack's love for his country and fellow-soldiers pointed the way to future that would survive and go on after the conflict was over.
The action-scenes in Wings were also ahead of their time and, in fact, set the standards for most aerial-war films since. Director William Wellman employed the then-new technology of aerial photography during the dogfight scenes (and there were lots of them in Wings). The photographers shot the combat footage at angles above and parallel to the aircraft---usually on cloudy days---producing some of the most realistic battle-scenes ever done before or since. Wellman himself was a former WW1 fighter pilot, and all of the stunt-pilots in Wings were as well. The crash-landing scenes were actually performed with real planes; and 3,500 active-duty US Army troops volunteered to re-enact a battle scene on the ground.
Wellman dedicated the film "to those young warriors of the sky, whose wings are folded around them forever," making it fitting viewing for Veterans Day. Wings is not only a positive depiction of genuine masculinity, but an outstanding portrayal of genuinely feminine love, thanks to a dynamic performance by the beautiful Clara Bow. Unlike a lot of war films, Wings is a positive and uplifting production emphasizing the better and higher aspects of human nature.
As of this writing, Wings is available for free viewing only on Vimeo. There are also DVDs available. Although there are no more WW1 veterans in the US anymore, you get a real sense of their sacrifices and values through this feature.
On July 7th of this year, a dozen Dallas police officers were ambushed and gunned down in cold blood by an Anarchist during a Soros-funded 'protest' staged by his thugs Black Lives Matter. Yesterday, Enrique Zamarippa, the father of slain policeman Patrick Zamarrippa, filed a $550 million wrongful-death lawsuit in US District Court in Dallas. The suit names George Soros; six top officials of Black Lives Matter; and Malik Zulu Shabazz, commandant of the New Black Panthers Party as defendants.
"While defendant Black Lives Matter claims to combat anti-Black racism, the movement has in fact incited and committed further violence, severe bodily injury and death, against police officers of all races and ethnicities...Defendant Black Lives Matter is in fact a violent and revolutionist criminal gang." the suit alleges. The suit claims that the assassin, Micah Johnson, was acting as an agent under the direction of the defendants.
Zamarippa's wife also heads a charitable foundation aiding police victims of racial terrorism.
RT News reported on Monday that an unrelated lawsuit had also been filed in Baton Rouge by an unnamed police officer severely injured in last Summer's riots there. The Louisiana suit names Black Lives Matter and BLM leader DeRay McKesson as defendants. McKesson was among the violent thugs arrested at the protest. According to the lawsuit, McKesson was "in charge of the protest and seen and heard giving orders throughout the day. The protest quickly turned into a riot."
It will be interesting to see whether or not the Courts grant any standing to these two cases. The Courts have typically held that there must be incontrovertible evidence that links speech violent speech to specific violent actions. The Baton Rouge case is probably the stronger of the two---unless the plaintiffs in the Dallas case have information not as of yet presented to us.
However these cases are decided, they are again a reminder that with Rights come Responsibility. We think there is no doubt that Soros, McKesson, and the others are morally culpable, even if the Courts decide in their favor. This being the case, it is incumbent upon the rest of us to expose and denounce these demagogues and the international criminals who support them.
This responsibility, too, is non-partisan. The extremist Right on talk-radio and the Internet who have been inciting violence and inflaming tensions are not immune either. When people like Red Pill Cult blogger Vox Day says things like this today, for example:
"We have to band together, put on our armored battle-suits, and march in the name of our God-Emperor to eradicate every remnant of Social Justice Warriors who survive anywhere in the world with all the fanaticism of the Spanish Inquisition unrestrained by Pope, King, or Queen, and that is precisely what we will do. We are the vanguard now. We are the God-Emperor's shock troops. We are 'Les Deplorables and WE DON'T CARE."
A fine representative of Western Civilization and Christian values: holding up villains like Torquemada and Robespierre as male role-models to follow! Vox and his deluded disciples might be in for a rude awakening if they seriously suppose that our 45th president, who is already calling for unity and a return to law and order, is going to welcome shock troops who imagine Trump a God-Emperor. American presidents are not Pharaohs; however much Vox and his foolish commenters would like them to be.
Words like these may some day put writers like Vox Day in Soros' shoes, and when that happens, they will deserve it just as much Soros and McKesson---whose tactics and rhetoric they largely imitate. It will be their own fault, however much they try to play the Victim Card like the Left-Wing extremists do. They may ultimately be legally exonerated, but they'll be seen for what they are.
The US is bracing for a third day of mayhem as Anarchist mobs continue venting their drugged-up outrage over the 2016 elections. Today in Chicago, a group of community organizers dragged a Trump supporter from his car and publically beat him. Dozens were arrested in New York City. A shooting that may or may not have been related to the riots occurred in Seattle, injuring five people.
George Soros and his gang of thugs at Moveon are responsible for organizing much of this mayhem. Moveon released a press transcript yesterday, which was of course fanned and promoted by the Corporate Media. "Within two hours of the call-to-action, Moveon members had created more than 200 gatherings nationwide, with the numbers continuing to grow by Wednesday afternoon."
Moveon is a shady organization headed by Justin Ruben, a professional provocateur whose main achievements in life have been tying down construction projects with legal red tape under the guise of protecting the environment. Moveon's political action arm is led by one Ilya Sheyman, a Chicago 'activist' who formerly worked on Obama's Senate staff. As we saw throughout the campaign via the efforts of Julian Assange and James O'Keefe, the corrupt leaders of the DNC establishment are not above using front-groups like these to subvert Democracy.
It should be obvious to anyone that these Anarchists are going to accomplish absolutely nothing with these antics: arson, looting, vandalism, obstructing traffic, and assaults are not going to change the election results. Trump is going to be sworn in as 45th US Presidents and none of their tears, tantrums, or crimes is going to prevent that.
So what is Soros' objective here? Basically, it's the same thing he orchestrated in Britain after BREXIT. He's trying to create an illusion in the public mind that the vote was wrong; that thousands strongly oppose it. And just like his henchmen in the UK tried to foment a breakaway movement in anti-BREXIT Scotland, his operatives here are threatening secession in anti-Trump California. The pattern is exactly the same because it is being moved by the same hand.
Soros' scheme will fail here, just as it failed in Britain. With the Clinton Machine out of power, he has no legal framework through which he can carry out his designs. His surrogates can only resort to terror and violence; and in January they will up against a new administration headed by someone who has promised to be 'the Law-and-Order President'. And that law is likely to fall upon Soros too.
Those of us who've been skeptical of Trump throughout the campaign found a hopeful sign today in Trump's nomination of Ken Blackwell to head his transition team. Blackwell is almost guaranteed a future now, either in the Trump Cabinet, or as a part of Trump's White House staff.
Blackwell is an Ohio Republican who, as blogger Wintery Knight pointed out, is both a noted social and fiscal conservative. He was the former mayor of Cincinnati and has held federal positions in the Bush Senior Administration. Blackwell also briefly served as US Ambassador to the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). He was also Ohio Attorney-General during the disputed 2004 Elections; and so became an especial object of Left-Wing vindictiveness after John Kerry conceded the election.
Blackwell is a staunch supporter of traditional marriage and of the 2nd Amendment.
Mostly importantly, Blackwell's nomination is sending a clear message that the general trend of the Trump Administration is toward traditional Conservatism and away from the extremist elements who were floating around the margins of his campaign. Blackwell is a Black Conservative; in fact a recognized leader among Ohio's Black Evangelical community.
This news is already causing unease among the Alt-Right Neo-Nazis and Red Pill Cultists who hoped to hijack Conservatism with a Trump win. Bloggers like Vox "your skin color is your uniform" Day and the Chateau "no dogs or Jews allowed" Heartiste are no doubt squirming that a dindu mudshark cuckservative has now taken over as one of Trump's top policy advisors. And it likely isn't a good sign for pseudo-Christian Red Pill Cult bloggers like Dalrock and Rollo Tomassi that Ken Blackwell is a top official on James Dobson's Family Research Council, a group they've been attacking and undermining with false charges of Feminist sympathies for some time.
In another positive development, Trump met today with House Speaker Paul Ryan. The two agreed to put aside their personal differences and work together for the good of the country.
The Trump Campaign has destroyed the twin scourges of Bush-Rove Neo-Conservatism and the corrupt Clinton Machine; hopefully the Alt-Right will be the third bunch of sociopolitical parasites soon to be relegated to history.
While outraged White American Liberals are rioting in the streets and George Soros and his entourage manipulating financial markets downwards; the more stable and rational of the world's leaders are calling Trump to congratulate him and breathing a sigh of relief that the end of Bush/Clinton foreign policy may at last be nearing its end.
Shortly after Trump's acceptance speech, he received a call from Cairo. Much to the horror of the extremist Alt-Right, Trump's first contact with a foreign leader was with the Moslem President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Sisi. Sisi succeeded a Wahhabi regime installed by Obama and Clinton during the so-called Arab Spring; and Egypt has suffered greatly from their Administration's intrigues in neighboring Libya and Sudan. Trump had previously met Sisi in September.
Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia and perennial Clinton scapegoat, also contacted Trump and expressed hope that US-Russian relations would be mended. The tone of most Russian politicians was very optimistic throughout press interviews today.
Post-BREXIT British Prime Minister Theresa May also celebrated the Trump victory. May and many UKIP politicians expressed hope that the US will resume its historic partnerships with Britain since Obama's and Soros' anti-BREXIT intrigues.
Pope Francis issued the following public statement from the Vatican: "We congratulate the new president, and trust that his presidency will yield good fruit. We pray for Our Lord's support in his service to his country, and in the service of prosperity and peace to the whole world. Beginning today, we can work together to effect positive change in the world."
Xi Jinping, the President of China---long exasperated by Obama/Clinton skullduggeries to the point where he even snubbed Obama at the recent G-20 Summit--- sounded almost relieved when speaking to Xinhua News after his conversation with Trump. Xi told the press that he was very optimistic that the world's two largest economies could work toward a common good for the entire world. Xi said to Trump: "I highly value the relations between China and the US, and I am looking forward to working together to expand co-operation in every field." The Chinese President was pleased by Trump's non-confrontational attitude and stated that he believed Sino-American relations would "move forward from a new starting point" this January. Chinese VP Li Yuanchao also spoke with Mike Pence.
Matteo Rienzi, Italy's maverick Prime Minister, praised Trump, unlike most of his EU counterparts. Rienzi stated that he looked forward to a new and more constructive future in Italian-American relations.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered congratulations and some of the most optimistic forecasts for Trump. Trump is extremely popular in India because some of his outreach to Hindu and Indian-American Republicans went viral on the Internet there. Modi stated to the press his belief that relations between India and the US "would reach all-time highs" under a Trump presidency---in contrast to the vacillating Obama/Clinton policies.
Tyyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey also reached out to Trump. Erdogan was, somewhat surprisingly, one of the only world leaders who endorsed Trump during the campaign. "A new era has begun in America." Erdogan stated from Istanbul, "The American people have chosen for themselves a successful future; favorable to fundamental rights and freedoms, and upholding democracy and development in our region." Many analysts see this as a positive sign: that Putin and Trump together can rein in some of Erdogan's more unstable tendencies.
Now, Hillary Clinton wasn't without her supporters worldwide; who denounced Trump and lamented the US elections. Cuba's dictator emeritus Fidel Castro; Sadiq Khan, the Wahhabi mayor of London; and the Neo-Nazi president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko all felt they'd lost a kindred spirit in Clinton. As many of the Anti-Trump American protestors are threatening to leave the US; it may be that there is political asylum for them in Havana, London's Moslem Enclaves, or Kiev.
Meanwhile, though, it looks like the world powers are lining up with Trump.
The US Corporate Media has already been spinning the Republican electoral victory as the handiwork of angry white men. But a different story is already emerging as angry white men on the Alt-Right and even angrier white Anarchists on the Left are vying for attention-grabbing headlines by making complete fools of themselves.
In the Manosphere, Game-Cult blogger Vox Day made this astonishing statement: "Donald Trump had 53% support from white women. He had 4% support from black women. The primary political problem in the USA is not feminism, but ethnicity."
So says another self-appointed expert on American race-relations who, like George Soros, lives in Europe but spends his time fomenting racial strife in the US. The fact is that low voter turnout among Blacks in Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, and Philadelphia won Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania for Trump. Less than two weeks ago, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan gave a lengthy speech denouncing Hilary Clinton's failed policies towards American Blacks and her mass-killing of Moslems for political gain in the Middle East. Prior to that, the leaked Podesta e-mails revealed that the Clinton Mob were cynically plotting to exploit police shootings for political profit. The families of some of the same Black suspects killed in these shootings addressed Black Lives Matter rallies to denounce Clinton.
Meanwhile, there have been sporadic riots on the West Coast. The states of California, Oregon, and Washington---three states dominated by White Liberals, the narcotics trade, and the Homosexual-Rights lobbies---saw violence break out in major cities. These same angry white men, mostly, who recently were criticizing Trump for suggesting that he might contest the election, unleashed their outrage from San Diego to Seattle screaming that they would not recognize the election results. Cars were burned, stores were looted, streets were blocked---the usual. And also as usual, the epicenter of these riots were in some of the demographically whitest areas of the country: Seattle, Portland, Eugene, and the SF Bay Area.
Extremist groups on both the political Left and Right capitalize on division and chaos. We can't help but imagine that both were a little unsettled by Trump's calls for national unity at his acceptance speech last night. Extremists never win by logic; their power only rests upon fear and force. Conservatives and Liberals should have seen from this election---that saw both the Neocon Republicans and the Clintonian Democrats fall from power---that the Politics of Division doesn't work.
It wasn't so surprising to many of us that Donald Trump won the election, but what was surprising was the margin of victory. Even more importantly, the Republican Party won control of both Houses of Congress and will be in control of nominating Supreme Court Justices for the next four years.
Between the Corporate Media head-scratching and Alt-Right Internet peacocking, there are some tangible explanations for why the Clinton Gang lost tonight and lost so decisively. The main reason was that outside of Wall Street, the Corporate Media, the Academic Mafia and other vested interests, the Clintons were unable to gain support from the Democratic Party base. Low voter turnout in traditionally Democratic districts and demographic polling all illustrate this. Women, minorities, and unions did not support Clinton as expected: and this factor was responsible for Trump's victories in several states.
Clinton cheated Senator Sanders out of the Democratic Party nomination and got no benefit from his concession. The suspicious death of Seth Rich; the Wiki Leaks revelations about the Clinton team's contempt for Sanders voters; and the O'Keefe videos showing that Clinton engineered campaign violence that the media blamed on Sanders supporters caused this whole faction to sit the election out.
Though not widely reported, Blacks also largely boycotted Clinton. Black Lives Matter was incensed by leaked Podesta e-mails showing the Clinton Machine cynically exploiting police shootings for personal gain. Though many Black leaders did not endorse Trump, many encouraged their followers not to support Clinton. Most notably Louis Farrakhan, who also pointed to Clinton's crimes against Moslems.
Contrary to what most Alt-Right spokesmen, most American Moslems were born in the US, and their votes were likewise down for Clinton. Farrakhan brought up Assange's evidence that Clinton had engineered the Libyan Civil War expressly for boosting her chances of winning the 2016 elections; as well as revelations that Clinton took bribes from Wahhabi States in exchange for selling them weapons used to kill other Moslems.
Unionists did not turn out for the Democrats. Many Union workers were also Sanders supporters, but many were repelled by revelations that the Clintons took bribes from Wall Street interests and shady lobbying organizations---like the Podesta Group---in exchange for contracts. Likewise, Unionists were not happy about the insider trading going on among potential contractors.
Latinos did not give Clinton the support she'd hoped for, except in a few Western states. Again Wiki Leaks revelations took their toll: George Soros' cynical manipulation of Pope Francis' US visit; the open anti-Catholic bigotry within the Clinton camp; and revelations about covert aid to Mexican narcotics rings kept Latinos away.
The Corporate Media also reported that the 'Gender Gap' failed to materialize for the Clintons. This phenomenon is somewhat harder to explain; although it has been rumored through social media that Melanie Trump has a large group of admirers among a growing number of women.
The downfall of the Clinton Machine is great news to liberty-loving peoples everywhere. Trump's decisive victory tonight destroyed any future prospects for Clintonism; which from 1992 onwards has been a dark blot on America's sociopolitical history.
The Democratic Party, from which the Clintons purged of many its more reasonable elements, is going to have to rebuild itself from the ground up. If they wish to remain a viable party, the Democrats are going to have to return to their populist roots: the party of FDR, Truman, Kennedy, and LBJ that dominated US politics throughout the mid 20th Century.
The Corporate Media was pining all night about how their pollsters missed these trends. This election is already being spun as a resurgence of White America: actually it was Democrat self-destruction. The polls 'missed' Trump voters largely because they polled Republicans who'd previously voted for Romney. Romney and Trump are political enemies; hence the poll numbers were meaningless.
Simply put, the hubris and arrogance of the Democratic Party leadership finally caught up with them. We owe a debt of gratitude to men like Julian Assange who brought their crimes to light and public exposure. The Clinton Machine will never rise again. Hopefully, the Democratic Party can find a way to rise again; this time as the party of the people it once was.
