Tag Archives: Access Hollywood

entertainment news

Billy Bush is ba-a-a-a-ck … sort of

Billy Bush is trying to wiggle his way back into the media limelight.

I never thought I’d be commenting on him ever again. You know who this guy is, right? He was the other guy in an infamous 2005 video talking to a reality TV celebrity/real estate mogul about certain aspects of his private life.

The fellow to whom he was talking that day now is the president of the United States, Donald John Trump.

Bush is now 45 years of age. He got fired from the “Today” show after the video surfaced. Many Americans — yours truly included — thought for certain that Trump’s presidential campaign would go down in flames after the video surfaced. It had some audio with it in which Trump joked about how he grabbed women by their private parts.

Yep, the man who would be elected president actually admitted to committing sexual assault.

Ahh, but then we have Bush, the fellow who yukked it up with Trump as he regaled “Access Hollywood” listeners about his boorish behavior.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/billy-bush-breaks-his-silence-on-trump-the-access-hollywood-tape-nbc-and-a-comeback-plan-exclusive/ar-BBBnmi3?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

Does this guy deserve to return to the public spotlight? Not if I had any pull over his future. Then again, I am just one individual.

Pop culture being what it is, however, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see this clown re-enter the entertainment world. I’ll just have to make a point to look the other way.

media news, national news, political news

Life isn’t fair, right, Bill O’Reilly?

We all can admit what we know, that life sometimes just isn’t fair.

It deals harsh retribution for some of us, while others seemingly get away with similar — if not even worse — behavior.

I present to you two cases of men who reportedly have treated women badly. One of them is a noted television news commentator/pundit/ correspondent/personality; the other is a well-known politician.

Fox News Channel has just cut Bill O’Reilly loose after revelations about allegations of sexual harassment became known. None of us can predict at this moment whether O’Reilly’s broadcast career is over. Suffice to say, though, that it doesn’t look good.

It is true that O’Reilly received a healthy severance from his former employer. It’s also true that the allegations from several women haven’t been adjudicated, even though O’Reilly and Fox have doled out substantial settlement payments to several of the complainants.

O’Reilly’s reputation is in tatters and will require substantial repair — if it’s even reparable.

The politician?

That would be Donald John Trump, 45th president of the United States of America.

What did this individual do? Oh, let’s see. He is heard on a 2005 “hot mic” recording collected by “Access Hollywood” actually bragging about how he has sexually assaulted women, grabbing them by their, um, genital area. What gave him license to do such a thing? Trump told Billy Bush that he could do it because he’s a “star” and that his status as a big-time celebrity somehow enabled him to act like an animal.

This recording became known during the midst of the 2016 presidential campaign. What price did Trump pay for it? Hardly nothing.

He got elected with 304 electoral votes on Nov. 8.

There you have it. The president of the United States is an admitted sexual assailant.

OK, the cases aren’t entirely parallel. Fox News suffered a serious decline in revenue as advertisers withdrew from O’Reilly’s nightly TV show. Trump didn’t have that particular staring him down as the chatter mounted over his “Access Hollywood” recording. All the Republican presidential nominee had to face was whether enough voters would be sickened enough by the revelation to turn to another candidate, such as Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Trump apparently felt immunized sufficiently by his victory in the election to offer a word of support for O’Reilly, calling him a “good person” while the sexual harassment allegations began piling up around him.

I have no solution to this dichotomy. I simply remain baffled beyond belief — given what he has acknowledged about his behavior — that one of the principals in this blog was able to ascend to the highest office in the land.

national news, political news

It’s the messenger, man, not the message

The White House issued the following statement to commemorate Sexual Abuse Awareness Month:

“At the heart of our country is the emphatic belief that every person has unique and infinite value. We dedicate each April to raising awareness about sexual abuse and recommitting ourselves to fighting it. Women, children, and men have inherent dignity that should never be violated.

“According to the Department of Justice, on average there are more than 300,000 instances of rape or other sexual assault that afflict our neighbors and loved ones every year. Behind these painful statistics are real people whose lives are profoundly affected, at times shattered, and who are invariably in need of our help, commitment, and protection.

“As we recognize National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, we are reminded that we all share the responsibility to reduce and ultimately end sexual violence. As a Nation, we must develop meaningful strategies to eliminate these crimes, including increasing awareness of the problem in our communities, creating systems that protect vulnerable groups, and sharing successful prevention strategies.”

That is a perfectly fine statement about a horrific problem in this country, indeed the world.

The problem with the message, though, is the messenger. Donald J. Trump is now president of the United States. He lives in the White House and runs the government that has just issued this appropriate and moving statement.

His record, though, calls just about every aspect of this statement into question. Does the president really and truly believe it? He didn’t write it, but it was issued under his name.

Do you remember during the 2016 presidential campaign that “Access Hollywood” video that went viral, the one where candidate Trump boasted about grabbing women by their private parts? Do you recall how he told Billy Bush how it’s OK to just start kissing women?

This man admitted to committing sexual abuse. Voters elected him anyway.

Rest assured. None of this individual’s personal history is going to go unnoticed, particularly when the White House issues statements that — in effect — condemn the boss’s conduct before he moved into the people’s house.

national news, political news, religious news

A campaign of paradoxes staggers to its finish

evangelicals

There may be no greater example of just how weird the 2016 presidential campaign has become than this example right here.

It speaks volumes. Hideous volumes.

The evangelical Christian bloc that is so critical to Republicans’ ballot-box success remains — more or less — devoted to the party’s current presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump.

Yet many of those folks just couldn’t bring themselves to support the candidacy of its most recent nominee, Mitt Romney. The 2012 GOP nominee is a Mormon. There were many within the evangelical movement who contend that Mormons belong to a “cult.”

As for Trump, the current nominee … well, the photo accompanying this blog posts says plenty about him.

Those of us who oppose this man’s presidential candidacy are left to ponder what we thought was the imponderable: that evangelical voters would continue to give this guy a pass on some of the most reprehensible behavior imaginable.

Sure, many of them have bolted. That recording of Trump boasting to “Access Hollywood” about his behavior toward women have sent many of those evangelicals packing. Many others, though, remain.

The rest of us are asking, simply: Why?

These pro-Trump evangelicals are more than willing to convict Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton of crimes for which she hasn’t even been accused of committing. Due process? It doesn’t apply in their minds to a leading politician.

Yet, they look the other way when their guy acknowledges seeking to seduce a married woman, who has boasted about previous extramarital affairs, has hung ghastly labels on women he believes are physically unattractive.

Ugh!

Someone has to explain this to me. I’m all ears.

national news, political news

First-class passengers above ‘groping’?

rudy

Rudolph Giuliani needs to, um, no longer speak on behalf of Donald J. Trump.

Then again, turn him loose! You go, Rudy!

The former New York mayor said the following about allegations that Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, groped a woman aboard a jetliner:

“Some of these things appear to me appear to me on their face to be kind of untrue,” Giuliani said. “Fifteen minutes of groping in a first-class cabin of an airplane? It doesn’t make sense. I’ve been in first class a lot, fortunately. Since I stopped being mayor, I can afford first class. You know, you see everything that goes on in first class.”

He wasn’t there. He has no idea about the circumstances. He is passing judgment — with no knowledge of the facts — on a woman whose accusation of groping fits the M.O. of other alleged incidents involving Trump.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/giuliani-alleged-trump-groping-%e2%80%98couldn%e2%80%99t-possibly-have-happened%e2%80%99-because-it-was-first-class/ar-AAj1cVi?li=BBnb7Kz

It’s fair to point out that Trump opened up this line of so-called political discourse himself by saying what he said to Billy Bush on that “Access Hollywood” tape. The Washington Post obtained it, put it out there for all the world to see.

Now … we’ve got this. A former political hero-turned-attack dog mounting a bizarre defense on behalf of someone who has admitted that he tried to seduce a married woman and has bragged about what his “star” status allows him to do to women.

Hypocrisy? There it is.

national news, political news

Trump mounts disgusting ‘defense’

7 Comments

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Let’s see where this story is going.

Donald J. Trump has admitted to “Access Hollywood” that he has tried to sleep with a married woman and has boasted about how his “star” status allows him to grab women in their private areas.

Then came the accusations by several women who have said the Republican nominee for president of the United States has groped them and sexually assaulted them.

How does Trump respond to this?

In a most disgusting way.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/301074-trump-defends-himself-against-accusers-by-attacking-their

He’s called the women “horrible, horrible people. Liars.”

But then he singled out one of them. Jessica Leeds told the New York Times that Trump had assaulted her 30 years ago.

His response? “Believe me, she would not be my first choice,” Trump said. “That I can tell you. You don’t know. That would not be my first choice.”

There you have it. The man who wants to be president of the United States belittled an accuser with a veiled implication about her physical appearance.

Can this get any lower? I would say “no.”

Then again, tomorrow is just around the corner.

national news, political news

It’s come to this: sexual conduct will decide this election?

trump-rampage-continues-republic

It’s down to the wire between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

With all the issues that separate the parties’ presidential nominees — trade, climate change, jobs, war and peace, terrorism — we’re left now to decide this election on … sexual misconduct.

The allegations are pouring in now.

The New York Times has published more stories about women alleging that Trump groped them. Trump is vowing to sue the newspaper. The Washington Post released that hideous video recording of Trump talking to “Access Hollywood” about his attempts to seduce a married woman and what he can get away with because of his “star” status.

Trump is now threatening to stay away next week from the final debate with Clinton because, he says, the debate format is “rigged.”

The GOP nominee’s poll numbers are plummeting. Meanwhile, Clinton’s team is airing feel-good TV ads extolling her work with children and women’s issues.

Trump’s own words — heard on the video recording — have caused many of his congressional supporters to revoke their endorsements, resulting in a virtual declaration of war against the Republican Party by its own presidential nominee!

Who in this world ever would have thought that could happen? Even in this utterly nonsensical election year?

I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to watching this circus act come to an end on the Eighth of November.