Monday, February 25, 2013

FLOTUS prop flop: Michelle Obama’s use of military as props sparks disgust







Our men and women in uniform deserve unending gratitude, not to be used as props for someone else’s gain. - Twitchy

The completely inappropriate use of Michelle Obama — piped in from the White House — to announce the Best Picture Oscar. - ALTHOUSE

"Loud Groans" Heard in Academy Awards Media Room When Michelle Obama Announced As Surprise Presenter - Debra Heine/Breitbart

Michelle Obama part of Harvey Weinstein deal that didn’t quite work out. - Naked DC

The Academy told US Weekly that they approached the First Lady for a part in the annual telecast, but that’s not the whole story. Donor and mega-producer Harvey Weinstein broached the subject with the Oscar producers several weeks ago, and then chartered Disney’s private corporate jet (which they probably get a tax credit for) to fly the producers out to DC, where they met with Weinstein, his daughter and the First Lady’s staff. They then brought Jack Nicholson into the mix and the rest is history.

Weinstein’s motivation was not entirely political, if you can believe it. Weeks ago, he hired the Obama campaign’s public relations “genius” Stephanie Cutter to lobby the Academy to vote for Weinstein’s movie Silver Lining’s Playbook, apparently unaware of the extraordinary talent Stephanie Cutter repeatedly exhibited during the actual Presidential campaign. Cutter then used her social media influence to push for the movie with the legions of Academy voters who pay strict attention to the Twitter ramblings of their favorite campaign team....

Weirdly, it seems most of Hollywood, including the Hollywood Reporter, was well-aware that the tie-in to the Obama campaign and the Newtown shootings was a somewhat cynical measure designed to place more meaning into a romantic dramedy that was competing head to head with political powerhouse movies like Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty, whose plot-lines seamlessly melt into news cycles.They might be stupid when it comes to spending their money, but it appears that the actors, producers, writers, directors and bigwigs who make up the Academy were not so easily swayed by a cheap political campaign as Weinstein imagined they would be. As it turns out, when it’s about their own industry, as opposed to the future of the American economy, they take things more seriously.

Harvey Weinstein Hired an Obama Campaign Vet to Try to Get Silver Linings an Oscar - Vulture.com

An e-mail inquiry seeking comment from Cutter was not returned on Sunday, and while Weinstein himself declined to comment directly on Cutter’s switch from political campaigning to Oscar campaigning, a Weinstein spokeswoman issued a statement that clearly sought to frame Cutter’s involvement as an outgrowth of the political relevance of Silver Linings Playbook, rather than someone who was hired to promulgate and cultivate it: “When it was clear that Silver Linings Playbook's treatment of mental health issues was becoming a topic in the advocacy community and political circles,” wrote a Weinstein Company spokeswoman, “Harvey Weinstein sought the advice of a number of friends with experience in those areas, including former Senator Chris Dodd, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, and Stephanie Cutter, who he knows from his work as a supporter of President Obama.”

Certainly, whatever Cutter’s role was for Silver Linings, Weinstein had more than a few chits to call in with Team Obama, having raised a whopping $2.3 million for the president’s reelection effort at a fund-raiser at his own Westport, Connecticut home last August, and perhaps just as crucially, having gotten the pro-Obama doc Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden an airdate just two days before the U.S. presidential election last November. Maybe Weinstein should have spent the extra bucks and gotten David Axelrod?

‘Statist propaganda:’ Michelle Obama slammed for using military as ‘props’ during Oscars appearance - Vince Coglianese/Daily Caller

The well-dressed members of the military stood attentively behind the first lady inside the White House as she presented the award for best picture to the movie “Argo.”

Jennifer Rubin, a conservative columnist for The Washington Post, noted that Michelle Obama didn’t even acknowledge the military during her appearance:

She declared of the Best Picture nominees, “They reminded us that we can overcome any obstacle if we dig deep enough and fight hard enough and find the courage within ourselves.” Alas, none of the films nor her aides reminded her to mention the military, not those personnel behind her nor those serving overseas, an odd omission for the White House that nevertheless was pleased to have them arrayed behind her like, well, set decoration.
Rubin wrote that the military personnel were used as nothing more than “props” for the first lady to “intrude” on American entertainment.

“Should our troops be used as Michelle’s Oscar props?” wondered conservative radio host Laura Ingraham Monday morning.

And a man who was once responsible for all public relations in the Department of Veterans Affairs said the use of the military may have crossed an ethical line.

Ed Timperlake — a former Marine fighter pilot who served as an assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs under President George H.W. Bush — told The Daily Caller in an interview Monday that using the military as “window dressing” for a commercial event almost certainly “crossed the line” into “statist propaganda.”

Too Hot for the Mullahs… Iranian Regime Photoshops Michelle Obama’s Dress - Gateway Pundit