LiamNeeson

LiamNeeson https://www.dailykos.com/news/LiamNeeson News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Mon, 27 Jan 2020 06:45:37 +0000 Mon, 27 Jan 2020 06:45:37 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) With Trump, life keeps imitating art. https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/26/1637818/-With-Trump-life-keeps-imitating-art I have written before that the rise of Trumpenstein keeps bumping up against other things. I have posted a few diaries now on how Trump’s Presidency keeps hailing back to past history, like Watergate. But there have been times when things he says or does also echo former movies or book characters. I just found one last night, when for no good reason other than I was bored I stuck one of my all time favorite movies in the DVR. In a moment of clarity, the similarities almost knocked me off of my chair. The movie is called “Leap of Faith”, starring Steve Martin, Debra Winger and Liam Neeson. Steve Martin plays Jonas Nightengale, a traveling preacher/faith healer. He is of course a total fraud, his “miracle recepients” are actually employees, paid to infiltrate the crowd and have all their ills healed. But he’s not some backwoods hack, he is incredibly successful. He travels in a convoy of vehicles, including a couple of private tour buses and flatbed trucks to haul his stage and tent. One of the trucks breaks down in a fictional town called Rustwater Kansas, and it will take days for the parts to arrive to fix the truck. And here’s where life starts to imitate art. Rustwater Kansas is dying. The unemployment rate is at 27%, and the staple farming community is in the throes of a devastating drought. These people are poor or struggling, downtrodden, ignored, and desperate for a positive change. Does that seem to correlate with a particular voting bloc in the 2016 election? This forced stop is costing Jonas Nightengale money, not only for motel rooms and food, and for the cost of the repairs, but also in lost revenue from gigs they’ll blow down the road. So he finds an empty field at the edge of town, sets up his tent, and starts holding revivals to minimize the revenue loss. Liam Neeson, as the sheriff smells the con, but can’t stop the people from flooding in. Forget the fact that they’re impoverished and desperate, so much the better for Jonas, they’ll kick even more in the coffers, praying for salvation from their problems, a salvation that Jonas promises them that only he can provide. Does that sound like any particular Presidential candidate in the 2016 general election? The ending is where things start to split. In the movie, there is an apparently legitimate miracle healing of a local resident at one of his events. Jonas realizes what a shit he’s been, goes back to his room, packs a bag, and goes down to the highway to hitchhike. He’s picked up by a long range trucker. As they pull out of town, the rain starts to fall, a gentle rain at first, and then a hard, soaking rain. As the trucker reaches out to turn on the wipers, Jonas reaches forward, slapping his open hand on the top of the dash, saying “Yessir, Yessir, YESSIR!!!” Jonas has rediscovered his soul. There will be no such revelation or salvation for Trump. The man has no soul to rediscover, his whole life has been the con. He will never turn from his path. The rain is already falling for Trump, but there will be no sudden self discovery, it will simply continue to get harder and harder, until it sweeps him away in its tide. There will be no redemption, only the lunatic rantings of an angry and petulant man child. Personally, I can live with both endings. rss@dailykos.com (Murfster35) DebraWinger DonaldTrump LiamNeeson Movies Politics SteveMartin _1637818 Sun, 26 Feb 2017 14:01:04 +0000 This guy wants to be president: movie quotes as counterterrorism policy https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/5/20/1386141/-This-guy-wants-to-be-president-movie-quotes-as-counterterrorism-policy <div class="dkimg-r"><img src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/122282/small/clown-car.gif?1420068736" alt="" width="250" height="196" /></div> Is this a ten-year-old acting tough on the playground, or an actual US senator seeking a major party nomination for president? The latter, sad to say. Marco Rubio thinks quoting movie lines is the way to scare terrorists. <a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/05/11/dk_swinging_swagger_2016_republicans_pledge_to_bring_back_ws_disastrous_cowboy_diplomacy/">h/t Salon</a>: <object id='cspan-video-player' classid='clsid:d27cdb6eae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000' codebase='http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0' align='middle' height='330' width='512'><param name='allowScriptAccess' value='true' /> <param name='movie' value='http://static.c-span.org/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.1432065698.swf?clipid=4537250' /> <param name='quality' value='high' /> <param name='bgcolor' value='#ffffff' /> <param name='allowFullScreen' value='true' /> <param name='flashvars' value='system=http://www.c-span.org/common/services/flashXml.php?clipid=4537250&style=inline&version=2014-01-23' /> <embed name='cspan-video-player' src='http://static.c-span.org/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.1432065698.swf?clipid=4537250' allowscriptaccess='always' bgcolor='#FFFFFF' defang_quality='high' allowfullscreen='true' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer' flashvars='system=http://www.c-span.org/common/services/flashXml.php?clipid=4537250&style=inline&version=2014-01-23' align='middle' height='330' width='512' /></object> Not that this necessarily hurts his chances of winning the Republican nomination. As the Salon writer put it: <blockquote>This is precisely the sort of dick-swinging swagger that conservatives loved (and still love) about George W. Bush. (When W. landed on the aircraft carrier to declare “Mission Accomplished,” G. Gordon Liddy was awestruck over how he could <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2006/04/27/mission-accomplished-a-look-back-at-the-medias/135513">see Bush’s penis through his parachute harness</a>.) The fact said swagger resulted in a decade-long foreign policy disaster that we’ll be struggling to clean up for many long years to come is secondary to the fact that the world knew that Bush was tough and would hit people really hard if they looked at America cross-wise. “Bring ‘em on,” Bush famously declared, channeling his inner action hero and taunting the enemies of America to just try and test our resolve.</blockquote> Fear not that this is a one-off, nor be surprised that someone so seemingly simple-minded might also tweet this, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/05/14/marco_rubios_murderous_myth_why_his_noble_lie_about_american_history_is_so_dangerous/">with a hat tip to another Salon writer</a>: <div class='twitterEmbed'> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="420"> America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory. — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/598577980298829824">May 13, 2015</a></blockquote> </div> I wonder if ran that past any Indians before hitting the tweet button? I more wonder if he really believes that spreading freedom came with territorial expansion just by coincidence, or if he's appealing hidebound patriots and figures saying something like that will help him? Or maybe this is believed by Rubio's billionaire, Norman Braman, and is therefore obligatory if he wants the cash to keep flowing. WHat, you didn't know Rubio has a billionaire? Every Republican candidate needs a billionaire. It's like having a logo or slogan, or a campaign manager or a political sugar daddy. Wait, it is having a political sugar daddy, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/us/billionaire-lifts-marco-rubio-politically-and-personally.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0">Rubio has pretty much set up housing in Braman's pocket</a>. However he got there, Rubio's understanding of foreign policy and national defense is so shallow, <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/florida-man">he couldn't even handle softball questions on Fox that surely even he knew were coming</a>. "Well, based on what we know now, a lot of things -- based on what we know now, I wouldn't have, you know, thought Manny Pacquiao was going to beat in -- in that fight a couple of weeks ago." Yep, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThisGuyWantsToBePresident?src=hash">#ThisGuyWantsToBePresident</a>. Or as Josh Marshall put it: <blockquote>There are so many things going on here: one is the deep, unresolved specter of the Iraq War looming over the Republican party, notwithstanding what seemed like a rapid fire consensus last week that it was a bad idea; another is the fact that Marco Rubio just doesn't seem like the most cognitively dexterous contender for the Republican nomination.</blockquote> What Marshall forgets is Rubio is seeking the votes of the same people who picked George W. Bush and now keep <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/13/1384359/-This-guy-wants-to-be-president-being-like-George-edition">Jeb Bush</a> near the top of the polls; "doesn't seem like the most cognitively dexterous contender" is a selling point. rss@dailykos.com (ericf) Elections George Bush GeorgeBush Iraq JebBush LiamNeeson Marco Rubio MarcoRubio NormanBraman President taken _1386141 Wed, 20 May 2015 13:24:04 +0000 Marco Rubio Endorses the Neeson Doctrine https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/5/11/1384018/-Marco-Rubio-Endorses-the-Neeson-Doctrine Liam, that is.  The Florida Senator outlined his highly nuanced foreign policy views based on Liam Neeson's fictional character in the Taken film franchise: <blockquote>On our strategy on global jihadists and terrorists, I refer them to the movie Taken. Have you seen the movie Taken? Liam Neeson. He had a line, and this is what our strategy should be: ‘We will look for you, we will find you, and we will kill you,’</blockquote> ED Kilgore notes that this should, but won't erode Rubio's reputation as the <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_05/that_brainy_rubio_and_his_nees055474.php">"Brainy" Candidate</a> in the GOP field.  Not while the crowd at the South Carolina Freedom Summit rewarded him with 'thunderous applause." As long as we're going to have Government by Catchphrase, why not add these: <blockquote>Firearms: The Eastwood Doctrine:  "Go ahead, make my day." Climate policy: The Dorothy Doctrine: "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Consumer Safety: The Bette Davis Doctrine:  "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night." Infrastructure: The Field of Dreams Doctrine: "If you build it, he will come." Defense: The Strangelove Doctrine:     "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" Early Childhood Policy:The Dirty Dancing Doctrine: "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." Immigration: The Blanche Dubois Doctrine:  "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Equine Policy: The Godfather Doctrine: "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." Economic Policy: The Gekko Doctrine: "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Crime: The Little Caesar Doctrine: "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?" </blockquote> Your turn: rss@dailykos.com (Bethesda 1971) CatchPhrases LiamNeeson Marco Rubio MarcoRubio Movies _1384018 Mon, 11 May 2015 17:56:26 +0000 Liam Neeson wants to be Muslim https://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/4/15/1292198/-Liam-Neeson-wants-to-be-Muslim Mr. Neeson better look out for the Christian Proselytizers! <blockquote>Excerpt from the Stealth Crusade: The growing movement to hunt souls in Muslim lands-by missionaries who often pass as aid workers, teachers, or business owners-has raised hackles outside the evangelical world. Missionaries themselves acknowledge that their work endangers the lives of converts, and critics charge that it disrupts the delivery of humanitarian aid and fuels resentment of Westerners during one of the most dangerous moments in recent history. But to those at the heart of the movement, including Rick Love's students, any damage done by their work is outweighed by the importance of their mission: to wipe out Islam. "I believe it's a false religion, and I'd like to see it be gone," says Kim McHugh, a 36-year-old CIU student who is training to convert Iranian refugees in Turkey. Her husband Brent agrees. "If they don't have a chance to experience Jesus," he says, "they're going to hell." More at this link: <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2002/05/stealth-crusade">http://www.motherjones.com/...</a></blockquote> <a href="http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad179/thethinkingblue/liberalAmerica_zps3a73491a.jpg"><img src="http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad179/thethinkingblue/liberalAmerica_zps3a73491a.jpg" /></a> How blind and ignorant those who think their belief system should rule people so they go around the world trying to convert whole populations... What a foolish and intolerant mindset these people have been brainwashed into...  I heard Liam Neeson during an interview claim an objective adoration of the Islamic religion. It seems it is not any more or less violent than so many other religious beliefs. If only human beings would start to THINK for themselves, the world that humans coexist in, might not be so cruel. <a href="http://thethinkingblue.com/liamneeson.html">thinkingblue</a> <blockquote>Hollywood veteran Liam Neeson says he wants to be Muslim On filming in Istanbul, Neeson told the Sun: “The call to prayer happens five times a day, and for the first week, it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit, and it’s the most beautiful, beautiful thing… There are 4,000 mosques in the city. Some are just stunning, and it really makes me think about becoming a Muslim.” Click here This might seem odd, given that Islam’s image is that of not just of a violent faith, especially since the Sept. 11 attacks, but also of a “regressive” system at clash with modernity and everything that falls within the framework of political liberalism. Mr. Neeson’s spiritual tryst with Islam set off global attention, with its wide coverage from the Irish Central magazine to the Huffington Post. The image of Islam as a violent faith did not begin with 9/11. It took roots in the western world ever since the Crusades, even though Christianity had a worse record of tolerance at the time. The continuing hostility among many Muslims towards western values, which appear to them as emblems of hegemony, explains why prejudices against Islam seemed to have stuck on. The global jihad has of course reinforced the idea of Islam as an abetter of violence. Some Muslims have undoubtedly taken to violence, just like many others across all religions. Hitler killed six million Jews. Certainly more than a million died under the ruthless orders of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge party in the latter half of the 1970s. Stalin, Mao and Hideki Tojo, Japan’s 40th Prime Minister who triggered the Pearl harbour bombings, all have the blood of millions on their hands. From Rwanda to Darfur, violence has wiped out whole populations. Religious prejudice, nationalism, racism, cults and ideologies have motivated abominable mass extermination right from ancient times down to the 1400 years we call the “modern era”. In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy has often proclaimed violence: “But thou shalt utterly destroy them – the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites – as the LORD your God has commanded you” (20:17). Long before the Holocaust unfolded, Jews faced two expulsions from Rome itself. (Blood and Soil A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur, Yale 2007). We are currently in a phase of intermittent violent history where Islam has been linked to violence. Even so, viewed as a political system, it has claimed far fewer lives than the World Wars or Communism itself. So, the whole point is, we need a balanced view of Islam to be able to put the so-called “Islamic terror” in perspective. Mr Neeson’s views on Islam prove that it will take a little more effort to understand Islam and what it is all about.  More at this link: <a href="http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/they-call-me-muslim/2012/02/05/hollywood-veteran-laim-neeson-says-he-wants-to-be-muslim/">http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/...</a>   </blockquote> <a href="http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad179/thethinkingblue/HolyShit_zps9f50b662.jpg"><img src="http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad179/thethinkingblue/HolyShit_zps9f50b662.jpg" /></a> rss@dailykos.com (thinkingblue) Atheism Freedom intolerance Islam LiamNeeson missionaries Muslim Politics proselytizing Religion _1292198 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 15:55:59 +0000 The Daily Show/Colbert Report Social Hour 10.02.12 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/2/1138934/-The-Daily-Show-Colbert-Report-Social-Hour-10-02-12 <table> <tr> <td><a target="_top" href="http://www.comedycentral.com/index.jhtml"><img src="http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2285/keithlesslogo.jpg" border="0" width="150" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a></td> <td>Tonight on TDS it's Liam Neeson; and on TCR, Univision's Jorge Ramos.</td> </tr> </table> <table> <tr> <td></td> <td><img alt="sausage grinder of snark" src="http://imageshack.us/a/img269/905/autumnzenteaparty.jpg" defang_border="border" /> </td> </tr> </table> rss@dailykos.com (TiaRachel) Community Jon Stewart JonStewart JorgeRamos LiamNeeson SausageGrinderofSnark Series StephenColbert The Colbert Report The Daily Show TheColbertReport TheDailyShow _1138934 Wed, 03 Oct 2012 02:55:04 +0000 The Daily Show/Colbert Report Social Hour 01.17.12 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/1/17/1055763/-The-Daily-Show-Colbert-Report-Social-Hour-01-17-12 <table> <tr> <td><a target="_top" href="http://www.comedycentral.com/index.jhtml"><img src="http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2285/keithlesslogo.jpg" border="0" width="150" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a></td> <td>Tonight on TDS, Liam Neeson, The Grey; and on TCR,  Jennifer Granholm, Current TV's The War Room.</td> </tr> </table> <table> <tr> <td></td> <td><img alt="sausage grinder of snark" src="http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/435/rainbowgrinderandfriend.jpg" defang_border="border" /> </td> </tr> </table> rss@dailykos.com (TiaRachel) Community JenniferGranholm Jon Stewart JonStewart LiamNeeson SausageGrinderofSnark Series StephenColbert The Colbert Report The Daily Show TheColbertReport TheDailyShow _1055763 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:55:03 +0000 The DAILY SHOW/COLBERT REPORT Spoiler thread 01.22.09 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/22/687826/-The-DAILY-SHOW-COLBERT-REPORT-Spoiler-thread-01-22-09 <table><tr><td><a target="_top" href="http://www.comedycentral.com/index.jhtml"><img width="150" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" src="http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/9824/multilogofirsttrysm9.jpg" border /></a></td><td> Tonight on TDS, Liam Neeson, the star of Taken, discusses his upcoming role as Abraham Lincoln; and on TCR, Jon Meacham, Author, American Lion.</td></tr></table> <table><tr><td>  </td><td><img alt="sausage grinder of snark" src="http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/6052/snowmansausagegrinderdk0.jpg" border /></td></tr></table> rss@dailykos.com (TiaRachel) Community Jon Stewart JonMeacham JonStewart LiamNeeson SausageGrinderofSnark Series StephenColbert The Colbert Report The Daily Show TheColbertReport TheDailyShow _687826 Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:56:34 +0000