Mark Joseph tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2010-06-28:/markjoseph//16 2012-01-19T06:00:22Z Movable Type 4.34-en A Visit With Gospel Legend Andrae Crouch tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2012:/markjoseph//16.4102 2012-01-18T19:28:20Z 2012-01-19T06:00:22Z Although he still tours, Andrae Crouch's first responsibility these days, after the death of his parents and brother, is pastoring the church they founded. I try to visit every so often and always leave inspired. Mark Joseph New Christ Memorial Church, along with his twin sister Sandra. I try to visit every so often and always leave inspired. Since I was a little boy holding his records and memorizing every lyric, his music has always had that effect on me.

I sat down with Crouch for an extended interview that will give his fans insights into Andrae Crouch the man and the legend. He shared with me the technique that his father taught him when he sang, which he believed made his music so universally loved. He also talked freely about the time he recorded vocals for Madonna's song "Like A Prayer," then refused to appear in the video because of its weird content.

But what has always been equally fascinating about Andrae is his simple yet vibrant faith in God. He always sings as though Jesus, a man who lived 2,000 years ago, is alive and well and is his best friend and seems utterly sincere and un-self-conscious about it. There is no separating Andrae from his God -- and everything he does is intertwined with his faith.

A few years back I had the chance to work with him -- producing a cover of the Gospel classic "Oh Happy Day" for a TV commercial. But there was one catch: they didn't want us to include the word "Jesus" in the song. Bewildered and not knowing how to handle such an odd request, I asked Andrae how we should respond. "Tell 'em we'll only say it four times," he said. And that's what we did.

Robert Johnson may have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical talent, but Andrae Crouch plays down his musical genius, recalling the time when, at the age of 14, he was given his first song at a backyard barbecue and remembering the time that God told him to always remember where his abilities came from.

The next time you're in LA., don't forget to pay a visit to one of the greatest living singer/songwriters of all time for a life-changing experience.

The full interview is posted here. ]]> My Prediction For Iowa: A Perry or Bachmann Upset Victory tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.3938 2011-12-20T07:26:41Z 2011-12-20T07:59:13Z This has got to be the weirdest GOP primary in a generation, what with a new frontrunner every few weeks and a seemingly dogged determination on the part of Republican primary voters to not hand their party's nomination to Mitt... Mark Joseph
Both lost their mojo when they behaved strangely-Bachmann when she repeated things people told her on the campaign trail that turned out to not be true and Perry when he answered a question on in-state-tuition for the children of illegal immigrants as though he were running in a Democratic primary not a Republican one. So voters moved on to try out new candidates as though they were in a shoe store trying on new shoes. Desperate to not pick the Romney shoe, they went through several ill-fitting pairs, but come January will look back fondly on the the shoes/candidates that caused them the least amount of discomfort. 

And it's a perfect toss-up between the two: Perry has the advantage of having governed a state for a decade but Bachmann has the home court advantage, having been born in Iowa. So, don't believe the polls. The race is a tossup between Perry and Bachmann and the winner will leave Iowa with the big mo and provide a strong challenge to Mitt Romney in New Hampshire. 
]]> Perry, McCain, Obama & the Great Japanese Tsunami tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.3365 2011-09-01T19:31:53Z 2011-11-02T12:00:26Z If he's smart, Obama will dump the hapless Joe Biden and select Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be his VP, enlist the help of Bill Clinton and attempt to make a race of it. Mark Joseph
I had that same feeling about John McCain in the 2008 election race shortly after he was picked to take on Barack Obama and today, I've got that same feeling about President Obama as he faces what will most certainly be a trouncing by Governor Rick Perry of Texas.

Despite the best attempts of political reporters to pretend a race was on in 2008, it was clear from the moment the GOP selected McCain that Obama would be the victor. There was no way that a tired old man bereft of ideas and imagination who gloried in siding with his opponents against his allies could ever defeat the dashing, charming and smart newcomer. There were moments when I wondered if smart men and women couldn't gather in a smoke-filled room, declare Obama the victor and save the rest of us the hassle (not to mention the expense) of living through a campaign season whose result we already knew.

2012 is shaping up to be the same story, only in reverse. Nothing against any of them, but the narrative of Obama losing never took shape when the GOP field consisted of Bachmann, Paul, Huntsman, Santorum or any of other candidates who initially jumped in, but from the moment Perry entered the fray, I had that same feeling I had in '08.

To be sure there will be drama: If he's smart, Obama will dump the hapless Joe Biden and select Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be his VP, enlist the help of Bill Clinton and attempt to make a race of it.

And if he's smart, Perry will select Marco Rubio early in the process, thereby locking up delegate rich Texas and Florida and making a serious play for up to 40% of the nation's Hispanic voters.

Still, the outcome of such a race seems very clear, with the only question being whether Perry wins by 5 or 10 or perhaps more.

There were diehard Republicans in '08 who insisted that McCain would somehow triumph just as there will be Obama fans who insist that their man will pull off an upset. But like those unfortunate Japanese motorists who thought they were driving away from and not into harm's way, President Obama is headed for an electoral disaster that will only be stopped if, in the inimitable words of former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, Rick Perry is caught with a dead girl or a live boy, something that seems unlikely to happen.]]> Finally: An Honest Evangelical Weighs In on Romney and the Mormon Question tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.2869 2011-06-05T19:01:20Z 2011-08-06T12:00:26Z If the base of the GOP are not going to vote for a Mormon under any circumstances, even willing to turn to the other party's candidate, Mormons like Romney deserve to know the truth. Mark Joseph
I think of Leno's maxim whenever I hear conservative Christian voters criticizing Mitt Romney for his alleged failings like Romneycare, flip-flopping, lack of personality etc. because like Leno, what I think they're really doing is describing his "tie" instead of saying what they truly mean to say: he's a Mormon.

As this obfuscation indicates however, it's a prejudice that nobody wants to cop to because there seems to be a general feeling that it's an icky one and so as a result, mainstream journalists continue to be befuddled over Romney's lack of success and try to blame it on the various criticisms of his "tie," only it's not about his "tie," it's about his religion.

But a journalist named Warren Cole Smith has ended the nonsense and has decided to speak the truth on behalf his fellow Evangelical Christians by stating the obvious: he and many of his fellow true believers will not vote for Mitt Romney because he's a Mormon.

I first became aware of just how deep and serious this phenomenon was when my friend Adam Christing returned from producing a documentary on the founder of the LDS church, Joseph Smith called A Mormon President. Christing, a film producer, author and comedian told me he was shocked at the deep resentment that is felt to this day for the LDS church on the part of many of the people he had interviewed in the South and Midwest. I decided to investigate for myself and asked two moderate Republican Evangelical Christian friends what they would do if the choice was between Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton: without hesitation they said they'd vote for Clinton because of Romney's Mormon faith.

The L.A. Times' Tim Rutten and others have weighed in with attacks on Smith, but this is a mistake because far from shouting down the likes of Smith, this objection needs to be debated openly and honestly if for no other reason than to help the poor Romney kids from watching their inheritance being squandered on a fool's errand. After all, if Evangelical Christians who form the base of the GOP are not going to vote for a Mormon under any circumstances, even willing to turn to the other party's candidate, Mormons like Romney deserve to know the truth.

I would venture to say that the feeling is so strong that millions of Christians would easily prefer a Jewish candidate, say Eric Cantor, over a Mormon one like Romney because though they may wish that Cantor would accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior, they would never label Judaism as a cult, as they would the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Smith may not be a politician, but his contribution to our political culture fits Michael Kinsley's definition of a gaffe: when a politician tells the truth. He has let the cat out of the bag by admitting that he and millions of churchgoing Christians will not vote for Mitt Romney and if he somehow gets through a GOP primary, they may very well stay home come election day or vote for the incumbent president who, despite his policies which may be diametrically opposed to what they believe in, can look them in the eyes and recount with clarity his testimony of the day he asked Jesus Christ to become his Lord and Savior.]]> An Excerpt From My New Book: Wild Card: The Promise & Peril Of Sarah Palin tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.2861 2011-06-03T18:57:38Z 2011-08-04T12:00:27Z Rather than trashing her, I found it more interesting and compelling to try to understand Palin based on where she's been and what she's done, and why she inspires such passion, both pro and con. Mark Joseph Wild Card: The Promise & Peril of Sarah Palin: Of the 100 or so who asked for a book and an autograph, one seemed to be a huge fan of Palin's and eagerly walked away with his copy. Another told me how much he disliked Palin but that he had come to realize that if he was going to tell his friends about how wrong she was he needed to know more about her, admitting that he had been attacking her without really knowing much about her.

I realize I could have probably sold more books by declaring her to be the greatest thing since sliced bread or trashing her as some former aides are doing, but I found it much more interesting and compelling to try to understand her based on where she's been and what she's done, and to try and understand why she inspires such passion, both pro and con.

Here's an excerpt from Wild Card: The Promise & Peril Of Sarah Palin:

"America's introduction to Sarah Palin that first day in Dayton, Ohio featured a near picture-perfect family: there was the ruggedly handsome husband, the three bright and attractive daughters, Palin herself and a sweet baby boy with Down's Syndrome. But if Palin's pro-life philosophy that human life began at conception rather than birth were to be believed, there was another soul present but not visible that day: the unborn 5-month old child of Palin's oldest daughter, 17-year old Bristol.

It's possible the story may have stayed buried at least until the presidential campaign was over had it not been for a blogger at the liberal-leaning website DailyKos who began to blog about a rumor that Palin had faked her pregnancy in order to cover for her daughter who was alleged to have given birth in secret in April.

"Sarah, I'm calling you a liar. And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son," proclaimed the blogger. "He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better."

Spinning a fantastical tale of deception backed by photographs that showed Sarah Palin not looking pregnant and Bristol with a slight pooch, DailyKos posited the theory that Palin had faked the pregnancy and birth, allowed her daughter to give birth, then pretended that the child was her own. While the story sounded ridiculous on its face, there were elements of Palin's version of events that didn't seem to add up either and suspicions were heightened by her decision to hide her pregnancy even from her closest aides until her seventh month, then allegedly giving birth a month earlier than expected. As far back as March Anchorage Daily News reporter Wesley Loy had noted the curiously late pregnancy announcement in a story that was widely circulated months later by the Kos blogger and others as proof that something about the official story wasn't quite right:

"The governor, who recently turned 44, told a handful of reporters as she was leaving work to expect a new member of the first family, then headed to a reception at the Baranof Hotel to feast on king crab," noted Loy at the time. "Palin said she's already about seven months along, with the baby due to arrive in mid-May. That the pregnancy is so advanced astonished all who heard the news. The governor, a runner who's always been trim, simply doesn't look pregnant. Even close members of her staff said they only learned this week their boss was expecting."



Loy then quoted several of Palin's colleagues who seemed equally puzzled by the surprise announcement:

"Really? No!" the reporter quoted state Rep. Mary Nelson as saying, while Lyda Green, President of the Senate said, "It's wonderful. She's very well disguised. When I was five months pregnant, there was absolutely no question that I was with child."

"Palin said she's not aiming to take any time off from her job as governor, assuming all goes well with the pregnancy,"Loy continued. "She said when she had Piper - Palin was mayor of Wasilla at the time - the baby was born on a Monday and she returned to the office on Tuesday."

For his part, Todd Palin appeared to be thrilled about the baby:

"I'm really excited. Every child you get from God. The more the merrier," he said.
"I've always been a believer that God's not going to give us anything that we cannot handle," Loy quoted Sarah Palin as saying, adding, "to any critics who say a woman can't think and work and carry a baby at the same time, I'd just like to escort that Neanderthal back to the cave."

DailyKos wasn't buying the official line however and soon produced photos of the governor allegedly taken in her seventh month that didn't seem to indicate a pregnancy. It also raised the matter of Palin's travel to Texas for a speech just a month before her due date where, shortly before speaking, she realized that she was leaking amniotic fluids and after completing her speech left for the long trip back to Alaska instead of heading to the nearest hospital. DailyKos further alleged that upon landing in her home state, instead of heading to the hospital closest to the airport, Palin then traveled 45 minutes in order to go to a particular hospital, presumably one that was going along with the alleged cloak and dagger operation.

When pictures of a very pregnant Palin were produced, however, the Kos blogger began to see his tale unravel and announced that he would no longer be reporting the story. But what he likely didn't realize was that his citizen-reporting, muckraking or not, may very well have forced Palin into making an admission that she and her family were likely hoping to avoid, for in order to combat the rumors, she was forced to announce that such a scenario would have been physically impossible since her daughter was, at the moment, five-months pregnant. The official announcement came from the McCain campaign:

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us," Palin said. "Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support. Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates."


Back home in Wasilla, Alaska, the news of Bristol's pregnancy was already known to at least some in the community, for she had been dating 17-year old Levi Johnston, described by the New York Daily News as a "superhunky bad-boy ice hockey player from cold country," for a year.

"He was the same kid from the beginning of the season to the end. No signs of anything like that," Johnston's coach Bill Sturdevant said when asked about Johnston. "He was a good kid to be around, with lots of friends. He was well-liked."

Johnston's MySpace page told a bit of a different story however.

"I'm a f---in' redneck. I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing," he had written, adding a warning to those who would get in his way: "I'll kick a--"

Even more disturbing to Bristol's parents may have been his postings about children: "I don't want kids."

But by the time the Republicans convened in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Palin family secret was out in the open and the father of Sarah Palin's first grandson joined the family for photos after being greeted at the airport by John McCain himself. But the debate about Palin's family, and her choices, was just beginning; and it was about to get even uglier."

Excerpted from Wild Card: The Promise & Peril of Sarah Palin. copyright, 2011, Bully! Pulpit Books. Distributed to the trade by Midpoint Trade]]> Atlas Shrugged tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.2610 2011-04-09T13:19:36Z 2011-06-10T12:00:32Z I admire anybody who makes a movie, and any movie that gets made is a minor miracle. But doesn't an important book like this deserve better? Mark Joseph do have my occasional beef with the way some of their followers make movies.

The other night I was invited to a preview of Atlas Shrugged, a film based on one of the most influential books of the 20th century and had many of the same feelings I had watching one of those Left Behind movies. Then again, at least with the Left Behind movies there were some recognizable actors, albeit TV ones like Kirk Cameron and his gorgeous wife. With Atlas, the only person I had a vague memory of seeing was an actor who played one of Jerry's neighbors on Seinfeld. Not that a movie can't stand on its own without an overpaid actor, mind you, but doesn't an important work like Atlas Shrugged deserve some great actors who are not just recognizable but really good at their craft? There once was a plan, I'm told, to make this one just such a movie, with Angelina Jolie playing the lead character, and a script written by Randall Wallace of Braveheart fame. But Jolie got pregnant and for some reason I can't fathom, they decided not to use Wallace's script.

I now have a better understanding as well of what it must be like for an atheist to watch deeply religious movies, because if you weren't already an Aynd Rand fan, the film was at times very difficult to follow. Fortunately I had my iPhone with me and was able to read Wikipedia entries on the book as I watched, but should I really have to do that? Then there were the numerous references to a sort of transactionalism that the book is famous for, but they kept coming to the point that I just wanted to stand up in the theater and yell "Ok, I got it the first time: people do things out of self-interest. I get it. I get it!"

Ideas come to us through movies, and the notion that the end of the world might be upon us and that we may be left behind because of our wrong choices or that we shouldn't rely on government are interesting ones that are fine to consider. But precisely because they're interesting and important, they deserve to be considered in the best possible light, via seasoned actors, producers and directors at the helm.

I admire anybody who makes a movie, and any movie that gets made is a minor miracle. But doesn't an important book like this deserve better? And at the end of the day, isn't Hollywood to blame for this mess, not a well-meaning financier who tried his darndest and should be honored for putting in yeomen's work?

Shouldn't some of the time, talent and treasure that went into making movies like The Pope Must Diet or Kinsey have been diverted into the making of Atlas Shrugged? ]]> Election '12: What Dickey Flatt Would Tell the Candidates tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.2574 2011-04-04T14:46:27Z 2011-06-05T12:00:44Z The connection between this average Texan and Senator Phil Gramm symbolizes something larger: the need for powerful people to stay in touch with people who can tell them hard truths. Mark Joseph Dickey Flatt Test. Flatt was a longtime Gramm friend and the Senator regularly invoked his name in order to gauge whether a government program was worth taking money away from his pal Dickey Flatt in order to fund.

For Gramm, Flatt may have symbolized the desires of the average American, but the connection between this average Texan and a powerful United States Senator came to symbolize something larger: the need for powerful people, often insulated from the real world in which Dickey Flatts live, to stay in touch with people who can tell them hard truths that others won't tell them. In fact, the lack of a friend like Dickey Flatt has caused dozens of presidential aspirants like Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani to blow millions of dollars in races they had no chance of winning.

What would Dickey Flatt say to each of the current White House aspirants if they had him for a best friend? Read on:

Barack, you're the smartest man I've ever known. You know that, I know that. But you're in trouble. It's one thing to have a bad economy, but add spiraling gas prices and an unstable middle east and the Jimmy Carter comparisons are now starting to hit. You're in real danger here. You've got to get unemployment and gas prices down. Do whatever you need to do to get the situation under control. Turn it around with bold and decisive steps. Remember that time we played Hawaii Baptist and came back from being down by 20 to win? Don't believe the polls, that's where you are now. We came back and so can you. Forget about governing for the next 18 months. You've got to start campaigning now. You had two great years of governing from the Left and maybe you can do it again in two years. But for now, get back to the Center. Let the R's and the D's duke it out in Washington. Stay above the fray on the campaign trail. You're in for the fight of your life -- act like it. Go Punahou!

Newt, decisions have consequences that often don't go away. I'm not judging you for your divorces or the circumstances around them, but they make millions of Americans simply unwilling to ever vote for you. Even those who like you and think you're the smartest man in the country. And don't listen to advisors who argue that Reagan too was divorced. They just want a paycheck. Circumstances matter and your divorces have no relation to his. His wife left him. Forget about being president. Keep being a statesman. Keep cranking out those books. (Where do you find the time?) You'll never be president but you have a chance to go down in history as a brilliant man who engineered one of the most spectacular counter-revolutions in American political history and a really smart guy.

Donald, don't listen to the press, the birther stuff is genius... cat-nip for the right, and you're pulling it off. The Birthers have been waiting for a serious person to take on their issue and it looks like you're it. Watch the number of Republicans who question his birthplace go from 43% to 60% shortly. The flip-flops on abortion and gay marriage are also brilliant. You've locked up the Right-wing with those three issues. Ordinarily you'd have no shot with your divorces, but you're no ordinary guy. While the divorces make Gingrich toxic, for some reason it's OK because it's you. I know it's a double standard and I can't explain it, but it's true -- they will cut you slack in that department because you're Donald Trump and you've never claimed to be a paragon of virtue, so you get a pass. You probably won't win, but stranger things have happened. Give it a shot. What have you got to lose? The debates will be amazing especially if Palin gets in. Win or lose, your speaking fees will go through the roof and your ratings will double!

Mitt, if you love your family, please stop using up their inheritance. Unless you switch religions it is simply not going to happen. There I said it. When Jay Leno makes fun of a fat man he never says he's fat, he makes fun of his tie. When people say you can't be elected because of the health care issue, or because you're soul-less or because you flip-flop etc. they're really saying it's because you're a Mormon. And they're right. I know you -- you're a good guy and I'd be fine with a Mormon as president. But millions of Americans are convinced you're in a cult and they will simply not vote for you -- ever. Don't take it personally. It's not about you. It's about your religion. And it is not going away any time soon. The only way you ever sit in the Oval Office is if you get picked to be VP and the President dies in office. It could happen. But please: don't spend another dime on trying to get elected.

Mike, if Chris Christie doesn't run, you're the only other guy who can beat Obama. You can do this, but you're going to have to make a lot of changes to show that you're serious. First, what's with the weight gain? You write a book about losing weight and then put it all back on again? I'll know you're serious about this when you drop 50. People want to see that you have the self-discipline not just to take weight off but to keep it off. If you can get the nomination you will beat Obama. You're reasonable, not a hater and you can match his personality and charm. But you've got to repair your relations with the Club-For-Growth crowd. Meet with them and apologize for your testiness. Give them a mea culpa for raising so many taxes in Arkansas and sign whatever pledge they put in front of you.

Chris, I can't believe what I'm hearing from you these days. Your party wants you to run against a popular president because they think the Republic is at stake and you're whining about not feeling ready? Get serious. In a time of war who asks an 18-year old whether he feels "ready?!" He's drafted and he serves. What's the matter with you? Look, we all know the real reason you're not feeling "ready" is because of your wife. She's a great gal and I told you to marry her, but your country needs you and you've got to do the right thing. It's not about you. It's about your country. Tell her your country needs you and she needs to make the sacrifice. Now, about the weight thing: Don't lose one pound. For some reason the weight thing is working for you. You're the perfect foil for Mr. Perfect in the White House who is so self-disciplined its scary and it's about time we had a fatty in the Oval Office. Your girth communicates something other than a lack of self-control. It says, "I'm too busy fixing stuff to eat healthy and besides, I don't care what you think." That's a winner and fits your brand. Don't change a thing. Did I already tell you that your country needs you? Get your rear end into the arena. Your brand of take-no-prisoners, no-nonsense governing is what the country craves. You have amazing gifts. Use them now and don't pull a Mario Cuomo on us. And don't forget: the White House comes with its own chef.

Rick, I don't know how it happened but somehow you lost your mojo and it's not ever coming back at the presidential level. You spent too much time palling around with Bono and working on issues that didn't fit your brand and didn't help the people of Pennsylvania or you. Then you let that reporter trick you into saying Man-On-Dog. You're not going to be elected president. But you might be vice president. So stay on the sidelines, raise your kids, make some money and don't listen to the sycophants who want you to run so they can get a paycheck. Wait for your veep moment. Spend the time in PA, proving to the nominee that you can deliver the state for him or her.

Tim, on paper you're a great candidate, but something's just not clicking. You've got this Midwestern niceness that just oozes out of you and just doesn't communicate strength. I know you're making an effort to look tougher and not be so agreeable all the time, and while I appreciate the serious looks these days and the macho pose on the cover of your book, it just comes across as a nice guy trying too hard to be tough and it's not working. Be who you are: a nice guy and drop the tough guy act. You might make a good VP choice though. Go make some money, raise money for other candidates and be real nice to Christie and Huckabee. That's your ticket to being president one day.

Sarah, remember what Ann Coulter said about you: everything you possess, you can't get from a book. Everything you need you can get from a book. You may very well be president someday but not now. You're not ready and you know it. In Reagan years, it's still 1957 for you. Don't even think about running in '12 or '16. Put away the Blackberry. End the TV show. Raise your children and read books. Lots of books. Read Chambers, Schlafly, Reagan, Will, Buckley, Rusher, Goldwater, Limbaugh, Levin, Coulter, Buchanan and others to remind yourself of what you believe. Then read books that articulate the views of your political enemies so you know what they believe. Once you've done all of that, write a weekly column, no more tweets and show the country that you have a fully formed and cohesive view of the world. Then you may just be president: but not until at least 2020.

Mitch, don't even think about it. The Bushies are trying hard to push you but you and I know it's not going to work and your instincts are right: a 5'7" balding guy from Indiana is not who GOP primary voters are going to go to war with against one of the smartest presidents who's ever run. Lay low. Keep governing Indiana well. You might make a good veep. Stay out for now.

Haley, maybe. But only if Christie doesn't run. It's time for a no-nonsense fatty but there's only room for one. See what he does.

Michelle, why not? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. But please, go on Hardball. If you can't face Chris Matthews, how do you anticipate facing down Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il, or Putin?]]> Searching For Nobuo Nagano tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.2509 2011-03-16T05:03:35Z 2011-05-26T12:00:41Z As workers battle catastrophe at stricken nuclear power plants spewing toxins into the environment a handful of modern-day Nobuo Nagano's stand against it, willing to sacrifice their lives in order to save the lives of countless others. Mark Joseph Shiokari Pass, one of Japan's best-loved authors, Ayako Miura, introduced the character Nobuo Nagano who upon realizing that a part of the train he was riding on had come loose from the rest of the train and was heading back down a steep hill, threw himself on the tracks in order to stop its descent, thereby saving the lives of hundreds of fellow passengers.

"Nobuo came to a swift decision," Miura wrote. "Now, when they were traveling so slowly, he could stop it with his own body. For an instant the faces of Fujiko, Kiku and Machiko flashed largely before his eyes. To shake off this vision he shut them tightly. In the next second his hands had left the brake wheel and he had jumped down, aiming for the rails....'it's stopped, we're saved!' somebody shouted, and a woman suddenly burst into tears. When someone announced what Nobuo had done, there was silence for a moment and then the passengers broke into a rapidly mounting excitement. In twos and threes the men jumped from the high platform into the deep snow. Its pure whiteness was spattered with bright red, and Nobuo's body was drenched with blood. They leaned over it and wept. In death, he appeared to be laughing."

Miura, a devout Christian, hoped her readers would draw parallels between Nagano's self-sacrifice and that of her Savior, Christ's, but there is also something quintessentially Japanese about the sacrificial spirit that caused Nagano to trade his life for the lives of his fellow passengers.

As workers battle catastrophe at stricken nuclear power plants spewing toxins into the environment which will not only spread to the nation's capital of Tokyo but also across the Pacific Ocean and into the United States, a nation and the world's well-being may rest on the work of a handful of modern-day Nobuo Nagano's, willing to sacrifice their lives in order to save the lives of countless others.
]]> The Big One Hits Japan tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.2450 2011-03-12T15:10:17Z 2011-05-26T12:00:41Z If trouble comes in multiples, that is definitely true of Japan today. Mark Joseph the Big One striking was as much a part of life as eating and breathing. Still, nothing prepares for the incredible sight of Japanese homes, businesses and lives being washed away in a split second.

We learn a lot about each other in moments of crisis but there are many things about the Japanese and we Americans that we already know: Japanese are sober-minded and clear-headed in moments of crisis like this -- it's highly unlikely that they'll loot or in any way take advantage of the tragedy for personal gain. Rather they'll look out for their neighbors and help one another. We also know something about America -- that in moments of crisis we take action and ask questions later and the best of the American spirit comes out in moments like these. I have no doubt that Americans will rise to the occasion and help their brothers and sisters in Japan in every way possible.

If trouble comes in multiples, that is definitely true of Japan today. As if weathering a 20-year recession wasn't bad enough, Japan has also been experiencing a crisis of confidence that has produced a listless society in which roughly 100 people commit suicide every single day of the year and the birth rate is so tragically low that the population is estimated to drop from 120 million to 80 million in just a matter of decades. As if all of that wasn't bad enough, the country now faces a tragedy of Biblical proportions.

If past is prologue, Japan will bounce back from this tragedy with the help of America's finest: her soldiers in uniform at bases like Yokota and Yokosuka, and her dedicated missionaries and other expats dispersed around the nation who will remind the Japanese why America is still her best and closest ally in a dangerous world. ]]> Conservative Confab Produces An Unlikely Contender tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.2304 2011-02-13T04:47:59Z 2011-05-26T12:00:41Z It was my first time to attend CPAC, and several things surprised me about the weekend: first, it was massive, with around 11,000 people attending. It was also dominated by Ron Paul supporters. Mark Joseph Doonby which co-stars a CPAC favorite, actor Robert Davi, and talk a bit about the subject of my next film, a hero to all of the attendees, Ronald Reagan. During my speech I spoke about Reagan's communication skills and how his party was going to have to find someone of equal or greater skills if they hoped to beat a man with the personal magnetism of Barack Obama and on the final day of the confab they may have done just exactly that. More on that later.

After the speech I retired to the green room to watch a surprise guest, Donald Trump address the crowd. As the Washington Post noted, Trump surprised everybody by announcing that he was both pro-life and pro-gun and the audience responded with loud applause at the surprise announcement.

It was my first time to attend CPAC, and several things surprised me about the weekend: first, it was massive, with around 11,000 people attending. It was also dominated by Ron Paul supporters and Paul finished first in the straw poll of favorite contenders to take on President Obama. In the face of such strong support, Trump showed moxie by shouting down a vocal supporter by telling him that Paul had no chance of winning next year.

I've never quite understood why Paul attracts so many young people but I repeatedly ran into many of his fans in elevators and around the venue. They are devoted to the man but especially devoted to his ideals and they seem to be attracted to his unwillingness to compromise. If the GOP is smart, they'll find a way to bring his followers fully into their big tent because his supporters have the enthusiasm and energy that nobody else's seem to have.

As I strolled the hallway with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a former Reagan speechwriter who has been a great resource for Reagan stories for the film, I pointed to a long line of young Republican women lined up to hear Mrs. Duggar, that mother of 19 children speak and asked him if young GOP women had always been this attractive: yes he nodded. It had always been this way.

I also enjoyed meeting a number of journalists at the convention including Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, the legendary Michael Barone and my new favorite, Politico's Mike Allen whom I enjoy watching on Morning Joe.

There were numerous speakers throughout the conference but I found a few especially compelling: John Thune, the first-term Senator from South Dakota gave an impressive speech, noting his forebears who came from Norway. In the green room, a GOP notable noted that Thune was angling for Veep, but I'm not sure about that.

The convention had been rocked by the schism of having several conservative groups pull out as a result of one group, GOProud being invited and it was left to Ann Coulter to address the schism. Declaring that she was a born again Christian she argued passionately that homosexuality shouldn't be considered a greater sin than heterosexual sex outside of marriage while at the same time urging gays to follow Abraham-from-the-Bible's lead by giving up something they love for God-their sexual expression-just as the Old Testament hero had given up someone he loved-his son, out of obedience to God.

GOProud had spent the night before partying across town at a club, hosted by multi-media guru Andrew Breitbart and headlined by Sophie B. Hawkins and attended by hundreds including former GOP chairman Michael Steele

Coulter had the most insightful political line of the conference when she responded to a '12 question by making this prediction: Chris Christie could beat Obama, but if he didn't run, Romney would get the nomination and lose to Obama.

The most impressive speech of the entire weekend was the closer, a barnburner by a freshman congressman named Allen West. Outside the green room, shortly before he stepped to the podium, a GOP official told West that he would be unable to watch him speak because he had to catch a plane to which West deadpanned: "don't worry you won't miss much." Boy was he wrong. At first blush the selection of West to keynote the conference smacked of the kind of tokenism that some thought was in play when the GOP selected Michael Steele to chair the party. Nobody was saying the same thing after West dominated the audience from beginning to end with withering critiques of liberalism, taunts directed at the "liberal press," and a confident assertion of a verse from the book of Isaiah that no weapon formed against those who loved God would prosper.

Never mind that he's a freshman congressman in office for less sixty days and that his skin color just happens to be the same as our sitting president, as implausible as it may sound to those not in the room, with his speech, this unknown has leapfrogged over a dozen better known names and emerges from CPAC as a very serious contender for the GOP nomination next year.]]> When Good Similes Go Bad tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.2229 2011-01-30T05:12:39Z 2011-05-26T12:00:41Z One of my pet peeves when it comes to public discourse is the seeming inability of otherwise smart people to follow similes... Mark Joseph case of Congressman Steve Cohen. Cohen didn't say Republicans were Nazis, he was merely stating that in his opinion the communication style employed by the GOP was like the one employed by Hitler's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

Here's how Wikipedia defines a simile:

"A figure of speech that indirectly compares two different things by employing the words 'like,' 'as,' or 'than.' Even though similes and metaphors are both forms of comparison, similes indirectly compare the two ideas and allow them to remain distinct in spite of their similarities."

How did we get to a place in our public discourse where we can't debate ideas using similes and metaphors without people screaming that they're being compared substantively? I think it's rooted in the culture of victimhood we find ourself in, in which a debate can be won by default by one side claiming victim status instead of actually joining the debate and offering a response.

Telling someone with a cropped mustache "you're mustache is like Hitler's," is not the same thing as comparing that person substantively to the Fuhrer, and shouldn't be met with shrieks of: "he's comparing me to Hitler!"

I haven't looked into the matter enough to know whether Congressman Cohen's observations about GOP communication techniques are correct or not, but I know one thing: it's not Congressman Cohen who owes us an apology, but rather those who are unable or unwilling to engage in a substantive and reasoned debate that includes the use of similes and analogies.





]]> Robert Davi Sings Sinatra tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2011:/markjoseph//16.2078 2011-01-10T06:03:28Z 2011-05-26T12:00:41Z Next weekend actor/singer Robert Davi brings his Davi Sings Sinatra act to Los Angeles and I will be there... Mark Joseph

Next weekend actor/singer Robert Davi brings his Davi Sings Sinatra act to Los Angeles and I will be there cheering Robert on. I hope you can make it as well.

I've had the great privilege of working with Robert in my upcoming movie Doonby to be released later this year and when you see the film I think you'll agree that he does an amazing job. He plays the sheriff and brings some levity to our film about a mysterious drifter played by John Schneider.

I first met Robert around the time had just produced and directed a movie called The Dukes in which he played a doo-wop star who gets caught up in a caper to steal gold fillings from a dental office.

But Robert isn't your run-of-the-mill actor-turned-singer. He's been singing for decades and is best described this way by someone who knows talent when he sees it, Ervin Drake, who penned the classic song "It Was A Very Good Year:

"Robert Davi would make a worthy successor to the incomparable Frank Sinatra, whether in the fields of Stage, Screen or Television. And having been chosen years ago by the Master himself, to act in a film side by side with him, this is not a vain pronouncement."

I've had a chance to hear some of the tracks and I'm looking forward to hearing the whole set. See you there.

Tickets can be purchased here.

]]> Memo: Re: Narnia's 24-Million Dollar Opening Weekend tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2010:/markjoseph//16.1861 2010-12-12T18:11:53Z 2011-05-26T12:00:41Z Attn: Liam Neeson, Michael Apted, Andrew Adamson, Mark Johnson Re: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader's 24-Million... Mark Joseph Re: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader's 24-Million Dollar Opening Weekend


If.....you.........diss.......them......they won't come.
]]> John Lennon? Meh... Keith Green's Revolution Was Far More Interesting tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2010:/markjoseph//16.1844 2010-12-09T08:32:51Z 2011-05-26T12:00:42Z When I think of the life and premature death of a musician who really rejected materialism and was for all practical purposes the Godfather of the Napster Generation, I think of Keith Green. Mark Joseph blathering about how great John Lennon was. Fortunately there's TiVo. Certainly he deserves credit for, if nothing else, writing an amazing song like Woman, but every time I hear an aging Boomer reminisce about world peace and anti-materialism I remember Paul's words: "Somebody said to me, 'But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.' That's a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, 'Now, let's write a swimming pool.'"

When I think of the life and premature death of a musician who really rejected materialism and was for all practical purposes the Godfather of the Napster Generation I fast-forward a year and a half to July 28, 1982 to the also untimely death of another musical genius named Keith Green.

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At around the time Lennon was trading religious correspondence with Televangelist Oral Roberts and calling into Pat Robertson's 700 Club hotline to talk to a prayer counselor, Green, a child prodigy who was the youngest ASCAP writer in history and who signed to Decca Records at the age of 11, was also finding God, but Green's spiritual odyssey produced a far more interesting brand of counter-culturalism: Green and his wife and friends so embraced their newfound faith that they left L.A. for Texas, set up a commune-type lifestyle, begged out of his record deal and did the unthinkable: began giving away his records to his fans in exchange for whatever they could afford to pay. Green's album "So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt," which featured a harmonica solo by his pal Bob Dylan shipped 200,000 units, 61,000 of them for free.

Now there's a revolution]]> The True Heroes of Narnia tag:www.bullypulpit.com,2010:/markjoseph//16.1812 2010-12-05T06:32:07Z 2011-05-26T12:00:42Z Both the Narnia stories and the attempts to bring them to the big screen have their share of villains. They also have heroes. The story of the journey to the big screen will always have at least two heroes in Douglas Gresham and Philip Anschutz. Mark Joseph The Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of The Dawn Treader wasn't in enough trouble with stories like this one, now comes word that the voice of Aslan himself is making the ridiculous claim that Aslan the lion doesn't represent any particular religious figure or tradition. Right. It's based on those other religions whose central figures die sacrificial deaths and then resurrect themselves.

It's not the first time well-meaning officials have made silly claims in an effort to downplay the religious subtext of the Narnia series, and my new book >The Lion, The Professor & The Movies: Narnia's Journey To The Big Screen explores that aspect of the film as well as what C.S. Lewis himself believed and intended to convey through the series.

There will be plenty of time to offer post-mortems in the days ahead if the film underperforms, but whatever the outcome, as the father of young children my hat is off to two men who worked valiantly to make the series happen, Lewis's stepson Douglas Gresham and the man who funded the enterprise, Philip Anschutz.

As I detail in the book, it was Gresham who had the courage and foresight to forestall really bad versions of the film from being made over the course of the last two decades and tried his best to keep the movies as faithful as possible to the written page and the intent of the author. And it was Anschutz who decided to stop complaining about what was wrong with Hollywood and put hundreds of millions of dollars into telling the Narnia stories and for that we should all be grateful.

Both the Narnia stories and the attempts to bring them to the big screen have their share of villains. They also have their heroes. And while Aslan the Lion remains the hero of Lewis's tales, the story of their journey to the big screen will always have at least two heroes in Gresham and Anschutz.]]>