In July, actor and Baldwin brother, Stephen Baldwin said if Barack Obama was elected, he would leave the country and move to Canada. Baldwin was quoted in the New York Post today as going a few steps further and, while at a gym with his good friend Michael Lohan, calling Barack Obama a “cultural terrorist” and challenging him to a fist fight.

“I’d like to knock some good sense into Barack,” Alec’s right-wing bro said at the Printing House Gym in the Village. “I wouldn’t hurt him. But if he wins the election, he’ll hurt me. He’s a cultural terrorist.”

[From The New York Post]

“Cultural terrorist,” I don’t even know what that means, but I sense a new Republican rally outburst coming. That word seems to bring the crazy out in what McCain called the “fringe peoples”. The New York Post’s Page Six went further into Baldwin’s comment with his belief that his beat down would change Obama’s party affiliation, as well as his fear of getting in the ring with VP nominee, Sarah Palin.

“I think by the time I’m done with him, he’ll be a Republican,” Baldwin crowed as he sat ringside in a Manhattan gym with pal Michael Lohan, who’s training for a charity fight. As for going a few rounds with Sarah Palin, Baldwin scoffed, “Oh, I wouldn’t fight the Barricuda Bear, c’mon. You see her shoot that gun the other day? C’mon!”

[From NYPost Page Six]

This is a prime example of a celebrity not doing a candidate any favors by opening their mouth. Baldwin sounds like he’s being facetious, but he’s not, and that’s the problem. Calling out a Presidential nominee doesn’t make you sound like the brightest crayon in the box, and calling Sarah Palin “the Barricuda Bear” just makes you sound stupid. It’s right up there with the idiocy of the fringe peoples yelling threats at rallies. I’m not saying his politics are stupid, I’m saying the way he’s expressing them is stupid. C’mon, indeed!

For what has got to be the first time ever, Michael Lohan did not appear to make a statement of his own. Maybe sitting next to Stephen Baldwin was statement enough. It’s certainly enough to make me see what kind of company Baldwin keeps and in turn, take him even less seriously.

Stephen Baldwin is shown at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas on 7/19/08. Presidential candiate Barack Obama is shown on 7/10/08 in NY. credit: PRPhotos

The father of Bristol Palin’s unborn child has finally spoken to the press after months of silence. Levi Johnston spoke to the Associated Press today. He generally came off as a nice, simple, slightly naive kid. When he talked about what kind of dad he’s going to be, he listed a few of the fun “guy” things, noting, “‘I’m going to take him hunting and fishing. He’ll be everywhere with me.’” I got the impression that he’s genuinely going to try his best, but that he doesn’t yet fully appreciate how much work that’s going to be.

Even though he seems like a pretty normal 18-year-old, I felt kind of torn between begrudgingly liking him and reminding myself that this is all still related to politics and thus he may have received coaching. Johnston recently dropped out of high school (he would have been a senior) to work as an apprentice electrician – presumably due to the impending birth of his child. The interview was kept pretty simple – there weren’t any deep, probing questions about his feelings or what Bristol’s long-term education plans are. But all in all I think he came across as a fairly decent kid – who’s got a lot to learn.

On rumors:
Levi Johnston, who’s having a baby with the daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin, can’t believe all the things he’s hearing. No, he wasn’t held against his will on the campaign trail. No, he’s not being forced into a shotgun wedding with 17-year-old Bristol Palin. “None of that’s true,” Johnston, 18, said in a rare interview with The Associated Press…

On being told what to say:
He agreed to talk despite the presidential campaign’s advice in the days following Gov. Sarah Palin’s nomination to avoid the media. “They’re not telling me anything right now,” Johnston said as he checked his Blackberry. “It’s pretty chill.” Not surprisingly, Johnston was a little shocked when he learned about Bristol’s pregnancy, but he says he quickly embraced the prospects of fatherhood.

On being a dad:
Johnston hinted he’s expecting a boy, but he declined to discuss baby names. “I’m looking forward to having him,” he said. “I’m going to take him hunting and fishing. He’ll be everywhere with me.”

On his MySpace page:
For starters, he said his much-maligned MySpace page was a joke — the one that claimed he said: “I’m a … redneck,” referring to a common stereotype of poor, rural, white Americans and “I don’t want kids.” Johnston said his friends created the page a few years ago, and he had nothing to do with it.

On getting married:
“We were planning on getting married a long time ago with or without the kid,” he said. “That was the plan from the start.” While Johnston provided few details about next summer’s wedding, the planning has started: A cousin will likely be his best man, and he has asked two hockey buddies, Ben Barber and Dane Wilson, to be groomsmen. Barber doesn’t think anyone pressured Johnston into marriage. “If he thought it wasn’t the right thing to do he probably wouldn’t do it,” he said.

On hunting and tattoos:
He’s hunted bears, sheep, elk, and caribou. Some of the antlers are scattered about his yard. Last July on a caribou hunt he lost a ring that Palin had given him. He said he decided to tattoo her name on the finger and not bother with more rings because he’d just lose them anyway.

On his image:
Johnston is an avid hunter. He’s dark haired, tall and muscular, sports a bit of stubble and drives a red Chevy Silverado truck. While Barber said his friend is a celebrity now, Johnston said it hasn’t changed him. “I’m still the same old boy,” said Johnston. “I’m just a workin’ man.”

[From the Daily News]

The thing that made me wonder if he’d been coached was his response to what he thought about Barack Obama. Johnston said “‘I don’t know anything about him. He seems like a good guy. I like him.’” I can’t think of a better answer. He also said he doesn’t know much about politics, so that’ll buy him out of most complex questions in the long run.

It’s hard not to wonder how much of Johnston’s personality is him and how much is really a campaign advisor. Either way, he came off as nice and decent, even if it didn’t exactly seem like he was disclosing his deepest feelings. Hopefully both he and Bristol will grow into being good parents.

70′s rocker and staunch conservative, Ted Nugent, is very vocal about his political views and has even threatened to run for office if he doesn’t find a candidate who stands for what he feels are the US’s sacred Constitution and Bill of Rights. The Motor City Madman is notoriously pro-NRA, pro-war, anti-drug, anti-alcohol, anti-gay and has made as much press espousing those ideals as he did in music. Now, Nugent is releasing a book which lays out his plan of how things would be handled if he were President of the United States.

In “Ted, White and Blue,” the [insert wild animal]-hunting, liberal ideology slayer says he’d smoke out evil-doers by any means necessary, defund health care for smokers and obese people, implement the death penalty for first-time drug dealing offenses, and send chronically out-of-work Americans to Cuba.
What else would a Nugeistration look like? Thanks to the NY Post and the LA Times, here are a few choice nuggets from the book, in stores now:
Foreign Debts: The rocker says he’d “take appropriate gas and oil from Mexico and the Middle East as payment for all debts we are owed by them.”
War: “[I'd] instruct the US military warriors to do their job — win the global war on terror right now and eliminate all threats from all sources by any means necessary.”
Peace: “Each morning I bow down on bended knee in reverence to the Almighty and pray for good bombing weather. The history of mankind is one of war, not peace…’Give peace a chance’ will get you killed. John Lennon was wrong. Imagine that.”
The United Nations: “[I'd] refuse to pay one red cent more to the UN until other nations pony up their fair share — but maintain membership just to keep our eyes on the bastards.”

[From PopEater]

I wasn’t all that familiar with Ted Nugent before seeing one of his television hunting shows a few years ago. I had certainly heard his music but had never been introduced to the guy’s personality or views of the world. I couldn’t change the channel, he’s mesmerizing. I can’t say I take a word he says seriously, it’s all just so over the top, but the entertainment level is through the roof. His 2003 competition reality show on VH1, Surviving Nugent, only ran for one season. What? You mean you couldn’t get people to sign up a second time for this?

The contestants’ only obstacle? Ted.
Hide from Ted. Suck up to Ted. Do whatever you want to Ted. In the end, every decision is entirely up to Ted-who wins, who loses, who stays, who goes, who eats, who doesn’t. If Ted doesn’t like the way you smell, you’re gone. If Ted thinks you talk too much, he’s whacking you off.

• See Ted hunt contestants from a helicopter with a big-game-net-gun.
• Watch contestants play a game of IPECAC ROULETTE. You spew, you go home.
• Feel the intensity as contestants play chicken with a speeding pick-up truck. Get too greedy, get dead.
• Live the crunch as contestants take their aggression out in a Texas-style demolition derby.
• Watch as contestants become versed in the fine art of taxidermy. There is an art to removing eyeballs from a deer in the appropriate fashion.
• Feel the sting of the scorpions as our contestants are buried alive in the Nugent Swamp.
• Experience the rush as the last two contestants ESCAPE FROM NUGENT in a ranch-wide obstacle course that requires a final arrow be fired into the heart of Ted Nugent.

[From Vh1.com]

The Nuge doesn’t actually intend to run for President, as wildly crazy as he may be, he’s smart enough to know better than that, but it won’t stop him from running for lesser office. As conservative Republican as Nugent may be, I doubt his image resounds with the core base of the party and anyone left of far-right would scoff at his platforms. But he’s certainly entertaining, with or without a guitar.

Ted Nugent is shown performing at the indigO2 Club in London on 7/14/08. Credit: Landmark / PR Photos. The photo of Nugent in profile is from the same venue credit: WENN

Once in a while I ask myself: are all the great style mavens gone? While people can still list a few greats, I find most of them debatable. I mean Posh Spice and Katie Holmes, really? But I see how the argument could be made, I just don’t think there’s really any women with a legendary fashion sense around anymore. Except the obvious: Paris Hilton. She really is our little shining star.

Paris has made a big joke out of her involvement in politics. And it’s kinda cute and works for her in her way, so I’ll stand for it. But it generally works best when Paris is reading scripted material. Paris Hilton on her own is not the wittiest woman you’ll ever meet – sorry to shock and disappoint. But apparently she thinks she’s gotten enough experience in current events to act as a political consultant, because she’s got all sorts of deep, helpful advice for republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Paris Hilton keeps on making cracks about politics.

In November’s Harper’s Bazaar, the heiress – who just taped a second FunnyorDie spoof in which she runs for “fake president” – talks about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the White House and her own presidential style.

“My advice to Sarah Palin is, you’ve got a hot bod; don’t keep it to yourself,” Hilton jokes. “Why wear a pantsuit when you can wear a swimsuit? Welcome to the Lower 48, girlfriend.”

[From Us Weekly]

Even though the article is in Harper’s Bazaar, it seems like Hilton’s answers were probably still written by the people at FunnyorDie. The phrasing is a little vague, but I’m going to assume that’s the case, because the interview is funny as hell. And if Paris Hilton really is that witty, I’m going to be seriously, seriously upset. Because she’s done a damn good job playing a complete moron.

Here’s Paris after a busy Wednesday night out on the town. She’s photographed at Kyashi restaurant, The Kingly Club and Silver Club. WENN points out that she’s wearing some extra hideous hair extensions, and wonders if they’re from her own line for Sally Beauty. Images thanks to WENN.

Is Homer Simpson a celebrity?  I think he is.  People all over the world know who he is and he’s done more to contribute to society than Paris Hilton or Joe Francis, so yes, Homer Simpson is a celebrity.  And as is celebrity fashion, a presidential endorsement video has been released.  Homer wants to vote for Obama.

OK, it’s not a Oprah Winfrey-style endorsement, it’s actually a clip from an upcoming episode of The Simpsons.  But for any American citizens waiting to find out who their favorite animated celebrity is voting for before deciding which name to tic, you’re one step closer.  It’s still unknown who the rest of the Simpsons’ cast is voting for at this time.

In all seriousness, the implication that the previous election results were somehow rigged by the GOP isn’t a new one.  My brother – who is so liberal he’s even left handed – rants about it daily.  This annual Halloween-time “Treehouse of Terror” episode airs the insinuation two days before the actual election.  Should we expect a campaign ad from the Republican party attacking Homer?  Should we expect a “thanks but no thanks” ala Lindsay Lohan from the Democrats against Homer? 

“He says it’s time for change. He’s going to vote Obama,” executive producer Al Jean says.

But it’s the annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode of “The Simpsons,” and the machine repeatedly gives Homer’s vote to John McCain. Finally, the voting machine tries to kill Homer.

The short skit is not an Obama endorsement, but a commentary on irregularities in the voting system, Jean says. The episode will air Nov. 2 on Fox, two days before the election.

[From TV Guy at Orlando Sentinel]

I know you’ve probably heard it a hundred times today, but one more can’t hurt, and just in case there’s someone who hasn’t heard, the deadline to register to vote in some states is today, and on Monday in a lot more. 

Rock The Vote has a complete list of states and deadlines.  If Homer Simpson can figure out how to at least get into the voter booth, the rest of us can get in there can figure it out, too.

Last night Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that was written after Kanye West’s mother Donda died during cosmetic surgery. During her autopsy, it was discovered that she suffered from high blood pressure and had a blockage in a cardiac artery. Schwarzenegger said he didn’t sign the bill because California’s massive, nearly three month long budget approval delay caused such a time crunch that he could only deal with the most essential bills.

A measure intended to prevent cosmetic surgery-related deaths fell victim to a rash of vetoes Sunday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill was written after the death last November of Donda West, mother of rapper Kanye West. The 58-year-old woman died one day after breast reduction and liposuction surgery, and an autopsy found health problems, including high blood pressure and cardiac artery blockage.

The cosmetic surgery bill, AB 2968 by Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter (D-Rialto), would have required people to undergo a physical examination, give a complete medical history and get a doctor’s clearance before undergoing plastic surgery. It received almost-unanimous support in the Legislature.

In vetoing the measure, Schwarzenegger said this summer’s historic, 85-day delay in passage of a state budget left him with time to enact only the highest-priority legislation for California. “This bill does not meet that standard, and I cannot sign it at this time,” states the veto message, which he applied to dozens of others Sunday. Schwarzenegger has until midnight Tuesday to sign or veto all of the nearly 900 bills sent to him by the Legislature last month. If he does not act, those bills become law.

[From the Los Angeles Times]

In related news, Kanye is hosting and performing at a benefit concert for the Dr. Donda West foundation in Washington D.C. on November 4th. The focus of the benefit is to encourage young adults to get out and vote.

It always cracks me up whenever Michael or Dina Lohan fly off the handle because someone had the nerve to criticize them or their family. Or their parenting. Or any of the other millions of things you could legitimately criticize the Lohans for. Both Michael and Dina get so self-righteous and haughty, and you can barely keep yourself from cracking up and wondering how they could have so little self-awareness.

That’s exactly what Michael did the other day. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s people supposedly declined an offer Lindsay made to host a benefit for him. This comes third hand, and the story is that his camp politely said no thanks because of her reputation. The unnamed insider quoted didn’t into details, call her out for anything in particular, or insult her. But the very fact that Obama’s people declined Lindsay’s offer so greatly upset Michael that he felt he had to immediately defend his daughter’s honor – even though she’s not even speaking to him.

“For Barack Obama to condemn my daughter for past indiscretions when he admitted to the exact same himself is indicative of what kind of president he would be,” Michael Lohan told Pop Tarts via e-mail on Wednesday night.

“His visions of a positive future for this country should be representative of a positive future for people as well. It is looking beyond the difficult times and letting go of the past,” Michael said. “Obviously, Obama can do this for himself and not others, when in fact a good president should have hope for all.”

“Lindsay is gifted — she has a wonderful heart and she can and will affect millions of people in a very positive way. She is here to stay,” he said. “Obama might have eight years, and then he will be giving lectures. Who knows, maybe Lindsay will give him a part in one of her movies.”

[From Fox News’s Pop Tarts]

What. The. Hell. Michael Lohan must have some severe, severe form of untreatable personality disorder. He really thinks Lindsay matters and will remain more relevant than a presidential nominee? The delusions are just hysterical.

I cannot imagine what would happen if any presidential candidate associated with Lindsay Lohan. It’d be a nightmare. That’s not the candidate’s fault. That’s Lohan’s.

I’m a Democrat and I’m all for Obama/Biden. We strive for some kind of transparency here so we try to make our preferences known and most of the writers for the site are Democrats. That said, we’re all getting a little tired of the political banter. Personally I like to focus on the celebrities to take my mind off the big bad world, which sometimes seems like it’s going to hell in a handbasket depending on your perspective. I’ve found that if I pay attention to all the minutiae of politics and the “real news” I can get upset and have to look at the beautiful elite and their problems to remind myself that everything is going to be ok. Look, Nicole Richie’s baby is so sweet and doesn’t she have such personality at that age? See how that lifted your mood? Babies transcend world problems and political beliefs.

When celebrities talk politics though, it’s hard to ignore all of them. Especially when they’re really outspoken and adamant about their political beliefs. Matt Damon has spoken out against Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin calling her candidacy “absurd” and poking fun of her “folksy” image as a hockey mom. While I agree with some of his assertions about her lack of experience and the fact that she just kind of burst onto the political scene, he does get a little too focused on who she is as a person. At the end he says he would like to know if she thinks dinosaurs were on the earth 4,000 years ago, which is something the creationists believe, and if she banned books, which was asserted by Time Magazine in an article about Palin. Damon says there’s a 1 in 3 chance by some estimates that Palin might be become President if McCain is elected.

Despite my similar political beliefs, I’m not really comfortable with seeing celebrities be so adamant against a candidate. I think it makes the side they support easier to vilify. It’s like people will say “Damon is pissed off, who does he think he is to dismiss Palin? Look at his guy.” He seems to be more upset with what Palin and McCain represent than with who Palin is as a person. Maybe he should be talking about what they’ll do for the country instead. It’s possible he did talk about all that, and it got distilled down to this segment where he kind of went off on Palin. A lot of celebrities agree with him, but they’re not likely to be so blunt in the way they state it.

Damon is shown in the header at the Toronto Film Festival on 9/9/07. Credit: Solarpix / PR Photos

Filmmaker Michael Moore is doing something pretty novel: he is releasing his entire next film “Slacker Uprising” on the internet. There will be no theatrical release, and the film isn’t being streamed; it will be available on BlipTV. Everyone can download the entire thing online, and Moore’s not asking for any compensation in return – except for a record voter turnout.

Firebrand filmmaker Michael Moore will release his latest documentary exclusively on the Internet for free on September 23, eschewing a traditional theatrical rollout, he said on Thursday.

“Slacker Uprising” documents Moore’s 62-city tour of key swing states during the 2004 U.S. presidential election, when he tried to convince young non-voters to give voting a shot.

“This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans,” Moore said in a statement. “The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November.”

“Slacker Uprising,” budgeted modestly at over $2 million, was funded by Moore along with movie executives Bob and Harvey Weinstein, who hold international rights, said a spokesman for Moore.

It marks his follow-up to the healthcare expose “Sicko,” which earned just $24.5 million at the North American box office last year, far short of the $119 million haul for his 2004 political blockbuster “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

[From Reuters Canada]

It’s a pretty interesting concept. I’m assuming they’ll be some sort of advertising and someone will make some money somehow, but who knows? Reuters does make an interesting point in that Moore’s last film didn’t make much money at the box office. Maybe he thought he’d have a better chance of getting his message out this way, and that was more important to him. It’s all speculation, but interesting to wonder about. Perhaps this is where more mainstream films are headed as well.

Here’s the trailer for “Slacker Uprising.”

Pregnant Bristol Palin’s 18 year-old finance, Levi Johnston, sat next to her during her mom’s speech at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota last night. Five months pregnant Bristol, 17, was seen wearing an engagement ring while Levi displayed his devotion with a small tattoo on his left ring finger that spelled out his fiance’s name in script. Bristol and Levi looked a little uncomfortable at times to be in the spotlight:

Pregnant 17-year-old Bristol Palin and her 18-year-old boyfriend Levi Johnston displayed their commitment to each other at Wednesday’s GOP convention.

Johnston debuted a “Bristol” tattoo on his ring finger, while Bristol rocked what appeared to be an engagement ring. (McCain campaign officials have yet to identify the ring.)

In a statement announcing that their daughter was five months pregnant, Sarah and Todd Palin noted that the teenage couple planned to wed.

Levi flew to the convention in Minnesota from his Alaskan hometown on Wednesday. He was warmly greeted at the airport by Sen. John McCain.

Levi’s mother, Sherry Johnston, recently told the Associated Press that there had been no pressure put on her son to marry Bristol and that the two teens had made plans to wed before it was known she was pregnant.

[From US Weekly]

As I said yesterday, I don’t blame the family for making the decision to bring Levi to the convention and put on a show of togetherness. He’s going to marry Bristol, who is due to have his baby in December, and it only makes sense that he should show up after the whole deal was announced. Some journalists and observers are questioning their decision to make an announcement about Bristol’s pregnancy, only to turn around and ask for privacy. It’s not like they could hide her at home, though, where most of the people in their small town already knew about Bristol’s pregnancy. The news was going to get out anyway, and maybe they thought they were trying to head it off or whatever. Now we know that the two kids are crazy in love and that they were supposedly even engaged before Bristol got pregnant.

Debbie Mazar has spoken out about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy. Mazar’s mom was just 15 when she had her, and the actress says that it is a private matter and that we shouldn’t make such a big deal out of it:

Mazar knows all about teen pregnancy. Her mom had her when she was just 15 years old.

“I think it’s completely fine,” Mazar told me earlier today of 17-year-old mom-to-be Bristol Palin while promoting her new movie, The Women (I’ll have more on the flick later on), at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills. “And I think Sarah Palin made a good choice in being supportive of her daughter…and I agree that it’s private because those are her children. Her daughter fell in love and had sex. Big deal—it happens.”
But if it’s anything like her own childhood, Mazar says Sarah will likely hit some rough patches with her child because of her age. “My mom is a great mom and we’re very close,” Mazar says. “But because she had me so young, we had hurdles we had to go through. But it made me who I am today…As long as that kid has love and support, I wish her the best.”

[From E! Online]

The first thing I thought of when I read this is that Mazar’s grandmother must have been around to help raise her. If Bristol’s mom ends up being Vice President it’s not like she’s going to be a lot of help to her daughter with the baby. That’s just something that occurred to me and isn’t meant to disparage her choice to run. I don’t like Sarah Palin or more importantly, John McCain, as candidates for other reasons. Someone’s family situation shouldn’t have a lot of bearing on that.