Dinesh D’Souza’s 2016 Obama Documentary Blows Away Industry Estimates, Grossing Millions

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Dinesh D’Souza felt that President Barack Obama had been telling his story to Americans for years. The conservative author wanted to give them a different version. So he worked on a documentary, “2016: Obama’s America,” that put the president in a more critical light. And apparently, there’s an audience that agrees with D’Souza’s vision.

In its first week in wider distribution, the documentary grossed an estimated $6.2 million, far exceeding industry expectations, according to independent distributor Rocky Mountain Pictures. That was virtually the same amount as the major studio action film “Premium Rush” collected – and “Obama’s America” was playing in roughly 1,100 fewer theaters.

“I realized Obama was telling his own story in his own voice and thought it would be interesting to use his voice in a documentary where it would be indisputable to people that this was Obama’s own narrative,” said D’Souza, who wrote and directed the film with John Sullivan.

The film draws heavily from D’Souza’s own life, as he describes how coming to study in America from his native India helped to shape his political ideology. Throughout the 90-minute film, he often addresses the camera face-forward, pointing out the similarities between his upbringing and Obama’s. Many of the author’s arguments about Obama’s support of anti-colonialism are drawn from D’Souza’s controversial book “The Roots of Obama’s Rage,” and the movie frequently uses dramatic reenactments featuring unknown actors to depict past events.

Heading into the weekend, pre-release audience surveys suggested “Obama’s America” would gross about $4 million – but by midday Friday, ticket sales were so brisk that estimates were lifted to $6 million. The movie debuted seven weeks ago here and had raked in $2.4 million as it expanded from 169 theaters to 1,091 locations this weekend. The film currently is in 12 theaters in the Houston area. In total, the film has sold $9.1 million worth of tickets.

Read more from this story HERE.

Storm spells problems for ‘bump’ GOP expected from Tampa convention

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Photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video

By Jim Rutenberg and Michael Shear. With the Tropical Storm Isaac now forecast to roar northwest past Tampa on Monday and Tuesday, officials scrambled to reconfigure what had been a four-night schedule into three and to make contingency plans for further changes.

But even if the storm largely bypasses this region, it holds the risk of creating an uncomfortable split-screen image, especially if it continues barreling toward New Orleans. The governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declared states of emergency in anticipation of the storm.

Republicans were wary of the optics of television coverage split between the revelry and partisanship surrounding Mr. Romney’s nomination and the threat of the storm making landfall in Louisiana or Mississippi seven years to the week after Hurricane Katrina left an American city in ruins.

At the very least, Mr. Romney’s image makers were coming to terms with sharing the news spotlight with the storm just as they were hoping their gathering would give their candidate the exposure he needs to surge ahead of President Obama.

Instead of focusing on the convention and on Republicans descending on the swing state of Florida, local news outlets were giving constant and increasingly urgent updates on the storm’s path. Network correspondents here were girding to be reassigned from convention coverage to hurricane coverage, heavy rain gear and all. Fox News Channel said it was diverting a marquee anchor, Shepard Smith, to New Orleans from here. Read more from this story HERE.

Due to state of emergency, Gov. Bobby Jindal decides to stay in Louisiana rather than attend the Tampa GOP convention

By Adam Levy. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is staying in his home state for now as Tropical Storm Isaac heads towards New Orleans.

The two-term governor was to arrive in Tampa on Tuesday to address the delegates of Republican National Convention that evening. Instead of preparing for his high-profile speech, he declared a state of emergency Sunday and asked for voluntary evacuations in 15 low-lying parishes on or near the Gulf Coast.

“My priority is the safety of our people. And certainly as this storm threatens the public safety here in Louisiana, I’m not going anywhere,” Jindal said at a news conference. “As long as we’re in harms way, I need to be right here doing my job and that’s what I’m going to be doing.”

Under the RNC’s new revised schedule, Jindal is expected to speak Wednesday night should he attend the convention.
Jindal isn’t the only member of the Louisiana delegation not attending the convention. Jefferson Parish President John Young canceled his plans due to the potential impact Isaac could have on his constituents. State Rep, Lenar Whitney and New Orleans public service commission member Eric Skrmetta are currently driving back to Louisiana as well.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus announced Saturday night that all programs for Monday, the first day of the convention, were canceled. Read more from this story HERE.

Palin: “Party fighting for power and not doing the will of the people” may lead to 3rd Party (+video)

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Sarah Palin, who has a history of confronting corrupt party bosses, probably shocked the establishment again this weekend with her suggestion that “fighting for power” and “not doing the will of the people” may lead to the formation of a viable third party. She used the Republican Party’s replacement of the Whigs in the 19th century as such an example.

Here’s how Fox News reported her comments:

When asked if she would consider creating a third party if neither Gov. Romney nor President Obama would budge from their current positions on a variety of issues, Palin left open the door.

“Look what happened in the mid 1800’s. The Whig party went away and the Republican Party surfaced. Because the electorate got sick and tired of the party fighting for power and not doing the will of the people.”

Palin went on to say history could repeat itself.

“If history is an indication it is a possibility,” she said. “If the Republicans don’t remember what the planks in the platform represent … that is opportunity to prosper and thrive in the most exceptional nation in the world. We do that through a free market. If the Republicans become like the liberal left and democrats, I wouldn’t be surprised if history didn’t repeat itself.”

These comments are consistent with Palin’s comments from last year:

And here’s what she said in 2010:

GOP plank hammers Obama’s ‘social experimentation’ in military

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Photo credit: basykes

Mitt Romney does not bring up President Obama’s social revolution inside the armed forces, but the Republican Party platform, by calling an end to “social experimentation” in the ranks, does.

The platform also backs the current ban on women serving in direct ground combat units, as the Obama administration is moving toward a decision to remove the prohibition before the November election.

The Republican National Committee on Resolutions, meeting last week in Tampa, Fla., approved a plank that states: “We support the advancement of women in the military, which has not only opened doors of opportunity for individuals but has made possible the devoted, and often heroic, services of additional members of every branch of the Armed Forces.”

Elaine Donnelly, who directs the Center for Military Readiness and attended the platform markup, said the language sends a strong signal to those who would sacrifice military preparedness to advance social policies.

“We reject the use of the military as a platform for social experimentation and will not accept attempts to undermine military priorities and mission readiness,” the platform states.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ron Paul declines speaking slot at Tampa after Romney demands preapproval, unqualified endorsement

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The libertarian Republican presidential candidate says he’s declined an opportunity to speak at the Republican National Convention in Tampa because Mitt Romney’s campaign imposed two conditions on any Paul speech — that it be reviewed by the nominee-to-be’s team and that it include an endorsement without hesitation or reservation.

“It wouldn’t be my speech,” the Texas congressman told the New York Times. “That would undo everything I’ve done in the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse him for president.”

Pundits noted that the uncompromising attitude that has won Paul a national following also limits his clout within the GOP.

“Uncompromising and perfectly willing to operate on the margins of mainstream politics for decades, Ron Paul proved unable to take his liberty message to a broader audience,” Charlie Mahtesian wrote today in Politico. “Even this year, at the height of his national influence and popularity, the Texas congressman failed to win the popular vote in a single state and never seriously threatened to win the GOP nomination.”

But inside the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome, where Paul is holding a celebration of his candidacy today, supporters say Paul’s unyielding principles are why they love him. Jordan Page, a singer who has penned several ballads about the Texas congressman, called Paul “the one sane voice in a sea of madness.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Libertarian Gary Johnson asks for support of Ron Paul Voters

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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson was nowhere to be seen at the official Ron Paul rally in Tampa, but he did make a pitch to Paul’s voters at this weekend’s grassroots-organized Paul Fest.

“I want you all to know that I am a Dr. Paul fan,” Johnson, a former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, told the crowd to loud applause.

Johnson emphasized his agreement with Paul on foreign policy and auditing the Federal Reserve as he made the case that he is the best candidate to move the Texas congressman’s message forward in the presidential race.

Initially, Johnson sought the Republican nomination for president while Paul was still a candidate, but he told the crowd he had long been a Paul supporter. “Ron Paul asked me for my endorsement in 2008 and I readily gave him that endorsement,” Johnson said. “When I dropped out of the Republican primary, I asked everyone who was going to vote for me to vote for Ron Paul.”

Cheers erupted when Johnson reminded the audience that, during his final appearance in the Republican presidential debates, he said he would pick Ron Paul to be his running mate if nominated.

Read more from this story HERE.

VA spends almost $100k on coffee break at Florida conference

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The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $90,747 on coffee and refreshments during morning and afternoon breaks at a pair of training conferences in Orlando last year.

These are the same conferences where the $52,000 video parody of the movie Patton – paid for with taxpayer dollars – was first screened. The total cost of the two VA get-togethers held in July and August 2011 at the Marriott World Center in Orlando was about $5.3 million.

The coffee klatches were needed to carry participants between their regular meals, which tallied $98,189 for four days of catering, and their “morning and evening refreshments,” which came with a price tag of almost $185,000.

At least the VA employees were not famished when they arrived at Karaoke Night, which cost $862.

The new numbers come from the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, which has been pressing the VA for spending details related to the human resources training conferences since it learned earlier this month that whistleblower tips led to an investigation by the agency’s inspector general.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama now claims Romney is a “birther” (+video)

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On his Facebook page today, Obama claimed that Romney is a “birther.” Here’s what Obama said:

Mitt Romney directly enlisted himself in the birther movement this morning: ‘No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know this is the place I was born.’

Get the President’s back. Stand with him in this election—and against false, divisive attacks.

Watch the video below to hear Romney’s alleged “birther” comments:

Romney’s coup: Power grab allows him & RNC to change GOP rules without delegates’ vote in Tampa

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The Republican National Convention Rules Committee voted 63-38 to approve a new rule allowing granting the Republican National Committee — and Mitt Romney — sweeping new powers to amend the governing document of the GOP.

The move came at the encouragement of Mitt Romney supporters on the committee, including Romney’s top lawyer Ben Ginsberg, who stressed that it would grant “flexibility” to Romney and the committee to adapt to changing political environments. The rule allows the RNC to amend the party’s rules without a vote by the full Republican National Convention. And it offers the Republican Establishment a new tool to keep at by Tea Party initiatives that threaten to embarrass or contradict party leadership and stray from a planned message.

Romney, as his party’s nominee, exerts significant influence over the RNC, which is made up of elected party officials from all 50 states, while the larger Convention Rules Committee is larger and has a more grassroots membership.

“This is necessary for the world in which we find ourselves in,” Ginsberg told the committee, adding that it is “important for the political survival of the party in the electoral context,” for the committee to be able to change the rules as it sees fit in the intervening four years between conventions.

Virginia delegate and RNC member Morton Blackwell strenuously objected to the proposed rule change, calling it “the most awful proposed amendments I’ve seen presented to this committee.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Huckabee today compares GOP Senatorial Committee to “union goons” who “kneecap” their enemies

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Mike Huckabee participated in a conference call Friday night with hundreds of Baptist pastors and Christian talk radio hosts in Missouri that was organized to coordinate a robust defense of Rep. Todd Akin as he faces pressure from Washington Republicans to drop his Senate bid against Democrat Claire McCaskill. Akin told reporters in St. Louis today that he would not quit the race.

Speaking harshly about establishment Republicans who have tried to force Akin from the Missouri race, Huckabee at one point compared the National Republican Senatorial Committee to “union goons” who “kneecap” their enemies.

The former Arkansas governor said party bosses were “opening up rounds and rounds” of ammunition on Akin and “then running over with tanks and trucks and leaving him to be ravaged by the other side.”

“This is unprecedented, to see to this orchestrated attempt to humiliate and devastate a fellow Republican,” Huckabee said of Akin, who has deep ties to the Christian conservative movement. Akin spent Thursday in Florida meeting with evangelical leaders and evaluating his political future.

Huckabee said he spoke directly with NRSC officials this week and was assured that they would begin to dial back their offensive against Akin. He said party officials specifically told him they would stop pressuring Akin’s consultants and campaign vendors to drop the congressman as a client.

Read more from this story HERE.