Tag: Hollywood

Chris Pratt’s Faith Love Story

It was in the late 2000s when actor Chris Pratt secured Hollywood fame for his portrayal of Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation.”

Although his role in the sitcom was meant to be temporary, producers liked him so much they asked him to become a series regular.

After dropping out of college, working as a waiter, and living homeless in Hawaii, Pratt had clearly come a very long way. He was now a genuine TV star.

His career would continue to rocket as he obtained supporting roles in a number of significant films, including “Moneyball,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” and “Her.”

He hit true A-list status through major roles in two blockbuster film franchises: Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” series and the “Jurassic World” trilogy.

“The Magnificent Seven,” “Passengers,” and “The Tomorrow War” would usher in other stellar roles. And his voicing of characters in “The Lego Movie” franchise, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” and “The Garfield Movie” would further expand his audience horizons.

As an actor, Pratt possesses a unique capacity to simultaneously handle drama, action, and humor. This combination is serving to continually propel his career.

The proof is in the celluloid. Movies in which he has had a starring role have grossed over $13 billion worldwide.

With all the success he has achieved, he is nevertheless motivated by something much greater – a deep and abiding faith.

Like nearly everyone else on earth, Pratt has wrestled with doubt and particularly throughout his early years found himself falling into old habits.

“I’d make promises, but I didn’t keep them,” he said in an interview.

However, his life changed in 2012 when his baby son Jack was born premature and was forced to spend his first month in a neonatal intensive care unit.

“We were scared for a long time,” Pratt said.

“He [Jack] had all of these issues going on. I prayed hard to God. I was in a season of transition spiritually at that time, and didn’t quite fully understand. I made a deal with God again: ‘I’m sorry, God, here I am again, asking for your grace again.’ And He really saved my son, and that was the moment [my faith] was cemented,” he said.

Pratt recalls it as a miracle that restored his faith in God.

“My heart softened, and my faith hardened. That was the moment that I was like, ‘Moving forward, I’m going to give my platform to God,’” he said.

Since then he has used his celebrity profile to enhance awareness of the Almighty.

He wants to affirm people who are believers in Christ, but he also hopes to reach out to the people who haven’t yet experienced God’s presence.

“I want to be a light to people who’ve never seen light. I want to be a light to people who have seen light but turned away from it or been afraid of it,” Pratt said.

As a father of four, he wants to raise his children “with an understanding that their dad was unashamed of his faith in Jesus, and with a profound understanding of the power of prayer, and the grace and the love and the joy that can come from a relationship with Jesus.”

He is well aware that many in the entertainment industry don’t share his views. But this doesn’t deter him.

“It’s who I am. I’m not going to hide behind it. A city on a hill cannot be hidden,” he stated.

Pratt understands the dark side of fame and the ways in which celebrities can oftentimes be trapped by it.

He once responded to a question from “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert about the inherent danger of intense fame.

“If the spotlight that’s shining on you is brighter than the light that comes from within you — it’ll kill you…,” he said.

He knows firsthand that being a Christian in Hollywood is going against the grain.

When faced with criticism, his approach is to pray for his critics.

“If people don’t understand me, I’m going to pray for them, and then I’m going to go back and hang out with my kids and play tag,” he said.

Pratt exhibits the beautiful virtue of self-sacrifice, which is encompassed in a relationship with God. He has counted the cost of standing up for his faith and is totally willing to pay the price.

“I care enough about Jesus to take a stand, even if it cost me. It could cost me everything, but I don’t care. It’s worth it to me because this is what I’m called to do, it’s where my heart is.”

Pratt is now starring in the original happily-ever-after love story.

When you experience the love of God, you want everyone else to feel it too.

The Ashes of the California Wildfires

On the morning of January 7, 2025, a brush fire in the hills above Los Angeles quickly transformed into an inferno.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated, while hundreds of thousands were on pins and needles as they awaited the impending evacuation orders.

The first fire would come to be known as the Palisades Fire.

A few hours later the Eaton Fire would ignite in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Later in the night the Hurst Fire would erupt in the northern San Fernando Valley.

The following morning the Woodley Fire would emerge in the central San Fernando Valley.

And Los Angeles hadn’t seen the last of the fires yet.

Needless to say, numerous homes burned to the ground. Many people suffered injuries. And some individuals tragically lost their lives.

Two prominent leaders have dared to speak bluntly about the contributing causes of the calamity that occurred in Los Angeles: former LA mayoral candidate Rick Caruso and President elect Donald Trump.

— Caruso is a former commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He is also the owner of the Palisades Village Mall, located in the heart of the community that has been decimated by the wildfires.

Caruso’s daughter’s home was destroyed in the blaze, and he himself was evacuated from his home. As the flames were breaking out in his beloved neighborhood, he noticed something that defied comprehension. The fire hydrants were devoid of even a drop of water.

“There’s no water in the fire hydrants,” Caruso exclaimed, his voice revealing his exasperation.

“This is a window into a systemic problem of the city,” he said.

“The real issue to me here is two-fold. We’ve had decades to remove the brush in these hills…and the second is, we’ve got to have water. My understanding is the reservoir was not refilled in time…to keep the hydrants going…”

— President elect Trump had previously warned California Gov. Gavin Newsom that he needed to better manage the state’s forests in order to prevent wildfires.

In 2018, then-President Trump chastised Newsom over the burned-out remains of the town of Paradise.

“You’ve got to take care of…the floors of the forests,” Trump said.

Two years later Trump spoke out again after a new round of fires had inflicted severe harm on California. He talked about cleaning the forest floors, removing leaves and fallen trees, and preventing the igniting of the brush and forest debris.

The president elect recently used a post on X to comment on the current fires in Los Angeles.

“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” he posted.

He also used his Truth Social account to wake up Gov. Newsom, writing, “…I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!”

Angelinos are far from happy with their government leaders.

— Despite fire warnings, Mayor Karen Bass flew to Africa to attend Ghana’s presidential inauguration on the day that the fire broke out; this after meteorologists warned that a “recipe for fire” was on track to strike LA.

— LA city officials reportedly failed to cut off electricity to power lines. Video footage from the Palisades Fire showed sparks flying as power lines came down.

— Officials in Los Angeles County had reportedly refused to refill reservoirs with the water that would ultimately be needed to flow to fire hydrants.

More information about the catastrophic failures of leadership will no doubt emerge in the coming days.

Out here in California, prayer is all we have. And yet it’s everything.

If your heart is able, please join in prayer for safety, solace, and strength for the people of the City of Angels.

May God’s blessings flow from the ashes.

“I will give them a crown to replace their ashes, and the oil of gladness to replace their sorrow, and clothes of praise to replace their spirit of sadness.” (Isaiah 61:3)

Clooney Is Big Mad at Obama

It’s a risky move for a Hollywood star to step into the world of politics.

This is true for those who are new to the spotlight. But it’s especially true for those with a long track record of success.

Enter George Clooney.

Months ago when President Joe Biden gave a shockingly poor debate performance against then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, donors began to withhold campaign cash, while party leaders and media pundits simultaneously started to talk about getting Biden to pull out of the race.

A huge amount of video footage had been emerging online, which suggested that Biden was experiencing cognitive difficulties.

One particular video piece featured Clooney at a Left Coast fundraiser. Also in attendance were Biden and former President Barack Obama, who was seen playing the role of caregiver to his former veep, even appearing to have to assist Biden in exiting the stage.

Clooney would soon become the de facto celebrity leader of a group that was seeking to shove Biden out of the spotlight.

A few short weeks after the Hollywood fundraiser, Clooney took the highly dramatic step of penning an op-ed column for the New York Times, which urged Biden to step aside.

“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the…Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,” Clooney wrote.

The actor slammed Democrats who were seeking to retain Biden as the nominee, admonishing them to “stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw.”

Clooney warned the Democratic Party, “We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate.”

The star’s prediction turned out to be accurate, even after Biden reluctantly stepped down and Vice President Kamala Harris was “selected” by party leaders as the Democrat presidential nominee.

After the decisive November 5, 2024 victory of President elect Trump, Clooney began to experience the unexpected, i.e., backlash and blame for his high profile role in what a lot of folks viewed as a coup.

Amid the finger pointing after the election loss, Clooney became one of the top scapegoats.

This may have prompted the recent announcement that from now on, he would avoid the political arena entirely.

“George feels that the backlash he is getting for Kamala losing is not at all warranted,” a source told the Daily Mail. “He [Clooney] thinks it is completely unfair to try and make him a scapegoat for her loss.”

In addition, it appears as though Clooney is directing some of his personal wrath at a former friend. Recent reports indicate that the star, who was previously best buds with Obama, is deliberately drifting away.

RadarOnline, via an anonymous source, has reported that Clooney is fuming over the former president having pushed him into becoming a front and center advocate for ending Biden’s campaign.

“George is furious with Obama for disappearing after the election disaster and leaving him holding the bag for pushing the plan with his Hollywood pal,” the source indicated.

“George became Barack’s surrogate in leading the charge for Joe to step away. Barack knew he would look like a traitor if he publicly called for Joe to be cut loose. And now, he’s trying to walk away from it all,” the source stated.

According to the source, Clooney “feels duped and vows he’s not going to be anyone’s political water boy anymore… and feels he stepped up and took a bullet for the team.”

The actor evidently wants Obama to publicly intervene with some crisis management.

The source said, “He [Clooney] thinks Obama should come forward and say that George did the right thing and it isn’t his fault that it didn’t work out.”

Apparently, Clooney is not optimistic that Obama will do any such thing, and the whole matter has left him “feeling like a patsy.”

It’s all totally understandable.

For years Clooney has worked hard to build his brand. Now his Hollywood star has been seriously sullied.

Will the public give the celebrity a pass?

The answer may be found in yet another tired “Ocean’s” sequel.

Journalism Goes Hollywood

It’s the mainstay of the entertainment industry.

Take bits of creative fabrication, put them all together in celluloid form, and pass the whole thing off as reality.

Voila! A big-screen, little-screen, and/or digital-screen production is born.

Once upon a time entertainment fare didn’t infiltrate journalistic territory. Instead it was happily confined to its own terrain.

And there was a kind of unwritten truth-in-advertising code within the journalism profession as well, secured by an internal bond of trust in news media venues across the culture.

Those days are long gone. The dividing line between entertainment and news media has almost been completely obliterated, and nowhere is it more obvious than within the realm of politics.

So what happens when news journalism goes Hollywood?

Well, in the past professional journalists pretty much had a singular goal, which was actually outlined in the first draft of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, dated 1926: “Seek truth and report it.”

It appears as though way too many journalists have chosen to ditch their reporter notepads and are now itching to get into the Hollywood production game.

Let’s take a look at how Hollywood has done things for decades.

Filmmakers select a story to tell. It can be an original idea, an extension of a previous artistic work, or myriad of other fanciful combinations.

Screenwriters create a script, which oftentimes undergoes multiple revisions in order to increase dramatic effect or enhance entertainment value.

Production designers and art directors create visuals and construct sets.

Locations are scouted and choice venues are selected.

Filming begins, with repeated scene shoots taking place so that the finest performances can be selected from the mix.

An extensive editing process occurs in which scenes are examined, and segments of footage can be re-arranged and/or cut out completely if so desired.

The movie is then assembled and delivered in its completed state.

And of course there is a whole industry built on marketing the final product.

If we apply the above-outlined entertainment template to the news business, it begins to become clear as to what has occurred within a once-noble profession.

Journalism has gone Hollywood.

Some may immediately say, “So what’s the problem?”

The answer is simple. The Fourth Estate is now on life support. However, The Fourth Estate has, and always will be an essential component in keeping a free society free. So if The Fourth Estate truly dies, so does our liberty.

Traditionally, journalists have had an ethical obligation to inform the public, taking particular care to report truthfully and accurately. They have also had an ethical obligation to clarify mistakes that are made and/or issue retractions.

The public hasn’t seen a whole lot of this of late. Instead the opposite has been occurring. Here’s a glaring example.

Vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris recently sat down for an interview with CBS. After a less than sterling outing, it was discovered that the network had used some filmmaking techniques to give the vice president’s performance an extreme Hollywood makeover.

Interviewer Bill Whitaker had asked some rudimentary questions, but the responses given were woefully insufficient. That’s when the network went to work on editing and rearranging her remarks, ultimately making her appear to say something that she didn’t and to be someone that she isn’t.

As a promotion for the segment, the network had released raw footage of her answer to a question about Israel and leader Benjamin Netanyahu. It was embarrassingly bad.

But when CBS later aired the same Q&A, viewers were presented with a new and improved version of her response.

The network had evidently gone to great lengths to produce an edited, i.e., quasi-fictional response, one that had been digitally cut from an earlier part of the interview and re-inserted in the “preferred” place.

Also present in the edited version was some dubbed-in narration, which served to cover up some of her less than perfect responses.

Those who actually still care about the future of journalism, including The New York Post editorial board, have demanded that CBS release the full transcript of the interview. And according to The Post, former CBS staffers are demanding an independent investigation into the matter.

CBS is not alone in jumping into the Hollywood editing game. Action News on 6 ABC (located in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania) aired two different answers from the vice president regarding her economic policies, and then went on to publish the edited version on its website.

Times sure have changed. So-called news outlets are routinely copying the fanciful storytelling and elaborate production of liberal Hollywood. And fiction and fabrication are now unapologetically presented as fact and truth.

Yes, time is running out.

But rest assured, there are still a lot of us out here who will never stop hoping for a Hollywood happy ending and a return to truth.

Diddy’s Legal Woes Spell Trouble for Some Major Hollywood Players

Sean Combs, widely known as Diddy, continues to be embroiled in a scandal that appears to be growing more serious each day, not only for him but for several of his Hollywood colleagues.

The influential music producer and three-time Grammy winner was recently refused bail, after having pleaded not guilty to multiple felony counts. His criminal trial is fast approaching.

After he was charged criminally, more allegations surfaced via a lawyer who is representing at least 120 plaintiffs that intend to file lawsuits against Diddy and others.

Speaking at a press conference, Texas attorney Tony Buzbee indicated that his clients will be alleging various sexual misconduct allegations against Diddy as well as additional defendants.

According to Buzbee, over 3,280 people have contacted his firm with allegations against the entertainment mogul. However, after vetting the claimants and their cases his law firm decided to represent a select 120 people. Additional potential cases are still under review.

The alleged abuses that will appear in the moving papers purportedly took place mainly at parties that were held in the states of New York, California and Florida, parties at which individuals were allegedly given drinks laced with drugs.

Some of the alleged conduct occurred at venues where individuals who were seeking to break into the entertainment industry were auditioning.

The allegations purportedly took place between the years 1991 and 2024.

According to Buzbee, the alleged victims that are planning to file suit consist of 60 males and 60 females. A shocking 25 of the plaintiffs were purportedly minors at the time of the alleged misconduct.

The purported young age of some of the alleged victims appears to be altering the nature and character of the allegations against Diddy.

Buzbee elaborated on the alleged circumstances of a nine-year-old boy who was taken to New York to audition for Diddy’s record label.

“This individual was sexually abused, allegedly by Sean Combs and several other people at the studio, in the promise to both his parents and to himself of getting a record deal,” the attorney said.

Buzbee provided details of another alleged incident involving a fifteen-year-old girl who was allegedly flown to New York City to attend a party, and who subsequently was allegedly drugged and raped in the presence of Diddy.

The attorney invoked the industry that is most likely to be impacted by Diddy’s case, that being Hollywood.

“The biggest secret in the entertainment industry, that really wasn’t a secret at all, has finally been revealed to the world,” Buzbee said to the press.

He then added the following words, which likely sent shivers across the Hollywood community:

“The day will come when we will name names other than Sean Combs, and there’s a lot of names…But the names that we’re going to name, assuming that our investigators confirm and corroborate what we’ve been told, are names that will shock you.”

Buzbee indicated that there are additional perpetrators, and said, “They already know who they are.”

Numerous household names have outward ties to Diddy. Some have been photographed with him. Many have attended his parties.

Hollywood is bracing itself for the day that A-listers in connection to the Diddy cases are named.

Anxiety is high over the very real possibility that careers and brands will be tarnished, whether by association with a Diddy allegation, or worse, by being named as a defendant in a criminal case or a civil one.

During a segment on “The Breakfast Club,” radio host Charlamagne Tha God opined that if Combs is convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking, others involved will likely be going to jail.

As for Diddy himself, he is completely denying the claims and allegations. His representatives have stated that he “cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.”

They added that Diddy “emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors,” and stated that “he looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court if and when claims are filed and served, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”

Diddy is due back in court for a status conference on October 9, 2024, during which the court is expected to set a trial date. Prosecutors have also said that the investigation into alleged criminal activity is still ongoing.

In the meantime, Hollywood is holding its collective breath.

The Rise and Fall of Diddy’s Star

Sean “Diddy” Combs is a major figure in the world of hip-hop.

Also known as P. Diddy and Puff Daddy, Diddy is a rapper, music producer, and record executive.

He has been credited with the discovery and career guidance of many fellow artists, including Usher, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, and the Notorious B.I.G.

Diddy was arrested recently in New York City after being indicted by a federal grand jury.

The arrest and indictment came after a months-long sex trafficking investigation. Unfortunately for him, Diddy’s career had already been negatively impacted as the result of having been named a defendant in several lawsuits, which accused him of various forms of abuse.

According to the indictment, the charges that he now faces include racketeering, transportation to engage in prostitution, and sex trafficking.

The case has the capacity to garner an enormous amount of public attention, in part due to the disturbing subject of sex trafficking. It is also one that could cause irreparable harm to Hollywood’s image and reputation.

Although many in the media have routinely chosen to downplay the subject, the entertainment industry is a place where numerous allegations of similar activity have surfaced over the years.

While the mainstream press focuses on the hedonistic aspects described in the scenarios contained in the indictment, the case has much more profound implications, particularly when it comes to the serious abuses against real-life victims.

At the core of Diddy’s case is the charge of racketeering, which for the star means that he stands accused of leading an organized criminal enterprise, which involved a series of crimes being perpetrated.

The crime of racketeering was a key tool used in the past against the Mafia and the drug cartels. It is now being wielded against a well known Hollywood figure, which is difficult for a heretofore adoring public to process.

The indictment alleges that Diddy used his business entities, employees, and others to facilitate illegal activities that included kidnapping, arson, bribery, obstruction of justice, forced labor, coercion, narcotics offenses, prostitution-related transportation, and sex trafficking.

According to prosecutors, in order to conduct the criminal enterprise Diddy carried and exhibited firearms for the alleged purpose of threatening victims.

Law enforcement officials have stated that in the raids of his Los Angeles and Miami homes, guns and ammunition were found. In particular, officials allegedly discovered three AR-15 rifles with “defaced” serial numbers.

The prosecutors allege that those who surrounded the music mogul had used violent means to protect and sustain the star’s power over others, and they intend to present as evidence the infamous hotel-surveillance video, which shows Diddy engaged in what appears to be a particularly brutal assault of one of his victims.

Even though Diddy has not been charged with criminal assault in this indictment, his alleged penchant for violent acts is a key component of the racketeering charge.

An additional court document sets forth other acts of violence and intimidation allegedly committed by Diddy and his associates, including the brandishing of a gun to kidnap a victim and use of a Molotov cocktail to blow up a car. The same document indicates that fire department records, police reports, and witnesses are able to substantiate these claims.

Additionally, a prosecution memo states that “dozens” of witnesses are available to testify.

Many high-profile Hollywood celebrities, who in the past have had ties with Diddy, appear to have gone silent about his arrest and the multiple charges against him.

It is likely that professional handlers, agents, managers, publicists, and executives would have advised the celebrities within their charges to lay low. Entertainment figures who have carefully cultivated brands would be wise to fear being tainted with the alleged criminal activities.

Large swaths of select celebrities’ social media posts have been wiped clean in recent days.Some stars face the distinct possibility that they themselves may be held to account, if they have been involved in Diddy’s alleged illegal acts.

The lead prosecutor was asked a question about whether Diddy’s associates or employees are going to face charges. The prosecutor answered by saying that he “can’t take anything off the table.”

Diddy is being held without bail, as determined by a magistrate judge, who will not be handling the case. When a district court judge is assigned, Diddy’s lawyers are certainly likely to request that he be released on bail.

Why does this case matter?

It is because it places a glaring light on the dark issue of sex trafficking.

It is because it once again focuses attention on what can happen when power at the highest levels of an organization is misused and abused.

And most importantly, it has the potential to secure justice and to prayerfully bring a sense of closure to the innocent victims of what could be one of Hollywood’s most horrific stories.

Public Demand for J.D. Vance’s Backstory Continues to Rise

We’ve heard a lot about polls lately, and although polls certainly have their place, spontaneous sales of print and streaming content oftentimes speak louder.

In the week following the announcement that J.D. Vance would be former president and current GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s pick as running mate in the upcoming 2024 election, book sales of Vance’s memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” rose a humongous 13,000%.

And that’s not all. During the week following the announcement, 197,000 print copies flew off the shelves, and the book became the #1 seller across all genres.

Additionally, when the e-book and audio book sales are taken into consideration, over 650,000 copies of “Hillbilly Elegy” were purchased during that monumental week, bringing the total sales since its release to more than 3 million copies.

Current demand has been so great at retail outlets that to meet the increased need the publisher, HarperCollins, has ordered a new print run consisting of hundreds of thousands of copies.

Back in 2016 the phenomenal success of “Hillbilly Elegy” catapulted Vance into the celebrity realm long before he entered the political arena. Readers of the book loved it and spread the word of its unique story.

Vance’s real life tale is a compelling one.

A fatherless home, a mother who fell prey to drug addiction, a poverty that defies description, a rescue by family members, an ascent to Marine Corps manhood, an undergraduate college advancement, and a Yale Law school trophy.

Truly the embodiment of the American dream.

The book also provides something else: A window into the Appalachian culture, featuring virtues to be treasured as well as vices to overcome. So reminiscent of sociological traits that are seen in various other multi-cultures across our country.

This all lends to the relatability and, of course, the popularity of Vance’s life story.

His backstory has been routinely cited by a wide variety of political experts (including his present political opponents) in an attempt to more fully understand the Trump campaign victory in 2016.

The candid portrait of Appalachia in particular and of rural poverty in general has helped many to appreciate the appeal of the former president to the forgotten members of the working class.

Interestingly, the critics heaped praise on Vance’s book.

The book’s original title is “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.”

In 2020 Hollywood produced a film adaptation of the book with the shortened title “Hillbilly Elegy.”

The movie was released in select cinemas before its streaming release on Netflix. It was the most-watched film on the site the first day of its release, before finishing third in its debut weekend.

Glenn Close portrays Vance’s “Mamaw” (which in 2021 earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination), Amy Adams plays Vance’s mother, and Gabriel Basso portrays the teen version of J.D.

Despite having the Oscar-winning director Ron Howard and a stellar cast, many in the film critic community slammed the movie. The aggregated critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website gave the film an unduly low 25% rating.

However, much like the book, after the announcement that Vance had been selected to be the GOP vice presidential nominee, the movie almost immediately trended on Netflix, and viewership grew by more than 1,180%.

The interest in Vance’s backstory caused the film version of “Hillbilly Elegy” to debut in the eighth position on the Netflix Global Top 10 Movies chart the week of the announcement of the veep nominee. The movie had a whopping 4.8 million views.

The organic success of the book as well as the movie is reflective of how people from all across the social, economic, and cultural strata can relate to a story that features the triumph of the human spirit.

“Hillbilly Elegy” may just end up translating into votes that echo throughout the mountains and valleys of the American landscape.