Burt Prelutsky

Articles by Burt Prelutsky

Former Film Critic Pines for Hollywood's Golden Age

I used to review movies, first for the Daily Bruin when I was attending UCLA, and then for Los Angeles magazine. Even I’m amazed I could stand to do it for 12 years when, at the end of each year,

Former Film Critic Pines for Hollywood's Golden Age

Back Off, Bill Kristol!

I keep hearing a lot of moaning at the bar from the right wing; most notably from Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard.  It seems like every time I see this guy, whom I refer to as “The Wincer” because

Back Off, Bill Kristol!

The Most Important Election Ever

Quite honestly, the only people I ever hear from who are dopier than liberals are those who identify themselves as conservatives and insist that Republicans and Democrats are identical. Anyone who would suggest that there is no difference between Nancy

The Most Important Election Ever

Some Thoughts on Names in the News

While I hate to destroy anyone’s delusions, I think it is high time that the RNC grew up and faced reality. For openers, if this primary season has taught us anything, it’s that the GOP needs to address its laundry

Some Thoughts on Names in the News

'Primetime Propaganda': Confessions of a TV Propagandist

Because I’ve just finished reading my friend, Ben Shapiro’s excellent new expose, “Primetime Propaganda,” I’m reminded how fortunate I am that during most of the time I was writing for television, I was a Democrat. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have

Hollywood Does Marriage Right … In the Movies

It recently dawned on me that even though Hollywood couples often avoid marriage even when they have children together, while others are often married for embarrassingly short periods of time, the movies continue to promote the old-fashioned notion that marriage

Why Movie Stars are Liberal

One of the reasons that movies today are so devoid of compelling characters and engrossing plots is that the folks who make them are, more often than not, too young and too isolated from humanity. That’s not to say that

BOOK EXCERPT: Hollywood's Age Discrimination

EXCERPT FROM Burt Prelutsky’s: Liberals: America’s Termites or It’s a Shame That Liberals, Unlike Hamsters, Never Eat Their Young These days, there is another blacklist taking place, but they’re calling it a graylist because the victims are scriptwriters who made

BOOK EXCERPT: The Entitlement of Celebrity

EXCERPT FROM Burt Prelutsky’s: Liberals: America’s Termites or It’s a Shame That Liberals, Unlike Hamsters, Never Eat Their Young Although, as a rule, those people who star in movies are more obnoxious than their colleagues in television – perhaps because

Burt's Eye View: Politicians Are Necessary Evils

My ex-wife pulled off one of the most diabolical stunts ever perpetrated on one human being by another. When she was a kid, she took it upon herself to teach her younger brother the names of all the different colors.

Burt's Eye View: It Used to Be A Wonderful Life

When I was just a kid, I saw the stage musical, “Peter Pan,” starring Mary Martin in the title role and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook. It is to this day the only version of that old war-horse I ever

Burt's Eye View: New Year's Resolutions

This is the time of year when most people are busy resolving to do better in the future. Some people vow to go on diets or exercise more, some promise to give up smoking or booze. But, year in and

Burt's Eye View: The New and Improved Iron Curtain

Back in 1946, Winston Churchill, in a speech delivered at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, referred to an Iron Curtain that had descended across the Continent, behind which all the capitols of the ancient states, from Berlin to Belgrade, from

Burt's Eye View: Life Here On Planet Bizarro

Based on the email I receive from my readers, I understand that I’m not alone in thinking that the left-wing lugnuts have turned America into the world’s biggest loony bin. I’m not quite sure how they managed to pull it

Burt's Eye View: Hooray for Hollywood

The other day I was asked if I thought I would ever come face to face with writer’s block. I had to laugh. Inasmuch as I generally write about things that annoy, frustrate or just plain drive me nuts, running

Burt's Eye View: Obama's World and Welcome to It

Many people were offended to see Barack Obama once again bowing to a foreign dignitary, the Emperor of Japan. For my part, I was actually relieved that at least this latest breech of protocol didn’t involve his kowtowing to one

Burt's Eye View: Fox and Foes

Whenever I hear people outside the administration prattle on about how evil and biased Fox News is, I know I am listening to a flock of parrots who have never even tuned in. As a conservative myself, I have a

Burt's Eye View: Hollywood Elitists Through the Ages

A lot of people seemed shocked to discover that the folks at the National Endowment of the Arts were so ready, even anxious, to devote their talents to propagandizing on behalf of Obama and his administration. That merely proves that

Burt's Eye View: Mother Nature and the Left

When Barack Obama was campaigning — not that he’s ever stopped — back in 2008, he made a number of promises. As we all know, like a cad on the make, he was only trying to get us in the

Burt's Eye View: Henry Waxman Responds

A while ago, I wrote a piece titled “Blowing the Whistle on Waxman.” In case you missed it, I explained that Henry Waxman and I had been friends beginning almost 50 years ago at UCLA. I also said that we

Burt's Eye View: Questions Even Glenn Beck Hasn't Asked

I have a few questions on my mind and, judging by the questions asked by the likes of George Stephanopoulos, David Letterman and the mainstream media, if I don’t ask them, there’s a very good chance that nobody else will.

Burt's Eye View: Have You No Shame, Leftists?

Back in 1954, a lawyer named Joseph Welch became famous virtually overnight when he looked contemptuously at Joe McCarthy and said, “Have you no decency, sir, at long last?” As clumsy as the line was, he said it so effectively

Burt's Eye View: Catching Up With the News

I wasn’t surprised that Rep. Joe Wilson felt compelled to apologize to President Obama for calling him a liar. I also wasn’t surprised to hear that within 24 hours, thousands of liberals had sent in over $200,000 in contributions to

Burt's Eye View: Blowing the Whistle on Waxman

I have come clean in the past about having been friends with Rep. Henry Waxman. We had met in the late 1950s at UCLA and wound up spending a lot of time over the following decade playing cards. In fact,

Burt's Eye View: Telling the Truth About Lies

I wasn’t surprised that Rep. Joe Wilson felt compelled to apologize to President Obama for calling him a liar. I also wasn’t surprised to hear that within 24 hours, thousands of liberals had sent in over $200,000 in contributions to

Burt's Eye View: Some Townhalls Are Worse Than Others

Recently, I had a very odd experience. No, I didn’t wake up 30 years younger and with a full head of hair. That would have been odd but nice, whereas the experience I actually had was merely bizarre. Like most

Larry Gelbart: An Appreciation

It was a little over 30 years ago that I first laid eyes on the remarkable Larry Gelbart. The occasion was our high school’s 50th anniversary. I had been selected to host the celebration in the auditorium. It was also

Honoring September 11th: Days of Infamy

There are certain dates that are indelibly etched in our minds because they were drummed into us in school, such as the 1066 Battle of Hastings; some because they commemorate joyous events such as July 4th, December 25th or the

Burt's Eye View: Liberalism is a Cult

For the longest time, I’ve insisted that liberalism is the religion of choice for atheists, agnostics and run-of-the-mill secularists. After all, be they Christians, Jews, Moslems or Buddhists, the truly devout accept the tenets of their religion on faith. They

Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic

Sometimes, I must confess, I find myself feeling like one of those cursed individuals like Job and Sisyphus. In my case, the curse takes the form of trying to be rational in a mad world. My particular albatross is trying

Burt's Eye View: Clunkers, Clunkers Everywhere

Unlike most conservatives, when I first heard about cash for clunkers, I got very excited. But then I found out that it involved people turning in their used cars. I had jumped to the conclusion that we were all going

The Straight Poop On Radical Islam

I suspect that because George Bush and Condoleezza Rice were so respectful of Muslims, constantly telling us that theirs is a religion of peace, some otherwise sensible Americans actually began to believe it. Now we have a president who not

ObamaCare is Really ObamaDoesn'tCare — So Vote For Gracie

If I had to explain Americans to a Martian, I would be hard-pressed. It would be especially difficult when it came to liberals. But, there are even conservatives who confound me. For instance, why would any Republican belong to AARP?

A Health Care Plan on Life Support

By this time, I’m sure we’ve all heard more than we care to about Professor Henry Gates. Still, I can’t let it go without tossing in my two cents. Admitting he didn’t know the facts of the case didn’t prevent

The Case Against Mortarboarding

I have received a number of e-mails over the years from disgruntled parents griping about the left-wing indoctrination their kids are forced to undergo at colleges and universities all over America. One minute, it seems, the kids are sane, or

Indicting the Usual Suspects

Nobody has to tell me things are going from bad to worse in America. The question that preys on my mind is when it was that we began our descent. Some would say it started when Jimmy Carter turned his

Obama Takes Michelle Out For a Date and Us For a Ride

The other day, I received an e-mail from a lady who let me know she was in the habit of forwarding my articles to her daughter who’s away at college. Apparently, she felt I could provide the young woman with