I listened to Hugh Hewitt report on Republican after Republican go down to defeat and realized that the House of Representatives is about to be given to a "mother and grandmother" from San Francisco. It crossed my mind, that a significant reason why these loses are occuring is because Conservatives simply are not fighting the culture wars anymore. In fact, on one very important front, I don't think they were ever fighting culture war.

I'm referring to the Popular Culture front: movies, novels, television, short fiction, music, and, yes, even comic books.

Tens of millions of Americans watch hour after hour of television, spend Friday or Saturday night at the multi-plex, devour the latest pot-boilers on Barnes & Noble best-seller's table or are avid fans of bands gracing Rolling Stone's cover. Too many conservatives think the best way to influence these folks is to write volume after volume of non-fiction. Be honest: Do you  really think the millions who read The Da Vinci Code or who went to see Borat are going to be influenced by Sean Hannity's Let Freedom Ring, Hugh Hewitt's Painting the Map Red, or Laura Ingraham's Shut Up and Sing?

While studying with some Hollywood screenwriters, who happen to be Christian (yes they are out there), it was made clear to me that Hollywood is the center of influence and Washington, D.C. is the center of power. Hollywood understands this, why don’t conservatives?. Look at the slate of recent movies meant to influence the audience against the Iraqi front in our war against Islamo-Nazism: Jarhead, Syriana, Good Night, and Good Luck, Paradise Now, Flags of Our Fathers, the Manchurian Candidate remake, V for Vendetta, the soon to be released Harsh Times, etc., etc., etc. When the film glitterati wanted to get the public behind government run health care along came John Q. Movie executives think big pharmaceutical companies threaten grannies ability to get meds and are generally responsible for the suffering in Africa. Their answer is The Constant Gardner. Fearing conservative Christians are about to set up a theocracy in America, Hollywood honchos get behind The Da Vinci Code and the documentary Jesus Camp. I could go on and on with this. Where are the conservatives in this fight?

Republicans did a great job, back in 1994, taking power in D.C., and they held on to it for over a dozen years. And what did they do with this? Oh, sure, they cut taxes (which still aren’t permenant), and they actually took the fight to the Islamo-Nazis dead set on destroying civilization (though that may now be in question given recent election results). However, they were largely turned out on their ear by a populace that appears to have little stomach for sacrifice in the war against Islamo-Nazism and that cannot recognize a booming economy when it stares them in the face. Now these Republicans seem intent on running to the middle, i.e., to the Left, in order to regain the power they lost. All the while they fail to understand that, by handing victory in the culture war to the Left, by not fighting at all, they will continue to be on the outside looking in when it comes to influence America.

It would be generous of me to report that conservative are barely scratching the surface. There are some very stalwart folks fighting it out in Hollywood. The point in this front of the Culture War has been taken by Jason Apuzzo and Govindini Murty who have built the Liberty Film Festival from nothing and kept it going with little more than their passion for film. Meanwhile conservatives focus on East Coast think tanks, and magazines like National Review and The Weekly Standard. Your average American is more likely to know who is in and who is out on Dancing With The Stars than who the Secretary of State or Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is. Why? Because they pay attention to what is happening in popular culture. Why don’t conservatives?

Jason Apuzzo has written a great essay on exactly this subject. I am in complete agreement with him. I have no sympathy for the Republicans who lost in the recent election. Here are a few choice excerpts:

 Here is what it’s like to be a conservative in Hollywood: you have access to … none of the studios, nor to the most important independent producers, agencies, or film finance sources. You actually have no money; your films are frequently financed on VISA and American Express cards. You’re scrappy, and have to live by your wits, ideas and talent. Basically you have The Liberty Film Festival and LIBERTAS pulling for you, and a few odd people scattered throughout the system - most of whom are deeply fearful for their careers. Other than that, you’re on your own …

 …

 A striking number of [Republicans] have told us some variation of the following: that they like Hollywood and the media being run by the Left, because that gives Republicans ’something to run against.’ That the steady, unending stream of left-wing agitprop coming from Hollywood, along with the celebrity liberal activism, has been a great thing for Republicans … because after all, it riles up the base!

 …
 
… what Hollywood does is shape the nation’s narrative. And right now, as we fight the War on Terror and fight in Iraq, the narrative being shaped by Hollywood is this: that America is an imperialistic, war-mongering, ruthlessly profiteering, neo-fascistic Christian theocracy that does not merit the world’s admiration or allegiance. And frankly, it’s hard for America to fight and win a war when Hollywood shapes the war-narrative that way.

 …

 So this is generally what we see nowadays: conservatives write trenchant columns about tax policy while George Clooney romances starlets in film and on magazine covers. This week, for example, People Magazine will again declare George Clooney ‘The Sexiest Man Alive!,’ while Peggy Noonan will write another windy Wall Street Journal column about post-election malaise. I’ll let you guess which article will get more attention …

Until this sort thing changes, Republicans are going to seem out of touch, distant, old and irrelevant. The reason? Because the culture war conservatives say they want to fight isn’t being fought in Beltway think tanks or at National Review - in fact, it isn’t even being fought in elections, per se; it’s being fought in multiplexes, in People Magazine, on Xboxes, at Netflix and on YouTube. Conservatives not only aren’t fighting the culture wars, they don’t even seem to know where the battlefields are.

Jason has got it exactly right. If I see one more conservative author who spends all their time mau-mauing politicians in Washington D.C. and complaining about Hollywood, politics and the courts I just might scream. When conservatives actually get in the Popular Culture game, instead of just using it as a foil to “rile up the base”, then they will discover a recipe for actually shaping that culture. Government is not there to shape the culture. Government is there to ensure that the nation is kept safe. Many conservatives seem to think that government can shape the culture. They are wrong. 

Join Jason and Govindini in their fight in Hollywood. Join the creators behind the comic book Liberty Girl. Support the folks behind Liberality For All. Watch quality television like Friday Night Lights.

And if you have the money, support the folks who are truly fighting for America in the culture war. Donations to the Cato Institute, American Enterprise Institute

What I and, I think, Jason, are saying is: Stop whining and get in the game!