Friends of Abe Conservatives Hiding in Hollywood Coming Out

Liberal Hollywood is such a watchword on Fox News that you might not realize that there are actual, living, breathing conservative celebrities.

First came the underground group Friends of Abe (after Abraham Lincoln). This clandestine group became an open secret this year, as news of it hit the Washington Times and other news organizations.

The group had been meeting in homes and restaurants, looking to form a sort of support group for the few conservatives in the industry.

These conservatives have been afraid to speak out for fear of being written off or blacklisted by powerful liberals in the industry. But they met to discuss the liberal bias and perceived anti-American sentiments in various entertainment media.

While the group itself isn't about activism, it encourages activism for individual members because individuals no longer feel isolated. It started with only a dozen and last year a party thrown by the Friends of Abe garnered about 600.

Movies like American Carol, a conservative parody, are the direct result of this quiet movement.

Says director David Zucker in an interview on Popwatch "You sort of feel like you have to hide it... "When you meet, you give each other a secret look--'Are you a Republican too?' It's the new gay."

Andrew Breitbart, a conservative net guru who has worked for the Drudge Report as well as his own news portal Breitbart.com, is set to reveal a new conservative celeb site in the next week. The site will feature discussion from various right-leaning Hollywood insiders, actors and commentators like Breitbart.

For conservatives in the game of politics, this might well be a boon. For years, liberals have had the market cornered on glamour and celebrity, but in the '00's there's been a creep toward conservative celebrity. Some of that is due to Fox news, which has done some of the image polishing for conservatives, but it's also something that conservatives really need. After all, the last election was won, at least in part, because Obama had more star power on his side.

So what can we expect from the site? It will be well run, because Breitbart won't do anything less, but it will also be an outgrowth of his column Big Hollywood which focuses a spotlight on narrow, ugly liberalism in the Hollywood, celebrity world. But don't expect A-list celebs to sign on to blog just yet. While there will be a Hollywood Conservative slant to the site, it might be a while before he can attract glam celebs to guest on the site.

Sources:

http://www.observer.com/2008/arts-culture/hollywood-infidel?page=0%2C1

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/09/american-carol.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jul/23/hollywoods-conservative-underground/