Dirty Harry revealed

Former Libertas writer "Dirty Harry" has decided to step out from behind his Internet pseudonym and take his chances that it won't hurt his career in Hollywood. He announced on his new web site, Dirty Harry's Place, that his real name is John Nolte.

Of course, nobody will ever tell him to his face that he won't get a job because of his views. They just won't call. I forget who said it (it may have been DH!), but I believe the quote was, "It's just that they won't work with Nazis. And they think you're a Nazi."

Within both the movie industry and the comics industry (just as in academia), there are so many artists and creators who keep mum about their party affiliation because of the obnoxious attitudes of others in the industry that surely anyone who is creative would be a liberal.

Don't believe me? Here's an actual conversation from this year's "Free Comic Book Day". I will protect the identities of those talking, but they are prominent self-publishers:

Person 1: I'm thinking about taking a permanent hiatus from [current comic strip] and doing a different strip where I can be more political.
Person 2: Really?
Person 1: 'Cuz remember that storyline where [character] was doing a podcast? I got thousands of angry e-mails from longtime readers who didn't like it.
Person 2: That's amazing. I would think anyone who liked comics would be a Democrat.
The two then proceeded to loudly remark about FCBD also being the fifth anniversary of "Mission Accomplished", with much chortling... and no concern that anyone within earshot would have a dissenting view.

I'm biting my tongue to keep from mentioning that the mission of the people on the ship (overthrowing Saddam and defeating Iraq's official military) WAS accomplished and that everything in Bush's speech that day talked about the long slow progress to come (not that either one can remember a lick of the speech, they just remember the banner). Why? Because then I'll just look like the one loudmouth who is disruptive of the serenity of the comic book event, and I don't want to be "the right-winger who ruined Free Comic Book Day and shouldn't be invited back because he's always obnoxious." For all I know, one of them will tell the shopkeep that if I'm at the next FCBD they won't be because they hated being confronted. It won't matter that it was their rude introduction of politics to the proceedings that started it, or that I know others in the room who were probably equally offended.

"I would think anyone who liked comics would be a Democrat." That says so much.

The only reason I'm openly conservative is that I gave up any hope of working for my favorite comic company, the New York-based DC Comics, years ago. When I first tried to seriously break into the industry in 2003, I was advised by some who were in the know to stop posting anything political on Chuck Dixon's web site because it's read by people at DC and I'd be a marked man. It may not entirely make me persona non grata, but it couldn't help. So I kept a tight rein on my thoughts. Those were a tough couple of years. Around the time that Sue Dibny was killed off and Ralph "Elongated Man" Dibny pretty much ruined, I was far more interested in doing my own comic book, Metro Med (which is being republished this week...more on that in a few). At least when you're self-employed, you know your views agree with the boss' views.

So as long as I have your attention: We're winning in Iraq, Obama's more ignorant than George W. Bush ever was, we should have been drilling for oil in that tiny portion of the Arctic Mosquito Preserve 15 years ago, and John McCain is the lousy candidate who I will support anyway this November. I'm not going to guard my tongue anymore...though aside from this post I'll keep my political thoughts confined to "TheHutch.com."

Best of luck, Dirty Harry.