Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland were two of the great actresses in their day, and were marvelous as Scarlett O'Hara and Melanie Hamilton. Clark Gable was born to play Rhett Butler -- or more precisely, Rhett Butler was born to be played by Clark Gable, since author Margaret Mitchell later admitted that she had envisioned and developed the character for her 1936 novel precisely with Gable in mind.

But 46-year-old British actor Leslie Howard was grievously miscast as Ashley Wilkes, and was really much too old for the part of a young and strapping Southern gentleman, who was only 21 in Mitchell's novel when then-16-year-old Scarlett first sets to seduce him on the eve of the Civil War. On screen, the scenes between Howard and Vivien Leigh rang false to me, because she was swooning over a man who was old enough to be her father.

And with the exception of the regal and imperious Mammy, the enslaved black nanny who had raised Scarlett from infancy, and who was the only person in the entire story whose opinions and approval Scarlett consistently respected and craved, the African American characters bordered on vicious caricature and stereotyping, which of course was reflective of the 1930s era when the novel and film first took the country by storm. The dimwitted Prissy still makes me cringe every time I see her.

As far as "True Grit" is concerned, the Coen Brothers 2010 film is one of the very few cinematic remakes which I consider to be infinitely superior to the original movie. Everything about it was awesome, and its my favorite Coen Brothers film after "Fargo." From its conception, the original 1969 version was always intended by Paramount Studios as a star vehicle for John Wayne. Co-stars Glen Campbell and Kim Darby were laughably bad, and Wayne looked like Sir Laurence Olivier in comparison. And of the rest of his supporting cast, only Robert Duvall stands out as the outlaw Ned Pepper.

There are indeed a lot of Catholics, particularly fervent converts like Newt Gingrich and Ross Douthat, who are clearly attracted to the Church because of its leadership's well-known penchant for patriarchal diktat. These are the sort of holy rollers who wield their faith as a weapon or a means to an end, and I tend to disdain them as "more Catholic than the Pope." (Particularly our current pontiff, Pope Francis.)

That's long been a sore point for me and other Catholics who are moderate or lean leftward. My own faith is introspective rather than projective, and in that regard I tend to subscribe to the wisdom of Susan B. Anthony, who publicly noted her instinctive distrust for those who know so very well what the Lord wants them to do and don't hesitate to tell us, because she noticed how it always coincides with their own personal desires.

Anyway, thank you for sharing that and clarifying Trump's remarks from last night.

What's a shame is rarely is there discussion around why there are hikes.

Here's Ali Velshi on MSNBC also.

What's also a shame is the d@mn media not reporting these hikes were predicted by the CBO 7 years ago.