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From John Wayne To John Wick, American Cinema Loves The Noble Outlaw

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It’s safe to say “John Wick: Chapter 4” avoided the movie theater malaise these past few weeks. During its opening weekend, the fourth installment in the silent-but-deadly hitman franchise set a record by earning just under $74 million. It continued to rake in cash by making $245 million worldwide in its first 10 days.

Much like the smash hit of summer 2022, “Top Gun: Maverick,” the latest “John Wick” movie is an action-packed, winner-takes-all story that doesn’t attempt to evangelize on behalf of contemporary political entities or push ideological goals. They’re the increasingly rare type of movie that exists simply to provide entertainment for entertainment’s sake. But this doesn’t mean they’re void of greater substance.

For instance, both films feature male protagonists who are best characterized by their generally stoic demeanors and resentment of rigid, out-of-touch authority figures and institutions. This archetype is well known to moviegoers, and American cinema is replete with these types of characters: Han Solo, “Dirty” Harry Callahan, John McClane, and Martin Riggs are just a few who come to mind. 

The medium would simply not be the same without characters of this nature.

And, to that point, many of the stories that most effectively depict Americanism and our traditional understanding of the founding ethos on-screen are dependent on this archetype — the “noble outlaw.” The various characters portrayed by John Wayne in the Westerns of the mid-to-late-20th century provide us with the clearest example of this.

The Noble Outlaw

The man who stands with one

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Pennsylvania County Ditches Drop Boxes, Citing Security Concerns

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Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, will reportedly not use drop boxes this election cycle citing concerns of “illegal activities.”

Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo sent a notice to county election officials on Wednesday saying the county lacked the “capability” to ensure the drop boxes were safe locations for voters to leave their ballots, according to WNEP.

“While I recognize that drop boxes can provide alternative means for voters to cast their ballots, I must prioritize the safety and security of our community in the current political climate,” Crocamo said. “We don’t have the capability, we don’t have the number of staff members to actually stand by the drop boxes to keep them safe, so I decided I’m not going to deploy them.”

Crocamo reportedly expressed concern about “illegal activities,” and she noted that, while drop boxes are equipped with video surveillance, this alone is not a “foolproof means of ensuring compliance with voting laws.”

“Mail-in Ballots come in from a dropbox,” Crocamo reportedly said. “We have to have two staff also do a chain of custody, so actually, it does drain a lot of our resources.”

Voters can drop their ballots off at the Bureau of Elections or mail their ballots in, according to WNEP.

Other Pennsylvania counties concerned about the security of ballot drop boxes have implemented safeguards ahead of November. In Bucks County, “each drop box is located within a government building,” which means the “boxes are only accessible during the hours the government building is open,” as Texas

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Fontes, GOP Ask AZ Supreme Court To Allow 100K Electors To Vote Full-Ballot Following Registration ‘Error’

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Arizona’s Democrat secretary of state and Republicans are asking the state supreme court to allow nearly 100,000 electors to vote “full-ballot” this November after it was discovered an error by government officials put their ability to vote in state and local races in jeopardy.

“We will not stand by as voters are disenfranchised, especially so close to an election,” Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda said in a statement. “Rushing to disenfranchise voters now would not only be illegal but would severely undermine confidence in our elections.”

As my colleague Brianna Lyman reported, the issue in question came to light earlier this week when state officials revealed they “found approximately 97,000 voters who are currently listed as full-ballot voters despite having not fulfilled the requirement to provide documentary proof of citizenship to vote in statewide elections.” The error appears to have resulted “from the way the Motor Vehicle Division provides driver’s license information to the state’s voter registration system,” according to left-leaning Votebeat Arizona.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said these voters “lean more heavily Republican” and are between 45-60 years old, as reported in the Votebeat article.

In Arizona, voters registering via state registration form must provide documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) to vote in state and local races. Those who are unable to provide such proof are registered as “federal-only” voters and can only cast ballots in federal races.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed a lawsuit with the Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday, asking that the secretary be forced

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Conservative Legal Group Sues Gavin Newsom For Hiding Child Gender ‘Transitions’ From Parents

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A conservative legal nonprofit is suing California Gov. Gavin Newsom for state prohibitions that prevent schools from telling parents about student requests to identify as a different gender without the student’s consent.

In July, the state’s far-left governor signed Assembly Bill 1955, which bars school officials from notifying parents when their children go by different names or request to use bathrooms for the opposite sex unless the children consent to the notification. The bill further bars any policy that would require schools to inform parents of their child’s gender “transition.” The pro-Trump legal foundation, America First Legal, filed a lawsuit Wednesday to challenge the law on behalf of California parents and the City of Huntington Beach, which has been resisting Sacramento radicalism since conservatives captured a majority on the town council two years ago.

“This law violates the 14th Amendment, which guarantees the rights of parents to make decisions about their minor children regarding all medical treatment — in this case, social ‘transitioning,’” the nonprofit said in a press release. “Fit parents are presumed to act in the best interest of their child. The government cannot intervene in their relationship simply because it does not like the parents’ decision.”

The California law is the first of its kind at the statewide level, as many parents grapple with whether to remain on the West Coast given the hostility toward parents who protest radical gender policy. Last year, California Republican state Sen. Scott Wilk bluntly recommended parents “flee” to keep their children.

“In the

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