February 13, 2008
Probably Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Happy Valentine's Day, Barack!
Obama hasn't yet snagged the Democratic nomination. But already, like John Kerry before him, he's about to become the target of an "exposé film." As reported in the New York Times, the conservative group Citizens United has budgeted about $1 million to produce the film, which they plan to distribute this summer. The group and its president have previously released such creatively-titled valentines as Hillary, the Movie (a love song to the former first lady) and Celsius 41.11 (an ode to Michael Moore).
The question is, where would such a movie play? We're guessing not at the Siskel, which cancelled screenings of another film about Obama, and not at the Music Box either, which eventually showed it. Perhaps it'll be more of a homegrown operation, with treasured DVD copies being passed hand to hand.
These kinds of "muckraking" pieces (or smear tactics, if you prefer) usually seem to involve a lot of hot wind on the part of the creators and and a fair amount of indifference on the part of everyone else. Obama himself has been more than candid about his past. If we had to predict what sorts of "shocking secrets" this movie will include, we'd choose Obama's former drug use, the fact that he briefly went to a Muslim school and his love for the music of Kool & the Gang. O.K., we're joking about that last one.
image via Blunt
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A feature length Harold Ford, Jr. like attack ad?
"Barack, call me!".
I could care less who your voting for or who you are in love with for that matter, and I also feel no need to shout about who I am voting for; but for the sanity of my everday life, please STOP with the stupid Obama posts. Everyday its another art piece, another poem, another video, another valentine- Good night! We get it! You LOVE Obama!! Be done with it please.
It's taken on cult-like attributes, as often happens in situations where people hunger for something different and are willing to accept almost anything or anyone who roughly meets those expectations.
Next thing you know, it'll be Obama shoes...oh wait
I hope they dig up some girls who look like Paula Jones. That is never NOT entertaining.
I tell ya, it is going to be *awesome* when he turns out to be just another politican.
Only the future schadenfreude of that moment makes the parade of Obama worship posts in any way tolerable.
Why do you think that the Music Box wouldn't show it? It seems like a good balance to the propaganda they already showed. Are you saying that because the Music Box did show the other film that they were tacitly endorsing him? I don't know what they're thinking over there, but the fact that they showed the first film doesn't necessarily mean that they're partisan.
Also, If Barack has been so forthcoming about his past, why won't he answer questions from Chicago media without receiving the questions in advance (some of which he ignored, even so)?
I tell ya, it is going to be *awesome* when he turns out to be just another politican.
I'll have to deprive you of your "Gotcha!" moment then... He *is* just another politician, although a little better one than McCain or Clinton. That is all........that's our system for you though, people can only get their hopes raised by somebody who's just a *tiny* bit less business as usual.
Or more to the point, people can only get their hopes raised by somebody who *appears to be* just a tiny bit less business as usual. Which makes the whole thing all the more sad, frankly.
Well, every leader, good and bad, is just a politician, so I don't understand what that's all about. Washington was just another politician among many, and so was Lincoln, Truman, FDR, etc.
And I would guess most of you are politicians of one sort of another, albeit on a smaller scale, at your office or school or other place of work, and certainly among your acquintances.
I find it odd how his supporters are so vehemently opposed to even talking about his drug us—to the point of going ballistic when the Clinton camp brought up the fact that the Republicans could go after him for it in the primary. The Republicans MAY turn it into a Swift Boat-type issue, with the same kind of similar ad campaign, when the time comes. They may just be waiting in the wings right now waiting to pounce. We all know how this works: Some fringe organization does the dirty work so the candidate himself doesn’t sully his hands, but the damage is done: Imagine heavily run, national 30 second spots designed to drive it into the head of Americans that they are about to elect a president who has an admitted history of hard drug use—it is a potentially lethal Achilles’ heel. You personally may not feel that it affects your opinion of him one iota, but that isn’t how everyone thinks.
Anyway, the idea that this one thing is okay to bring up, while this other thing is not okay to bring up, is childish. You are running for the presidency. It’s all fair.
Good point Navin and E, I could stomach O'Bama better if his supporters could actually debate his pros and cons as a mere good politician, like Bill Clinton was/is. Instead they continue to place him into the same class as Lincoln tested by the civil war and FDR tested by WWII and the depression. This just cheapens political courage.
Did anyone doubt that W used hard drugs?
Yok,I think the question should be if Dudya still does hard drugs?
Oh you mean because of the book the convicted murderer wrote?
I have no idea if he did or didn't, but he never admitted it.
The people who are going to worry about that will vote for McCain and probably wish they were voting for Huckabee. I think typical Republican Jesus freak/red scare like smearing and sloganeering's not going to be so effective this time.
I find it odd how his supporters are so vehemently opposed to even talking about his drug us—to the point of going ballistic when the Clinton camp brought up the fact that the Republicans could go after him for it in the primary.
I don't think his supporters are so against discussing his drug use; he fully disclosed it, after all. It's the dirty politics of the Clinton camp using his own admission to segue into the suggestion that perhaps he might have even dealt drugs too (I mean, isn't that what young, black men do?) that riled people up...
Right. And the flip-side of that is that everyone who owns an iPod will be voting for him because they think he's "cool."
Actually I don't see anything wrong with what Shaheen said in the first place and don't understand why he resigned, either.
Better than a vote for McCain or Clinton.
You cant debate his positions because he hasnt taken any he likes to run on hope. Obama needs to explain his positions besides change. No matter what there will be change.
The drug issue probably will be a weak point for him if he gets the nom, but that's far from the only thing a movie like this could bring up.
I tend to doubt rhetoric about change from the guy that endorsed both Daley and the Toddler, but at least he's demonstrated the ability to change his position.