2012 Tuesday: ‘2016′ says we don’t know the president we elected in 2008
At a friend’s request, I went to the theater Sunday to see “2016: Obama’s America” (it’s true, I’m not the most political person I know). The movie, if you haven’t heard, is the work of Dinesh D’Souza, the Indian-born conservative commentator and college president whose 2010 book, “The Roots of Obama’s Rage,” argued the president’s world view was shaped heavily by his anti-colonialist Kenyan father.
I’m no movie critic, so I’ll spare you my thoughts on the cinematography (I’ll only note that D’Souza worked on the film with Hollywood veteran Gerald R. Molen, and it shows in the film’s production quality). The movie’s about our president’s past and what that means for our future, and I’ll focus on that.
D’Souza dispenses early on with any notions of birtherism, noting briefly, but pointedly, that Obama was born in Hawaii. Instead, he makes the far more interesting argument that what’s foreign is Obama’s ideology, shaped in absentia by a father he barely knew. His evidence for his claim is two-fold: Excerpts from Obama’s own autobiography, “Dreams From My Father” (the film liberally quotes from the audio version of the book, narrated by Obama himself), and footage from D’Souza’s travels to the places of Obama’s youth, Hawaii and Indonesia, as well as to Kenya. There are also phone conversations, videotaped on both ends, with sociologists such as Shelby Steele who try to explain what makes Obama tick.
What D’Souza turns up on his trips is often less than compelling: Brief doesn’t begin to describe what he gets from an interview with a retired Hawaii professor who knew Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham; a lengthier exchange with Obama’s half-brother, George, in Nairobi ultimately fails to land a blow on the president. But that’s not to say there’s no substance to the story.
Briefly, D’Souza’s narrative goes like this: The elder Obama was an anti-colonialist (this much is confirmed in interviews with a pair of his contemporaries; Obama Sr. of course died in a car wreck in 1982) whose antipathy toward Kenya’s British rulers was distinct from America’s earlier rebellion from the British in that it was also a rejection of the West and capitalism. Dunham (who died in 1995) fervently transferred these beliefs to a young Barack — and even sent him home to Hawaii from Indonesia when her second husband, Lolo Soetoro, took a job with a U.S. oil company and got a little too friendly with actual breathing capitalists. Back in Hawaii, her father arranged for young Barack to have a mentor named Frank Marshall Davis, a writer and card-carrying Communist who was on the FBI’s radar. From there, we hear of Obama’s adult associations with which we’re more familiar, including Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
This is a vetting of Obama’s background that, D’Souza plausibly argues, was given short shrift in the 2008 campaign. For instance, D’Souza notes that Obama’s famous speech about race relations, to address the steady stream of Wright’s controversial statements (uncovered, let’s remember, while he was still contesting the Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton), was a deflection from the collectivist black liberation theology that laced Wright’s incendiary sermons. That, D’Souza claims, allowed Obama to keep his dealings with Marxists mostly out of the public eye on his way to the White House.
It is a vetting that is worthwhile for anyone interested in current U.S. politics, if only because it is so reliant on Obama’s own words. (Here, I must acknowledge I haven’t read “Dreams” and can’t say whether D’Souza is cherry-picking Obama’s quotes or taking them out of context; if he did, however, he has given his critics a huge tool to use in discrediting him.) As an immigrant from another former British colony who is the same age as Obama, D’Souza presents an intriguing figure with alternating sympathy for and critique of anti-colonialism.
That’s the first half of the movie. From there, D’Souza delves into purely political commentary and prognostication that most likely will resonate with you, or not, in close correlation with your own political leanings. I won’t spoil his conclusions, but I will say they err toward the most pessimistic, even conspiratorial end of the right side of the spectrum.
If there’s a tragic aspect of the film, it’s that the only people likely to see it are those who have already made up their minds against Barack Obama. It deserves as well an airing among his supporters and those precious few who are unsure about him, to point out where they think D’Souza is wrong and consider the ways he might be right.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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912 comments Add your comment
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 15th, 2012
9:58 am
Anybody else notice that Romney’s Etch-a-Sketch seems to be drawing up a hard core Conservative?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
10:04 am
“How do you think it got through Congress?”
Through a Democrat majority in the House, and reconciliation in the Senate. With one, lone GOP congressman whose vote didn’t mean a thing to the ultimate result.
This had NOTHING to do with providers or health care, Finn, and everything to do with legacy.
Locknload
August 15th, 2012
10:04 am
Obama’s father was a notorious drunk driver and eventually slammed his car into a tree after a night of heavy drinking… who was his father “Ted Kennedy”?
They BOTH suck
August 15th, 2012
10:05 am
“I’d rather not look like a fool. ”
Great to know that you are changing your ways. You have been a regular at it for sometime now.
Congratulations. Pat yourself on the back
Good day.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 15th, 2012
10:05 am
“This is the first time I am seeing Romney’s numbers this high among 18-29 year olds,” said Zogby. “This could be trouble for Obama who needs every young voter he can get.”
It looks like we’re starting to overcome the eduganda.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
10:05 am
Don’t you just love it when hard-core liberals like Robert come up with all these ideas that will insure the GOP will win elections in future years?
As if they actually care about the GOP?
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 15th, 2012
10:18 am
Finn, speaking of Calvin Coolidge, I wonder what he would think of our debt and deficit. He was the last President who finished his term with a smaller Federal budget than he started with. The man was really thrifty, unlike Obama’s deceptively thrifty, and we need someone like him again
nelson
August 15th, 2012
10:20 am
What about Joe Biden’s quote,”Romney wants to put “youall” back in chains” apparently refering to bank deregulation. Is that all only a naieve metaphor not meant to inflame the black community? Is there any level that Joe will not stoop to, to pander for votes from minority, ethnic groups?
Romney would not use that kind of insinuation, having a plan to put the populace on track for a new prosperity, derived from work and fiscal restraint. Issue, issue and more issues, Romney has a plan and it is a good deal more than pandering to minorities.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
10:21 am
I wonder what he would think of our debt and deficit
“Deficits don’t matter” ~ Dick Cheney
Robert
August 15th, 2012
10:25 am
@Rafe Hollister – Kalvin Klan Koolidge (KKK) was the name people called him. End of story.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 15th, 2012
10:32 am
As most intelligent people know, Cheney was talking about reasonable deficits that made up a small percentage of the GDP, not the alarming bloated deficits forced on us by Obama and his minions in the Senate, who refuse to discuss a budget.
Biden was wrong about the chains, they already are in place on many Americans, they are chained to the Federal teat, by the Dems.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
10:32 am
“Deficits don’t matter”
In electoral politics in the 1980’s, Finn.
The world has changed in the past 30 years. Embrace reality.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
10:32 am
Republican strategists privately worry the plan will be a major liability.
Obama’s cuts add eight years on the life of Medicare, according to the Congressional Budget Office, largely by reducing reimbursement rates to hospitals, prescription drugs under Medicaid and private insurance plans in Medicare Advantage. The AARP, as well as hospital and drug industries, endorsed the Affordable Care Act despite the cuts.
The cuts to Medicare Advantage plans have resulted in higher enrollment and lower average premiums in 2011 and 2012, according to official figures. Reforms closing the “doughnut hole,” which were partly funded by the cuts, have also saved seniors money on prescription drugs.
In addition, the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion offers seniors greater access to long-term care and other services that Medicare does not provide.
talking points memo
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 15th, 2012
10:33 am
Romney could never say that about Americans being chained to the gov teat, for fear of being called a racist. Biden can disparage anyone he likes, apparently.
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
10:33 am
Wel, not much new here. About trashed out. But…
How did the ALL the medical advisors agree to the new terms provided for Medicare? That must have taken a lot of questioning.
Could we have a new rule saying no more than three words in an ID and anybody changing theirs has to wait a week before posting? Always nice to have new rules on the playground to keep the bullies in place.
Can we have a new subject? How about a nice poem like Sir Water Scott’s “My Native Land”? You know. “Breathes there the man with soul so dead, who never to himself has said, “This is my own, my native land!”
Always current. Always patriotic!! A change of pace!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
10:36 am
not the alarming bloated deficits forced on us by Obama
Ok, I’ll bite. Let’s look at what the deficit hawk, Paul Ryan, voted for:
Two Unfunded Wars
Bush’s original tax cuts
TARP
All three walloped the Deficit. But, of course Cons can’t see that. Keep those blinders on.
Deficits are only bad for Cons when they aren’t the ones in charge.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
10:36 am
Finn hasn’t got an original thought in his head. He relies on everybody else to provide him his opinions.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 15th, 2012
10:39 am
Robert
So, you are saying that spending only what you make, living debt free, makes you a racist? Guess I be one, with that weird definition.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
10:39 am
So now after years of claiming that TARP was a great program and idea, Finn now considers it bad because Ryan voted for it.
Too funny!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
10:41 am
Off for a while.
Just keep setting them up, Finn. I’ll knock ‘em all down later.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
10:43 am
All from examiner.com:
Let’s look at some of the budget busting, deficit spending things Paul Ryan supported under Bush.
Ryan supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without paying for them. Ryan supported adding the cost of these wars to the national debt borrowing from China to fund them.
Paul Ryan supported the Bush Medicare Drug bill without paying for it. Instead, the enormous cost was just added to the deficit Again, we borrowed from China to pay for it.
Paul Ryan supported the Bush Highway bill (which included the famous bridge to no where)
Paul Ryan supported the Bush tax cuts, the largest in history, without any off setting spending cuts. We just borrow the money from China to pay for them—and we still are.
Paul Ryan supported TARP, the bailout of Wall Street Banks, enacted under Bush before Obama was inaugurated. (When Obama took office, however, he voted against the second phase of TARP. Apparently, it matters who proposed it.)
Paul Ryan supported the auto industry bailout, to his credit, while Romney was advocating Detroit going bankrupt. However, he blames Obama for the deficits as though Congress did not approve it.
Now Ryan spends his time blaming Obama for the huge debt the spending he voted for and ran up.
iggy
August 15th, 2012
10:45 am
“This is the first time I am seeing Romney’s numbers this high among 18-29 year olds,” said Zogby. “This could be trouble for Obama who needs every young voter he can get.”
Little by little, inch by inch. All the college grads who have low paying or no jobs will not be voting for ObaManure this go round.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
10:46 am
Tib, you are reading into what I wrote stuff that isn’t there. I didn’t say whether I thought TARP was good or bad. My comment was to put show that Ryan is really no deficit hawk.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
10:47 am
All the college grads who have low paying or no jobs will not be voting for ObaManure this go round.
We will see. mwuahahahahahaha
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
10:48 am
UH Oh …Finn doesn’t think Obama has raised our national debt. Wow! Does Finn live underground somewhere? He must.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 15th, 2012
10:49 am
Finn, let us look at the other side of the deficit problem.
Obama expanded Medicare part D
Obama expanded the “right war” in Afghanistan
He promoted a trillion dollar porkulus bill
He promoted Obamacare, which adds greatly to the deficit
He is actively promoting expanding the food stamp program
He gave us the wonderful Cash for Clunkers program
He extended those evil Tax cuts now known as the Obama Tax Cuts
He bailed out the auto companies leaving the taxpayers on the spot for 25B
He is eliminating the need to work to receive welfare, costing taxpayers
What deficit busting things will he come up with if given four more years?
wallbanger
August 15th, 2012
10:50 am
I have seen the movie, and it appears scholarly and well documented. I would not expect liberals, who prefer to keep the blinders on, to go see something that might interfere with their beliefs. Liberals are not the most open minded, educated crowd after all.
independent thinker
August 15th, 2012
10:51 am
Finn McCool- Quit trying to reason with that wingnut- Kyle keeps him on this blog to help spew right wing garbage and nonsense regardless of the facts.
DawgDad
August 15th, 2012
10:53 am
“allowed Obama to keep his dealings with Marxists mostly out of the public eye on his way to the White House”
Kyle, this is absurd. Only a completely isoloted or disinterested sheep isn’t aware of Obama’s Marxist/socialist ties and leanings. These are fully on display in his book, in his campaign speeches, and in his public policy.
The REAL [and very sad] issue is how many voters share his beliefs, or fail to run away from him and them.
fair and balanced
August 15th, 2012
10:54 am
Rafe- have you also figured in that Obama did as promised and ended that ridiculous twenty year war with Iraq the Neocons forced on us which cost over a trillion dollars with no source of funding?
SBinF
August 15th, 2012
10:54 am
Do you draw a salary for writing this stuff Kyle? I used to have a little respect for your “opinion.” But you’ve become so unhinged lately, it’s hard to make it through your posts….
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
10:55 am
Well, I see President Obama is giving permission to illegal young people to stay here, work, and get social security cards with some requirements of course.
How in the world can the president decide not to obey established laws of the land at his convenience, not to mention just before a big election? This sounds more like a monarchy than a democratic republic.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
10:55 am
No, Dusty, I never said Obama didn’t cause the deficit or debt to rise. I was showing how Ryan isn’t the deficit Hawk you folks have been tricked into believing.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
10:57 am
He is eliminating the need to work to receive welfare, costing taxpayers
LIE!
Karl Rove
August 15th, 2012
10:58 am
Yeah that congenital Communist in the White House has the nerve to cut the fat out of Medicare and throw the elderly over the cliff. I thought communists expand public largesse? Must have spent some time reading Ayn Rand or some other garbage he picked up at Harvard. At least our people want to expand Medicare and public benefits -don’t they?
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:00 am
SBinF 10:54
Did you receive an engraved invitation to come to this blog? I don’t think so. PLease leave early so you won’t have so much trouble reading the subject here. Thank you.
MarkV
August 15th, 2012
11:01 am
Dusty @10:55 am : “How in the world can the president decide not to obey established laws of the land at his convenience, not to mention just before a big election?”
There is an easy answer to your question, Dusty. The President has not decided not to obey the established laws of the land.”
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
11:01 am
Regarding welfare recipients:
the Department of Health and Human Services was granting flexibility to states because it wanted to improve employment outcomes and H.H.S. promised to terminate the waiver if states didn’t meet the targets.
It is no wonder, then, that PolitiFact said of Romney’s ad: The ad’s claim is not accurate, and it inflames old resentments about able-bodied adults sitting around collecting public assistance. Pants on Fire! “Pants on Fire” is PolitiFact’s worst rating.
nytimes.com
Rockman
August 15th, 2012
11:04 am
The Glory of Socialism has wrecked this country every time we get Stable. The Dems take over with the Liberal media. Enjoy the stability the Reps. put in place. It takes about 12-18 mo’s for their CHANGE to take place and run the country back into the Hole. It does not happen in a Mo but many mo’s.
The problem now is over regulation, taxes. I loved making money but stopped. Why? I did not need it and the Almighty Government made it NOT worth my time. I it was NOT fun anymore. The people who worked for me. Got what they Voted for. Housing bubble led to major fall of the economy. Who caused it. 100% Government. Barney Frank the sweetie and Chris. Dodd.
“Every American deserves a home” Give them one and they will work to keep it. BS Give them anything and they will expect the same and more in the future. History has proved this. The Banks made the Loans true. Made Money true. But were told to do it. Make the Loans or the Government would put them out of Business. The buyers Foreclosed on, No payments for years, and still living i the Houses by the millions. What a Country. Why work? join the slugs do nothing
They BOTH suck
August 15th, 2012
11:04 am
SBinF
. Feel free to ask Kyle the questions you want to ask. He may or may not answer them, however ask away.
MarkV
August 15th, 2012
11:05 am
Dusty @ 10:48 am
Dusty,
Why don’t you respond specifically to the points made by Finn @10:43?
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:06 am
Finn,
Nobody has been tricked about Ryan as you put it. We have his budget and his plans in writing.
But speaking of being tricked, you really believe that Obama’s disasterous term raising the debt like Topsy is not worth mentioning? You never do. But then again, that’s not your job. You follow the whack-a-doodle manual for smearing Romney and now Ryan. Now that’s a one sided shame.!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
11:08 am
Uh oh! It’s getting legs!!!!
Over the weekend, the Richmonder blog broke what looked like a whopper of a story: that Republican vice-presidential hopeful Paul Ryan had lined his pockets from information he had obtained from a now-legendary meeting that took place on September 18, 2008. On that day, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson broke the news to congressional leaders that they would have to approve a bailout to avert a complete meltdown of the financial system. Checking through Ryan’s financial disclosure reports, the Richmonder discovered that Ryan had sold the stocks of several major banks that day, while purchasing – surprise! – stock in Paulson’s old firm Goldman Sachs. The story quickly circulated through the media.
salon.com
They BOTH suck
August 15th, 2012
11:08 am
Dusty
How is Obama spending money without Congress approval?
SBinF
August 15th, 2012
11:10 am
“Did you receive an engraved invitation to come to this blog? I don’t think so. PLease leave early so you won’t have so much trouble reading the subject here. Thank you.”
Uhh, what?
Part of being a critical thinker is encountering opinions other than your own. Stop with your ignorance, please. Kyle’s blog is a microcosm of the GOP generally. They are becoming unhinged.
They BOTH suck
August 15th, 2012
11:10 am
Finn
That story is going nowhere. Folks in both parties are guilty of utilizing inside information for financial game.
It is a shame, but it was not illegal when he did it
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:10 am
Dear MarkV,
Why don’t you respond to Finn for me? I don’t usually respond to paid commentors but I did today.
They BOTH suck
August 15th, 2012
11:11 am
“Part of being a critical thinker is encountering opinions other than your own”
Know your audience. Outside of talking points, generalities and sheepish appeals to Kyle, there isn’t much there
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
11:13 am
But speaking of being tricked, you really believe that Obama’s disasterous term raising the debt
I wasn’t tricked – in fact I lean toward Krugman in that when the economy is tanking the government should spend MORE money and go further in debt. The time to slash public debt is when the economy is humming, not when it’s sunk.
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:13 am
OH MarkV
You did not explain how the president can change immigration law any time he feels like it. You must give adequate explanations. You always ask for one from others.