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
Kyle Wingfield
August 15th, 2012
11:15 am
Finn: “Getting legs”? Yglesias retracted that story.
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:15 am
Yes, Finn, add more to the debt to help the economy.
You follow that for your finances but please don’t load it on the country. It won’t work.
MarkV
August 15th, 2012
11:16 am
Dusty @11:13 am
OH Dusty,
You are just not getting the point, are you? The President has not changed the immigration law. If you disagree, quote the law and show where it has been changed.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
11:17 am
I don’t harp on Ryan’s votes FOR massive spending increases. I harp on them cause he is being portrayed as a deficit hawk when in reality he is the exact opposite – it all depends on which side of the aisle proposes the spending.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
11:19 am
Kyle, duly noted. Thanks
They BOTH suck
August 15th, 2012
11:19 am
Kyle
When you have time can you speak on veteran’s benefits?
I do not think either Party has much to brag about when it comes to veterans benefits. They earned those, they are not entitlements imo.
What does Ryan’s budget project for these benefits?
What is Romney’s plan?
What is Obama’s plan?
Sadly I doubt any of them are sufficient to care for the long term impacts certain individuals suffer from being at war. And of course the injuries and care that are not war related but covered under veterans benefits.
MarkV
August 15th, 2012
11:19 am
And Dusty,
The national debt increased during Bush’s eight years of presidency by 89 %, and during Obama’s four years of presidency by 41.4%.
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:25 am
Finn,
Get angry with your info sources. They passed bad information to you. Better watch it. Someone might guess you are a liberal compensated for your constant attendance here.
RW-(the original)
August 15th, 2012
11:29 am
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.
Dusty,
I don’t know if the individual blogs will be able to opt out, but the AJC is getting ready to go to a registration system for commenting. There should be new rules aplenty in the near future.
Jefferson
August 15th, 2012
11:31 am
These young kids must sleep til dinner time.
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:32 am
MarkV
Read today AJC homepage where they discuss the president’s new invitation to illegal immigrants to stay in this country. Why do I have to explain to you that illegal immigants are ILLEGAL? That the president’s policy is making them LEGAL while still claiming they are ILLEGAL?
Who can explain that? And how can the president decide to change immigation laws because it is “nice”? You should do some explaining instead of asking me to do it. I don’t understand “breaking the law” even by the president.
iggy
August 15th, 2012
11:35 am
“Uh oh! It’s getting legs!!!!”
I think that is old news, no news or at best, insignificant.
@@
August 15th, 2012
11:36 am
fair and balanced:
The withdrawal date was already set by Bush under the SOFA agreement.
Unbeknownst to many, Obama was trying to negotiate a longer stay…behind the backs…er…scenes.
schnirt
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:37 am
RW (the original)
You always come with sensible news. If I’m not dabbling, are you helping the AJC get all this straight? If so, I’m sure it will be a better system.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 15th, 2012
11:40 am
Dusty, the President is ignoring the law, which he swore to protect and defend, rather than changing it. This is what the wordsmith is hanging his hat, so loosely on. I know you are aware of Mark’s insistence on specificity.
@@
August 15th, 2012
11:41 am
Dusty:
I’m not a big fan of rules but yours are two that make sense.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 15th, 2012
11:44 am
@@ @11:36
Thanks, I started to reply to him, but what you said has been reported so many times in so many places and yet the Libs love to throw that out.
I guess the man has accomplished so little, they have to stretch the truth somewhat to find something to crow about.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
11:50 am
Unbeknownst to many, Obama was trying to negotiate a longer stay
And in other unicorn news and general stuff I pulled from my….
RW-(the original)
August 15th, 2012
11:50 am
Dusty,
I’m not involved at all unless someone points out that I’ve suggested that as a remedy for some of their biggest headaches for many years now. I only noticed the change when they had a sneak preview of the new web design up last night.
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:50 am
MarkV,
Your memory is short. Remember 9/11? Remember part of NYC demolished? Thousands dead? Remember how Bush added everything he could to protect us and it cost. The military was increased as were all security and investigative agencies. America stayed safe at home.
I”m sure you will bring up Iraq forgeting that the CIA and British Intel both gave the same warnings about Iraq and The Congress , The President and UK’s Prime Minister all believed it was correct and approved it..
Bush made a great effort to improve the economy but he had to deal with a Congress led by Democrats. I believe that TARP set up by Bush has been repaid.
Obama has followed in Bush’s footsteps in the MIddle East but he has wrecked the economy at home. His increase in the national debt or deficit is far greater than anything Bush did.
Anyway, Mark V, I know you believe none of this but I give it to you every time you misrepresent Bush.
iggy
August 15th, 2012
11:52 am
“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.”
LOL. Well, there it is.
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
11:58 am
Rafe, 11:40
I guess there is a big difference in ” changing” and “ignoring”. Both seem illegal to me.
“Ignoring” comes from the word “ignorance” but ignorance is NOT bliss. It is appalling in a president.
MarkV
August 15th, 2012
11:59 am
Dusty @ 11:32 am
Dusty,
Your problem is that all you do is to regurgitate what people like Kyle and the right wing media and Republicans feed you, without doing any thinking about it. The immigration law is a federal law, passed by the Congress and signed by a President. Neither President nor Congress can change any of it without another action by both. Obama has not changed the law in any way. Had he done so, you would have heard already of lawsuits going to the Supreme Court, cries for impeachment, etc.
The immigration law does not specify exactly what is to be done with eveyr person who is in the country illegally. There is a procedure, and the outcome depends to a large degree on what is called “prosecutorial decision.” What Obama did was to issue a directive about how to deal with certain segment of those people, who are here illegally, in these decisions. That is not a change of the immigration law, and is fully within the executive power of the President.
antinewt
August 15th, 2012
12:00 pm
Romney:”"These personal attacks, I think, are just demeaning to the office of the White House,” he added.”
No sh!t! The 24/7 attacks on Obama by the right-wing since his first day in office are truely demeaning to the office and the office holder. One of the most un-patriotic things I have ever witnessed.
@@
August 15th, 2012
12:03 pm
Finn:
Actually, I pulled it from The National Journal. Salon’s Glenn Greenwald also reported on it.
@@
August 15th, 2012
12:12 pm
Here’s where I get to say something in support of Obama.
On the war front, he has no problem with collateral damage.
Unfortunately, on the domestic front, his killer instinct has spilled over into the economy.
His softer side shows thru when it comes to the deficit. He’s happy to let that one live on and multiply.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
12:14 pm
“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….”
And yet, you’re still here . . .
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
12:19 pm
Well, thank you, MarkV for telling me what I “regurgitate”. All the time I have been blaming it on BurgerKIng but now you set me straight. OH yes!!
Your usual diplomatic charm must have been developed in criminal defense cases. You have an explanation for everything that Obama has done wrong.
Nobody had to tell me we have approved immigration laws. You can twist ‘em like a pretzel but the whole point was to keep illegal citizens from staying in the USA. Do you agree with that premise? Of course not.
You continue to say the president can do anything he wants. Not so. As I said before, we do not have a monarchy. There are no kings in Washington even when there is a Democratic administration.
MarkV
August 15th, 2012
12:25 pm
Dusty @11:50 am
Dusty,
Your memory is even shorter. Not only you have ignored my suggestion that you respond to all those votes by Ryan that increased the budget deficit. Even more importantly, you are ignoring that when Obama started his presidency the economy wsa sin free fall. It required a massive government spending to stop that. It required massive spending under the existing laws in support of the people who has suffered by the recession, such as unemployment benefit. More money was appropriately spent to support education, research and new energy. And all that increased the national debt by half the percentage in four years as under Bush in eight years, in other words, about at the same rate.
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
12:25 pm
RW(The orginal) 11:50
Keep us posted in case we miss something. LIke @@, I really don’t like too many rules but things seem to be out of control at times. I hope it gets better.
azazel
August 15th, 2012
12:27 pm
iam preplexed about how anti colonialism is un american, read jefferson’s letter to king george III
@@
August 15th, 2012
12:30 pm
H-e-e-e-ey!
Kyle, duly noted. Thanks
Where’s my “Thanks” and “duly noted” on Obama’s negotiations to remain in Iraq?
Spread the humility, Finn.
MarkV
August 15th, 2012
12:33 pm
Dusty @12:19 pm
As usual, Dusty, you avoid any substance of what is being discussed. Even to the point of actually lying. “You continue to say the president can do anything he wants.” I call that a lie. Show me where I wrote that. In fact, I specifically mentioned what the president CANNOT do.
You have charged that President changed the immigration law. A law is a specific document, stating pecific. I claimed that Obama did not do what you charged he did. The burden of proof is on the one who makes the accusation. Therefore I asked you to quote from the law and show where Obama has changed it. So put up.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
12:34 pm
MarkV likes to use lies and statistics (the same thing, btw) to make false points.
When the country’s total debt is LOWER (as it was during the Bush years), increasing your PERCENTAGE of debt by $5 trillion in 8 years looks a lot worse when you increase your debt by that same dollar amount in just 4 years.
When you use PERCENTAGE of debt as your false pretense.
MarkV specializes in Washington D.C.-speak. Looks good to the uninformed, but crumbles under the first bit of pressure put upon it.
MarkV
August 15th, 2012
12:34 pm
“stating pecific” should have been “stating specific things.” Sorry.
MarkV
August 15th, 2012
12:39 pm
Not disputed: The national debt increased during Bush’s eight years of presidency by 89 %, and during Obama’s four years of presidency by 41.4%. End of story.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 15th, 2012
12:40 pm
azezel
The difference is that Tom Jefferson did not hate the British people, he hated being a subject of their government and having no representation there to try and change things. Obama’s father apparently hated the British people and the west in general.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
12:42 pm
MarkV lies then doubles down on the lie by playing fast and loose with statistics.
Go peddle that junk to the rest of the uninformed. It won’t fly here.
Dusty
August 15th, 2012
12:45 pm
MarkV
We simply have different concepts on how to help an ailing economy. I do not believe in extensive spending by the government at any time, good or bad. It violates all principles of economy as far as I am concerned.
Our country was founded on the principle that we should be independent, not on a dominant ruling government. We wanted representation and freedom with it. We did not want to be supported by government alone. That precludes independence.
Our country had help for people in real need before Obama came to power. He has more than doubled that help including people with an income that is livable if not expansive. He has increased a class of people who depend solely on government for their support. He did not do all of it but he has certainly increased the number of dependents in many ways.
That is all very humane. But in the long run, government cannot afford to support a preponderate portion of the population. The dire results of trying that are being demonstarted daily in Greece, Spain, Ireland , not to mention the many broken countries in Africa.
So you will have to go your way and I will go mine. “To bankrupt or not to bankrupt, that is the question!”
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
12:45 pm
Tiberius, your 12:34 belies your lack of education.
Company A earns net revenue or $500 million in 2012 vs net revenue of $400 million in 2011.
Company B makes $5 million in 2012 vs net revenue of $1 million in 2011.
According to you, Company A did better in 2012 because it made more money in total.
Most of us understand that company B (with a 400% increase in net revenue) performed MUCH better than Company A (with it’s 25% net revenue increase.)
You go buy that stock in Company A….
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
12:46 pm
lies and statistics (the same thing, btw)
And we let these people vote?
Terri C
August 15th, 2012
12:48 pm
I am amazed on the list of things the current administration has done for America. The problem is the government has no business supporting these projects with tax payor dollars. A rail service in New York. What the heck does that have to do with Georgia, Florida, California residence. These should be state funded projects or I don’t know privately funded projects. Wind farms, solar panel companies, WTF are federal dollars doing in items that should be left to private corporations. PO said he wants to do to all manufacturing companies what he did for the auto industry, What loose billions of tax payor dollars. I am so sick of all these earmarks for other states that benefit noone but that particular state. I don’t want tax payors in Michigan paying for earmarks in Georgia that will only benefit Georgia residence and vise versa. Hell most of those earmarks only benefit a small part of the residence in that state anyway. Everyone needs to pay federal taxes, that way we all benefit and we all have a stake in our Country. In the End I will always leave with this message….. Poor people do not create jobs, I have only worked for a “so called Rich” person all my life and they have provided me with decent pay for a decent days work. My husband and I together make around 140,000.00 dollars a year and with all the taxes we pay and I do mean all (state, federal, sales) we pay around 28% in taxes. We have tried the CHANGE way, now lets elect professionals in to get America back to work.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
12:48 pm
If the only way you tell which company is better than another company is by how much they make in total, please don’t go into banking and lend any of my deposit money out!
pahleaaaaasssssseeee
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
12:50 pm
A rail service in New York. What the heck does that have to do with Georgia, Florida, California residence. These should be state funded projects
Yeah, we Georgians shoulda never let the federal guvmint build those interstate highways in Georgia. Our dirt roads worked just fine!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 15th, 2012
12:51 pm
Go peddle that junk to the rest of the uninformed.
Yeah, Mark, how dare you do math that requires more than counting on toes and fingers in this blog!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 15th, 2012
12:52 pm
Finn, your 12:45 belies your lack of education.
When trying to make the case using statistics that Bush was a more profligate spender than Obama, as MarkV was trying to do, you must use raw dollar numbers to make that case.
Playing with percentages in statistics, when the variables; i.e. the starting points, are wildly different, is an exercise in DECEPTION.
And while neither of you know beans about statistical analysis, you sure do know a lot about deception.
JamVet
August 15th, 2012
12:59 pm
…the AJC is getting ready to go to a registration system for commenting.
VERY bad news for the preponderance of cowardly cons (primarily) who change names quicker than they change their underwear.
Awesome.
The dead red “contributors” on these forum will fall by a third or more!
iggy
August 15th, 2012
1:01 pm
Finn 12:45…LOL.
Finn thinks FaceBook at $40 was a great investment. BTW, 270 million shares FB shares released tomorrow. Should be interesting.
iggy
August 15th, 2012
1:01 pm
651st AND 652nd!!!
YEAH BABY!!
Hillbilly D
August 15th, 2012
1:05 pm
VERY bad news for the preponderance of cowardly cons (primarily) who change names quicker than they change their underwear.
I’d guess it’ll have an equal effect on both sides. Neither wing has a monopoly on sock puppets.
And of course, depending on how they police it, there’ll be ways around it just like the current system, even though that’s a lot of trouble to go through to play tit for tat on an anonymous blog.