2016: Obama's America

"You'll never look at Obama the same way ever again nor will you trust his empty promises."
Really? What if already hated Obama and didn't believe his "empty promises" anyway? I would continue to look at him the same way, wouldn't I? I think there may be a logical flaw in your argument there, Mr. Offer. The first of many, I might add.

But perhaps the reviewer is trying to say that the reason some people don't already feel as he (the reviewer) already does is because they are in blissful ignorance of the real Obama, the Obama that has been hiding in the White House for the past four years avoiding all scrutiny? How could we possibly know anything about him? (Lucky he wrote those two best-sellers that provide some insight into his evil plot against America. Why did he do that, by the way? Seems a basic flaw in the plan, like calling yourself Barack Hussein Obama?) If only they knew the facts about Obama they would wake up and be "enraged" and "scared."

How sad then, that the film makers saw fit to provide little in the way of facts and much in the way of outlandish speculation. But after all, this is preaching to the choir, so one wouldn't expect to see anything truly probative.

The audience for this movie is the kind of viewer who lives in an "Alice In Wonderland" world where the fact that Obama hasn't taken away people's guns is part of his secret plan to take them away in his second term, or that Marxism (which I defy 1% of the audience to even define) is a hereditary disease that the President inherited from his father (with whom he spent precious little time, by the way). Anything he says (unless it's bad) cannot be believed, a trait shared by his half-brother apparently. That must be another Obama gene.

In the end, most of the criticisms the movie makes are just plain silly. Throwing Israel under the bus? Ask Ehud Barak about the unequaled level of co-operation between the Obama administration and Israel. Obama has "refused to disarm the nuclear weapons of other countries such as Iran." It's pretty tough to disarm Iran's nuclear weapons when they don't actually have any, but why let the facts ruin a good argument? Apparently Obama has also "decreased America's nuclear armament." That sounds dangerous; not the sort of thing that Ronald Reagan would have done, I'm sure. Now, I know the USA has more arms than all the other countries in the world put together, but surely I should start stocking up on canned goods, right?

Mr. Offer's critique, which swerves toward attempted balance at the end like a middle-schooler's five paragraph essay, left me unconvinced that this movie ever rises above the level of propaganda.
Metaphor aside, the truth is that coins do have two sides, and if you can't grasp that simple reality, how good an arbiter of truth can you really be?

Aug 23 - 11:23 AM

Kara Williams

Thanks for wasting your time and seeing it for me.

Aug 25 - 08:08 PM

Tom Mourgos

Avi, yours is the most level-headed, unbiased review I've read. I haven't seen it yet but I will. It's one of those movies that will show its success by the level of negativity brought about by the foolish left.

Aug 23 - 12:32 PM

Georgia Yank

Apparently finding out the facts on who this guy really is (because the media didn't do their job) and what his fathers dreams really were is �??anti-Obama�?? to the screeching liberals on this board.

Since President Obama�??s voice is heard during the movie, reading directly from his own autobiography, �??Dreams From My Father,�?? does that mean those readings are anti-Obama too, because they're in the film? Silly liberals. Stop regurgitating DNC talking points and just go see it and then comment on it. You will not find one untruth in it, but perhaps you are just afraid to discover the truth, that although he may have been born here, he is not like us, and he is certainly not FOR us.

Aug 25 - 08:36 PM

Steve Piotrowski

Ah but can you find any truth in it? A single policy position of the Obama administration that is not in the interest of the United States? The film is simple demagoguery which uses a number of tried and true fallacies of logic and dirty tricks of argumentation known to eevery high school debater. At best emotional fluff at worst a subterfuge to take the citizenry's eye off the meaningful issues and policy decisions the nation is facing.

Aug 26 - 05:21 AM

Adrian Luca

I'm sure this 156% truthy documentary will be as incredibly successful as the 100% factual anti-evolution film "Expelled" was in 2008.

Aug 23 - 05:27 PM

Don McCoy

I don't need to see this movie to know Obama is a fraud. Then again most politicians are frauds and are looking out for themselves and a few rich buddies or corporations.

I will be voting for Gary Johnson!

Aug 23 - 07:16 PM

Tyler Schmith

Wow, and I'm sure that's your objective and critical opinion huh Avi? Why do I feel like this movie could be crap and you would still give the same review? Just because you agree with this propaganda doesn't make it a good movie, and last time I checked this was a movie site right?

Aug 24 - 11:12 AM

Kyle Terborg

yes and romney is going to fix everything!!! jesus, grow up adults

Aug 24 - 08:43 PM

Daniel Shea

The movie fails from the start because of the filmmaker's lack of any real objectivity. He's just trying to cash in on the Obama crazy during election season for all the Conservatives out there.

They like to think Obama is destroying America. That once he became President he was intent on taking all your freedoms away. You guys need to grow up. Obama didn't ruin this country in the 4 years he's been in office. What ruined this country was 8 years of George Bush. 8 years of complete deregulation and lack of oversight in any of the financial sectors especially Wall Street and Bush going off on two wars because he felt like it.

And I've seen the right wing commentators think everytime someone brings up "It's Bush's fault" it's a joke or it's a frivolous argument from the left. It's not. 8 years of Republican politics destroyed this country in such a way that it could not be fixed instantaneously in one year or four years. And the Republicans keep sticking by those failed policies and ideas like supply side economics. You want to blame Obama for not improving the economy in 4 years. Your "job creator" demigods that are the top income earners of America have had 8 years of tax breaks and yet here we are. Worse off than we've ever been. How much time do they need?

And to hate Obama for trying to introduce Universal Healthcare to America? Wow, you guys are really just taking in the Fox News agenda. You do know like every country that has UHC has a better standard of living in America, right? Hell, the country we were at war with, Iraq, we made sure their constitution had UHC as a basic human right. And that wasn't under Obama. Fox News has you seeing red when the word socialism comes up but you fail to understand anything about it. You think it's the government forcing something on you. Do you complain about roads, bridges, schools, etc? Oh man why is the government forcing education on my children? We are in a society and we work together. You can make it on your own with individual effort, but you still require the existence of the community to aide you in that endeavor. No man is his own island.

Take some time to understand Obama is not the enemy. The corporations that pull the strings down in DC are the enemies. The people like Murdoch that continue to use Fox News to get people to believe more tax cuts for him will continue to benefit America. They don't. Go ahead and find some ad hominem attack on me. I've seen them all. Calling me a liberal like it's a dirty word because I believe a child in this country shouldn't die because his parents can't afford medication or an ER visit? Yeah, I'm the bad guy.

Aug 25 - 09:54 AM

Mark Langston

Eloquent and insightful.

I continue to argue the same point. Bush's 8 years did a number on us and yet many people think that a few years is enough.

Not to mention a few years where EVERYONE on the Right has their marching orders to say no to everything the POTUS brings to the table.

Let's not even talk about the stimulus. The stimulus that was planned BEFORE Obama took office. Oh yeah, and let's not forget that Romney himself said that he was for the auto bailout and takes credit for it happening. Is that not stimulus money?

I want to see this film but I don't need to see it to know that it's all crap. The fact that it's set in the future is a dead giveaway for more fiction than fact and using what little facts he has to support his fiction.

Aug 25 - 09:03 PM

Christos Mitchell

Empty promises? http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

find new sources for your information, dumbass.

Aug 25 - 12:23 PM

Jeff Goldstein

After seeing this it enforced my thought in why I am voting for Obama.

Aug 25 - 01:15 PM

Desmond Thomas

Aug 25 - 02:08 PM

Desmond Thomas

A couple of friends of mine went to see this on Friday and, after talking to one today, I MAY see it myself. I read the book Roots of His Rage, and I wasn't impressed with the premise: that the views of people Obama either (1) didn't know personally, or (2) knew for less than 5 years as a young child, have had a longstanding influence on his worldview as an adult. And then there's one fact we all need to face: He's already President. We already know HOW he would govern, because he governs now.

Aug 25 - 02:12 PM

Jayson Byrd

So the righties put out their own "Fahrenheit 9/11"? Hilarious!!!

Aug 25 - 04:30 PM

Aaron Brown

Morons (on both sides): These are not the hallmarks of a socialist or a liberal. They are the hallmarks of a highly conservative cog in our imperialist machine:

Killing Americans without charging them with a crime. Ramping up war in Afghanistan. Extrajudicial bombing of foreign countries. Spying on American citizens. Full bailout of all the banks that caused the crash in the first place. No bailouts for homeowners. Conservative chief of staff (Rahm Emmanuel) publicly calling folks on the left "retards".
Full support for insane "charter" schools. Complete SILENCE when the real left was demonstrating in Wisconsin. Dreams of making a "grand bargain" with Republicans to decimate Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. This man is NOT a socialist. This man is NOT a liberal. You idiot conservatives should be kissing his ass - he's one of YOU.

Aug 25 - 06:13 PM

Michael Mellnick

OH common its been years when will people get this right BUSH BAILED OUT THE BANKS

Aug 28 - 07:27 AM

Caroline Moore

HI Avi, thanks for your keen insight into this movie. I will never look at him the same! :) I am so glad that you have such great intelligence and that you review movies. You are a rare breed and I will continue to follow your work. Wishing you all of the best!:)

Aug 25 - 06:21 PM

Kara Williams

Dear GOP,
1/2 the country is not trying to destroy the country.
Grow up.
Stop believing in conspiratorial fantasies spun by GOP strategists employed at FOX and blame-everyone-else radio.
We disagree about some things. Yeah, but that doesn't mean that we "like" abortions, or want your guns, or want America to be "destroyed."

Seriously, what does that even mean?
And how? The unarmed, anti-war Left is going to... violently take over?

Come back to the Light, GOP. Regain your sanity.
Or become a politically extinct again, like back when you didn't control Congress for 40 years and all that great shit got done.

Either way...

Sincerely,
The other half of America

Aug 25 - 08:06 PM

Michael Mellnick

Don't worry they are well on their way. The party is becoming increasingly dominated by white old men. Dems don't even need to do anything just sit back and watch as they exclude more and more from their party.

Aug 28 - 07:31 AM

Georgia Yank

A good example from the film is the FACT that Obama has consistently and significantly downsized drilling and other projects in the U.S. and her waters. Of course, the average observer might think that he is in agreement with, or at the least pandering to, environmentalists who have concerns about the impact of drilling on the planet. However, Obama has also sent billions in U.S. taxpayer money to Brazil, Mexico, & other countries to support THEIR drilling operations, which include drilling in the Gulf of Mexico! Tell me, is it "right wing" or "teabagging" to conclude that it�??s not drilling that Obama opposes, it�??s U.S. energy independence AND his desire to �??level the playing field�?? globally when it comes to the economic prosperity that results from drilling natural resources?

Aug 25 - 08:17 PM

Mark Langston

Here's the thing, no one that saw this movie will come out any different than they went in.

Like a staunch Dubya supporter watching a Moore film, sitting in a dark room for 90 minutes will have little to no effect on your perception of a candidate.

Todd Akin is a perfect example of that. After his botched "legitimate rape" comment he raised over $100,000 in 48 hours. This means that no matter what a candidate says or does people will find a way to look beyond or around their shortcomings.

Without having seen the film I imagine it's filled with ominous music and fancy, horror-movie like editing making this nothing more than an exercise in pandering and emotional manipulation.

Again, anyone watching this film never planned to vote for Obama anyway. Anyone that says differently is an unadulterated liar.

But if you don't want Obama in office I suspect a racist, tax dodging, dog abusing ex governor is more your speed.

Aug 25 - 08:55 PM

David Modica

Romney will destroy this country once and for all. I can't wait until the bloodshed begins. A civil war is close at hand. Glad to be moving to Switzerland next year.

Aug 25 - 09:09 PM