3/24/2005|||111162657322870053||||||

SAME OLD STORY

I tried…I really did try not to let my mind wander during BBC4’s broadcast of Why We Fight, the Sundance-winning documentary about the war in Iraq and the wickedness of the military-industrial complex. But, oh dear, what a tedious slab of MoveOn.org-isms. Did you know that there are these shady, right-wing think tanks dreaming up policies in Washington? And I bet you weren’t aware that Saddam used to be one of our guys? And that he had lots of oil reserves too? And that Iraq is a re-run of Vietnam? Amazing.
Surely even radical chic film makers must get weary of telling the same story to each other over and over again? It's late, and I'm too tired to list all the boring details. You can get the general drift by reading the interview with director Eugene Jarecki. He’s clearly no Frank Capra. Here’s a nice, unloaded question:

BBC Four: There isn't an obvious villain of the piece, but I wonder if it's the US
Congress?

Retired memo expert, Dan Rather popped up on-screen to warn us that the media are part of the conspiracy to keep the American public in the dark:

“What you have is a miniature version of what you have in totalitarian states.They produce films about how great the Great Leader is, and how he’s getting greater in every way every day."

Yes, Dan. Now go and take another tablet.

|||Clive|||http://clivedavis.blogspot.com/2005/03/same-old-story-i-triedi-really-did-try.html|||3/24/2005 01:04:00 am||||||

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