For those of you who don’t have Showtime, Oliver Stone has really pulled the curtain back on the dark side of American history. Everyone should know this stuff, because, as I said in my post on the Zero Dark Thirty torture controversy, how are we supposed to learn from history if we don’t remember it? Believing in America as a force for good is great, but we’ve made plenty of mistakes too. I don’t agree with Oliver Stone on everything, that’s for sure; but the revelation of facts has been tremendous. Just remember, flag-wavers: everyone makes mistakes, even when they mean well. Remember the expression: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”? I actually think that expression might have been a good introduction to some parts of the series, although unfortunately it feels like Mr. Stone is not about revealing secret truths so much as he’s settling scores here, at least sometimes. If only he didn’t seem to be blaming America for everything that’s wrong with the world while whitewashing every repressive communist regime at the same time. That’s the only thing that leaves a bad taste in my mouth here (about the presentation, that is…).
But in this last episode, Oliver Stone does the unthinkable: he criticizes President Obama with the same bellicosity as he does President George W. Bush (!!!). And in doing so, he gives voice to every concern and criticism of President Obama (my candidate, by the way) I have felt, aside from perhaps the most pressing problem: the debt issue. But it’s amazing to have a left-wing guy publicly denounce President Obama for the very things he is doing, because the news media, which loves him so dearly as their boyfriend, simply refuses to do so. In fact, the only other place I have heard the kinds of criticisms of President Obama as Oliver Stone presents here is Fox News (!!). And when it takes Oliver Stone making a documentary to get the word out about President Obama’s faults to his own constituency, then the news people are obviously not doing their job, so much as they are acting as propagandists, which is really disturbing and a betrayal of their professional duty and ethics. I think Oliver Stone and I might just agree on that point. (Remember if you will that immediately after 9/11, the news media unconditionally supported George W. Bush without dissent no matter what he wanted to do {for a time, anyway}, and I think we all remember how well that all turned out. So it really is a much better idea for the press to be critical of government, rather than their PR department, no matter how much they agree or sympathize with them. Because it is difficult to avoid the pitfalls of policy mistakes when everyone is too busy cheerleading to admit or even notice there is a problem.)
But supposedly there is hope! For Oliver Stone says that if we all buy at least one thousand copies of all of his movies on BluRay each, world peace will finally be achieved! Oh, but only if we all watch them non-stop every day! (Just kidding!)
BTW: Apparently there are some of the show’s episodes posted on YouTube, so they’re free while they last! If you have not seen this show, watch it, but just keep in mind that Oliver Stone loves communism, so he’ll blame America before he’ll be realistic about the horrible rights abuses and aggression of the Soviet Union. Remember that, and deflect the unreasonable (and unrealistic) editorializing on that subject, and you will be in for an unsavory feast of historical turpitude. But that’s not to bash America to me, for to remember only the good things is propaganda; to remember it all, and learn from the mistakes, that is progress! (And thank you, Mr. Stone, for beginning the discussion on what is bound to snowball into a prolonged public conversation on global politics, militarism, economic matters, social policy, etc. If only you had been more objective in your reportage, then it would have been so much more difficult for your opponents to dismiss your presentation, and the content within, as just more “Blame America First” left-wing extremism. Maybe next time you can manage it? Otherwise, forever people will say: “Hippie liberal Oliver Stoner extends an Olive branch to those who would Stone America!”)
