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Moveon movies

Published by marco on

Updated by marco on

Moveon.org campaign videos

Move On.Org is sponsoring an ad contest that has just wrapped up the first phase. They got over 1500 entries for a contest called Bush in 30 seconds, which solicits ads describing Bush’s achievements over the last 3 years. (Yeah, it’s only been 3 years; feels longer, doesn’t it?)

Voting for the main event is over, but you can still vote for the funniest, best youth ad (“Al Keyda” should be in the ‘funniest’ list, but “Bring it on” is the winner here, I thought) and best animation (where I though “School Yard Politics” was really good).

Of the main ones, which you see from the main page, I like Polygraph by Rich Garella, Adam Feinstein of New York, NY, Imagine by Mark Vicente of Los Angeles, CA and ’Hood Robbin’ by Nathania Vishnevsky of Foster City, CA. And, just because he used a Mac, check out Desktop by David Haynes of Dallas, TX.

Bush and Hitler

You might have heard about these ads already since the US media and Republican party have turned their burning, vitriolic gaze in that direction, always ready to stamp out any signs of non-acceptable un-American, free speech.

Of the 1500 entries submitted, two were flagged as unbelievably unpatriotic and un-American, since they compared Bush to Hitler. Actually, they didn’t exactly do that; they compared Hitler and Bush’s policies and statements.

Before making up your mind, it would be best to just view them, right? I mean, we’re all adults here and can decide for ourselves about a 30-second TV spot, no? We’re all intelligent enough to be able to objectively look at an ad and come up with our own ideas, so let’s have at it and take a look.

Too bad for you.

The ads have been pulled from all public web forums, news sites and other places where my not-inconsiderable Googling powers can reach (even Gnutella came up empty). I saw both ads on the German news here and found them to be decently made, if rather heavy-handed; though it’s hard to argue that a heavy-handed approach isn’t what a lot of cobweb-infused American minds need.

I did find the transcripts on the Republican National Committee’s home page, which I reproduce here (I’m not sure what ‘CHYRON’ is; I assume simply the writing on the screen):

“GRAPHIC: Nazi Flags In A Parade
GRAPHIC: Hitler
HITLER: (Speaking In German)
CHYRON: A NATION WARPED BY LIES

“GRAPHIC: German Troops Marching
GRAPHIC: Hitler In Car In Parade
GRAPHIC: German Troops Marching
CHYRON: LIES FUEL FEAR

“GRAPHIC: German Tanks
CHYRON: FEAR FUELS AGGRESSION

“GRAPHIC: German Artillery Firing
GRAPHIC: German Planes Dropping Bombs
GRAPHIC: German Tanks Firing
CHYRON: INVASION

“GRAPHIC: German Tanks Rolling Down Street
CHYRON: OCCUPATION

“GRAPHIC: Hitler With Hand Raised
BACKGROUND: Sig Heil! Sig Heil!
CHYRON: WHAT WERE WAR CRIMES IN 1945

“GRAPHIC: President Bush With Hand Raised At Inauguration
BACKGROUND: Sig Heil! Sig Heil!
CHYRON: IS FOREIGN POLICY IN 2003”

Yeah, that’s really far beyond the pale … way off the mark … absolutely no basis for that comparison whatsoever.

The other ad was:

“GRAPHIC: Pictures Of Hitler
HITLER: (Speaking In German)
CHYRON: We have taken new measures to protect our homeland,

“GRAPHIC: Pictures Of Hitler
HITLER: (Speaking In German)
CHYRON: I believe I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator,

“GRAPHIC: Pictures Of Hitler
HITLER: (Speaking In German)
CHYRON: God told me to strike at al-Qaida and I struck them,

“GRAPHIC: Pictures of President Bush
HITLER: (Speaking In German)
CHYRON: and then He instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did.

“CHYRON: SOUND FAMILIAR?
BACKGROUND: Cheering German Crowd”

Again, despite the fact that the text is purely quoted from Bush’s speeches (and isn’t really out-of-context), a totally ridiculous comparison.

From the author of one of the pieces, Todd Mathson, I could only find one statement in a newsgroup (the first comment on the page is a typically well-spoken riposte from a true American, skip it to get to Todd’s statement). He quotes his ad’s copy, then says:

“…[s]o George, if you don’t want to be compared to Hitler, then quit saying crap like that, learn what patriotism REALLY means and quit mixing up nationalism with it, and call off Ashcroft and his anti-freedom dogs.”

Forget History

The general reaction in the media and the right is that the issues raised should not even be considered. They don’t use any salient arguments to show why we shouldn’t talk about them, they just relegate all of the Moveon ads into a bin with other things that are so morally despicable that decent human beings would never sully their minds with them. You’re a decent human being, aren’t you?

2nd Bush-Hitler ad posted (World Net Daily) quotes Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Ed Gillespie, in which he described the ads as “…the worst and most vile form of political hate speech”. What exactly does that mean? Let’s clarify a few things about MoveOn and the ads first:

  1. Moveon.org did not pay for these ads to be produced; they solicited entries for an online contest.
  2. Even though many of the ads say ‘sponsored by Moveon.org’, it’s not true; they only added that in case it was chosen for airing on TV, in which case it would be true.
  3. The Hitler ads were only two of 1500 submitted. Most of the ads made good points without being too contentious.

Despite this, the right has resorted to a favorite pasttime: building a strawman and beating it down. In this case, since some of the ads espouse views that mainstream media finds extreme, you, as a good American, are morally obligated to ignore this and any subsequent output from the left, or Democrats, or anyone but the President, a suitable Republican mouthpiece, FOX News, or any combination thereof. Your thinking orders are conveniently packaged in a sound-bite from Gillespie:

“Those are the kind of tactics we’re seeing on the left today in support of these Democratic presidential candidates.”

Look at that! If you think the Bush/Hitler ads are not appropriate, then the RNC is ready to help you make the logical leap to disgust for all the submitted ads, MoveOn.Org, the left and all Democratic candidates. What choice do you have with such unassailable logic? If you think that the Bush/Hitler messages are poison, rest assured everything else not coming from an RNC- or administration-approved source is similar and you may therefore safely ignore all unsancationed political ideas.

Not only is it outrageous to think that Bush might be following a gameplan similar to that which Hitler followed in the early 30's, it’s an insult to all the Jews that died in the holocaust. Anti-Bush Ad Contest Includes Hitler Images (Washington Post) includes this quote: “…to compare Hitler to an American president is not only ludicrous, but defames the Holocaust.”

That’s right; there is no way that evil like that unleashed by Hitler could ever happen again. Ask the citizens of Vietnam whether Hitler or America is more evil. Ask Iraqis, Somalis, East Timorans, Palestinians or citizens of any other country where our heroic attempts at installing democracy have somehow ended in US-supported brutal dictatorships or US attacks.

There are less extreme views, like that in Anti-Bush overkill blackens worthy site (Toronto Star). Whereas the title and first 3 paragraphs admonish MoveOn.Org, the second half shows outright support. It’s a phenomenon I’ve noticed before, as if the writer can only get published if the part most people are likely to read shows support of the consensus opinion.

Unfortunately, most of the sage and knowledgable leaders of the US political machine weighed in with:

“Comparing the commander in chief of a democratic nation to the murderous tyrant Hitler is not only historically specious, it is morally outrageous. Comparing an American president, any American president, to Hitler is an outrage.”

It seems that the US is somehow immune from judgement, no matter what it does. The US stands on the side of good. Hitler was bad. The comparison is ridiculous. Don’t think. Don’t you dare.

What we can’t say

If a notion is so outrageous, why the shrill protest? Why not let the outrageous statements stand and let them reflect badly on their creators and those that believe them? If I say that Bush is somehow in league with space aliens, intent on softening the planet up for invasion, it’s ridiculous and morally outrageous, no? I mean, I’m suggesting he’s selling out the whole human race for his own benefit. Would the RNC cry foul over my claim? Absolutely not. It is only the believable untruths that cause concern. It’s the unsanctioned ideas that should not be aired; if people see them, they might believe them, or at least start thinking. And thinking is bad, because the power structure in America has spent so many years and dollars programming people to either not think or, at the very least, think the correct things.

The tone is the same throughout: there are subjects which may never be discussed or considered, no matter what. This type of blinkered thinking will allow us to do all sorts of horrors, convinced we serve morality and justice. We will only realize what we have done in hindsight and will whine, wondering what we could have done to prevent it.

What You Can’t Say by Paul Graham is a fantastic study of these concepts, positing that every society contains groups that forbid certain thoughts and associations because they disagree with them. If an idea is strongly supressed, but never disproven, it stands a very good chance of being true.

“When a politician says his opponent is mistaken, that’s a straightforward criticism, but when he attacks a statement as “divisive” or “racially insensitive” instead of arguing that it’s false, we should start paying attention.”

Why pay attention? Comfortable as you may be, it is up to you as a thinking person to prevent evil being done in your name and with your taxes. If that’s not a good enough reason, then do it for a selfish reason: so you don’t look stupid:

“do it because [you] don’t like the idea of being mistaken. If, like other eras, [you] believe things that will later seem ridiculous, [you should] want to know what they are so that [you], at least, can avoid believing them.”

Comments

#1 − Alex Cockburn (Counterpunch)

marco

Bush as Hitler? Let’s Be Fair by Alexander Cockburn (Counterpunch) quotes an article by contributor Dave Lindorff:

“It’s going a bit far to compare the Bush of 2003 to the Hitler of 1933. Bush simply is not the orator that Hitler was. But comparisons of the Bush Administration’s fear mongering tactics to those practiced so successfully and with such terrible results by HItler and Goebbels on the German people and their Weimar Republic are not at all out of line.”