Harvey Weinstein was a guest on the Rachel Madow Show on July 6, 2012. She interviewed him about being a fundraiser for President Obama and other Democrats. When asked about the big disparity in the amount of money wealthy Republicans have raised for Willard Mitt Romney, as compared with what has been raised by wealthy Democrats this election cycle, Mr. Weinstein offered an analogy from his experience in producing and distributing films . He compared two motion pictures made for the same amount of money one that did extremely well and the other “so-so.” His point was that you could spend twice as much money on the so-so movie, and it would still under perform the first movie because it lacked the spark that a hugely successful film needs. The point being that President Obama has the spark and quality to continue to be a successful President whereas the Romney movie just doesn’t have what it takes to make it at the box office.
Point well-taken Mr. Weinstein; I respect your expertise. But I also know that there is always that movie that everyone thinks is a bomb that somehow finds an audience for some reason. One of the worst films I have ever seen was The Blair Witch Project, which I hesitate to even call a film. Yet it did extremely well at the box office because of a novel and effective advertising strategy that built an audience before the picture even came out.
For three years the Republican Party and its agents have conducted a smoke and mirror negative campaign against President Obama. They have tried every possible ruse, lie, and political move to obstruct and destroy his Presidency; all of this at the expense of the American people and the economy. They are so currently entrenched in telling the “big lies” that they believe they can continue and the audience they have built will not notice. I notice and many other Americans who are not brain washed by propaganda and fear notice too. It is going to take more than noticing to counter the Republican money and propaganda machine against the reelection of President Obama. Democrats don’t understand this is a critical battle in an ideological war that has been going on for a very long time.
It seems like there is plan to destroy this democracy on the way to installing a corporate aristocracy which will rule over a totalitarian and possibly theocratic state. Okay, so this is starting to sound like some nut case conspiracy theory (By the way, I’ve have a script I’d like to offer you to read Mr. Weinstein); but something is going on when so much effort is being put into taking back the white house, senate and holding on to the majority in the congress. Not to mention the far right tilt in the Supreme Court.
The majority of lies and attacks against the President are accepted by part of the population because they want to believe the worst about the President for either political or racial reasons. They are the audience of Fox Cable Faux News Channel. They listen every day to unrelenting lies, distortion and misrepresentation by a self-proclaimed right wing propaganda organization directed by Roger Ailes, president. Ailes was previously a media consultant for Republican presidents, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush.
The far right, neo-con corporate aristocracy has been working on this agenda since the days of the John Birch Society. They will not stop even when President Obama is reelected. The only way to slow them down is for the general public to not only reelect the President but to also vote for moderates and liberals of both parties. Governors of states who have gone along with this far right agenda must be replaced with moderates or liberals who will cooperate with the federal government. This is going to take a major informational advertising campaign. Meanwhile Blue Dog Democrats are running for cover instead on uniting with other Democrats.
Well meaning Judeo/Christian groups have been co-opted into supporting the far right against the very doctrine of their religions. This is done by taking fringe issues of interest to certain religions and inflating them in the minds of Americans. Issues like abortion. How many actual abortions are performed in relation to actual births in this country? I don’t think I’ve ever heard these numbers discussed. According to census data about four million births were projected for 2011; that is 1.98 children per woman in the United States. According to Guttmacher Institute about two percent of women have abortions for unintended pregnancies. The majority of these women in the US are Christian. Perhaps these religions and individuals against abortion should talk to their own constituents and families instead of trying to impose their beliefs on the entire population.
The most recent convoluted issue exploited was the protest of catholic bishops against the Affordable Health Care Act. Aided by Republicans in Congress the notion that employers needed to include birth control in their health insurance coverage became somehow an attack on religious freedom. Not of individuals, but of the Catholic church, in that they were against birth control and did not want it in the health care benefits for their employees even if they did not have to pay for it and even if the employees were not Catholic. The anti birth control posture of the Catholic Church leadership is not shared by its members. Even after it was negotiated that the insurance companies would cover birth control at no charge to these employers or employees the Bishops decided there was still an attack on their religious freedom. Religions freedom is about individuals and government being separate from the religious institutions. Religious Institutions and organizations, who pay no taxes, and corporations are not people.
The far right aided by a number of factors has pumped up the vitriolic rhetoric in anyway possible. They take any topic that comes along and try to turn it to a referendum against President Obama especially if it is actually a positive achievement like turning around the economy and creating 4.5 million jobs. It’s not enough, not fast enough etc. At the same time Republican Governors are laying off police, firemen, teachers and other public employees which creates more unemployment. Republican members of congress consistently obstruct bills that would create jobs. They use their majority in Congress to create chaos and then blame it on the President.
Getting back to Mr. Weinstein’s analogy, the Romney script has no story it does not allow you to “suspend disbelief.” No amount of money will make the movie worth watching. However, will enough hype and money promoting The Romney Project fool people in going to the box office and buying a ticket? It worked for Blair Witch. Democrats, moderates, progressives and independents need to take this election seriously. There is too much at stake to take any chances.
Written by Jim Martin