"Muscular Progressivism" [article about "Uncovered: The Whole...]

for a little insight into the purpose of this article, read the last line first.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/339witfb.asp

"Muscular Progressivism"
A screening of Robert Greenwald's "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War" gives insight into the mind of the muscular progressive.
by Michael Goldfarb
11/05/2003 10:40:00 AM

MONDAY NIGHT at the International Spy Museum, John Podesta & Co. marked the opening of the new Center for American Progress with the Washington debut of Robert Greenwald's documentary "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War," which accuses the Bush administration of wholesale deception in its arguments for regime change. Podesta set the tone for the evening with opening remarks describing the Bush administration's foreign policy as being built on an "edifice of ideology" rather than a "foundation of facts." He then explained that his new think-tank would represent "muscular progressivism." The phrase conjured images of Teddy Roosevelt walking softly with his big stick. But it soon became clear this wasn't what these folks have in mind. They just want to muscle George W. Bush out of the White House.

Hailed as "the movie Fox doesn't want you to see," "Uncovered" is without a doubt a movie you don't want to see--unless your idea of a good time is being hectored by the likes of Scott Ritter, the former weapons inspector and Saddam sympathizer. It is exceedingly rare that I find myself bored watching a documentary (I channel surf mainly between PBS and the History Channel), but "Uncovered" did the trick. Speaking of tricks, it deployed a full bag of them--the main one being juxtaposed quotes ripped from their context. One clip shows Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld asserting the existence of weapons of mass destruction as he argues the case for war, while the next shows Rumsfeld explaining that it is unlikely we will ever find WMD in post-Saddam Iraq. Interspersed among such clips are interviews with a number of experts such as former CIA director Stansfield Turner, Ambassador Joe Wilson, and the aforementioned Ritter. These folks made a few good jabs at the administration, but the strength of their arguments was undermined by their desire to give Saddam the benefit of the doubt, while simultaneously assuming the worst about our own executive branch.

<snip>

For some reason, Greenwald's experts--and Podesta's audience--found the president's implication, that Saddam must be hiding the rest of the warheads somewhere, preposterous. The audience burst out laughing. I must say I missed the joke. Why should Saddam have gotten the benefit of the doubt here? Or maybe the mere appearance of the president is what had them laughing. Either way, I suspect "muscular progressivism" will turn out to be the bigger joke.





Michael Goldfarb is a staff assistant at The Weekly Standard.

You can get clips and a better idea of the documentary at the Democracy Now! website.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/11/05/1537259