Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, March 24, 2009
Film Troubling On Many Levels
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 5:24 PM
We've been getting a lot of e-mails around here for the newest 9/11 Truther obsession, an internet movie called The Obama Deception, which is one of those half-baked documentaries like Zeitgeist that Truthers are copying and distributing so that people will learn the truth. It's all about how Obama's secretly a marionette controlled by a cabal of Wall Street/Banking types. It goes into that bullshit North American Union thing that Truthers believe was the real reason behind 9/11 and the movie appears to turn into one of those New World Order things by the end.
Today, for some reason, I actually went to the movie's website for the first time today, and I found myself face-to-face with the illustration that somebody spent a whole lot of time making for The Obama Deception, or, as they put it, one of their major volleys in the "Infowar." Ready?
There is so much wrong with that picture that I don't know where to begin, except to say that someone's been watching too many Saw movies. It's disturbing in ways that I don't think they intended it to be disturbing, and they're not going to win the "infowar" by being creepy. Start over, boys.
2
I don't think "winning the infowar" was ever in the cards, whatever the website looks like.
I wonder how many of these people are going to find themselves standing in a field with a wooden rifle, wearing a uniform with a variation of a swastika on the armband, and thinking "wait a sec -- how did I get here?" someday soon?
I wonder how many of these people are going to find themselves standing in a field with a wooden rifle, wearing a uniform with a variation of a swastika on the armband, and thinking "wait a sec -- how did I get here?" someday soon?
3
wow this is the second time i've read a zeitgeist bash in the Stranger, for being fairly open minded i'm still suprised too bad you didnt even watch it (obviously) Peter Joseph never said or made any assumption that 9/11 happened BECAUSE of the North American Union....do people not even bother to check sources I mean they are posted on the website
6
Well, the movie doesn't even get into 9/11. And the problem with Zeitgeist is that it promotes violence. This movie, true or not, promotes research and a reinvigoration of the United States. Watch for yourself and decide for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwa…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwa…
7
He does listen to Wall street. He gives Wall street billions because Wall street says it's too Big to fail. They give themselves some cash bonuses, like a few million and Obama says he's mad, but it happens more than once.
The sad part is that the American tax payer is bending over and taking it each and every time. No revolt, no getting mad, no demanding the pay outs stop, we still pay taxes, no tax revolt. So why should he not listen to Wall street? Who are you and me? Oh we voted for him yes, but that is the past. I'm talking now.
The sad part is that the American tax payer is bending over and taking it each and every time. No revolt, no getting mad, no demanding the pay outs stop, we still pay taxes, no tax revolt. So why should he not listen to Wall street? Who are you and me? Oh we voted for him yes, but that is the past. I'm talking now.
8
wait...wtf? how did zeitgeist promote violence? not anymore than watching a video of chinese police beating up tibetan monks
9
Some of this stuff is great! The first thing I clicked on explained that "Starbucks wants to make it easy to join Obama’s proposed paramilitary brown shirt volunteers", because they gave away some coffee to, um, volunteers. Because, er, AmeriCorps and MLK/Vista and the Peace Corps are pretty much the same thing as Hitler's SA.
10
Oh hey, it's just another direct-to-video wig-out from Alex Jones - the AM Talk Radio conspiracy guy whose life is devoted to warning us Good, God-Fearing Americans about the New World Order led by The Lizard People
11
Oh, and I'm sure we can all agree that Texas, California, Arizona, and New Mexico are going to be annexed by Mexico ANY MINUTE NOW. It's only common sense, people.
That's what this boils down to: brown people are destroying America.
That's what this boils down to: brown people are destroying America.
12
Don't knock the conspiracy types just based on their conclusions.
Right or wrong, these guys RESEARCH the hell out of a story. Only then, do they crap out a whole bunch of personal beliefs.
Kind of like blog journalism. Except with more research.
Right or wrong, these guys RESEARCH the hell out of a story. Only then, do they crap out a whole bunch of personal beliefs.
Kind of like blog journalism. Except with more research.
14
I assume by "winning the infowars" they mean "driving clicks to the infowars.com website to increase ad revenue".
15
Man, I hate Alex Jones. If I hear one more thing about this 'New World Order' crap, I think I might vomit. That's not to say that all of the stuff he mentions is wrong, but there's a huge pile of people out there who think there's some group of people that want to *shudder* unite all of humanity, and are somehow terrified of it.
There's left wing conspiracy theorists out there too, but we don't have screamy radio shows, and we aren't addicted to 'connecting the dots' of every single conspiracy out there, as though they're all intended to lead us to this godless new world order.
These guys give rational investigation/consent a bad name, and they by no means represent all of us.
Alex Jones is a retard.
There's left wing conspiracy theorists out there too, but we don't have screamy radio shows, and we aren't addicted to 'connecting the dots' of every single conspiracy out there, as though they're all intended to lead us to this godless new world order.
These guys give rational investigation/consent a bad name, and they by no means represent all of us.
Alex Jones is a retard.
16
I wonder if there is a cross-over audience of those who take the movie "Obama Deception" seriously and those who think it is still ironically cool to watch "Showgirls."
17
@3: Zeitgeist didn't even do basic fact checking and offered no proof for the basis of their conspiracies. One glaring example, that Rockefeller guy at the end isn't a member of the Rockefeller family, but they state he is and base an entire conspiracy on that one lie/inaccuracy. Also, no basis in fact that Cheney was in control of NORAD on 9/11. But they simply state it as if it were absolute truth without any proof to back it up.
18
@12: No, they don't do research. Only that which fits (or they make appear to fit) their already formed conspiracies. That goes for leftists and rightists.
19
HA! your all right the government would NEVER lie or conspire against its own people PHEW good thing otherwise our economy might be failing...
20
Well, that settles it then. Our government might lie, could lie, has lied -- therefore every "opinon" (please don't ever change it) must be true.
22
The mystery is why people need to get into conspiracy theories to criticize something that is disturbing (the fact that Obama is totally beholden to Wall Street). He's threatening to buy things that are worthless with $2 trillion in taxpayer dollars-- potentially delivering us into a catastrophe the likes of which we've never experienced before. These economic policies are bad regardless of whether Obama is from outer space.
23
Oh, conspiracy theories can be false, are often false, and have been proven false before -- therefore every conspiracy theory must be false?
Take for instance, out government's conspiracy to kidnap suspects and make them disappear into foreign prisons where they are tortured, mutilated or murdered. If someone out there hadn't put the time and effort into researching, yes researching, that subject, do you think we'd know about it today? Or perhaps that's just another kooky conspiracy theory to you? What of the conspiracy to lie this country into wars with Iraq and Afghanistan? Do you think the government was telling the absolute %100 truth, to the best of their knowledge at the time? If not, then welcome to being a fucking conspiracy theorist, you hypocritical fucker.
Governments have committed atrocities since recorded history. To lump all inquiries into specific act together and dismissing them as the realm of nuts and whackos is just plain stupid.
Did the government commit 9-11? Probably not. But if they did, wouldn't you want to know? Did they conspire with bankers to tank the world economy? Not likely, but some paranoid bastard has to take a deeper look before we would ever know if they did.
When it's unproven, you call it crazy conspiracy theory. When it's proven you pretend you were on it's side the whole time and call it investigative journalism. You're practically the perfect bland, ignorant citizen to sell Pepsi, bad movies, and crummy music. It's embarrassing sometimes to be associated with you people.
Take for instance, out government's conspiracy to kidnap suspects and make them disappear into foreign prisons where they are tortured, mutilated or murdered. If someone out there hadn't put the time and effort into researching, yes researching, that subject, do you think we'd know about it today? Or perhaps that's just another kooky conspiracy theory to you? What of the conspiracy to lie this country into wars with Iraq and Afghanistan? Do you think the government was telling the absolute %100 truth, to the best of their knowledge at the time? If not, then welcome to being a fucking conspiracy theorist, you hypocritical fucker.
Governments have committed atrocities since recorded history. To lump all inquiries into specific act together and dismissing them as the realm of nuts and whackos is just plain stupid.
Did the government commit 9-11? Probably not. But if they did, wouldn't you want to know? Did they conspire with bankers to tank the world economy? Not likely, but some paranoid bastard has to take a deeper look before we would ever know if they did.
When it's unproven, you call it crazy conspiracy theory. When it's proven you pretend you were on it's side the whole time and call it investigative journalism. You're practically the perfect bland, ignorant citizen to sell Pepsi, bad movies, and crummy music. It's embarrassing sometimes to be associated with you people.
25
20) hmm making the assumption that, because our government has/does lie means EVERY opinion MUST be "true" is no more out there than pointing out that because the DO and WIll continue to lie some "Truthers" as they are being called might actually know what they are talking about
but I am certainly not talking about this video which is stupid Alex Jones is an asshole in my opinion I was merely defending Zeitgeist
but I am certainly not talking about this video which is stupid Alex Jones is an asshole in my opinion I was merely defending Zeitgeist
28
@23: I think what separates the nuts from the rationalists is the fact that the nuts find it surprising and unprecedented that a US President would be influenced by Wall Street bankers. A rationalist sees Wall Street as one of a number of competing interest groups that attempts to influence powerful persons. A paranoid nut sees Obama as being a Manchurian candidate-type puppet whose actions are literally being controlled every step of the way by Bernie Madoff and the cast of AIGFP.
What separates the absurd conspiracy theory (9/11 was an American black op) from the actual conspiratorial crime (Watergate) is the fact that real conspiracies either have to be small enough to have any hope of preventing leaks/whistleblowers (and Watergate falls into this category, even though it backfired), or be plausibly innocent enough that those associated don't have to see themselves as the scourge of humanity (i.e., selling CDS and shortselling).
In other words: being a cartoon supervillain carries too much risk with respect to its reward to be a plausible career.
I love Ozymandias as a critique of the U.S. foreign policy end game. I don't believe that he's here, pulling the strings in the White House. That is implausible to me.
What separates the absurd conspiracy theory (9/11 was an American black op) from the actual conspiratorial crime (Watergate) is the fact that real conspiracies either have to be small enough to have any hope of preventing leaks/whistleblowers (and Watergate falls into this category, even though it backfired), or be plausibly innocent enough that those associated don't have to see themselves as the scourge of humanity (i.e., selling CDS and shortselling).
In other words: being a cartoon supervillain carries too much risk with respect to its reward to be a plausible career.
I love Ozymandias as a critique of the U.S. foreign policy end game. I don't believe that he's here, pulling the strings in the White House. That is implausible to me.
30
Oh Dan! Ohhhhhh Dan! I am so excited about your mayoral campaign. I've been combing the Slog archives for your best writings. I want the citizens of Seattle to know the real Dan Savage. Compassionate, thoughtful, empathetic, generous, OH Dan!!! I can hardly wait for the campaign to begin. I'll be there for you Dan. I'll be there for you every day promoting your past musings on matters large and small to the citizens of Seattle.
Must I report my expenditures to your campaign if we don't collude on the message?
Must I report my expenditures to your campaign if we don't collude on the message?
34
The Infowar should be a literal war between Larouchies and Truthers, fought in the streets of Davis, California.
35
This is the same crowd that thinks that the President was born in Kenya and not in Hawaii. A bunch of pigs trying to mask their hatred of him with irrational fairy tales. Good only for a sci-fi or comic book weirdo fans.
36
Only a real schmuck believes the morons in charge are capable of these grand conspiracies. Clinton can't get sucked off without getting caught, but Georgie and his pals somehow pull off 9-11 flawlessly. @23 yes...our government kills, butchers, and murders. Only a moron then makes the illogical leap to New World Order and black helicopters. Don't you know every supervillian's motto?
Keep it simple stupid.
Keep it simple stupid.
37
I have to retchedly disagree with you Paul..
Having watched the trade mags for years on the shelves of the very inconvienent stores in the fakery of mass media retention pond shows,
the less than stellar reviews by the packaging plants of disco "relevarlarians" lost in translation and of course, the digit-eyes'd' size willy whompers paraded around the old dominion stoics of the early 19th century have left me feeling hotter than George Spigot in a bed without Raquel Welch.
The DEVIL shouldn't need to pop in and out of reality just because Tim Keck won't give his protege'... namely me, a credit card to imbibe on and suck off the teets of our very secretive girly establishments and remember what it was like to be a million dollar baby eating history "without viagra".
Tim... a question to you...
Would you like to play dress up with me?
Having watched the trade mags for years on the shelves of the very inconvienent stores in the fakery of mass media retention pond shows,
the less than stellar reviews by the packaging plants of disco "relevarlarians" lost in translation and of course, the digit-eyes'd' size willy whompers paraded around the old dominion stoics of the early 19th century have left me feeling hotter than George Spigot in a bed without Raquel Welch.
The DEVIL shouldn't need to pop in and out of reality just because Tim Keck won't give his protege'... namely me, a credit card to imbibe on and suck off the teets of our very secretive girly establishments and remember what it was like to be a million dollar baby eating history "without viagra".
Tim... a question to you...
Would you like to play dress up with me?
38
I haven't read more than the first line but I beg you not to classify this horrible piece of shit with Zeitgeist. While they may both be wrong Zeitgeist has been trying to find solutions rather than just telling you the world is shit and there's nothing you can do about it. Please, don't claim Zeitgeist is creating violence.
39
And to reply to the content of your entry, what did he get wrong? I'm asking that knowing that when I watched the movie I found at least 20-30 things that were flat out wrong, including a piece claiming global warming is a farse. Even my attempts to e-mail them about this single point I get replies back about how I'm being compliant and the government will start taxing my air. Without calling out specific points you only bolster their position and help no one.
40
This whole info-war movement is irrelevant because none of these people will ever get off their asses and start any real changes. They'll just keep making more shitty youtube videos. In the medical industry we call that a placebo.
42
@17 and all you other debunkers....
The NYTimes confirms that Nicholas Rockefeller IS IN FACT a member of the Rockefeller family:
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/03/busine…
"In a relatively small deal with broad implications, an investment firm connected with the Rockefeller family appears set to buy a luxury hotel on the island of Bali from a company controlled by one of Indonesia's own wealthy industrial dynasties, according to people close to the buyer and seller.
Surya Semesta Internusa, a company controlled by the Suriadjaya family of Indonesia, plans to sell the 500-room Melia Bali hotel to Trenwith Holdings Ltd. for approximately $50 million, one of the informants said. Trenwith is a joint venture 70 percent owned by Rockvest Development, a Rockefeller trust controlled by Nicholas Rockefeller, a California lawyer."
How about you guys do a little research and maybe actually WATCH a film before "reviewing" it.
The Obama Deception is accurate in showing that Obama's actions are counter to his promises and rhetoric. Many mainstream "liberal" journalists, most recently Glenn Greenwald, have arrived at the same conclusion after Obama widens Bush's "State Secrets" doctrine.
See: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2…
The article was highlighted on PrisonPlanet, so I assume you avid political watchers must have missed it.
The NYTimes confirms that Nicholas Rockefeller IS IN FACT a member of the Rockefeller family:
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/03/busine…
"In a relatively small deal with broad implications, an investment firm connected with the Rockefeller family appears set to buy a luxury hotel on the island of Bali from a company controlled by one of Indonesia's own wealthy industrial dynasties, according to people close to the buyer and seller.
Surya Semesta Internusa, a company controlled by the Suriadjaya family of Indonesia, plans to sell the 500-room Melia Bali hotel to Trenwith Holdings Ltd. for approximately $50 million, one of the informants said. Trenwith is a joint venture 70 percent owned by Rockvest Development, a Rockefeller trust controlled by Nicholas Rockefeller, a California lawyer."
How about you guys do a little research and maybe actually WATCH a film before "reviewing" it.
The Obama Deception is accurate in showing that Obama's actions are counter to his promises and rhetoric. Many mainstream "liberal" journalists, most recently Glenn Greenwald, have arrived at the same conclusion after Obama widens Bush's "State Secrets" doctrine.
See: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2…
The article was highlighted on PrisonPlanet, so I assume you avid political watchers must have missed it.
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