The Dark Money Game

Ignore any whining, biased political hack reviews. In Ohio, this happens to be about a Republican state legislator scumbag. In other states, it's Democrats. The protagonist and enemy isn't a political party, it's money. If you check your politics at door, and aren't from Ohio, this story is very interesting. You don't need to be an astronomer to know the sun is hot, and similarly, you don't need to be on the jury to know the truth here. Dark pool 501(4)(c)'s are great for politicians (right & left) but terrible for rest of the population. The documentary intrigues without being hyperbolic. Only gets a 7 because, let's face it, real life state politics not as exciting as The Wire, Breaking Bad, or GOT. High bar to get an 8 and above. In letter grades, this is a B+.

Luridly titled, in two parts, most likely to offer micro- and macro- views of the subject, this is on illicit, shady financing of the political machine. In the great American narrative tradition we swoop in to investigate.

In the first part we zoom in on a corner of Ohio state politics to find local legislators running a scheme; thwarting a referendum in return for huge bribes from the local energy company. This is incidentally uncovered when FBI wiretaps are set up for another reason.

The second installment is the story of far right-wingers, the Federalist Society, trying to usurp the Supreme Court, a perhaps 30 year scheme that is by now well documented and climaxed with the Merrick Garland fiasco.

This last part surveys a much broader swath, covering the alliance of religious zealots, big business, and corrupt officials, including SC justices. We're shown documents that advertise influence and proximity to judges for right-wing mega donors; a lot of it boggles the mind that it has transpired so, including the bribes paid to judge Thomas.

It boggles the mind that so much effort by a small group of extremists, an immense amount of it in slow, inglorious beginnings attended by handfuls, long before the recent triumphs of the Federalist Society, would yield the fruits it did for a whole country, to no real tangible benefit for people. Other than foisting a belief system and, of course, helping line the pockets of the already rich.

The weasely Ohio scheme makes this even more clear; these people could really use the bribes, the fancy car and renovated kitchen, and thought that maybe this time, as probably a countless times before, no one's watching. What's the harm?

But now put yourself in their shoes and, whether they get away with it or not, imagine the anxiety and sense of a persnickety life entailed with having to scheme like this. They may be well-off eventually (in this case not), but is this a happy life? Is Clarence Thomas, vacationing in a brand new camper truck that he knows was bought by influencer money for him, in anticipation of future favors, happier on it than not?

Outrage at the illicty of it all is one response, but tonight I found myself laughing at the smallness of it.

Checked out this new HBO 'documentary'. Supposedly about the influence of dark money on the political system, all it turned out to be is another piece of leftist propaganda.

Frankly I expected better from Gibney, but I'm not surprised as he bought into the Russian influence hoax, perpetuated by killary.

The decline has been gradual, but he has fallen far since his outstanding documentary about Enron: the smartest guys in the room.

He should stick with neutral material, like It Might Get Loud, which is a great film about contempary guitarists and their influence on modern rock and roll.

This is a one star, as I can't rate it zero.

The low ratings are from people who disagree with the political aspects of this doc. It's so unfortunate, because this is absolutely essential viewing. Citizens United changed the very nature of our election process. We have needed campaign finance reform for a long time. Candidates are spending millions per election now. Third party and independents barely get their names out there. It's very rare that someone not from the two main parties can get elected. Both parties are so powerful and corrupt, we are often left with choosing the least bad candidate.

This doc shares simple facts. I'm sure one could be made about Democrats, too. So put your feelings aside and absorb the message. We have to fight for our democracy now more than ever.

If this documentary had been about state politics in Illinois, California, Washington State. The result would have been the same. But HBO is not interested in those states because their agenda is about exposing the right. Every crooked politician regardless of party is a scumbag so it's worth watching to educate yourself about campaign finance, redistricting etc. No issue when facts are laid out bare and of course I welcome opinion by those interviewed. But the production trickery turns what should be an educational documentary into a Michael Moore production. Case in point, episode 1 opening scene. Pro abortion protestors outside and inside the state house. The narrator explains how over 60% of Ohio voters approve of abortion but the legislation is majority Republican and pass some of the strictest abortion laws in the country. Then goes on to say that these republican lawmakers are all smiling and laughing it up at the expense of the protestors while the camera pans to these lawmakers smiling and laughing.....it's obvious this did not happen during proceedings. It was either before or after as lawmakers were chatting with their colleagues. Watch it. Judge for yourself.