2016: Obama's America

Well-done, thought-provoking movie. This film provides insight into Obama's childhood, his influences, his beliefs, and how all of these translate into his plans for America, especially with regard to national security and foreign policy. There's something for everyone in here – Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, and anyone else. Independents, in particular, will benefit from a deeper understanding of the man they helped to elect to office four years ago. Even better, this movie offers a very insightful analysis of why Obama's words have failed to match his actions. Hats off to Dinesh D'Souza and Gerald Molen for a powerful film!

I heard about this movie coming out some time ago, just before the US elections are happening, which is a perfect time for a presidential documentary. First I should say, I am not an American, I'm a Canadian, but I do have quite the interest in American politics. Also, like the vast majority of Canadians, I'm more of a Democrat. Sure, if there was a leader in the Republican field, that was far superior to the democrat candidate, then I would be fully behind the republican, but for the past few decades, I've been far more on the side of the Democrat candidates.

I found a lot of this film to be really interesting. The first half of the movie goes into who Barack Obama really is, a history of his life, and his father's life. There were so many tidbits of information that I never knew before, and it was really great to be able to find that information.

At the same time though, D'Souza, the maker of the documentary, has many scenes where he's talking about himself, and putting words into people's mouths. The direction of the title of the movie, showing what America will be like if Obama gets his second term, is hardly put forward, and when D'Souza does put forward his ideas, they really hardly make sense, and they're so extreme, that I doubt they will ever happen in the united states.

After seeing that movie, I just had to go back in time a few years, and watch Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9-11" and... oh my god... if anyone thinks, in any direction, that Obama isn't a good president, then look back just a few years and take a peak at what George Bush Jr. had done... it's freaking insane, and horrific. Looking at what has happened, I would say that Obama is the greatest president the US has had in a long, long time... perhaps going back to Ronald Reagan, perhaps even going back to Kennedy. I highly doubt that any republican would be able to beat out Obama for a second term in office, and one thing is for sure, this movie didn't make me doubt that, at all.

But one thing that D'Souza says about Obama is true. Many parts of his life up to when he got into office are quite a bit of a mystery to most people, so if you'd like to know more of the history of Obama, I highly recommend watching this movie.

I was pleasantly surprised to walk into the theater in San Jose, Ca and see it fairly well full. California is, after all, Obama-friendly (let's leave it at that). Imagine, a movie by a scholar with a conservative point of view actually doing well in....California? Shocker! Dinesh D'Souza's movie is excellent--scholarly, hard-hitting but soft around the edges as D'Souza draws personal parallels with Obama's roots and experiences and his.

The movie reminds us, that in life, it is our family, and the people in our life that makes us tick. Obama's speeches and book, "Dreams from My Father" are central to D'Souza's movie. Obama's parents, grandparents, substitute father, mentors, friends, and supporters make Obama what he is today and these relationships guide our President's policies and intentions for our country. The fact is, I really knew very little about WHO Obama was in 2008, but, I must say, I know more now, and I'm learning more every day. The 'apple doesn't fall far from the tree'.

One on one interviews with those who personally know Obama and his family gently help weave the facts which D'Souza presents to the audience while sharing his credible and very well documented themes. Much is added, still, through one on one interviews with experts (Shelby Steele, David Walker, Daniel Pipe, Paul Vitz, and others) who are patriots and fear for our country.

Produced by Gerald R. Molen ("Schindler's List"), D'Souza's movie is artfully done with beautiful, real and surreal camera work, and meaningful graphics. The viewer feels D'Souza's earnest desire for revealing answers to important questions not asked and not answered by 'main stream' media. Voters deserve to consider these answers, especially when electing a leader for our country and our military.

And for those who tend towards a fatalists' attitude about politics and voting, believing that it doesn't matter who our President is, or whether or not our government needs to balance the budget, please consider watching this movie. Personally, I agree with D'Souza. It matters. Know the person you vote for. Do your own homework.

Please, see the movie.

Contrary to my expectations, this was not a scare-fest along the lines of "The Day After Tomorrow." Instead it's kind of an egghead treatment that starts by asking, Why did Obama disappoint so many of his supporters? He was voted in by Democrats, independents, and a few disillusioned Republicans. Many of them are feeling betrayed.

I'm gay, he betrayed me. I'm Green, he betrayed me. I'm a DREAMer, he betrayed me. I want card check, he betrayed me. I want to close Gitmo, he betrayed me. I want the rich to pay higher taxes, he betrayed me. I want single-payer healthcare, he betrayed me. I wanted transparency, he betrayed me.

D'Souza replies: The reason is, these piddly Democrat-Republican squabbles are not Obama's concern.

According to D'Souza, Obama's aim is way beyond this two-party conflict that the rest of us Americans are locked in. Thanks largely to Obama's often squalid overseas upbringing and the education his parents and grandparents designed for him, he takes a much broader view of America: as a colonialist thief of other nations' natural wealth. He has essentially projected the sins of Britain onto America. The British Raj, Churchill's suppression of the Mau-Mau Rebellion, are examples of the crimes he lays at America's feet. Rapacious British = White = America. That's why he wants to level America by reducing its military power and individual Americans' standard of living. Of course this is misguided; America is itself a former British colony which expelled its overlords in a bloody revolution.

D'Souza intuits much of this from parallels to his own life; he is Indian, and he was advised by his grandfather not to go to America, where "they're white." He lived in Third World squalor, he escaped courtesy of an educational opportunity in an elite American university, he was born and graduated and married in the same years as Obama. He "gets" the whole anti-colonial mindset.

But for most of his evidence, he simply quotes Obama's own words in "Dreams from My Father" and hunts down the teachers and mentors that Obama himself credits. Frank Marshall Davis, Jeremiah Wright, some Brazilian Communist who was expelled from Brazil and found a welcoming and lucrative home at Harvard. He also learned from Bill Ayers.

D'Souza concludes from Obama's first term that he's just not that into the Democrats. He used them (along with the independents and disgusted Republicans) to get himself into power, but he's got another agenda all his own that is well beyond disagreements over who pays what tax rate and whether teenage rape victims should be forced to become mothers.

Therefore he'll adopt progressive issues where they help him and not an inch further. For instance, when he saw some of his base slipping, he did finally evolve his own, deep, personal, individual view on gays marrying -- but he also flat-out said he's not going to put any energy into it as President.

One may agree with Obama's agenda, one may not. It does overlap the liberal agenda in some areas. Indeed, there are plenty of American liberals who feel America should be taken down a peg for the good of the world. But Obama is not motivated by the same things American liberals are. He's not at heart a Democrat, or a progressive, or a liberal, or a leftist. He's more of a sort of confused anti-colonialist.

D'Souza devotes only a few minutes at the end of the movie to the world's prospects if Obama gets a second term. Just a few. Essentially, "there will be no place to hide" if Islamists expand, if American military power is significantly reduced, if our wealth is flushed. It will be bad for the world and bad for us.

8/10 because of its slightly choppy structure.

This is the kind of movie that enrages or excites depending on partisan leanings, as evidenced by the helpful liberal who decided to interrupt by reminding everyone in the theater that it's "propaganda." However, I am neither a Democrat or a Republican, so I feel I have a fairly objective view of this movie.

First of all, it's absolutely fascinating. Obama came out of what seemed like nowhere with incredible charm, but most people don't know much about his life story. This movie describes the type of people and places he grew up in, and interviews experts who have an idea of what kind of thinking drives the 44th President. The subjects covered should be fairly familiar to anyone interested in politics, but the movie explores these a bit more in-depth than the talking heads on cable news, without being histrionic.

Dinesh D'Souza states that we carry elements of the past into the future, but it's also apparent that he carries unspoken assumptions into his work. If you share his assumptions, as I think many Americans do, then you'll probably find Obama's presidency more disturbing, because he doesn't fit neatly within the nationalist and individualist ideology that is typical of U.S. Presidents. D'Souza also appeals to the unconditional support for Israel and nuclear weapons. If you're outside of his assumptions, as I am, then it will be difficult to end up with his conclusions.

While I've never really trusted Obama and still don't, I came out of the film liking him a bit more, which was probably not the intended effect. In any case, it was interesting and I felt it was worth my time watching, just to get a clearer picture of the man in the White House.