Left's Sense of Humor Missing, 9/11 Dramatizations "Damnably Serious" [AnalogKid]

Clinton didn't say that "damnably serious" bit. But he would have if this was a Jane Austen Novel.

He also didn't say, "Get Bin Laden now, dammit - we have a country to protect." But he would have if this was a scene on The West Wing.

And I am well informed that Madeleine Albright didn't appear in a camasole and fuzzy slippers with a nightcap for her Pakistani lover in order to tell him that Hellfire missiles were targeting Bin Laden in Afghanistan. But she would have if this had been a scene of Dangerous Housewives.

Isn't it interesting how many times we've heard that Hollywood is all about dramatizations and entertainment when the lesson conveyed is pro-left, pro-Democrat, pro-liberal? "Don't take that seriously," we are admonished, "It's poetic license, darling."

Now we have the 9/11 movie that will air this Sunday. It certainly appears that ABC's head Iger is caving to pressure brought by the Clinton Foundation's Bruce Lindsay. Why? Because the dramatization paints the Clinton Administration accurately. Of course, efforts at "It's just a dramatization" somehow fall on deaf ears when you're trying to tell it to someone who really understands the power of memes and mass communication.

Look, I'm not saying that the portrayal is letter perfect. I'm not saying that in its smallest, parsable details, it is accurate to the nth degree. And I'm not saying that I've seen the movie. But I'm listening to the discussion, and I'm listening to people who have seen the movie (Rush, Patterico's co-blogger). And the portrayal is very likely as accurate as TV can be.

Why do I say this? First, because of the reaction by Clinton's camp. If this wasn't damning and true, then it would be damnably (and provably) false. Second, because all three of the "questionable" scenes in the above article are certainly believable given what we learned over the years about the Clinton Administration. Does it matter whether Berger slammed the phone down or laid it gently upon its cradle? Does it matter if Albright met the head of Pakistan's State Security apparatus in a dark alley or whether she sent a message by a messenger? Does it matter that Clinton didn't exercise leadership on a habitually self-serving, liberal, and disjointed foreign policy?

Yes. Yes it does. And from what I understand, this movie accurately portrays the lack of leadership and the lack of focus that was part and parcel of that foreign policy.

This is like the flame in an acetylene torch - it doesn't matter that it's a dry heat. At some point, it will simply burn.

We deserve a faithful portryal of the events leading up to 9/11, and of the Clinton Administration's failure with respect to Terrorism. Parse it 276 ways, and it's still a failure. I've read enough of the 9/11 Commission's report to get that out of it. And in its structure and in its specifics, this film seems to be accurate. The trouble is not the dramatization - it's what is being dramatized. The truth hurts.

PostScript: The Spin is beginning: from this article,

"No one has seen the final version of the film because the editing process is not yet complete, so criticisms of film specifics are premature and irresponsible," ABC said.

Really, darling? Of course not. That's why the media kit went out and the DVD's got burned and distributed.

It's Friday morning EDT, for cryin' out loud. How stupid do you think we are?

posted by Ace at 02:13 AM

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