WHICH IS WORSE—2012 or 2016?
The feature film 2012 was a bit of science fiction, predicting the end of the world. The documentary 2016 is a hatchet job by conservative Dinesh D’Souza who pretends that he was originally mesmerized by Barack Obama, found him to be a mystery once in office, then did some research to find out who he “really is,” and now fears that his re-election will destroy America by 2016. Similar to his book, The Roots of Obama’s Rage (2011) and taken from his Obama’s America: Unmaking the American Dream (2012), D’Souza pretends to be a scholar but in fact engages in several rhetorical tricks on behalf of a one-sided thesis: (1) D’Souza presents his own autobiography, partly to achieve some sympathy with filmviewers, and claims sufficient familiarity with an anti-colonial ideology in his native India to be able to read Obama’s mind. (2) He pretends psychological insight, claiming that Obama is trying to redeem his Kenyan father’s anti-colonial values, speculating, “Only through the dreams of Obama’s father can we understand the son.” (3) He cardstacks comments from those who oppose Obama’s supposed political views. (4) He engages in guilt-by-association by identifying such Obama’s acquaintances as Frank Marshall David (a Communist), Bill Ayers (a terrorist), Rev. Jeremiah Wright (a radical Black Power advocate), etc., as if Obama never met anyone else. (5) Not unlike most biographers, he puts ideas in Obama’s head, claiming that he is anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, a radical egalitarian, and anti-American. (6) Rather than citing Obama’s views in The Audacity of Hope (2006), he misrepresents Obama on several issues, claiming for example that he is anti-Israel, pro-Muslim, etc. (7) Indeed, D’Souza believes that changing the focus of NASA, seeking to raise taxes on the wealthy, and achieving a reduction in the worldwide nuclear arsenal are all a part of a conspiracy to end the role of the United States as the world’s superpower. (8) He uses a distorted chart of the rise of the national debt under Obama, as if he alone were responsible for the slow economic growth rate. (9) He makes many other false claims: (a) He says that Obama opposes drilling for oil in the United States. (b) He says that Reagan, who signed COBRA and the Catastrophic Health Care Act, opposed expanding the welfare state. (c) He claims that Obama wants Britain to hand over the Falkland Islands to Argentina, whereas he has declared neutrality on the issue. (d) He claims that Obama, who has increased sanctions on Iran, including cyber war, has done nothing to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. (e) He claims that any reduction in the American nuclear arsenal makes the United States militarily “vulnerable.” (f) He makes the standard Republican claim that Obamacare is a plan for the government to take over health care, whereas the law primarily regulates the insurance industry. (g) He claims that Obama’s increase in troops in Afghanistan followed a year later by a decrease is a smokescreen to hide his “anticolonialism.” (h) He claims that Obama, who allowed the American military to leave Iraq and has done nothing in Syria, secretly wants a “United States of Islam” (composed of Iran and Arabic-speaking countries) to check the West. (i) He claims that Obama wants to spend the United States into insolvency, ignoring Obama’s proposed Grand Bargain on the deficit, which Speaker John Boehner rejected. (j) He claims that Barack’s school Punahou, where the most conservative parents send their children, is a hotbed of radicals. (10) He avoids learning about the impact of the culture of Hawai`i on Obama, whereas Barack Obama’s wife Michelle has said, “You do not understand Barack Obama until you understand Hawai`i.” And Professor Kathleen Hall-Jamieson of the University of Pennsylvania has said, “If you really want to know who Barack Obama is, you have to understand the culture of inclusivity. You need to go to Hawai`i.” D’Souza did go, but only to feed his naked prejudice. MH