Filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of Nancy Pelosi, reminds anyone listening that over 58 million Americans voted for John McCain and against now-President Barack Obama last fall. That's a lot of Americans. Pelosi's new film, "Right America: Feeling Wronged", aired last night on HBO, and is available now on HBO-On-Demand on Time Warner systems. The Mrs. and I watched last night.
Ms. Pelosi follows the McCain/Palin campaign, interviewing regular voters from places like, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. The regular folks Pelosi interviews are committed conservatives, the Republican base, who, each election cycle, religiously vote for GOP candidates and issues…..as is their right in free America.
The Reverend highly recommends Ms. Pelosi's 45 minute film.
The film demonstrates, at least to me, the huge influence right wing radio and FOX teevee has had, and continues to have, on this "hidden" Republican base. The amount of misinformation, twisted understandings, and occasional hate that is verbalized in the film is actually quite staggering. Even though Barack Obama won the presidential election handily….we are still a quite divided electorate.
Ms. Pelosi was interviewed about the film by WNYC's Leonard Lopate. Here's a 4:22 piece of that interview….
Lopate says that these GOP base voters are an "embarassment to those they are supporting" and that's why their viewpoints are rarely seen and heard on the teevee.
Ms. Pelosi predicts in the interview that she will be instantly criticized for the film by FOX, saying that she is only trying to "embarass the Republican Party by putting some of these GOP base members on teevee…..the irony is that they're embarassed by their base. Right wing radio is where these people pick up their talking points. These people at the rallies are just mimicking what they hear on right-wing radio….but when these people are put on teevee, people will say 'Oh well, you picked the one lunatic in the crowd'….For every person who states Obama is the anti-Christ, there are hundreds…and I think it came from right-wing radio."
I think Pelosi is correct.
Misinformation has become an industry in America in the last 15 years or so. Mountains of money have been made through misinforming listeners, readers and viewers. So widespread has spreading misinformation become, that Karl Rove was able to successfully carry out his own misinformation and propaganda campaign for 8 years while working for a Republican president. This misinformation industry has been very detrimental to the nation's unity….our sense of 'we're all Americans and in this together.'
Pre-emptively……yes, many Obama voters were giddy swooners who never dug deeply into policy issues….but the Democratic base was not embarassed to have these folks seen and heard in the media…..and evidence of blatant misinformation was scant.
If you have HBO….and the time….watch "Right America: Feeling Wronged". It's quite a conversation piece.
