GIVE US LIBERTY Review of Dinesh D'Souza's "2016 : Obama's America"

 

I saw Dinesh D’Souza’s movie ‘2016: Obama’s America’ last night. I went by myself to the 9:00 pm showing at a local theater in Thousand Oaks, CA. I counted about 50 patrons; the vast majority over 50 years of age.

I am always reluctant to be overly critical of anyone’s artistic endeavors as I often ask myself, “Could you have done a better job?” From a creative standpoint however, it was very well done. The documentary was slickly presented, well-photographed and I especially liked the creative graphics employed throughout the movie. The pace was good and the story while flawed in my view, held my attention. In fact many times I found that my blood pressure would rise and at times I felt compelled to blurt out loud, “Liar!”, “Fraud!”, “Traitor!” when the usurper’s image dominated the screen and he was engaged in some typically mendacious activity. There was no similar reaction by the rest of the audience until very late in the movie when there were a few snickers and derisive comments that probably were the result feeling emboldened by my prior outbursts.

On the whole, I must say that I was disappointed that the movie did not live up to my expectations – at all. I did not find the movie to be particularly compelling or hard-hitting, probably because I am well-versed in the story and so much was not covered, glossed over or misinterpreted. D’Souza could have painted a much grimmer and more realistic take on what is really happening to America today. The message is there…but it is lacking the honesty I expected.

While I knew that the eligibility issue would not be addressed, I was profoundly disappointed that D’Souza presented as FACTS that Obama was born in Hawaii, at Kapiolani Hospital and that his birth father was in fact the Kenyan, Barack Obama Sr. In addition, D’Souza gives every impression that he fully buys in to the fact that Obama wrote “Dreams From My Father” and accepts the content as factual. Talk about naïve!

Of course, the idea that Barack Obama Sr. is the usurper’s father is an essential premise to the movie and D’Souza hammers home the idea that the Kenyan was an incredibly important influence on Obama’s view of the world. I personally find that to be a gross overstatement of the real truth given all the research that is “out there”.  Unfortunately, this is an assumption by D’Souza that HAS NOT been substantiated and there are a myriad of reasons to doubt the veracity of some of D’Souza’s claims. From that standpoint I believe D’Souza has been less than stellar in his research.  In fact, I felt that D’Souza exhibited a great deal of naivety about Obama.

I agree with others, that D’Souza moderated his tone for the most part and tried to be objective. It certainly was not a hit piece on Obama but rather a cautionary tale to the American people that Obama was not and is not the person that the he presented himself to be in 2008. And of course, D’Souza does make it very clear that Obama poses an existential threat to the American way of life, our prosperity and our safety. There is no question about that.

I will give the movie a B MINUS because D’Souza assumes facts not in evidence and the movie could have been more hard-hitting and compelling. The conclusion was somewhat benign. In my opinion, DiSouza misses the mark when it comes to revealing the true malevolence of Obama and the purpose behind his anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-life policies, actions, words and dreams.

P.S. I am grateful that D'Souza made this movie. I urge everyone to go see it. Obviously it will not help the Usurper gain any votes! Oh to think how truly impactful this movie could have been.