Dowd Column Lauds Movie Reconstructing Bin Laden Operation -- To Be Released Oct. 12, 2012
In an otherwise typically dismal column about President Barack Obama which is one part pity party and another part an attempt at building him a he-man reputation (not kidding), New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd describes an upcoming movie featuring the exploits of Navy SEAL Team 6 in the operation which killed Osama Bin Laden on May 1.
Dowd celebrates the fact that the movie's currently anticipated opening is October 12, 2012, describing it as "perfectly timed" and "just as Obamaland was hoping." She expects that it will "give a home-stretch boost to a campaign that has grown tougher," and "counter Obama’s growing reputation as ineffectual."
Here are the relevant paragraphs from Dowd's column, including reference to a New Yorker column about the operation which has become the subject of considerable controversy (bolds and numbered tags are mine):
But while Obama takes the high road, his aides have made sure there are proxies to exuberantly brag on him.
The White House clearly blessed the dramatic reconstruction of the mission by Nicholas Schmidle in The New Yorker — so vividly descriptive of the Seals’ looks, quotes and thoughts that Schmidle had to clarify after the piece was published that he had not actually talked to any of them. [1]
“I’ll just say that the 23 Seals on the mission that evening were not the only ones who were listening to their radio communications,” Schmidle said, answering readers’ questions in a live chat, after taking flak for leaving some with the impression that he had interviewed the heroes when he wrote in his account that it was based on “some of their recollections.” [2]
The White House is also counting on the Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal big-screen version of the killing of Bin Laden to counter Obama’s growing reputation as ineffectual. The Sony film by the Oscar-winning pair who made “The Hurt Locker” will no doubt reflect the president’s cool, gutsy decision against shaky odds. Just as Obamaland was hoping, the movie is scheduled to open on Oct. 12, 2012 — perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost to a campaign that has grown tougher. [3]
The moviemakers are getting top-level access to the most classified mission in history [4] from an administration that has tried to throw more people in jail for leaking classified information than the Bush administration.
It was clear that the White House had outsourced the job of manning up the president’s image to Hollywood when Boal got welcomed to the upper echelons of the White House and the Pentagon and showed up recently — to the surprise of some military officers — at a C.I.A. ceremony celebrating the hero Seals. [5]
Just like W., Obama is going for that “Mission Accomplished” glow (without the suggestive harness). At least in this president’s case, though, something has been accomplished. [6]
Notes:
- [1] -- I have read Schmidle's account, and I believe that any reader would have thought that he actually spoke with the operation's participants in reconstructing what happened. By the way, Schmidle conveniently did not mention, as the Associated Press reported on May 2, that the nom de guerre of Bin Laden's courier had been identified through the use of enhanced interrogation techniques during the Bush administration.
- [2] -- As Mediaite reported Monday with a follow-up post on Thursday, the admission that he never actually spoke to any raid participants was dragged out of Schmidle during the related online chat. Schmidle certainly didn't seem to mind it when NPR, which has since issued a correction, originally reported that he "had spoken with Navy SEALs who participated in the raid."
- [3] -- Granting that the decision to approve the operation was a good one (though by some accounts Obama took his sweet time making it), the decision to have the movie made, in combination with its timing, betrays a crassness that seems as likely to turn off the general public as it is to build Obama up -- especially if the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the Middle East are marginal at the time.
- [4] and [5] -- I don't think I'm alone in questioning whether granting moviemakers access to classified information while we are still at war with the enemy in question is really wise. In fact, it seems very dangerous. What kind of security clearances were the people involved subject to? Who knows how our enemy might take advantage of information revealed in the film about technology, logistics, and tactics? Who can guarantee that the actual identifications (which filmmakers now know) of "the hero Seals" will remain confidential? Isn't it possible that U.S. Muslim sympathizers might go after their families as well as the Seals themselves if their identities are accidentally revealed?
- [6] -- Yeah, Maureen, I guess giving the okay to an operation to kill one guy (to be clear, a monster who needed to be killed) pales in comparison to liberating over 30 million Iraqis from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, probably the worst mass murderer of the past 20 years. To Dowd, what Bush did is a non-accomplishment. We should also not forget that Barack Obama opposed the war from the outset; opposed the surge that finally achieved victory in that country; has allowed the situation in the country to regress, possibly to a dangerous point, since he has been president; and seems determined to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq at a rate which may not be supported by conditions on the ground.
Beyond the security issues and the potential tastelessness of putting out an election-year commercial posing as a feature film, it is intensely ironic that an administration which has seemed to bend over backwards to avoid offending Muslim and Middle Eastern sensibilities at every turn has no problem whatsoever doing what will from all appearances be a cinematic end-zone dance in front of the entire world.
I wonder (actually, I don't) how Dowd would have felt about an October 1992 release of a movie glorifying the liberation of Kuwait, or an October 1984 film dramatizing President Reagan's 1983 invasion and liberation of Grenada?
None of the issues raised here seem to bother Ms. Dowd in the least; in fact, I don't see any evidence that they even occurred to her. Will anyone else in the establishment press care?
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
Can I send in my money right
Submitted by killa37 on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:07am.
Can I send in my money right now and reserve a ticket, since it will be a sell-out???
Yeah.............right......
Oh, yeah............and how are they going to integrate what just happened into this movie, after Boy Brave was 'doin' Osama'???
Bet your last dollar (if you still have on on 10/12/12) that they'll skip that reality, since the movie will be fiction!!!
A couple points
Submitted by Rhymes With Right on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:17am.
1) Interesting, isn't it, that the Obama regime is working so hard to get this picture into rush production so it can hit the theaters as a big in-kind corporate donation to Obama's reelection campaign -- especially given his opposition to allowing corporate money into elections, as seen in his verbal assault on the Supreme Court in his 2010 State of the Union address?
2) Doesn't the degree of assistance given to help rush this film along constitute coordinating with Sony's supposedly independent expenditure -- a violation of campaign laws?
3) Given that those providing this assistance to Sony are government employees, not campaign staffers, doesn't this raise issues of illegal use of government employees for political work?
http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/319821.php
on all counts... one would
Submitted by ElleZoe on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 8:16am.
on all counts... one would think.
It is a very early 2012
Submitted by kg on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 8:58am.
It is a very early 2012 "October surprise". You might even say it is a campaign ad using a never before used source. And to think they very same people complained about the timing when Bush said there was a terror threat close (1-3 months) before an election. You have to wonder if they will also include Biden ousting Team 6 which enabled the enemies a chance to track the group and get revenge.
"DumbAssity of Dope"
Maureed Dowd: certified mental case
Submitted by NotFondOfLibs on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:17am.
Leave it to a mental case like Maureen Dowd to worry more about Barack Obama's welfare than the citizens of this country, especially those still unemployed and collecting foodstamps. What a disgrace to journalism this idiot is.
Bad Timing
Submitted by grammajane on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:21am.
Some of the hero's of killing OBL were killed today in that horrible attack and she is blabbering about BHO and what a hero he is. These Libs will do anything to get a vote. Have never in my life seen/heard such crap as what is going on these days. The TeaParty are a bunch of terrorists, bomb strapping, dumb, stupid, hobbots and then they express their thoughts of BHO as a hero, messiah, and God;s gift. Wonder how much classified info was given to these producers of the next Acadamy Award
Probably not true
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:31am.
Some of the heros of killing OBL were killed today in that horrible attack
The press is reporting that none of the Seal Team 6 warriors killed in Afghanistan on Saturday were involved in the OBL raid -- specifically, "none of the men (killed) took part in that mission."
Not sure I totally trust the claim, but as it stands, that's all we have.
But if you're saying that it's crass and potentially dangerous to give Seal Team 6 further exposure in a feature movie while we're still at war with people who idolized OBL, I would agree.
grammajane
Submitted by ant on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:35am.
Here is how much some leftards "support the troops".
http://moonbattery.com/?p=804
Ant
Submitted by grammajane on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:56am.
Thank you for the article. I got sick to my stomach reading it. One really wonders how much lower this administration plus all the other libs will go, during the next election. How did the Taliban know these hero's were in that plane and why were so many elite fighters, in the same plane? These are a few questions that bother me. Thanks again
You're welcome
Submitted by ant on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 1:11am.
I was a little worried that by my link I might cause you undue agitation, sort of like leading you to a garbage dump and it's accompanying stench. But I think it's important we know the left's level of thought, no matter how aggravating they can be. Of course, you already know this, that's why you're here.
I guess the democratic pollsters
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:33am.
decided that would be the best time, vote wise, to release the movie. There's else done to point to that everyone applauds. So dance on following Bush's infrastructure and ending Binn,
Are you aware Mr. Blumer?
Submitted by The Vet on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:43am.
Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite unit as the Navy SEALs who killed former Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden, U.S. officials said Saturday. It was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war against the Taliban.
While the Obama Administration thinks they can take a victory lap with their movie, this war continues to get nastier and nastier. Just lovely. The guys that handed him his only good point in this entire Presidency might be dead. What is this gonna do for the propaganda they hope to get just before the 2012 election?
Edit - Never mind. I read the comments above. It still cast a pall over any victory lap this White House wants to take.
You saw what I wrote further
Submitted by killa37 on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 12:46am.
You saw what I wrote further up, Vet??? Don't count on Barama to spoil his feature-lenght propoganda movie by having to deal with this SEAL tragedy. Maybe..................after all of the tail-end credits have rolled, there will be a little blurb praising the SEALS for their good work, dedication, commitment, and 'patriotism'...............but everyone will have left the theatre by then, except the janitors. Well...........everyone who is STUPID enough to go see this friggin' BS snow-job!!!!!
FUBO IS FUBAR!!!!!
Obama Osama
Submitted by PeterStone on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 1:05am.
Never fear BO will not be the Democrat candidate. The fix is in and Soros wants BO OUT.
#1 How odd Obama is using the
Submitted by rbosque on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 1:04am.
#1 How odd Obama is using the events that led to Osama's death now that most of the Seal team died.
#2 All he did was give the go ahead that according to people close to him caused him anguish and he had to sleep on it.
#3 Is this all this fool has? Exploiting the heroism of others? I bet the sequel to the movie will be how he saved us from financial disaster...
Are they the same SEALs?
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 9:00am.
They may be from the same SEAL Team, but I haven't seen any confirmation that the SEALs who died in this crash were the same SEALs who carried out the bin Laden raid, nor would I expect to see any publicly released, as that would be a propaganda coup for the enemy.
As noted in a comment above ...
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 10:10am.
... they reportedly weren't.
Memo to Maureen
Submitted by Thunder Lizard on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 1:11am.
It's the economy, stupid and jobs. If that doesn't significantly turn around by next summer (and I don't see how) all the cinematic magic of Lucas and Spielberg combined wouldn't mean diddly squat in the voting booth.
Falujah?
Submitted by jdripper on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 1:16am.
They have yet to make a film about the largest battle fought by American forces since Tet of 1968, but they slobbering all over each other to get this one out. Oh yeah I forgot that was a great victory for President Bush.
They need to bring back th Eisenhower doctrine. They also need to start taxing Hollywood and close every loophole they have; which are many.
They have said it the rich need to pay more. Let them pay more.
Jack
What if the Department of Commerce - - -
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 9:26am.
. . . published a list of all the American movies that were filmed in foreign countries to exploit cheaper, non-union labor?
Reflect liberal reality
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 4:26am.
Let's hope this film has some lesbian hispanic SEALs and homosexual 'African-American' male SEALs in a starring role.
Yeah, that'll work.
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 7:08am.
Anyone with half a brain will be hooting at the screen.
Nevermind. Because the only people who will actually pay to see this movie are already Obama sycophants.
Leftist Silence
Submitted by Dennis D on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 7:39am.
While I fully applaud the death of Binladen and I personally have no issues with the operation I wonder when Liberals will show a shred of consistency.
The same people were able to set aside their hatred for Khalid Shiek Mohammed and go after Bush for waterboarding. Of course they claimed the this violated every moral tenet the USA was founded on. " We should be better". But while I shed no tears for Binladen one cannot dismiss the fact that it was an illegal operation. We entered Pakistan without permission against international law and summarily executed an unarmed man and his family. Why can't the left set aside their hate for BinLaden this time? I guess international law only counts when a Republican is President.
Great Analysis, Mr. Blumer!
Submitted by NC Boy on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 7:49am.
Your good notes after the text are much appreciated. It's not so much that the libs do things like this as it is that they don't recognize how they would react in the reverse case. They are blinded by the "rightness" of their cause.
Thanks for the nice words ...
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 10:15am.
... and if anyone raises these matters in front of a lib talking head, they'll be called petty, mean, and/or racist.
I can't remember if Dowd
Submitted by ThisnThat on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 7:55am.
I can't remember if Dowd applauded California's decision to prevent the airing of Ahhhrnold's movies during the last month or so of his Governor's election. But what the heck -- if she did, it's only a matter of inconsistancy, which libs clearly don't understand under any circumstances.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Another Nobel Prize?
Submitted by ThisnThat on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 8:05am.
I wonder if the Nobel committee is also planning a second Peace Prize for next year -- announcements are scheduled for October.
As a reminder:
This last -- biographical sketch -- can only be based, I presume, upon o'bama's recent comments blaming evertyhing on Republicans, and his constant years'-long blaming of Bush.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Desperation
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 9:02am.
You know a politician is in political peril when his fans are counting on a yet-to-be-made movie to boost his re-election prospects. For one thing, the movie might be a flop.
And it's typical of Leftists like Dowd to see the only virtue in military heroism as being its ability to enhance the image of the Commander in Chief.
I don't think a pro-Obama film about the bin Laden raid will have much impact on the electorate because (a) most forget from day-to-day that we're still at war, and (b) when you're out of work or afraid of losing your job, it doesn't really matter what the President does it's not helping your situation.
As for the making of the film, I hope it's a realistic portrayal of the warriors and the operation, and not some hammy Rambo-esque vehicle for action stars.
Might?
Submitted by Boudin on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 5:14pm.
If it is pro Obama, and they dont subsidize tickets, it will be a flop. Best bet ever!
SEAL Team "O"
Submitted by bkeyser on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 10:11am.
I mentioned this debacle last night in the Weekend OT after reading about it on HotAir. I too, suspect we'll be hearing about the greatness and courage of The One and how he single-handedly saved America and ended the War on Terror-- continuing activity in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen, notwithstanding. This thing deserved a movie poster so I created one. It also deserves a name so I created one of those too; I'm calling it "SEAL Team O."
Here's the poster. As I mentioned last night, anyone interested in reading the text, you can click the "View all sizes" button at the top left, then the "original" button on the resulting page. When I get some time, I've got a few ideas for some more of these; the ridiculousness of this deserves to be mocked as often as possible.
A masterpiece, BK.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 10:30am.
Really.
Timing really IS everything,
Submitted by amyshulk on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 10:27am.
Timing really IS everything, but c'mon, the surface voters aren't really THAT slow, right?
Ronald Reagan
No Mo' Moron Dowd
Submitted by Motormouth KOS on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 10:27am.
Is Moron Dowd is in love with the big O?
I know she has no use for men, because she did write a book to that effect, but this Prozac Popping Pinhead seems all infatuated with Barry the Badass.
And are we supposed to be shocked that Barry the Badass is planning to exploit the UBL raid for his re-election?
Not at all. The MSM needs Barry as much as he needs them.
The Obamination... A crisis leading to a catastrophe..(please donate to MRC)
Personally I look forward to a movie showing Obama
Submitted by virginia republican on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 10:28am.
water boarding terrorists at Gitmo for the intelligence leading to UBL's death, training for the assault, leaping from the helicopter into UBL's compound in the dead of night, M-4 in hand and Sig 9mm on his hip. Wow, the bravery. Oh, wait. What's that you say? Obama wasn't doing any of that and all he did was not wimp out when the military and CIA presented him with the intelligence and a plan of action for the assault?
In that case, never mind. I don't want to watch the movie.
Personally I look forward to a movie showing Obama
Submitted by virginia republican on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 10:29am.
water boarding terrorists at Gitmo for the intelligence leading to UBL's death, training for the assault, leaping from the helicopter into UBL's compound in the dead of night, M-4 in hand and Beretta M-9 on his hip. Wow, the bravery. Oh, wait. What's that you say? Obama wasn't doing any of that and all he did was not wimp out when the military and CIA presented him with the intelligence and a plan of action for the assault?
In that case, never mind. I don't want to watch the movie.
So, will Brad Pitt or Denzel
Submitted by ant on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 10:56am.
So, will Brad Pitt or Denzel Washington be playing Obama? or will they stick closer to reality and get someone like Uerkel or Jimmy Walker?
Uerkel is a Great Call
Submitted by Motormouth KOS on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 11:03am.
Big ears, pinhead, no athletic ability, loser
The Obamination... A crisis leading to a catastrophe..(please donate to MRC)
leaks
Submitted by markprice1983 on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 11:14am.
Maybe the "journalists" citing the "unnamed administration sources" releasing all the info they aren't authorized to release about the downed Chinook and 30 U.S. deaths could be renditioned to an undisclosed location. I would bet a little SEAL interrogation would have them giving up their "unnamed sources" in no time at all. If this was worked into the film Dowd's talking about, I bet this scene would draw standing ovations everywhere in U.S.
Movie
Submitted by Agnostic on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 11:28am.
Fade in:
Bang
Splash
The End.
Did I misunderstand the meaning of the word 'covert'?
If the release date BS is true...
Submitted by shooter on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 6:01pm.
...I will NOT pay a dime to see that movie - no matter how good it may be.
_________________________________________
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert A. Heinlein