So remember that conversation between CNN’s Piers Morgan and the film’s director Davis Guggenheim:
Morgan: “How much did it cost and who paid?”
Guggenheim: “Well, I’ll let the campaign tell you that. I — you know, I took a pay cut to make this. But the –”
Morgan: “I‘m surprised you weren’t paying him, by the sound of it, for the sheer honor and joy.”
Considering the fact that the “documentary” cost the Obama campaign $20,300 per minute, the only question we have is this: what, exactly, was Guggenheim working on that taking the time off to direct “The Road We’ve Traveled” would qualify as a pay cut?
And although the GOP’s criticism may have been harsh, it seems there is little love lost between them and president. Shortly after the graphic was released, President Obama had some words of his own for his conservative critics.
“Lately, we have heard a lot of professional politicians, a lot of the folks who were, you know, running for a certain office, who shall go unnamed, they’ve been talking down new sources of energy,” Obama told a crowd during a speech in Maryland.
“They dismiss wind power. They dismiss solar power. They make jokes about biofuels. They were against raising fuel standards. I guess they like gas guzzlers. They think that’s good for our future. We’re trying to move towards the future, they want to be stuck in the past!” the president said.
“We’ve heard this kind of thinking before. Let me tell you something, if some of these folks were around when Columbus set sail, they must have been founding members of the flat earth society. They would not have believed that the world was round,” he added.
What ‘Distortion’ Did the NYTimes Find in the Entire, Just-Released Obama ‘Documentary?’
We’re nearly to the summer blockbuster season. And what better way to kick it off than with the much-touted, 17-minute Obama “documentary” commissioned by the Obama campaign?
The movie, made by the man who can’t find a fault in the president and ridiculed by Republicans with a special poster, has just been released in its entirety. We’ve covered two of the leaked clips before (which focuses a lot of attention on the killing of bin Laden), and now you get to see what all the fuss is about.
So what are you in for? Well, for starters, even the New York Times is finding at least one “distortion” in it:
The film devotes a significant amount of time – nearly three minutes – to the president’s backing of a financial rescue package for Detroit automakers. And it highlights Mitt Romney’s New York Times Op-Ed from that period, when he argued that the car companies should not receive any government assistance. The headline, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” is framed in bright red for emphasis.
Rahm Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff, characterizes Mr. Romney’s stance on the auto industry with a dismissive wave of the hand, saying “Let it go.”
This is somewhat of a distortion. Mr. Romney advocated for a managed bankruptcy, not a liquidation of the company. Auto executives and government officials involved in the bailout have repeatedly said that without federal intervention there would have been no path to bankruptcy, and the companies would have collapsed. [Emphasis added] Click here to find out more!
But wait, there’s more. It also covers, according to the Times, the “extremist element” of Obama’s opponents (translation: the Tea Party):
The movie is notable for the emphasis it places on the extremist element of Mr. Obama’s political opponents. It includes scenes from the raucous Tea Party-dominated protests outside the Capitol as Congress was considering the president’s health care overhaul plan.
Chants of “Kill the bill!” are heard alongside video of protesters holding signs with various slogans and images that are derogatory toward the president. One reads “You Lie!” while another shows the president crawling out of a coffin with the letters “R.I.P” on it.
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before he socializes my country,” says one man in a news clip from a New Orleans television station.
Hot Air’s Allahpundit is much more snarky:
The official title: “The Road We’ve Traveled.” My title: Three Years of Glory.
It’s all here. Protracted high unemployment, a catastrophic health-care boondoggle, aimlessness in Afghanistan, Iran nearing nuclear breakout capacity, soaring gas prices, and of course historic deficits on top of a looming entitlements-driven fiscal meltdown.
Can’t wait to see it, right? Well, just in case you actually can’t — meaning you don’t have 17 minutes — the folks over at Bulletpeople.com have condensed the 17-minute version down to 10 by speeding up the narration and using subtitles. Not only does it save time, but it makes Tom Hanks, Rahm Emanuel, and David Axelrod sound like they haven’t slept in four years and have been living on a stead stream of caffeine IVs. And the president like he’s a robot:
