Outfoxed

One thumb up, and one in Bill O’Reilly’s eye.

I never manged to get my reaction to Fahrenheit 9-11 written up and posted. I liked it less than anyone I know, except Kevin Drum.

(In a nutshell: I found it less dishonest than a Bush campaign speech, but not honest enough for my taste. Personally, I was more bored and annoyed than amused, though some of the bits were pretty funny. It did raise some questions about the connections between the Bushes on the one hand and the bin Ladens and the banu Saud on the other that the mainstream press still refuses to cover, and that I think would properly bother lots and lots of otherwise pro-Bush voters. I’m looking forward to the TV ads.)

Having seen Outfoxed at one of the previews, I liked it infinitely better than I did F 9/11. It’s over the top in places, and it has a fairly silly ending about popular action to hold hte media accountable, but it’s an excellent piece of media criticism, relentlessly documented, and I found it gripping despite its overreliance on a few talking heads. Bill O’Reilly in particular gets the takedown he has long deserved.

See it.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

One thought on “Outfoxed”

  1. Outfoxed

    I was invited to a MoveOn Party last night which showed the documentary Outfoxed. I'd never been to a MoveOn event before, because I'm not predisposed to like their point of view. However, I've had some problems with the coverage…

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