Why “no apologies” Mitt needs to grow up

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:13:00 +0000

Among the qualities that make Ben Affleck's new film "Argo" so superb and groundbreaking is its willingness to put American history into its full context — regardless of whether that context offends the chest-thumping theology of American Exceptionalism™. Rather than starting the story at the moment U.S. diplomats were taken hostage in Tehran in 1979, and therefore simply portraying Iranians as wild animals motivated by inexplicable rage, Affleck first documents America's blood-soaked intervention in Iran, from deposing a democratically elected president to installing a brutal dictator. That is, he levels with us and with his global audience, acknowledging what the CIA calls "blowback" — the logical idea that our acts of violence and aggression will likely provoke a violent reaction, in the same way that acts of violence against us provoke a violent reaction from us.

In starting his film with this examination, Affleck proves he is a more mature, thoughtful and serious filmmaker than those in Hollywood (which is to say, most in Hollywood) who produce films that never tell any backstory because it gets in the way of the old ticket-selling Good America vs. Bad Foreigner storyline. He also proves he is a more mature, thoughtful and serious citizen than most Republican politicians and conservative media voices who have used the 2012 election campaign to promote their own Good America vs. Bad Muslim retread — the one called "The Apology Tour."

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Why “no apologies” Mitt needs to grow up