On Demand
Right America
Monday, February 09, 2009
In her new documentary “Right America: Feeling Wronged,” journalist and filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi speaks with some of the 58 million Americans who didn’t celebrate the election of Barack Obama and are terrified of the new direction the country is taking. “Right America: Feeling Wronged” airs on HBO on Monday, February 16 at 8 PM.
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Some of the people unhappy with President Obama are the pro-life people: he was the most radically pro-abortion person in the Senate.
Nobody is "pro-abortion," Edward.
I guess no one was pro-slavery, either.
Why do Republicans have the worst music at their conventions?
Was your experience that anti-Obama feelings were mostly white / black or north / south? I ask because I used to manage a team of professionals in Anderson SC and they call the Civil War the "war of northern aggression" and they were serious.
Where on "rightwing radio" did someone say he was the anti-christ?
What show is she referencing?
I think she is just throwing bricks...
a lot of people voted AGAINST george bush in 2004 and he LOST the popular vote in 2000. obama won the last election by a considerably higher margin than bush supposedly did in 2004 and that was also a really nasty election. what exactly is the point here?
Please ask her, what radio host called Obama Hitler or the Anti-Christ?
She is full of it.
What about the educational level of various right wing demographics?
Next thing you know, Edward, you'll be comparing abortion to the holocaust. Is nothing sacred? (aside from 10-day-old, 8-celled zygotic "humans?")
We/us/our- Pelosi is very self-centered.
She is projecting, i think is the clinical term.
Responsible journalism doesn't mean giving a voice to every body Leonard. What does this woman mean that Obama came from nowhere with no family and 'scared' people? Was he hewn from a rock? She's making no sense!
My favorite right wing cry baby nonsense is "I'll give obama the same chance liberals gave bush" But these people seem to forget bush had a 90% approval rating when he was 1st elected. These people are pathetic and now are completely hoping for america's failure just so they can say I told you so.
Some people do think he's the Anti-Christ. The general opinion is that he's not smart enough to be the Anti-Christ, though he might be a water-carrier.
The basis of this is that President Obama is funding anti-life issues across the board.
I recall being impressed when Ms. Pelosi's last film came out and heard her interviewed, and I am impressed once again by her intelligence, frankness, common sense, open-mindedness and honesty. Very rare.
Liberals didn't learn hate for the president from Dems or liberals.
Doesn't she remember the HATE from the right wing in the 1990's for Bill Clinton!
The Right hated Bill CLinton w a passion, I think it is the Right that whips up the frenzy of hate and vitriol. Limblow Hannity Beck give the left
Did she just call republicans "retards"?
I was hoping for a thoughtful piece of journalism - just more castigating the opposition. Could she be anymore condescending?
NYC is chock full of Republicans, San Francisco has twisted her world view.
I liked Alexandra's previous film and Im looking forward to the new one but can't she just SPEAK SLOWER!
She comes across as super intense and verging on the
obnoxious. I thought her commment about abortion as "so 80's" as extremely inappropriate. I am definitely pro-choice but you cannot dismiss such an important issue
in that way.
My sense is that Ms. Pelosi is not digging deep enough into Right Wing hatred/racism. She's keeping it all softball, pleasing the HBO exec's that are no doubt keeping an eye on her right now. I also feel that some of her comparisons are absurd--for example, a huge, enthusiastic pro-Obama rally being compared to the Nürenberg rallies?? So: can we say that ANY large, well-organized rally is like the Nürenburg rally?
What's your take on normal fiscal conservatives/libertarians with more liberal social views like Ron Paul who did not support Obama for more logical reasons? How about the people that didn't vote because they believe the 2 party system is a sham? You're using extreme example of idiots (which this country is certainly not lacking), but stop being so self-righteous yourself. You sound just as bad as the backwards population you're criticizing. The republican party has lost it's way and will probably never return to its roots, but democrats are no better and never will be.
If she is claiming that the left taught the right to hate the president, where was she during the nineties?
if only someone had thought to talk to all the anti-bush people in 2000 after that election, and how terrified we all were for what he was going to do with the country. but no, we only want to listen to crazy people.
These "retards" sound like the same folks that expect the rapture to happen any day.
If I hear her say "retard" again I am going to lose it. Incredibly offensive.
"We" certainly didn't teach Republicans to hate the president, the vicious partisanship was around at least as far back as Clinton.
They used any means necessary to bring him down, "we" allowed a man who stole an election, lied us into war, and advocated torture to continue in office with the confidence that impeachment would be left "off the table".
People are unreasonable. They've had too many unrealistic expectations. Did they expect he would/could fix everything in 2 weeks? People need to wake up! Left and Right
Ok make a movie about the liberal fringe, but I don't think she ever would. Lip service.
Good bye
I believe that along with the loose cannons that Ms. Pelosi ran into, many in mid-America did not hate Obama. I think many may have been drawn to him but were ambivalent for reasonable reasons: He had little experience, he was exotic, he DID have a liberal voting record.
And many who liked Obama still admired McCain and wanted to give him his due.
In other words, I would say most who voted against Obama are rather moderate people.
I have to agree with Ms. Pwlosi's premise -- this anti-Obama reaction from the right should be expected after the anti-Bush reaction from the left. We will only know if there is healing if the left and right become "humans" after four years.
Come on this is so one sided. There are a lot of conservatives in the City.
Looks like another manipulative documentary.
The BIG difference between the anti Bush sentiment,and anti Obama , is that anti Bush attitudes occured after several years of failed policy, the anti Obama attitutde is existing prior to we determine how succesful he is. How narrow minded and simplistic is it to hate the guy before he's done anything at all, right or wrong.
This woman is nuts!
Only a white documentarian could pull this off. Would respondents spew this ill nonsense to Black man or woman holding a camera? Don't think so. It's better titled "Racist White America: Feeling Wronged" Maybe that's implied.
I am finding her really hard to take-- considering that she's not really an expert about anything, she's so smug. I think I'm going to skip this doc if it means I have to listen to her.
Global history has a pretty evident leftist tilt.
How do conservatives deal with this?
When she speaks despairingly of "retards" is she speaking of mentally challenged people or is she just that bad of a public speaker? Sad moment for the LL Show indeed.
To those who questioned whether right-wing radio hosts had referred to Obama as the anti-Christ: Here's just one example from a very quick Internet search:
Minneapolis radio host Chris Baker repeatedly referred to Sen. Barack Obama as "Nicolae Carpathia," the Antichrist character in the Left Behind book series, including one instance in which he stated: "I'm getting really sick of being told that if I disagree with Barack Obammy, the Nicolae Carpathia candidate, that I'm a racist."
the right is depressed they lost?
get over it, i was depressed for 8 years and i lived to see a brighter day.
that's democracy.
I consider myself a moderate Republican who is always willing to listen and I have never felt the need to comment about a guest before. But that someone is given an unchallenged platform like this where the term "Fringe Retard" can be used so hypocritically on NPR without any serious challenge, is truly disappointing. It is this disregard of an entire part of "American Culture" that will only support destructive partisanship.
Did I just hear Ms. Pelosi say "It's not like these people are fringe retards"????? I cannot believe in 2009, I am hearing someone on a public broadcast using the term "retard." I am appalled.
alexandra pelosi and sasha baron cohen, they could make a really good movie together.
Is Alexandra Pelosi supposed to be a journalist? All I'm hearing is bombastic ranting and zero empathy. It's hard to imagine her actually listening to anyone she interviews.
No, Paul. She didn't call all Republicans "retards". She was referring to a subset of the population independent of political persuasion. She was curious to find out why some people think some wild beliefs that evidence strongly contradicts. How could I infer her meaning? Because she found many who held such views as that Obama is a socialist or is equivalent to Hitler were tie-wearing people with jobs or married to a Congressman. I.e. she found her expectations that only a retard would think this didn't explain these beliefs. There is more subtlety to the question, suggesting that you should see her film, since the answer isn't as obvious as one might expect. It's like when a great great grandson of Darwin comes to the US and finds most people believ in creationism or intelligent design, despite the overwhelming evidence. It's a mystery to him how it's possible for otherwise intelligent people to fall for this, and it's the same position Pelosi is in... trying to solve this mystery of how otherwise intelligent people could be so astray.
I have to give Leonard credit for his comment that no one knows what his views are. I respect him because he does not take positions or sides and remains professional. Just like Charlie Rose, I don't know where he stands as he invites people from all sides of the political spectrum. Alexandra was wonderful and I appreciate her work in pointing out the effects of extreme views that hurt this country. Obama is trying to create positive change by listening to everyone; I don't know if the extreme right is able to care about this country and come forward in the good of this nation; but these issue need to be discussed. Good job Alexandra and Leonard.
2nd comment--I've been thinking about canceling my HBO service on cable to save money while I'm having trouble finding work...Pelosi is really helping me lean toward canceling HBO. Got that, HBO excecutive who is hopefully reading this whole fascinating bunch of posts??
I think Alex gets close to a central issue in our society. She notes with genuine insight that the many millions of people who hated and feared Obama are not going anywhere, and wrings her hands over the things that divide us.
It's a key challenge for our society. There have always been, as long as Europeans have been in North America, a large group of people who are animated by hatred of "the other." I don't think this is all that newsworthy. What IS newsworthy is how the modern forces of mass communication and public opinion manipulation have been used to exploit this group for the purpose of acquiring political power.
We have allowed tens of millions of our fellow citizens to embrace a worldview that is literally out of touch with reality. While that leads (understandably) to smugness, it must not lead to thinking these people are not a serious threat. They are. Their frequent use of violent speech, their near-constant fear of everything from Communists to liberals to Muslims, their low-levels of education and connection to the broader society are all red flags indicating potential danger.
While Alex may have missed the mark analytically, she presents compelling evidence, and does the nation the great service of keeping the spotlight fixed on our Bible-thumpin' fellow Americans who thought the best response to Obama's win was to arm themselves to the teeth.
Having spent some time down south, I can understand the point that Pelosi is trying to make. There are many republicans in big cities who voted for McCain because they had more in common with him and not because they hated Obama - she even makes that point.
In a lot of smaller towns down south there is a lot of the sentiment that she references in this documentary. I have heard the nazi reference in addition to derogatory race references - quite a few were callers on talk radio shows. I had a senior ex-colleague who openly wished the civil war could be fought now so that the values of old south could be restored.
It is a very different culture out there believe me- unless you see it first hand its hard to comprehend.
I didn't mean to be harsh to severals from bridge and tunnel in my comment. I would invite this person, if they are not for abortion, to be pro-life, and be against it.
Wow. I'm a liberal and I happily voted for Obama/Biden, but I do take offense to the term "retard". It's just offensive as I think it unfairly exploits retarded individuals. I'd have more respect for Ms. Pelosi, and others, if they simply called irrational racist fear what is -- irrational racist fear. If people have good reasons for not voting for Obama, why should the "N-word" ever be uttered. Racism is racism, and even liberals are still afraid to call it what it is. Very sad ...
My main problem with Pelosi -- and something that Lenny failed to challenge her on -- is that she implied that all 58 milliion people who did not vote for Obama are one very aggrieved group of far-right zealots. People who voted for McCain did so for a variety of reasons -- they didn't know a lot about Obama, they thought McCain had more experience, they considered him a war hero, any number of reasons that don't mean they hope the Republic now falls because their man didn't get elected. Pelosi's sample, I surmise, was drawn from very committed people who showed up at Palin rallies. These people are hardly representative of 58 million voters. In other words, I don't think we have such a "heal the nation" crisis on our hands. What were Obama's approval ratings two weeks ago -- 80 percent? And Bush's were 90 percent immediately after 9/11. This says to me that for a supposedly polarized country, we can come together pretty remarkably at times.
Why is Alexandra Pelosi potray this large part of ordinary Americans as "lunatics" in her interview with L. Lopate?
And what exactl
There's one real thing that the right is so RIGHT about, that is fighting aggressively Islamofascism's war on humanity all over the world, be it the Palestinians (who'd kill their own children so that Israel looks bad on TV, like they did with their tricks in Gaza or Hezbollah in 2006) , radical Iraqis, Iran's Ahmadniejad, radical Pakistani, Taliban, or Al Qaeda.
"The Onion" summed up my fears when George Bush
took office in 2000. I weep when I reread this 2000, Jan. 17 article. http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28784
Well, I don't subscribe to HBO. Hopefully the dvd will become available on Netflix. Heard her on Rachael Maddow's show last night. I didn't know she had done a Bush doc. I have relatives like the ones she is talking about (in New Mexico, TX and Louisiana). They are astonished, absolutely flabbergasted, when I challenge their statements. Then they get really mad, some so mad they cry.
The Holocaust, of course, has a unique position in human history. But there have been many holocausts, sadly, and abortion is one.
The 8-cell zygote and the adult are different in that they are at different stages of life and development. But please note that a cell of the zygote and a cell of the adult have the exact same structure, except different DNA.
And, the cells of the zygote, if destroyed, will never exist in this world again, the DNA is unrepeatable.
Pro-lifers conclude that both the zygote and the adult are human beings, both deserving protection.
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