Murrow vs. McCarthy

National Review ^ | 12-06-05 | William F. Buckley,Jr.

[Dave W]

Well, it wasn't a bomb. It is considered a documentary, was shot in black and white and is basically filmed in only two rooms with Dianne Reeves singing between scenes. It was never meant for pedestrian audiences.

It was never in thousands of theaters.

In that light, the documentary is considered a success. The guy who played Murrow is being considered for Best Actor and I have read where it is also being considered by some for Best Picture (that will never happen.)

Yes, I went to see it and while I did not agree with it, was nonetheless, enthralled with the portrayal of the 50s. Excellent stuff. No cussing. No gross out scenes....just good movie making. I'll take that any day.

[dfwgator]

considered by some for Best Picture

It will no doubt lose to Bareback Mountain.

[AmishDude]

Unfortunately for Clooney, he'll be competing against Brokeback Mountain, which the Hollywood left will be going out of its way to prop up. Joaquin Phoenix will be the Best Actor frontrunner as he is the latest "biopic of a beloved tortured celebrity guy". No word yet on any last minute entries featuring the mentally handicapped, though.

[Shermy]

"Annie Lee Moss, the black code clerk"

Moss was a member of the Communist party at least at one time. Moss acted dumb and was described as seemingly "illiterate." She wasn't, and was a code clerk for the army. She was a great actress playing off white bias about the abilities of black people. I haven't seen the movie but wouldn't be surprised if Clooney doesn't portray her in a fashion appealing to the interplay of liberal guilt and condescension.

A good movie would portray her away from the hearings, laughing at how she pulled a quick one on whitey. Give credit where credit is due.

[AmishDude]

It is not a documentary. It is not intended to be a documentary. It might have that "feel" but they are actors. It is even less of a documentary than what Michael Moore does.

[smoothsailing]

You're welcome! It's a pretty good read, I've still got an old copy of it around the house somewhere.

[dfwgator]

It is considered a documentary

You mean like "Fahrenheit 911?"

[geezerwheezer]

I'm glad you went and reported on it for us. Now I don't have to go, thank goodness! William F. Buckley would have destroyed Murrow if given the 30 minutes offered, and the heads of CBS knew that. That is one of many reasons the offer was rejected by CBS. Flash forward fifty some years and you have the same network trying the same b.s., only this time it is Dan Rather and Mary Mapes. Same type of crap,completely different results...isn't this internet wonderful? Thank you Al Gore for inventing the internet. (please note sarcasm tag is on 100%)

[smoothsailing]

All true.Moss followed her "script" to a "t".No doubt won great praise from her "handlers".

[Hayzo]

'It will no doubt lose to Bareback Mountain.'

Or, cLooney's other anti-american movie 'Syriana'.

[Dave W]

I think a documentary is how the producers classified it. There is actually no person portraying McCarthy as he is shown only in newsreels.

Roger Ebert explained that was a brilliant technique because it indicated to the viewers that the producers could not find an evil enough person to portray McCarthy. Only evil could portray evil. I kid you not.

An interesting thing (at least to me) is that I saw it with my Dad who was a young adult at the time and who is very conservative still thinks McCarthy is bad and evil. When I tried to convince him that McCarthy had been proven correct, he thought I had too much giblet gravy at Thanksgiving. He said, "Everyone knows he was bad." The mainstream media will never admit the truth.

[pcottraux]

[TalBlack]

"I think conservatism and the country would have been much better off if he'd never existed."

But SOMEONE would have existed and THEY would have been attacked. The "cross to bear" was constructed by the left for the enemies of the left.

Remove the leftist BS from the McCarthy story and there is no "witch hunt".

[rlmorel]

His mission, coupled with the relentless beating and slander he was being subjected to by the media, drove him to drink.

LOL...though drinking them under the table might not have been a bad idea...:)

[aumrl]

"But SOMEONE would have existed and THEY would have been attacked. The "cross to bear" was constructed by the left for the enemies of the left."

[PsyOp]

"...he'll probably get an oscar."

Typical Hollywood. The movies that nobody likes get the awards, while those we do like get short shrift. They should take oscar voting away from the hollywood types and turn it over to the public. Let us go online or call an 800 # to register our votes.

If they did that, I might start watching the Oscars again. I haven't been able to stomach them in years. Besides, they now have so many different awards ceremonies with which to congratulate themselves, it's all moot anyhwow. If you don't win an Oscar, you are pretty much garanteed to win one of the many "runner-up" awards.

[weegee]

Being in black and white probably cost them tickets.

But it will "rent well" once it is nominated for an Oscar next year.

Looney Clooney's career is circling the drain.

I don't think that this film should be forgotten. I think it should remain as a footnote by a liberal hack who tried to smear the Bush administration with accusations of modern day McCarthyism.

There is political smear going on today. It is called Zogbyism. The media have convicted Rove, DeLay, and Libby before the show trials have even run their course.

Unable to win at the ballot box they take down those in leadership positions by any means necessary.

Talk show hosts have also been the targets of such pointed political attacks. Red Asner boasted "Hanitty is next" after on such scandal (O'Reilly? Limbaugh?)

But the Zogbyism doesn't end there. Look at the fraudulent National Guard memos that led the news for a week (with no presentation of the questions about legitimacy). It was designed to be an October Surprise.

Look at the coverage of Abu Ghraib. It was the turning point in popular opinion about the war. Evwen with the media caught red handed running hoaxed photos from a porn website and staged photos of a British soldier urinating on a "prisoner". Even when Al Qaieda used the public outrage as an excuse to again strike terror by murdering a man on camera (who had been kidnapped before the AG story broke), the media sided with the "insurgents" and denounced the treatment of prisoners (Hunter Thompson called it worse than the worst Nazi atrocities, this on his ESPN column).

And why do I call it Zogbyism? Because the lying liar (which is what the left wrongly accuses McCarthy of) Zogby cooked the books on election day by oversampling Democrats to depress Republican voters.

Look at the threads from that day. Sean Hannity and others had to tackle the issue on their call in shows and assure the public that the election "was not lost". George W. Bush won re-election with more votes than all "anybody but Bush" candidates combined.

Zogby was wrong about Bush losing the election but McCarthy was right about there being Communists in America. Miller acknowledged there were communists. He even had witches in The Crucible. His concern was that it shouldn't be criminal to be a communist/witch and that apparently there was concern that some convicts may give false testimony as a devilish prank or to secure a lesser sentence.

Now plea bargains are still accepted in court rooms. Why doesn't the left make such a big stink about them as they do McCarthyism? It seems to me that the left has yet to show these people who were outed by Senator McCarthy yet weren't Communists.

[weegee]

Their attack put an end to the exposure of prominent Communists.

Best defense is a good offense.

Stalin must have been proud of his useful idiots.

[weegee]

They always want some whipping boy to hound out of office. Whether it is Richard Nixon over Alger Hiss, Newt Gingrich over the Contract With America, George HW Bush over Ronald Reagan ("end 12 years of Reagan-Bush), Rove, DeLay, Frist, Libby, Cheney, Bush....

They can't win at the polls so their accomplish it by smear.

[tang-soo]

the current movie makes a heroine out of Annie Lee Moss, the black code clerk allegedly mistaken by McCarthy for another Annie Lee Moss, who was indeed a member of the Communist Party.

I'm pretty sure Ann Coulter claims in her book that this Annie was indeed the same person - that the "confusion" was a made up lie to help smear McCarthy.

As a matter of fact, I know she did. Read page 2 of this article.