Donald Trump has a movie he’d like you to see. It’s called Fight On and is about the specter haunting America…socialism. Although too late for the Academy Awards, the right-wing Republicans unveiled this film hoping it will be a big winner for them in the coming national elections.
Fight On was the centerpiece of the recently concluded Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The movie itself is a brilliant, highly creative new art form which the right wing is pioneering. It’s in the form of documentary, though almost the entire narrative is composed of untruths and distortions. Fight On is one of the foremost examples of a “fake-umentary.”
The creativity of fake-umentaries is unbounded since they are not factual. They are quite economical in that high labor costs, editing and fact-checking are unnecessary. In this way fake-umentaries save on all those experts and research. Just think, the writers and director don’t have to worry about those nagging “continuity” problems which plague many other films!
The themes of this brief movie promise to be central to the right-wing electoral campaign. Fight On begins with the patron saint of the right, Ronald Reagan, misquoting the common axiom attributed to Sinclair Lewis, “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” Instead Reagan, no stickler for detail, warns that “as someone once very profoundly said, ‘If fascism ever comes to America, it will come in the name of liberalism.’” Reagan continues on to mis-define liberalism.
A breathless moderator then states that “the Democrats’ 2020 platform sounds identical to policies already tried and now failing in the collapsed socialist state of Venezuela.” The film conveniently ignores comparison with the more similar programs of the successful social democracies in Western and Northern Europe.
And what are the purported policies the Democrats are putting forward? According to this fake-umentary: open borders, food shortages, anti-Semitism, anti-Israel, totally eliminating private insurance and mob intimidation. Their example of the “radicalism” of the Democratic Party—Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco! One may or may not be a big fan of the Democrats. But in their defense it should be noted that none of these policies are part of the Democrats’ platform, nor have they ever been advocated by Democrat leaders.
Fight On closes with Donald Trump telling the audience, “I really don’t like their (Democrats’) policy of taking away your cars and not allowing you to ride on airplanes.” Never one to be encumbered by the truth, Trump simply lies about his opponents’ policies and proposals. “I will never ever let you down,” promises the accidental President. He certainly hasn’t let down the viewers of this film, as it may be the foremost example of a fake-umentary ever. He might even claim that he is making movies great again!
Republican talking points heading into 2020 will no doubt owe a great deal to the factual flim-flam of this bizarre film.
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