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I went to see The Hunting of the President last night - isn't it nice to have a boyfriend who'd take you to see that as a date movie? I think so.
Anyway, what I was hoping it wouldn't be was a film that focused on retroactively defending Clinton against all the accusations being made back in the 90's, and it wasn't that. It was a look at the people, the motives, and the politics of what amounted to, yes, a right wing conspiracy to unseat the President.
The motives ranged from small-time Arkansas political and personal axes to grind, to radical righty politics, to mental illness (Jim McDougal), to a rapacious desire to be the next Woodward and Bernstein (the press of course). All of these various enemies and attention-seekers joined together on a relentless quest to destroy the President that is truly chilling to hear detailed.
One of the most poignant segments of the film is Susan McDougal's story. This was the woman who was friends with the Clintons in the 70's, and bought some land with them then. Basically she had the "indepedent" investigator's men come to her and ask her for some damaging yet completely false testimony against the Clintons, or they'd put her in prison. She stuck to her principles so they put her in prison for 2 yrs, where she was placed in max security and forced to wear the "red dress" that only murderers on death row wear.
As a film, I have to say, this doc didn't work all that well. Instead of sticking with the faces of the people being interviewed, the filmmakers for some reason chose to keep splicing in all these stock footage bits that were at their best moments cheesy and at worst totally baffling and distracting. Even so, I would recommend it solely bc of its content, which is important, fascinating, and also horrifying.
I was left with the feeling (and so was my bf) that if Kerry gets elected, these same types of people (perhaps some of the very same people) will do it all again, do everything in their power to destroy him, and it's a worrisome thought to say the least. |
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