alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

June 23, 2006

The Dark Side

by AltHippo @ 10:11 pm. Filed under Uncategorized

I had hoped to give my take on the Frontline special “The Dark Side.”

When the special first aired I was playing host to an after party for Air America Host Sam Seder with the rest of the Drinking Liberally crew. I figured I could catch the online version, or better yet the repeat that was supposed to be on at midnight on Maryland Public Television, but wasn’t.

Alas, the provocative conclusion, “A Covert Campaign” doesn’t seem to be online. Weird.

Here’s the blurb for the final segment: “No WMD is found in Iraq. In June 2004, Tenet resigns. Tensions grow between the CIA and Cheney loyalists. The ‘Scooter’ Libby investigation uncovers what appears to be a covert campaign waged against the CIA by the Office of the Vice President.”

It’s been yanked from youtube, as well. This may be the final straw where I break down and get Tivo.

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4 Responses to “The Dark Side”

  1. eRobin Says:
    June 24th, 2006 at 6:23 pm

    Oh, you just wanted to tell us that you were hosting a party for Sam Seder.

  2. AltHippo Says:
    June 24th, 2006 at 7:07 pm

    I would never name drop. But, now that you mention it, I actually knew Sam (note the use of the first name) back when I was doing standup in Boston.

    But name drop? Moi? Never.

    The “Dark Side” came back online around noon. It’s hard for me to evaluate shows like this, because I’m so in awe of Frontline’s use of multimedia.

    “The combination of the documentary with supporting materials on the website make ‘The Dark Side’ a watershed event in speaking truth to power.”
    - AltHippo

    You can quote me.

    Okay, here’s what I got from watching the show. If there’s a slam dunk in this affair, it’s that Cheney made the decision to invade Iraq long before any Senate debate, or any serious coverage in the press. That decision was then sold to the American people by a variety of means: a hastily prepared NIE dressed up as a marketing campaign, selective leaks to the NYT and WaPo, and cherry-picked and unverified intelligence sources.

    The other clear point was the end result of trading verity for access: it servers no one. Not the public, who you are sworn to protect. Not even yourself.

    The only fault I can find with the documentary is it leaves the question hanging out over the plate: why was Cheney so determined to invade Iraq? Yes, I’ve seen other sources that fill in the blank, or attempt to fill in the blank, but the American people need to have that question answered.

  3. eRobin Says:
    June 26th, 2006 at 9:41 am

    Yeah, yeah. Cheney’s evil. What’s Sam Seder really like?

    I haven’t watched the Dark Side yet but it sounds like I’m going to have to make the time.

  4. AltHippo Says:
    June 26th, 2006 at 11:11 am

    Sam tends to be very polite when he’s not doing his act. His act is very absurd, and he makes up for that by trying extra hard to be normal when not on stage. Either that, or he’s very normal, and tries extra hard to be absurd when he’s on stage.

    He’s married to a documentary film maker who recently gave birth to his first child.

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