Generation Chickenhawk: The Unauthorized College Republican National Convention Tour
(The Huffingtonpost has had technical issues all day. I will have a Youtube link available shortly.)
On July 13, 2007, I visited Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where the bodies of American soldiers killed in Iraq were freshly interred. Afterwards, I headed across the street to the Sheraton National Hotel, owned by right-wing Korean cult leader Sun Myung-Moon, to meet some of the war’s most fervent supporters at the College Republican National Convention.
In conversations with at least twenty College Republicans about the war in Iraq, I listened as they lip-synched discredited cant about “fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here.” Many of the young GOP cadres I met described the so-called “war on terror” as nothing less than the cause of their time.
Yet when I asked these College Repulicans why they were not participating in this historical cause, they immediately went into contortions. Asthma. Bad knees from playing catcher in high school. “Medical reasons.” “It’s not for me.” These were some of the excuses College Republicans offered for why they could not fight them “over there.” Like the current Republican leaders who skipped out on Vietnam, the GOP’s next generation would rather cheerlead from the sidelines for the war in Iraq while other, less privileged young men and women fight and die.
Along with videographer Thomas Shomaker, I captured a vivid portrait of the hypocritical mentality of the next generation of Republican leaders. See for yourself.
Mr. Blumenthal-
Welcome to Operation Yellow Elephant, a non-partisan grass roots citizens initiative to Support Our President by encouraging his strongest supporters, the College and Young Republicans [if healthy and heterosexual; they're all 41-or-under], to volunteer for military service.
We do recognize that not everyone is eligible to serve; if a particular patriot is not accepted for enlistment, Your Country Thanks You for stepping forward.
After all, if President Bush cannot convince even his strongest supporters to Be A Man! Enlist!, how can he possibly lead our nation, and what remains of the international coalition, to a successful outcome of the Global War on Terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere?
Send this to the daily show. It’s that funny, and sad at the same time.
Send this to the daily show, it’s that funny and that sad at the same time
The Chickenhawks are just following in the foosteps of the War Pansies who came before them:
http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/pearly/htmls/gop-pansies.html
That was one of the funniest videos I have ever seen, loved the interpretive dance. The hypocritical stance of everyone of those kids was so blatantly obvious, maybe if they didnt have the delays and cheneys around to tell them how important their efforts are, they might actually serve their country instead of actively helping to destroy our constitution and freedoms.
Please post the youtube link as soon as possible. I’ve
been trying to post that video on my myspace blog as well
as bulletin it for all to see since it first appeared on
Huffington this morning.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Watched it on HuffPo earlier in the day. Brilliant! Loved
the stunned looks on their faces when you asked if they
were going to serve.
So where do I sign up for the interpretive dance lessons,
Max?
Nice job, Max!
Great job!
So, these are the future GOP Power Elites?
No wonder this country’s future looks so dark.
With these demon-idiots at the helm, we’ll
go over the falls for sure.
Saw this on HuffPost. Brave and brilliant! You can smell
the hypocrisy from these smug young jerks through the
computer monitor. I feel bad for the big gay kid in denial.
I just watched the video that was posted on Huffington Post.
I’d like to commend you for having the guts to do a piece like that. It shows
what phonies these young republicans are. The apple hasn’t fallen far from the
tree of their older counterparts.
Thank you.
Great video! Thanks!
Saw the video On HuffPo. Keep up the good work.
One thing though, regarding one of your past videos.
The conservatives do have one point about illegal
immigration, even if they are too racist to ever think of
it themselves. Illegal immigration is not entirely about
race. Illegal immigrants can come from any country in the
world whether they are caucasian, black, asian or
Latino. It just so happens that most illegal immigrants
come from Mexico because its closer and their economy
is very nearly non-existent.
That was brilliant! You should fine these people in seven years and see if they’ve grown up.
Max,
I really enjoyed your video, but more than that I enjoyed the conversation we had when you interviewed me. It was quite interesting that you portrayed yourself as
a fellow conservative who was spreading information about
our activism to other conservatives in Europe. It was also
interesting that you followed the Micheal Moore school of
documenting by taking 10 second clips out of our 5 minute
conversation. I also enjoyed that fact that you conveniently
left out the fact that I am applying to be a Jag Officer
after I graduate.
I can’t help but notice that you condemn us for not serving
while you yourself are not serving.
You’re nothing more than a cheap hack who, like Dan Rather
and much of the Liberal Establishment, fit the news to
your own interests.
I hope your work is fulfilling, because you are just as
hypocritical and shallow as you portray us.
-Clint Petersen
Texas College Republicans
(side note, a true journalist, as you fancy
yourself to be, would have spelled my name correctly, as I
spelled it to you when you interviewed me).
Great video, Max.
Where can I get that great bumper sticker?
Love it… Draft College Republicans.
You rock. The interpretive dance confused them beyond
belief.
Man the talking points, the mantra, it just gets absurd.
Max – you are awesome, thanks for doing this.
You might want to consider pointing out that the two high school kids you interviewed were not there for the CRNC they were attending a Christian high school leadership convention. Or not, you could just use generalized interviews to make your video look like you accomplished something. Either way, I guess its up to you. Nice interpretive dancing skills by the way, I saw it first hand, I was actually hoping you were going in to the karate kid stance.. that would have been a lot more entertaining.
Of course, the flip side to this argument would be to go
to a democrat national convention and ask all of the
young people there if they are willing to travel to
Iraq and convince militants that killing innocents
is not the answer. You want peace but are YOU willing
to work for it. Of course not, but it’s the same argument
only with a different face.
Max, please stay off of the sacred grounds of Arlington.
That is a place of honor, unfortunately, for you, a flavor
that you will never taste. This is not your personal
playground to draw fodder for your freak-show you
call “journalism.” Is there no limit to your shame?
Just the thought of your odoriferous pods touching
this soil makes me nauseated to the point of projectile
vomitus. While you’re taking a stroll and protesting
wars, why not navigate over to the tens-of-thousands
of WWII veteran’s graves, and tell us that we had no
business getting involved in europe, when we saved your
people’s sorry asses. Oh, I forgot; totally different
priority there….And now your people are squatting in
this country, rarely volunteer for military service, and
seldom fly an American flag, unlike other immigrant
groups here.
You know Max, as I’m writing this, I’m really going
through a lot of mixed emotions: on one hand, I want
you to keep your disrespectful carcass out of Arlington,
but on the other, I want you to keep doing what you’re
doing, and continue being vapid enough to put your
“Max’s Excellent Adventures,” in print and on video.
In fact, I’m hoping that you’ll finally get that national
attention, that you strive for, with this story. My
fantasy for you, would be for Limbaugh himself to
pick up on this and broadcast your Arlington desecration
from coast-to-coast. I hope the backlash will start
a movement to finally pull the plug on that sucking
sound of my tax dollars being funneled to Israel.
Your anti-American diatribe is a clear representation
of your people’s sentiment towards this country; a mostly
ungrateful bunch, except when it comes to your own
self-interests. Please find a way to show more respect
towards this host country, that harbors you and your
people.
If you find the need to return to Arlington, you must
first go through a “clensing” process. Go apologize
to a group of WWII veterans, and if they accept it,
then you may again be worthy enough to set foot there.
Of course it would then be off-limits to report anything
negative about your visit, since Arlington encompasses
all veterans, including the ones who laid down their
lives for your people.
It’s “cleansing”
Goddamn, Max, I gotta give you props on an awesome video! I think this one might even eclipse your CPAC exposé—though that one is hard to follow, for sure. Indeed, this was a return to form for you after the experimental and extremely misunderstood “Take Back America†documentary where you poked fun at yourself, journalism, jaded bloggers, the XY generation, America’s celebrity-obsessed culture, scripted politicians and milquetoast liberals.
It’s evident in each video your strength as a director is in your editing choices, particularly when crosscutting scenes that achieves a deadpan, sardonic effect. No doubt, the way you setup your simple questions with the interviewees, and how they answer them, achieves great humor because the jokes and comedic tone is so unpredictable, unscripted and unrestrained. Regardless of what anyone tell you, stick to your freewheeling, iconoclastic style; you make doing satire look easy. Hell, with some filmmakers, it takes YEARS to hone a unique style and cultivate first-rate humor in their work, but you make it look so simple when it’s not. Bravo for another first-rate documentary. You’re a born satirists.
Oh yeah, another bravo for pissing Lizzie off to the point where he’s haphazardly venting his anti-Semitism. Just count how many times he said “your peopleâ€! He didn’t even post in his usual, Max-your-career-is-dying-Hahahaha! tone, you honestly pissed him off to where he’s bringing up Israel, how America went and saved “your people†in World War II, and how unpatriotic, ungrateful and Anti-American “your people†are.
Oh Lizzie, don’t worry. Max is just getting started; with each video he’s turning into a first-rate filmmaker, satirist and critic, and your disgruntlement will only increase in the years to come. Cheers!
Hey Max just checking out your videos. The chickenhawk undercover you did was awesome!! I did not see it posted on youtube so I just added it to their site. If you object to this email me or post a comment there and I’ll remove it.. I’d like to add it to my blog and it would be nice if it were avail to more viewers and those who want to add it to theirs. Do you mind? hope not.. credit linked back to you of course.. You sneaking in there was f’ing brilliant. How bout that comment of theirs about abortion, and if those babies weren’t aborted then they could be used to take the place of mexicans (???) Jesus, this is scary to see people with this mentality in our country. Keep up the good work and don’t apologize for taking time off.
Lizard wouldn’t know a place (or a person) of honor if it
jumped up and bit him on the ass. All of this testosterone-laden
false bravado, flag-waving BS for a concocted war. The thought of Liz
touching an American flag makes me want to projectile vomit.
He probably also supports the dismantling of our constitution as
well, eh, Liz? You call that patriotism – we call it treason.
The good news, is that during a time of war (which you and
your ilk have so formally “declared”), treason is a capital crime.
Hopefully we can rid the gene pool of a few of you.
In the meantime, as a wounded Vietnam Vet, you don’t speak for me,
nor any other honorable veteran in this country. True patriots
respect the troops enough so as not to WASTE them on wars of
choice that benefit corporations and oil companies.
Max, is there any way to obtain this video in its original
.wmf format? I know about 10,000 people I would like to share
it with around the country – and a few other places – just in time
for the 2008 elections.
Thanks for a great article. Hope the brown shirts didn’t manhandle
you too badly for committing the vile act of free speech.
Excellent work. However, I would have filed assault
charges with the video as evidence when that cretin got physical.
Max,
Although it started strong, I think you blew a chance to make it more
powerful with more comments by the CRs. You didnt seem to be able
to followup quick with questions beyond the surface level. Then i
became the Max Show with the Karate Kid moves and you
became annoying instead of insightful. Your voice is enough, be wise
to stay out of the frame and let the images project. Your
presence at Arlington and at the end were contrite more than
convincing.
Keep trying.
Preston, what do you mean by “haphazardly?” I thought I
was making myself perfectly clear. Far be it for you
to denounce me as being an “anti-Semite,” when one needs
to look no further than any post, or archive on this blog,
to uncover Max’s one-dimensional focus on anti-Christianity.
Preston, I’m still having trouble catagorizing you.
Don’t confuse this as a complement; but you’re obviously,
a well educated, eloquent black individual, (or whatever your
PC description is at this moment,) who chooses to
take the “low road” of subserviance, and be a “cellar-
dwellar,” instead of making some good out of your
flair for vocabulary gymnastics. I’m sure you could
serve THE people, (notice: I didn’t say “your”),
better than your present “Potsie/Arthur Fonzarelli”
relationship that you currently have with Blumenthal.
When it comes to intelligent liberals, I’d rank you
amongst the top .001%, seeing that, by in large,
most of the retort that I get from the rest of your
liberal bretheren, goes something like: “oh yeah? well
“F” you, and your mother is this and that…”
So I guess my question to you is: why do you want to
align yourself with the likes of these libs, and
Blumenthal, where you’re just having a hand-in-hand
race to see who will best represent the bottom of
the food chain? You should be putting your idle time
and talents to better use, say like mentoring some kids
on the importance of education, rather than co-dependancy
on the government for hand-outs. Your “messiah”
Blumenthal, is a proponent of affirmative action.
As a black individual, I’m interested to know what your
take is on basically being told that you’re at a
disadvantage right ‘out-of-the-box,’ and that you’re too
stupid to do anything for yourself without being given
some “handicap” points? Sounds like a thinly-disguised
form of slavery to me !
Let me know when you’re ready to make the transformation
out of your downtrodden lifestyle, and I’ll try to talk
you through this…
Peace
Max, congrats on the great video. I wish there would have
been some real conservatives present at the convention.
I’m talking about people who are uninterested with
interfering in overseas affairs. Opposing the war is by
no means unpatriotic.
It’s sad when people characterize those who oppose the war
(or more accurately, President Bush) as “those libs,” or
“libtards” when you accurately pointed out the fact that
people like those you interviewed are more than willing to
condemn those overseas to death but not willing to risk
their lives to do the deed.
Keep up the good work. Maybe you’ll come across some of
us real conservatives, those interested in balancing the
budget and getting out of other countries’ affairs.
Blowback sure is a bitch.
Max, where is the YouTube of the Chickenhawks?
after viewing it on HuffPo I wish to put it up
on my blog. Kudos
Lizard, why do you keep bringing up the race of people
you are addressing? It seems racist.
I are sure Max Blumenthal served in the war that he supported in Kosovo.
Hey dude. I am going to try to keep this relatively short.
I did wince when I saw you in arlington but I dont
think that you were trying to be disrespectful,
or at least I hope not in that portion of the mini doc.
I’m trying to branch out into nontraditional media
myslef and I just wanted to say that I admire
your hustle.
Oh and we will be ading you to our blogroll.
-Peace
Thanks for your video Max. I especially love your bumper
sticker – draft college republicans. What hypocrites.
Lizard: You are a classic anti-Semite!
You seem to have a perverse pride in that!
Considering the fact that one third of the Jews in the world were killed means that this country didn’t do a very good job of saving mine & Max’s people!
And he certainly didn’t desecrate Arlington!
Those that are buried in Arlington or any other national cemetery died for Max’s right & your right to say what they believe.
Oh, and it’s spelled “cleansing” by the way!
And that giant statue of the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima, it’s taken from a photo by a guy named Rosenthal!
You do understand what ethnic background he was from, don’t you?
Draft College Republicans!
Outstanding.
Where, oh where can I find that bumper sticker?
oh yeah Lizard? well “F†you, and your mother is this and that
Rock on Max!
Max, I just caught your video on Crooks and Liars and wanted
to applaud you. It never fails to amaze me that those who
so fervently support the War profiteering going on in Iraq,
those who so strongly claim to support our troops, seem to
be absent on the front lines. How nice it must be to have
others willing to fight and die by the thousand for their
cause. The most troubling aspect is the shear ignorance of
your interviewees when stating their rational for supporting
the actions in Iraq. It’s easy to believe the Administratio’s
story and if it were true we would all feel better. But the
fact is that we are sending young men and women to die by
the thousand in Iraq, and civilians are dying by the ten’s of
thousand, all for a lie. We are no safer and Iraq is in
worse shape now than ever with absolutely no end in sight.
That is difficult to stomach, that in our complacency we are
complicit in the slaughter.
Good work.
Brilliant! Don’t these chicken-hawks know they could probably get into the Army, even if they have “catcher’s knees?”
I was disturbed by Tom Delay’s assessment of abortion. He might have as well said we lost 40 million slaves to abortion!
I guess Lizard missed that part of the video… Oh and Lizard, if you are so keen to get rid of the aid to Israel, why are you guys so happy to align yourselves with Lieberman? The man is a walking billboard for AIPAC!
Lizard – Last time I checked this was a free county
and Arlington was a public place. It is exactly for
this reason that people fought and died for our country.
They did not serve our country so that backward rednecks
could impose arbitrary limitations on people’s movements.
Lizard,
WWII and the Iraq war have _NOTHING_ in common.
In WWII we nobly fought against Nazis that tried to quash
personal freedoms and told people what they should think
and where they were allowed to go. Kinda like you.
So please, go fuck yourself and your ill informed opinions.
We need a guerrilla video segment produced next year when
the CR’s gather for their 2008 convention. Hire a well
spoken former Army Sargent and smuggle him onto their
list of speakers. Have him deliver an inspiring speech to
whip the true believers of this war into a frenzy, while
secretly filming the whole thing. At the speeches climax,
have the Army agent provocateur announce, “so who’s with
me! Let’s all go down to the recruiting station and sign
up.” Then watch how fast the chickenhawks clam up and
dive for cover. It will make an awesome Dem ad.
I have to admit, at least this response wasn’t as childish as your other ones, though you’re still the far-right bigot that’s unabashed with his reactionary viewpoints. Ah well…
I say haphazardly because your emotions and hatred were all over the place, to the point where you were at times incoherent. True, most of your responses are reactionary, homophobic, racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic—all cloaked with an American flag in one hand and the Bible in the other. Your rants are the type I read from members posting at sites such as Townhall, Stormfront and The Free Republic. However, this time, you were really angry with Max, not annoyed. And while you are normally unrestrained in airing out your bigotry, I felt you were a bit frenzied.
Of course, Lizzie! Of course your bigotry was perfectly clear, no doubt about that, but you allowed your emotions to get the best of you.
Oh Lizzie, one-dimensional? One-dimensional! Honestly, Lizzie, we’ve been over this before about Max’s presumably Anti-Christian hatred, but you seem to ignore my points and continue to repeat this accusations, believing by doing so will somehow turn into fact. In all the articles that Max has written regarding Christianity, he always uses the moniker “The Christian Right.†Why do you continue to misconstrue his topics so you can label him a Christian bigot? You’re not being too successful with this, Lizzie, sorry to say. And you even fail to point out when Max took issue with Richard Dawkins utopian, delusional critique of Colin Powell’s “blackness†or lack thereof. Max pointed out that Dawkins and a Christian fundamentalist like Joe Carter have more in common than what separates them.
Perhaps you shouldn’t try to categorize me at all, Lizzie, when I don’t categorize myself with any labels.
Now, now, Lizzie, there’s no need to feel embarrassed when you patronizingly pat me on the head like some paternal slave master, saying, “You’re one of those good nigras, boy. You’re a credit to your race, son.†How could I confuse that with a compliment, Lizzie?
Subservience. Ah well, I just knew you would throw that little insult out at me again. God forbid I happen to admire Max’s tenacity in not being the stereotypic, spineless, conformist, color-blind white liberal, who gets weak in the knees and shivers whenever the subject of racial injustice arises. God forbid I admire someone who thinks the fight against racism isn’t over (or as Eric Alterman said in his Guardian piece, “insolvableâ€). God forbid I respect a journalist/activist such as Max who doesn’t simply throw in the towel, like his other fellow journalists, to defend Civil Rights policies that systematically attacks and dismantles institutionalized racism and sexism in the job market and educational system. To put it bluntly, I’ll always have mad respect for Max because he reminds me of those Jewish activists in the 60s—the Freedom Riders—who fought and died for blacks to gain equal citizenship in this country. No doubt, liberal Jews sure as hell did more for oppressed minorities than “compassionate conservatives†who claim to be devout in following the teachings of Christ.
Lemme get this straight: because I post on Max’s blog, complimenting his articles in The Nation and satirical documentaries, I’m somehow a—to steal your categorization of me—“boot-licking cheerleader� So what you’re saying is I can’t even compliment someone I admire, someone who shares the same politics as myself? It’s okay for you to applaud your heroes, Coulter, O’Reilly, Hannity, Malkin, Limbaugh, Savage, and others, but I can’t without being pegged a “boot-licking cheerleader� That doesn’t make sense, Lizzie.
LOL! Sorry, Lizzie, I just had to laugh at that comment. Nothing cracks me up more than hearing white people telling me that I should educate my people to use more “personal responsibility†(that’s one of conservatives’ favorite buzzwords whenever one raises the topic of race) and stop looking for hand-outs from the government. When I read that sentence, decoded it, it translated into something like this: “blacks are lazy bastards with a self-defeating, victimhood complex.†I swear conservatives will never change their perception and beliefs of the poor—especially blacks—in this country. Activist, essayist and scholar Tim Wise wrote eloquent articles that pretty much debunk such myths as blacks aren’t interested in education and too dependant on government handouts. I advise you to read HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.
Sounds like the same garbage the by the likes of Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Larry Elder, Glenn Loury and other coons “friends of poor minoritiesâ€. Allow me to cite the preeminent black social scientist Adolph Reed, Jr. when debunking such age old myths like the one you just raised or will try to raise in your counterargument:
“1. Affirmative action “stigmatizes” its beneficiaries and actually promotes racism.â€
“2. Affirmative action mostly benefits the well off.â€
“3. Affirmative action is about righting “wrongdoings of generations past.â€
Oh, and if you need proof that there’s such a thing as “white privilege†here’s studies by UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON, and another one from them HERE, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY and MSNBC.
LOL! I’m far from downtrodden, bub, and I have no idea what “lifestyle†you’re referring to. Surely you’re not referring to liberalism when its principles are far from downtrodden. No doubt, I have some issues with some liberals, but I will never be a conservative, for I know that at its core conservatism, is all about preserving a patriarchal, racist, homophobic, European dominance in society—you know, the “WHITE MALE CHRISTIAN POWER STRUCTURE†that Bill O’Reilly and Pat-the Nazi-Buchanan often fret about its demise in print and television. Thanks for your concern, though, even when it’s feign concern.
Lizard==concern troll. Please do not feed.
This should be on the Daily Show- people need to see these people for what they really are.
Great job!
#36 “Unindicted Co-conspiritor.” Thanks for your keen
observation in pointing out my “typo” in regards
to my misspelling of the word “cleansing.” Actually,
I saw that immediately after posting, however, due to
the lame set-up on this blog, there’s no way to edit
a post after one commits to submitting it. Hell, this
box that I’m typing in now won’t even line wrap
properly. While you’re on your grammar kick, maybe
you can call it to Max’s attention that he spelled
“Republican” as “R-E-P-U-L-I-C-A-N.” I’m assuming this
to be a genuine typo on his behalf, since there was no
punctuation to identify this misspelling as intentional,
such as when you liberal simpletons like to re-invent
words like: “Repuklicans,” or “Repuglicans,” etc.
If my typo is going to be your centerpiece for labeling
me as being uneducated, then I’m happy for you. I guess
you “got” me.
Since you’re assigning surnames to an “ethnic” group,
I can tell you that I just happen to work with a person
named “Rosenthal,” and he is not Jewish. I also know
a black individual with the last name of “Levy,” and
he is also not Jewish. Since we’re on that subject;
I had served six years (voluntarily) in the military,
and never once saw a “Cohen,” “Levy,” “Goldberg,”
“Weinberg,” “Blumenthal,”… So, my question is : how are Max and
yourself going to drive home your point of “hypocrisy”
by “disclosing” people who have not served in the military
when you have a few peccadillo’s in your own backyard
to clean up?
oh, and while you have your dictionary open, why don’t
you look up the word; ad hominem.. Class dismissed.
#37 “Geekfather” I think I saw said “bumper sticker”
for sale on Moveon.org. It was right below the one with
the marijuana leaves adorning it which read:” I’m a
liberal, hands off of my dope.”
Pathetic Cowards!
#15 Clint. Don’t expect an apology anytime soon from Max.
My best advice would be to just not take him too seriously,
as even his liberal hierarchy doesn’t. Max has been
ridiculed by CNN and shunned by TBA, so he’s feeling
a little dejected at present. Since his hot-dog vending
cart at funeral processions didn’t go over well, he had
to find a job doing something, and it just so happens
that “buffoonery” seem to be his niche. Being a
graduate of the “Rodney Dangerfield School of Journalism,”
has worked out well for him. I’d rather see him doing
this stuff, than being on the public dole. He also
has some minor socially redeeming value, via being
a shining example, to teach your kids with,
on how NOT to act.
#32 “Ignatov” Why does Max mock Christianity,
and trample, (literally and figuratively), on the grave’s
of fallen soldiers? It “sounds” disrespectful, and
treasonist to me.