Originally published Thursday, August 23, 2012 at 10:06 PM
'2016: Obama's America': Strident film looks at president's roots
A review of "2016: Obama's America," a documentary co-directed by Dinesh D'Souza, who is not a fan of the president.
The New York Times
'2016: Obama's America,' a documentary directed by Dinesh D'Souza and John Sullivan. 87 minutes. Rated PG for thematic elements, brief language and smoking images. Several theaters.
The New York Times does not provide star ratings with reviews.
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Dinesh D'Souza — the author of "The Roots of Obama's Rage" and a former American Enterprise Institute fellow — is not a fan of President Obama. The strident documentary "2016: Obama's America" builds on D'Souza's 2010 article for Forbes, which asserts that Obama pursues his father's left-leaning, "anti-colonial" ideals. Here they are presented as flaws consistent with the senior Obama's multiple relationships, alcoholism and fatal auto accident.
D'Souza argues that the president has emasculated NASA, refused to take a "meaningful step" against Iran's nuclear ambitions and is willing to let Argentina reclaim the Falkland Islands. He envisions a future in which the Middle East becomes a "United States of Islam."
Echoing his views are, among others, Paul Vitz, a New York University psychology professor; Daniel Pipes, a founder of the Middle East Forum; and the former Comptroller General David Walker, who warns about the national debt.
D'Souza stumbles when interviewing George Obama, the president's half-brother, an activist who voluntarily lives amid squalor in Nairobi, Kenya. "Obama has not done anything to help you," D'Souza says. "He's taking care of me; I'm part of the world," George Obama replies.
Not interviewed are Obama's supporters, but this isn't that kind of film. At a recent show, the film's conclusion was met with cries of "Romney!," "Ron Paul!," "Reagan!" and "Another Reagan!"








