9 minute read
The Second American Revolution
EARTHFUTURE Guy Dauncey
Ihave this great idea for a blockbuster Hollywood movie, but since
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I don’t know any movie directors, I thought I would let it loose here. Here’s how it goes: There is the growing discontent and anger among ordinary people in the US about Iraq, Bush, health care, the corruption of Congress, and – the real lurker – the truth behind 9/11. Why did Building 7 go down? Was it a controlled demolition? Was Flight 93 shot down shortly before it crashed in rural Pennsylvania? Was its real target Building 7? So, let’s imagine…
The Democrat-controlled Senate establishes a 9/11 Truth Commission to resolve the outstanding questions. When an amnesty is offered to anyone willing to speak his or her truth, the evidence that emerges about the involvement of some of America’s top leaders and offi cials shocks people to the core.
Across the US, people sit glued to CNN as the testimonies air live. A feeling of deep betrayal sweeps the country as Conservatives struggle with their realization that the War on Terror has been manipulated and progressives explode with anger against a government they have deplored and the elite who have been manipulating American democracy for so long, and who appear to have been involved in the 9/11 manipulations.
As the evidence that Flight 93 was shot down becomes clear, a prominent witness dies in a car crash and a US air force pilot on duty that day is found dead from a suspicious suicide. When a third witness fights off what appears to be a random mugging, her attacker is found to have a list of the Truth Commission’s witnesses on his computer. In shades of Kennedy’s assassination in 1962, he is shot down before he can testify in court, and internet chat rooms, YouTube and Facebook all explode with furious conjecture.
Amid the turmoil, a grassroots movement called Free Democracy Now emerges calling for American democracy to be dug up and overhauled from the roots. The movement’s Charter calls for a ban on all political campaign funding by corporations and unions; a $1,000 ceiling on individual campaign donations; an end to the corrupt pork barrel financing of pet projects; proportional voting
in all elections; and the single transfer able vote for the presidential race. It also calls for a unified voting system for the country governed by an independent electoral commission; town-hall meetings to choose local candidates; and lowering the voting age to 16 so that young people can taste their first experience of democracy while still at school.
Liberals and Conservatives put aside their historical rancor to support the new movement and choose local candidates for the forthcoming elections under the slogan “Free Democracy Now!”
Is this the second American Revolution that will overthrow the power of the military-industrial corporatocracy that President Eisenhower warned about in weeks to go, bombs explode at the Chi cago, Atlanta and Los Angeles airports, causing panic and the complete shutdown of US airspace. The president goes on TV to call for calm, asking for God’s protection against “… the infidels who hate us.” Three hours later, he announces the postponement of the election for three months and places the country under martial law.
Instead of rallying to their leader, however, the American public takes to the streets. The governors of California and Minnesota join their people and, by morning, 40 of America’s state governors have joined their citizens on the streets calling for the election to be re-instated, the 9/11 Truth Commission to be restored
officials shocks people to the core.
1961 and which will usher in the rebirth of democracy or is it the beginning of a new Dark Age in American politics, when corporate control will be reinforced?
Meanwhile, in an atmosphere of unprecedented tension and unrest, Homeland Security warns of an immi nent terrorist attack on La Guardia Airport and all flights to and from New York are suspended. On the Iran/Iraq border, an Iranian arrested by US troops is found to be carrying plans for simultaneous attacks on Israel and the New York subway system. The president announces a State of Emergency, suspends the Truth Commission and calls for an allout national effort to defend US borders against would-be terrorists. When three men are arrested crossing the unguarded border close to Vancouver airport carrying maps of New York’s airports, the president accuses Canada of encouraging terrorism and closes the entire border.
Public cynicism has gone far too far, however, and there is widespread belief that the incidents are being staged to sustain an atmosphere of fear as the elites that are behind this scramble to retain control over the cash machine they have been running for years, known as democracy. Free Democracy Now flags sprout from houses everywhere.
As the election approaches, the Free Democracy candidates look set to sweep out most of the incumbents. With two and the State of Emergency to be lifted.
For the next four days there are dramatic stand-offs across America as troops from the National Guard face down citizens in towns and cities from Alaska to Florida. The members of Free Democracy Now are determined to remain calm and non-violent, however, while growing in numbers all the time. They are joined by school children and college students, by workers calling for a national strike, by local mayors, and, most strikingly of all, by Christian fun damentalist religious leaders. By sunset of the fifth day, the president relents, agreeing to all their demands.
Two weeks later, a Democrat wins the presidency and both the Senate and Congress pass into the control of Free Democracy Now. Over the next 100 days, the Charter is converted into successful legislation and most of Washington’s lobbyists pack their bags to leave the city forever. The second American Revolution has succeeded.
Twenty years later, schoolchildren are taught how these events were a natural consequence of Americans’ love of liberty, and how, in the long history of humanity, the pursuit of justice and democracy will always prevail.
FILMS WORTH WATCHING Robert Alstead
Film adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels have reaped Oscar glory and the 1995 BBC production Pride and Prejudice, with Colin Firth’s memorable turn as aloof, aristo-in-love Darcy, remains one of the most popular television mini-series ever made. Unfortunately, while there is a continuing appetite for Austen’s stories of English manners, there is limited material to draw on; she wrote only six books before her death at the age of 41. As a result, filmmakers have turned their attention to Austenesque stories, first with a fictionalized adaptation of the author’s life in Becoming Jane and now in a romantic drama set around a book club where people read Austen’s novels.
Modern Sacramento, California, the setting for the The Jane Austen Book Club is a long way from provincial England of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but similar romantic themes and complexities experienced by Austen characters continue to be played out here. The film, based on Karen Joy Fowler’s novel of the same name, and adapted by debut American director Robin Swicord, is full of neat parallels and symmetry with Austen’s work; there are six char acters in the book club who meet over six months to read the six books.
Each character’s story is associated with one of the books. Serial divor cee Bernadette (Kathy Baker) sets up the club for dog-loving friend Jocelyn (Maria Bello), with unhappily married Prudie (Emily Blunt), Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), who is being divorced by her cheating husband Daniel (Jimmy Smits) and Sylvia’s semi-closeted lesbian daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace). There is one lone male to complete the group; Grigg (Hugh Dancy) has joined out of his interest in Jocelyn, rather than in the literature of Austen, being more of a sci-fi man, although Jocelyn is more interested in setting him up with Sylvia.
The film has received warm praise for the way it brings together the various plot strands and while you don’t have to be a Janeite to enjoy the movie, you’ll appreciate the allusions to Austen’s work (opens October 5).
If you are reading this early in the month, there’s still plenty of film fare to be found at the Vancouver International Film Festival (www.viff.or g). Among the offerings is Seachd: the Inaccessible Pinnacle, which is a remarkable achievement. To understand why, it helps to know a bit of the background story. Gaelic, the native language spo ken by highland Scots, was heavily suppressed following the Jacobite uprising of 1745 and the subsequent rout of Bonnie Price Charlie’s highland army by English forces. As a response to Scottish rebelliousness, the English government passed laws forbidding the wearing of tartan (hence the popularity of the kilt) and children were forbidden to speak Gaelic at school.
Centuries later, the Gaelic language in Scotland looked doomed to slip away. However, in recent years, government money has started flowing into cultural initiatives aimed at revitalizing and spreading the language and it’s a sign of Gaeldom’s growing confidence that a fea ture film of this calibre is being made.
The “inaccessible pinnacle” is a sharp, rocky summit in Skye, which stands as a metaphor for a young boy’s challenge to come to terms with the death of his parents and reconcile himself with his dying grandfather who raised him and gave him his Gaelic roots. The film rev els in contemporary highland culture and, in particular, the rare art of story
Left to right: Amy Brenneman, Maggie Grace and Gwendoline Yeo in The Jane Austen Book Club
Photo Ralph Nelson © 2007. Tom LeFroy LLC courtesy Sony Pictures Classics.
telling, comprising a series of recre ations of romantic folklore narrated by the grandfather to his grandchildren.
The skill of the filmmakers matches their ambition, resulting in a visually arresting and poetic work. The film was made with a limited budget, meaning that many of the young cast were non-professional. This is barely noticeable thanks largely to Aonghas Padraig Caimbeul, whose central, engaging performance as the grandfather carries the viewer through to the warm-hearted conclusion. (Seachd screens October 9, 6:20pm, Empire Granville 7 and October 10, 1pm, Visa screening room.)
Finally, one other film that looks intriguing is Gavin Hood’s Rendition (due out October 12). When a US terrorism suspect has “disappeared,” his American wife (Reese Witherspoon) and a CIA analyst (Jake Gyllenhaal) become caught in the struggle to secure his release from a secret detention facility.
Robert Alstead is an independent filmamaker based in Vancouver. His feature documentary You Never Bike Alone is available for purchase at www. youneverbikealone.com.
