(Bogus) Sub-Plot Of Revisionist 'Argo': Rescuing Jimmy Carter
Mon, Feb 25 2013 00:00:00 E A18_ISSUES
Posted 02/22/2013 07:20 PM ET
Propaganda: Among Oscar's favorites, "Argo" claims to be a broadly accurate retelling of real events in the Iranian hostage crisis. But it's historic revisionism masquerading as revelation.
And that revisionism, carried out by Democrat activists Ben Affleck and co-producer George Clooney, conveniently makes the Democrat laughingstock of the crisis, former President Carter, look good.
The more we learn about the project, the more it smells like a bad Hollywood plot to rehab Carter's legacy as one of the worst presidents in history.
It turns out that Carter quietly collaborated on the film, and has breathlessly promoted it ahead of the Oscars. "I hope it gets the Academy Award," he giddily told CNN's Piers Morgan on Thursday.
The ex-president has even signed "Argo" posters for auction at his Carter Center.
Carter makes a surprise cameo — by voice-over — at the end of the film, which claims to be "based on a true story" of how Carter OK'd a CIA plot to set up a fake movie production and crew as cover to rescue six American diplomats stranded in post-revolutionary Tehran.
As the credits roll, you hear him express how frustrating it was not to take credit for the daring rescue. He suggests that if the facts in the film had come out in 1980, they would have "helped" his presidency, possibly even changed the outcome of the election.
Humble and honorable man that he is, he kept it all "secret." Until now. Only, the story is mostly fiction.
Yes, a CIA operative (played by Affleck) traveled to Tehran posing as a Hollywood producer.
But the Canadians were responsible for over 90% of the rescue of those U.S. Embassy workers, from safehousing them at the Canadian ambassador's home to securing their visas to even securing the Swiss Air flight that spirited them out of Iran.
In fact, "Argo's" final heart-thumping scene at the Tehran airport, where the American diplomats' cover is almost blown as they race to the gate, never happened. Their exit was a cakewalk.
The Carter administration contributed next to nothing to securing their freedom. It played not just a minor role, but an insignificant one.
The Hollywood cover story had zero to do with their rescue. It wasn't even needed!
Carter sheepishly conceded on CNN that the Canadians did the heavy lifting, but quickly added, "I was very much involved with the Canadian government."
It's plain "Argo" was designed to rehab Carter's failed presidency, just as "Zero Dark Thirty" was made as a paean to Obama, just as "Inside Job" was a coordinated Democrat attack on Wall Street, just as Michael Moore's "documentaries" were anti-GOP propaganda.
At press time, it looks quite possible that "Argo" will take the Oscar. Meanwhile, a real documentary — "2016: Obama's America" — gets snubbed. Why? It actually tells the truth about a Democrat administration.
The collusion between the Hollywood elite and the Beltway elite has become Orwellian in scope. Maybe the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should be renamed the Ministry of Arts and Truth.
Read More At IBD: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/022213-645544-is-film-argo-just-an-attempt-at-reviving-carters-reputation.htm#ixzz2M0hNIkIV
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