The hat tip for this goes to some who’s evidently become a regular reader — Bill Stegmeier. South Dakota’s J.A.I.L.er-in-chief was kind or taunting enough (I’m not sure which) to send me an e-mail captioned “Blog this Tim” about a full page ad the Amendment E folks are running on the back of the new Sioux Falls Shopping News.
Most of the page is an ad trumpeting the results of the Zogby poll and highlighting the corporate contributions to the No on E committee. But another ad on the page by Amendment E deals with its sponsorship of showings of a film called America: From Freedom to Fascism about 10 days before the election. This ad tells us “the struggle is just beginning!” It then talks about various contentions of the film but buries what Variety magazine calls its “cornerstone” — that the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was never properly ratified and, therefore, the federal income tax is not only illegal, it is “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated by [the] government.” According to the New York Times, the film says the amendment was the vehicle by which “a shadowy cartel of bankers initiated their plans for world domination.” Even the Kansas City Star, which gave the film a generally favorable review, called it “a conspiracy-minded documentary from folks who think the federal income tax is a massive fraud and just one element in the move toward one world government and planetary totalitarianism.”
PP has posted related material about the film but I’ll just mention a few of the reviews the film has received. I realize, of course, they will be rejected by Amendment E hardcores because the media is part of the New World Order/Jewish banker conspiracy. Still, the film got a “Rotten” rating at Rotten Tomatoes.com. Here’s a few review comments:
- Slant magazine: “a whacked-out piece of anti-American propaganda.”The Chicago Tribune: “a flailing Libertarian fever dream.”
The Austin Chronicle: “Russo (who also narrates the movie) undermines his work by freefalling into a tangled web of all-out conspiracy-mongering.”
The Onion AV Club: “The film somehow manages the formidable task of being far more paranoid and hysterical than even its screaming tabloid-headline title would suggest.”
Depending on my schedule, I may even take Stegmeier up on offer to attend one of the showings as his guest. Unlike many in the J.A.I.L. movement, I am not afraid to hear and consider contrary opinions.
Still, I think the ad and the sponsorship of the movie resolve any lingering questions about the motivations and beliefs of Stegmeier and the people behind Amendment E.
To know one thing, you must know the opposite just as much, else you don’t know that one thing.
Henry Moore
