Celsius 41.11: Citizens United Documentary

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times compared Celsius 41.11 unfavorably to FahrenHYPE 9/11, another documentary film aimed at rebutting the arguments made by Michael Moore. While Dargis felt that the purpose of FahrenHYPE 9/11 was the detailed rebutting of the arguments put forward by Moore’s film, she felt that the purpose of Celsius 41.11 was to “make you afraid — very, very afraid”. She stated that Celsius 41.11 “presents a vision of the world verging on the apocalyptic“. Dargis concluded “finally [the film is] interesting only because it represents another unconvincing effort on the part of conservatives to mount a viable critique of Mr. Moore.”[6]

Criticisms of the production[edit]

The Boston Globe and the New York Times both questioned the reliability of some of the individuals interviewed. The Globe called the experts “occasionally dubious” saying that they “offer[ed] drive-by disses and plain untruths“.[21] Manohla Dargis of the New York Timeswas particularly critical of the film for not detailing the extent of Mansoor Ijaz‘s investments in the Middle East or “just how intimately familiar he was with the nonsense of the Clinton White House”.[6] Both publications, however, spoke well of the contributions of Fred Thompson with the New York Times calling him “thoughtful”[6] and the Globe adding that “with his level head and reflective words, [he] makes partisanship seem dignified.”[21]

Several critics felt that insufficient time had been spent on the film. Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide said that it “bears all the hallmarks of having been thrown together in a heated rush”,[22] a criticism echoed by Robert Koehler of Variety who called the editing “choppy”.[7]Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe described the film as “a seemingly last-minute series of talking heads and montages”.[21] A number of critics compared the style of the film to that of a PowerPoint presentation.[6][8][21][23]

.[6][8][21][23]

David Bossie: Wikipedia

David Norman Bossie (born November 1, 1965)[1][2] is an American political activist. Since 2000, he has been president and chairman of conservative advocacy group Citizens United and in 2016, Bossie was the deputy campaign manager to the Donald Trump presidential campaign.[3]

In May 2019, Bossie was accused by the Internal Revenue Service of defrauding political donors by funneling their donations to himself through consultants and book sales. President Trump has distanced himself from Bossie and demanded a thorough investigation.[4]

 

.. By May 1998, Burton came under intense partisan pressure; even fellow Republicans complained that committee staff had published redacted tapes and transcripts of former United States Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell‘s prison telephone calls omitting some exculpatory passages. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich pressed Burton to seek Bossie’s resignation.[8] Shortly thereafter, Burton accepted Bossie’s resignation.[9]

.. In June 2018, Bossie, a regular guest on Fox News programs, said that African-American co-guest Joel Payne was “out of his cotton-picking mind.” He later apologized.[15] Fox News suspended him for two weeks, calling the remarks “deeply offensive and wholly inappropriate.”[16]

 

.. At the Tea Party Convention, Bossie debuted the documentary Generation Zero, focusing on the 2008 financial crisis and its basis in the selfishness of the Baby Boomer generation. Said documentary, produced by Bossie for Citizens United Productions, had been written and directed by Steve Bannon.

 

.. He also was ranked number two in Politico‘s top 50 most influential people in American politics in 2015, tied with Charlie Spies.[18]

Q&A: David Bossie

David Bossie, President of Citizens United, speaks about “Hillary: The Movie,” a documentary he produced that was the subject of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. Program from Sunday, February 14, 2010.
31 min: Didn’t do Willie Horton ad
40 min: $2.5 million on production and legal fees
41:20: The White House Spin Cycle that would attack anyone
42:35: George Bush condemned Bosse’s gutter politics
57:54: Would you change any of your tactics that you used in the past?   No, politics is a tough business.  .. I call this a full contact sport.  It’s the Old Godfather.. It’s not personal. It’s business.

‘Tired of the wait game’: White House stabilizers gone, Trump calling his own shots

Other than Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the lone remaining enforcer is Kelly. But his power as chief of staff has been diminished. Officials said the days of Kelly hovering in the Oval Office morning to night and screening the president’s calls are over. Trump is largely circumventing Kelly’s strict protocols.

The president recently reached out to some people Kelly had sought to excommunicate, calling former communications director Anthony Scaramucci to banter about politics and inviting Lewandowski and Bossie to dinner in the residence.

“He’s rotating back to the people who actually like him and is more willing to take advice from those people,” Scaramucci said. “They’re more honest with him, and he’s more comfortable with them.”

Allies said Trump is reverting to the way he led the Trump Organization from his 26th-floor office suite at Trump Tower in Manhattan. There, staffers were functionaries or lawyers, and many of his advisers were outside the company — rival business leaders, media figures and bankers. Back then, Trump controlled his orbit himself from behind his cluttered desk, relying on assistant Rhona Graff to field calls.

.. Ascendant in the West Wing are advisers who play to Trump’s gut: Kudlow on tax cuts and deregulation, Bolton on a muscular approach to foreign affairs, Peter Navarro on protectionist trade policies, Stephen Miller on crackdowns on undocumented immigrants and Kellyanne Conway on an open press strategy and tangling with reporters.

.. Like Conway, Bolton and Kudlow are seasoned cable news commentators who share Trump’s hard-charging instincts and have no illusions about his governing style. Officials said they are expected to cater to the president’s wishes and seek to avoid the internal knife fights that have befallen many a Trump aide.

.. “Gary was really good, but I don’t know if Gary ever embraced the Trump economic ideas. He was more of a traditional Democrat or moderate Republican. Kudlow is a real cheerleader for the tax cuts in a way Gary never was, although he helped get them passed.”

.. Trump has been frustrated by news stories of White House tumult and has ordered aides to contest the notion that there is chaos.

.. “The top story, number one, is Stormy Daniels,” King said he told Trump. “I told him it’s utterly ridiculous. I just came back from Hamburg, Germany, and they were just laughing at us.