Mirror Mirror

I haven't seen So Goes The Nation, a documentary about Ohio during the 2004 Presidential election (sounds like a job for ColumbusGuy), but I have read a few local reviews, and I'm guessing they say more about the critics than the film.

For instance, there's Gene Seymour at the LA Times. He relates Paul Begala's argument (shown in the film) about how Republicans want Paris Hilton to pay as little taxes as possible while the waitress serving her latte pays what seems most of her salary. Seymour adds: "What you're wondering at that moment is where, in all the campaigning that went on that year, was that speech?" The problem, Gene, is not that the Democrats didn't make that argument, but that they said practically nothing else.

Then there's Andy Klein over at LA City Beat. Klein's not a bad critic, but his politics can get the better of him. Listen to what he says in this squib about the film: "The possibility of actual electronic voting machine fraud is de-emphasized, though the White House’s recent lack of concern about losing the 2006 election--despite scandals and terrible poll numbers--should raise a red flag." Only a fanatical partisan could have that delicious mix of paranoia and stupidity. Then there's his finish: "[Republicans] have to be bigger liars: If both sides were forced to tell their true positions, the GOP wouldn’t get a third of the votes cast." Funny, that's what my Republican friends say about the Democrats.