The Untold History of The United States
 

by Oliver Stone.

Caught the "Reagan, Gorbchev and the Rise of the Right" tonight. Showtime.
All I can say it's pretty fair accounting. Anyone else catching this series?

Sure am happy they followed it up with Re-set: DL Hughley.;)

What channel?

And, if it's at all accurate all of the far right nippleheads will be up in arms over it, their delusional applecart tipped over........apples everywhere.

Regards,
Dave

Showtime.

Recorded most of them and watched a few. Not bad and at just an hour long entertaining for sure.



Barney

There you go with your picturesque writing again. I am so envious.

Regards,

D-Ray

I still remember this from my American History survey class I took at Kent State in 1982

http://www.amazon.com/The-Underside-.../dp/015592852X

There is a volume two.

Stone was kinder to Ronald Reagan than I could have imagined, then he explored the dark underside of his corrupt regime. Plenty of rotten apples to go around and many of them still around perverting the dream for monetary gain and power. Anyone thinking nostalgically about that crook Bush sr. thinking that he was a good man and President need look no further than this. The cast of characters is a rogue's gallery of sick proportions, William Cassey, Don Rumsfeld and on and on.

To think that Reagan missed the chance of a lifetime of ridding the world of nukes by refusing to dance with Gorbachev in Reykjavik is undoubtably the blackest of many black stains on his regime. The sad fact is that St. Ronnie was a doddering cold warrior who's faculties had left him long before he was annointed President. He surrounded himself with the worst people imaginable.

Don't get Showtime.

http://www.sho.com/sho/video/full-episodes

Here's a link to some episodes of this show. The one I mentioned isn't available yet. The name is the "Rise of the Third World." Seems like it's being released into YouTube as they go on.

We take Stone as a legitimite historian?

Pete

His collaborator for the series is Peter Kuznick, a professor of history at American University.

Nice try

Sorry if I'm more skeptical about Hollywood 'history' than a turkey invited to Thanksgiving dinner ;)

Pete

Skepticism is wise. Dismissiveness isn't.

Me too.

But, I'm even more skeptical about history lessons that paint certain individuals as if they possess infallable wisdom and moral fortitude, granted to them by the Almighty.......because they got rich by being ruthless bastards. I see motive behind that. Powerful motive to taint and manipulate said history.

Regards,
Dave

You talkin' about FDR?

:D

Just kidding. What's life without stirring the pot a little :)

Pete

Define legitimate historian, please!

I have not seen the Ronnie episode yet;i usually catch up on VOD. However from what I have seen so far Stone is too sympathetic to the Soviets.

Nevertheless I have learnt a lot of new to me stuff. For instance I did not realise the the scale of the massacre of communists and their sympathisers in Indonesia.

Watched any of it?

Y'ins dissin' God? Whazzup with that? :rolleyes:

Caught the newest episode about GHW Bush and Clinton. You rightwing nutjobs ought to get a kick out of his less than admiring view of Clinton but you'll have to sit thru some rough chit about Bush Sr. Didja know that GW's grandpappy was a banker for Hitler?;)

Well, he was kind to Reagan, so you probably will..........

Regards,
Dave

Thanks for reminding me about the series!

I have to go To Showtime VOD.

You're welcome, Dondillion. He does take more of a neutral position on the Soviet Union than you'll see in most history books. I think that a lot of the animosity towards the communists was fostered by the moneyed class in the west. Sadly, we and the British pushed hard at them during their formative years after their revolution and they ended up with Stalin as the strongman. Too many these days confuse social-ism and communism with Stalinism.

He explores the Gorbachev era more in this episode. Once again, we reneged on promises made by Bush1. I really am bemused and not a little mystified by the deification of Reagan and GHW Bush by Repubs, it just doesn't bear up under closer scrutiny.

Or the apparent belief that Hollywood somehow parallels reality in the personages of Clint Eastwood and The Duke. I even recall an interview of Clint Eastwood by Hannity, some years ago, in which Eastwood himself seems bemused by Hannitys inability to seperate the real man from the movie charactor. Let's see if I can find it..................

Well, I search and search and find about 12,000,000,000,000,000,000 videos of last novembers interview and one from 1967 and that's it.

Can you imagine if the right wingnuttery started watching those old black and white episodes of Rawhide? Hollywood left wing propaganda is how the Fux News & friends would characterize that TV show.:rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawhide_(TV_series)

I am surprise that Showtime presented this series. Kudos to the people
at Showtime.

To me Stone comes across as more than neutral; he is pro Soviet.

I believe the animosity was justified in view of the havoc inflicted by
paranoid dictators in a communist system. This systems does not have much
checks and balances. Solzhenitsyn gives a sense and dynamics of the failure.

The Repubs do not really respect Reagan. He was useful to them because of his
basic anti big government message. They use Reagan more as a mantra not as substance.

Stone was very critical of Clinton. I think I need to really review Clinton.
Am I a camp follower? Am I looking at him through rose colored glasses?

Having spend a week in the Soviet Union in 1981, I can assure you that it was a desperately phucked up place and virtually no words could exaggerate how phucked up it was.

As for Stone, he concocts a story with just enough inter-sprinkled history to make it semi-plausible if you're a conspiracy theorist.

Says you! :p:D He does play a little fast and loose but it's the new normal, no? The Soviet Union was indeed a phucked up place for most of it's history. I read one of the 'Catherine The Great' historical treatments and really enjoyed the section on Gen. Potempkin moving his village down the Volga? ahead of Cathy's royal barge everynight. It says a lot about the Russian character.

I see parallels in theater/Hollywood set making. Hmmm, that would be fun for a new crossover career, I'm getting a little tired of fixing all of the shit that renters keep breaking around here in Orange county.