THE SADDEST MEN: A REVIEW OF âACTIVE MEASURESâ⊠by heidi siegmund cuda, aka @maewestside
Those who need to see the new documentary, âActive Measures,â wonât.
They prefer catchphrases like âLock Her Up.â
Too bad theyâll never learn that the âLock Her Upâ catchphrase was recycled. It had worked in the Ukraine, when a very brave women spoke truth to power and the best those who opposed her could come up with was a catchphrase. And then she was locked up, by a thug Paul Manafort got elected. And the Ukrainian people revolted. But because that took place in a country far away from the âcatchphrase-base,â theyâll miss the opportunity to learn something, which is sad.
Itâs terribly sad those who need to see âActive Measuresâ would rather watch Anchor-Trolls, sharing lies and soundbit fear so they can feel righteous in their wrongness. Thatâs very sad.
As âActive Measuresâ could teach them, it was far cheaper for Putin to get a Russian friendly leader elected with a dirty âactive measuresâ campaign than it was to build up his military.
âPutin sees himself as pulling the body of Russia out of the pile, the dustbin of history,â says former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the film. âHe wants to be the Tsar, he wants to be the richest man in the world. He wants to settle scores.â
In his quest for all that glitters, Putin and his addiction to power caused him to test his junkie logic in Estonia, Georgia and the Ukraine, before taking on the United States by backing an easy mark: a man with âshady morals,â as Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse notes. A man with a history of failure, until he was saved by the rubles. Saved by the boys of Brighton Beach. Alas, the âcatchphrase-baseâ wonât know what that means because they wonât see the film. And that is sad.
Those of us whoâve made investigating Trump-Russia our lifeâs work already knew the âActive Measuresâ backstory. Weâve watched the Zembla documentaries on âThe Dubious Friends of Donald Trump,â which explained how the Russian mob pumped money into Trumpâs orbit when no legit source would spare him a dime. Weâve watched the documentaries on Putinâs rise to power, and how he murders, imprisons and poisons those who interrupt his thieving flow.
But what âActive Measuresâ does brilliantly is weave all these âkomprocatedâ storylines together in one neat package, so if anyone is interested in filling in the blanks, the gangâs all there.
The crew I roll with is a smart crowd: theyâll watch the film, weâll have comforting conversations about what we already know, and weâll recommend books to further our knowledge of facts, cementing them in our brains for posterity. And in case we ever run into someone whoâs curious to know what actually happened in the era when lies became âtruthâ and truth became âlies,â weâll have the answers.Â
But the âcatchphrase-base?â Theyâll never learn how amazing Hillary Clinton is: her insights and ease in the documentary reveal her to be on par with the great leaders of our world. Theyâll never get to hear the soft-spoken profundity of John McCain, as he shares his observations on Putinâs desire to undermine democracies globally.
Facts are comforting. When a world leader isnât invited to weddings and funerals, we know itâs only a matter of time before heâs âdestined to fail,â a line used by casino mogul Steve Wynn in the documentary when referencing Trumpâs overscaling in Atlantic City. The center cannot hold. The revival rallies are getting less facetime. All the presidentâs* men are pleading out and/or going to jail one at a time. The law is winning.
And Putin is failing. His popularity is sinking. No matter how many journalists he murders, another one rises. Watch the eyes of the oligarchs in the documentary as Putin treats them like dogs. Itâs only a matter of time. And Trump is failing. His popularity is sinking. No matter how many journalists he maligns, another one rises. Watch the eyes of the politicians around him as he treats them like dogs. Itâs only a matter of time.Â
THE FAILURE OF MANSPREADING
Iâm looking forward to the âActive Measuresâ sequel: the story of how we put our fragile democracy back together again after these two sad men fail, despite their best laid âmanspreading,â a term utilized by Hillary Clinton in the film.Â
Indeed, it was never a love story: the mingling of two corrupt hearts never ends well.
And it will end. Because the strongmen are weak. And the people are strong. And that is the truth.
Author Heidi Siegmund Cuda is an Emmy award-winning investigative producer, free press activist, mother and award-winning director, whose short film âRigged: A Tail of Corruptionâ debuted at the Orcas Island Film Festival http://www.orcasfilmfest.com/rigged/.