What Are You Doing for Independence Day?

by Shaker The Great Indoors

[Content Note: Racism.]

I assume, like all Patriotic Americans, you'll be attending your local premiere of conservative Dinesh D'Souza's newest blockbuster documentary, America, in which he will address "leftist critiques" of our Great Country, such as "we stole this land from the Native Americans" and "we stole labor from enslaved African Americans," which aren't so much "critiques" as "observations."


Video Transcript and Description:

[Sunrise over Washington DC. We see the dome of the US Capitol building in silhouette. A young girl who appears to be white with brown hair. An old red fire engine drives down a street flying the American flag. Has the feeling of a parade.]

Dinesh D'Souza, onscreen: The film America is a patriotic film being released in time for the 4th of July.

[People in Revolutionary War uniforms march down a street. They are flying the American flag, among others.]

DD: And yet it's not a 'rah-rah' patriotism that uncritically celebrates America.

[A young white girl blowing bubbles in a crowd of adults. We see some plastic lawn furniture. The bubbles drift over the crowd and into the street.]

DD: Rather it's the patriotism that was referred to by Edmund Burke when he said to love our country, our country should be lovely.

[A montage of brick buildings and iron street lamps. Feels like a small New England town. We see DD in a building that has large windows and benches. Possibly a Ye Olde Towne Hall. A quick shot of a marble statue of a white man (Burke?). More shots of people marching in or watching the parade.]

DD: And what Burke is saying is that true patriotism is loving your county not just because it's yours, but because it's good.

[More parade shots; people in red, white and blue shorts and t-shirts. A white man rides a bike past a commuter train. More old brick buildings. It seems to be sunrise. The American flag waves in the breeze.]

DD: Now there has developed on the left, and this has started in the '60s but it's now become very mainstream, it's the presumption of leftist politics, Democratic, progressive politics.

[DD walking down a street past people. A shot of Mt. Rushmore showing Washington, Jefferson, and Roosevelt's faces; Lincoln's is not in the shot.]

DD: It's also the presumption of stuff that's taught in schools and colleges all around the county.

[DD is in what appears to be helicopter flying over forested hills and mountains. There are lakes below. Cut to close-ups of the The Marine Corps War Memorial (more commonly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial) in golden sunlight.]

DD: The basic idea is that America is a society that is based on theft.

[A shot of DD reading "Occupy" by Noam Chomsky in a darkened room. A TV is on in the background where he reads.]

DD: America is a society based on stealing and plunder.

[Panning past tents and tarps set up in a city square. It is not clear if it is a homeless encampment or an Occupy Movement encampment. The US Capital building again. DD continues to read "Occupy." Other people are in the room where he's reading.]

DD: This is the defining feature of American history. We stole the country from the Indians...

[The US Capitol again. A stained-glass piece depicting a Native American man. It has the feel of a religious icon as the man has a halo and is taking a 'Risen Christ' style pose with his hands raised slightly, palms out.]

DD: ...it was their land and the white man took it by force. We stole the labor of the African Americans to build the country, at least the south. We stole half of Mexico in the Mexican War.

[A long shot panning across a city. We see skyscrapers. Cut back to the parade. A horse-drawn carriage with "Wells Fargo & Company" on the side is being driven down the street. Someone waves from inside the carriage. People dressed as Darth Vader and Darth Maul, complete with double lightsaber, also march in the parade.]

DD: That American foreign policy today is based on plunder. Why are we in the Middle East? Obviously to take their oil.

[A crowd of people. Not clear if this is still part of the parade. There is someone in a Batman costume standing next to someone in a Captain America costume. There is also someone in some kind of 'future soldier' costume but I don't recognize it. People take pictures of the three men in costume.]

DD: We don't intervene in places like Haiti 'cause they don't have any oil!

[Times Square at night. Lots of billboards and neon signs. A red double-decker tour bus rolls down the street past crowds of people.]

DD: And capitalism, America's economic system, the free market system, is a form of theft, robbing people of what Obama calls "their fair share."

[Times square at night from above. Cut back to street level in a large city. Several yellow taxi cabs roll by. People walking down the street. A shot of the New York Stock Exchange building followed by people sleeping on benches in a park. More tents pitched in a city square.]

DD: Now this idea that America is based on theft is never effectively answered. And in fact many of its premises seem undeniable.

[More city-scape scenes before transitioning to the countryside. The sun is rising over a field. A woman stands and watches it.]

DD: Didn't we in fact take the country from the Indians? Didn't we in fact steal the labor of the blacks? And so on.

[A Civil War re-enactment camp. Old-style military cannons in a row. People sit in front of tents and teepees in the background.]

DD: So in this film America, I want to take this progressive, leftist critique head-on. I want it to be articulated by its best spokesmen.

[DD and Noam Chomsky are sitting in an office. DD listens as Noam gestures and says something, but there is no audio.]

DD: And then I want to effectively answer and debunk it.

[DD Stands on a bluff overlooking a vast treeless, rocky expanse. It reminds me of the Dakota Badlands, but I can't say for certain if that's where he is. More small-town Main Street style scenes. DD rides in a car talking on a cell phone.]

DD: That's the central ideological question answered in the film America.

[More parade scenes. People march with flags. A young African American boy watches. Panning shots over a military graveyard. The white tombstones stand in neat rows. A final shot of the Iwo Jima memorial before fade to black.]

The End.

Dinesh D'Souza is currently under indictment for illegal campaign contributions.