Review of America: Freedom to Fascism (2006) by Brian R — 26 Jan 2009

I wanted to like this movie more than I did. Its production is way too amateurish, which is surprising in light of the fact that the filmmaker keeps identifying himself as the guy who produced 'Trading Places' and 'The Rose.' It starts out reasonably well, talking about how the Federal Reserve was started, etc. So far, so good. But then the movie goes all over the map, talking about how 'there is no law' requiring us to pay income tax, electronic voting machines are fraduluent, the 2004 election was rigged, the people will be controlled in an Orwellian society with RFID chips and national ID cards, etc.

First of all, the tax protester bit, while entertaining, has no roots in reality. No court in this country has ever sided with a tax protester regarding the non-payment of income taxes. Even Irwin Schiff, who appears in several spots in the movie, is currently serving time in federal prison for tax evasion. And what is the proof that the 2004 election was rigged? Well, of course electronic voting machines were used in 2004. And since there are several clips of people saying they 'believe' fraud occurred and that there is 'potential' for fraud, it must have been rigged, right? The national ID law has yet to materialize, and with Janet Napolitano (a critic of the Real ID Act) heading Homeland Security, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to pass. And I don't even know where to begin to point out the exaggerations and falsehoods in how the movie portrays RFID technology as essentially evil and socialistic.

I hate to say it, but considering how fast and loose this movie is with most of its 'facts,' this is a documentary about as much as any typical Michael Moore movie. I liked what this movie was trying to say; there's an important message to be communicated there. However, in this case, we had the wrong messenger.