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Rounded Rectangle: Last updated: 11 February 2007
Text Box: Review of Recent Historical / Political Movies: Last King of Scotland (****) I saw Silence of the Lambs when I was 15. I saw Last King of Scotland when I was 25. I was never so scared of Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter as I was of Forest Whittaker as Uganda’s dictator Idi Amin. A psychologically thrilling role by Whittaker and a historically accurate portrayal of yet another nation emerging from the colonial era and descending into madness and terror. Letters from Iwo Jima (*** ˝) Clint Eastwood’s magnum opus. An interesting movie that shows Iwo Jima from a different perspective – through the eyes of Iwo Jima’s Japanese defenders. Challenges many of the stereotypes we have of Japanese soldiers in World War II – especially their fanaticism and unblinking indifference to death. Proves that, like us, the Japanese soldier went to war for his country but died for his friends.
Text Box: Keltner’s Book List: King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild Best book I’ve read in years. Details the Belgian colonization of the Congo region of Africa and the brutal exploitation of the land of its people for the rich supplies of ivory and rubber there. A chilling account of human evil – the sort that inspired Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – but also a revelatory tale of human conscience as seen through the reformers and whistle-blowers that tried to change the brutal Belgian regime in Africa. Currently reading: Who Owns History? By Eric Foner Napoleon once said “History is nothing more than a lie, agreed upon.” This book shows how and why societies have revised their histories, looking at America as well as South Africa and Russia in the post-Soviet era.
Text Box: Connections between the past and present American Government: As we look through the judicial system, keep an eye on Ehren Watada, an army officer who refused to return for another duty in Iraq, saying that the war is “illegal.” It represents the first court-martial of an American officer for refusal to serve in Iraq. Since this refusal is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice rather than any federal law, Watada has been tried in a military court rather than a civilian court. His trial has been dismissed because of a mistrial resulting from complications in a written statement Watada had given army prosecutors. Link to story. American History: Warren Harding’s administration was racked with scandals, many of which involved senior officials within the administration. A similar case has come up in the Bush Administration. Sources have linked Vice President Dick Cheney and the Valerie Plame affair. According to some sources, Cheney ordered that secret CIA operative Valerie Plame’s cover be blown after her husband, ambassador Joseph Wilson, made a statement in a newspaper suggesting that the Bush Administration twisted facts in Iraq to led the country into war. Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Scooter Libby, is currently taking some heat in the matter, and his defense team has suggested that they will not call Dick Cheney to testify about his involvement in the affair. Link to story.
 

 

 

 


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