Despite words to the contrary, a highly political movie is scheduled to air on the National Geographic Channel less than 48 hours before American voters go to the polls to elect a President. But, free political advertising isn’t my main concern. More about that down the page. For now, here’s the basic report from the Associated Press:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A film dramatizing the death of Osama bin Laden is set to debut next month on the National Geographic Channel, two days before the presidential election.
“Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden,” from The Weinstein Co. and Voltage Pictures, will air Sunday, Nov. 4, the channel said Thursday. President Barack Obama faces Republican challenger Mitt Romney at the polls two days later.
Weinstein co-chairman Harvey Weinstein is a prominent fundraiser for Obama’s re-election campaign, which has touted bin Laden’s death as an example of the president’s leadership.
National Geographic Channel chose the film’s debut date to help promote the start of its fall season, channel President Howard T. Owens said Thursday.
“Harvey obviously doesn’t schedule our network,” Owens said. He added that the channel is “not political. We are opportunistic from a programming perspective.”
(Editor’s Note: Astute readers will note the AP’s failure to correctly spell SEAL. Even Wikipedia knows this to be true: ”SEAL” is always capitalized in reference to members of the Naval Special Warfare community. The acronym is derived from their capacity to operate at sea, in the air, and on land.” – Emphasis added.)
While I’m sure many will be interested in watching – including me – I have to wonder just what effect it might have on the election and how the timing of the presentation smacks of an outright free documentary in support of President Barack Obama.
While I believe that to be the case, I still don’t have a sense that it will be of any significant value, vote-wise, for the President. Two days before the election, 99.99% of the electorate will have decided which candidate they’ll vote for and a movie – the end of which is no surprise – won’t change many minds, if any.
What I AM concerned about though, is the violent reactions that might result.
If a short YouTube video is said to be the main reason Muslim extremists rioted in many parts of the world, just imagine what a full-length movie will do? Especially one that tends to glorify the work of SEAL Team Six as Osama Bin Laden is killed.
This will not end well.
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