#MovieMonday – Documentary filmmakers try to get government funding for “Museum of Government Waste”
March 5th, 2012
Our hats are off to documentary filmmakers Jim and Ellen Hubbard for their upcoming documentary scheduled for a 2012 release: “Museum of Government Waste,” which brilliantly and humorously exposes not only the appalling amount of taxpayer dollars wasted by our government, but the underlying culture of corruption and favors that plagues the U.S. Congress and drives so much of the waste. Not only are they actually building the Museum of Government Waste, but their upcoming documentary chronicles their actual and serious attempt to get an earmark from Congress for the museum, a commentary more cutting and eloquent than the museum itself –the kind of caper that Michael Moore has become famous for, but without all the deceptive editing and naive state worship (we’ll leave that to the guy in the baseball cap)…
(View the Museum of Government Waste Trailer.)
Honestly I didn’t know whether this daring duo should get Silver Circle‘s nod via our weekly #MovieMonday feature or our weekly Rebel of the Week accolade on Wednesday, but I figure I had better strike while the iron is hot, because Museum of Government Waste made the big time today with a headline on The Drudge Report linking to a Daily Caller exclusive covering their film and their comically incisive quest to obtain a wasteful government earmark to fund a museum about wasteful government earmarks. The DC piece actually gave me chills when I read this part:
In meetings on Capitol Hill, they would say the museum has a wealthy backer who wants the government to support it with an earmark.
“And once you tell them about a wealthy backer, it was weird,” Hubbard said. “All of them acted the same way. The conversation shifted from ‘what’s your earmark’ to ‘how can we get this done.’ It was eye opening.”
*facepalm* We’re all screwed. Our Congress is bought and paid for. Maybe later today I’ll call up a legislator who chairs an important committee and say: “Hey, my non-profit has this wealthy backer who wants the government to audit the Fed…” Probably won’t work. The intern who answers my call will probably say, “That’s okay, we’ve got this wealthy backer that doesn’t want us to audit the Fed… our wealthy backer is the Fed.” *click* But in all seriousness, if the culture of corruption in Washington is getting to you, you’ll love Museum of Government Waste when it comes out later this year.
Michael Moore and his grand stunts oozing irony out of every frame isn’t the only political prankster whose methods and style are channeled in this documentary– James O’Keefe and the recently-deceased Andrew Breitbart (may he rest in peace) are both famous for orchestrating and executing the 2009 string of hidden-camera ACORN stings that ultimately brought down the entire organization. Museum of Government Waste will also showcase hidden camera footage. Ellen Hubbard told The Daily Caller: “Obviously when you meet with a member of Congress or a staffer or a lobbyist and you’re really trying to get the straight dope, you can’t bring two cameras and a sound engineer with you. So that’s when we wore hidden cameras.”
I am always especially delighted by video footage that catches government officials and agents in the act of malfeasance because it reverses the now prevalent dynamic of a government pervasively using video technology to watch and monitor us (like we’re the ones who need watching) while being camera shy itself and loathe to do more for transparency than pay it lip service on the campaign trail and in soaring, feel-good victory speeches the day after elections. There is something healing in the act of filming government officials and agents, something that restores our relationship to its proper form. Citizens should always be watching their government, not the other way around. When it happens, it’s an almost Dantean contrapasso.
Speaking of transparency, in the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you that in a sense, Museum of Government Waste is a “sister film” to our own upcoming movie, Silver Circle, as we both enjoy the support of The American Film Renaissance Institute, and we are extremely encouraged by the buzz the film is getting today! Independent media– including independent film– is charging forward, free and fearless! Since the day belongs to her, I’ll give Ellen Hubbard the last word– on the subject of whether or not they actually did end up getting Congress to help pay for the Museum of Government Waste, which will also open this year and be run by David Williams of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance:
“I’m not going to tell you because that’s really the point of watching the film.”
And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com
