’13 Hours’ Review: Riveting Indictment of Obama, Hillary, and The DC Media

by JOHN NOLTE14 Jan 2016936

Director Michael Bay’s riveting, heartbreaking, and infuriating “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” opens with five simple words:  “This Is a True Story.” What it should have read was, “This Is a True Story The Media Has Covered Up For Years.”

God damn these people to Hell.

Let me start things off by pointing and laughing at George Clooney, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tim Robbins, John Cusack, Leonardo Di Caprio, Paul Greengrass, Matt Damon, and Paul Haggis — all of whom made films critical of a sitting president’s foreign policy that ended up being, not onlybox office catastrophes, but creative embarrassments; completely forgettable, preachy, pedantic, just plain lousy movies no one will ever see again.

Now I have even worse news for them…

Michael Bay — you know, the guy who makes those “Transformers” movies —  just made a film critical of a sitting president’s foreign policy, and knocked it straight out of the park.

Bay’s “13 Hours” is not only a compelling, unbearably tense, brilliantly choreographed action film, but like a true artist, he does not stoop to being preachy or pedantic to make a damning case against a Obama Administration, that not only has a depraved indifference towards the truth, but also towards American lives.

On September 11, 2012, a horde of armed terrorists launched nothing close to a protest spurred by an anti-Muslim YouTube video. There is no question the attack against our diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, was coordinated, swift and deadly. Despite repeated pleas for additional security (all ignored by Hillary Clinton’s State Department), Ambassador Chris Stevens had only unreliable locals and a handful of State Department agents protecting him.

The battle was lost before it began.

Just a mile away was our not-so-secret CIA outpost. As soon as the militants hit, the outpost called the CIA annex begging for help. Within minutes, six security contractors stationed there, all former special forces-operators, were ready to launch a rescue mission. The CIA annex chief (David Costabile) refused to let them go. Repeatedly, the six men are ordered to stand down.

For 20 agonizing minutes, Jack (John Krasinski), Rone (James Badge Dale), Oz (Max Martini), Tanto (Pablo Schreiber), Tig (Dominic Fumusa), and Boon (David Denman) wait in a bureaucratic hell. One says in frustration and disbelief, “If the consulate had ordered a fucking pizza it would have been there by now.”

From the roof, these warriors watch helplessly as the flames consuming the consulate burn higher. Now that it looks like a suicide mission instead of a rescue mission, they ignore the stand down order and do their duty.

While there is no questions those 20 precious minutes cost the lives of a fine ambassador and Information Management Officer Sean Smith, the six man team is still able to rescue a handful of American personnel and, after a brutal firefight, make it back to the CIA compound.

Unfortunately, their problems have only just begun. Armed militants, who are part of the al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar al-Sharia, gather in the dark, creep, attack in waves, retreat, and then prepare to start all over having learned more about the annex’s defenses.

There is no question, though, that the arch-villain of “13 Hours” is the White House and Clinton’s State Department. Bay never names names, never launches a diatribe, but his fury at the American government for abandoning these men, along with the 30 or so others stationed at the annex, is both palpable and contagious. (An offhand comment about one of the attacking terrorists being a former Gitmo detainee is especially timely.)

Overhead, throughout this terrible night, a military drone witnesses everything, and our government does nothing. Repeatedly, desperate calls are made begging for air support — if nothing else, a simple flyover to scare the militants. Just a few hundred miles away, F-14s sit idle on an aircraft carrier.

Even the next morning, after it is all over, even after two more brave men are dead and all the CIA staffers have been placed safely aboard a departing plane, the American government doesn’t come. Our heroes have to rely on a foreign government to get them home.

The pacing is breathless, the acting superb, and no one’s humanity is forgotten in the process. Ambassador Stevens is portrayed as a heroic idealist, and you cannot help but mourn his loss. Even the CIA chief is not portrayed as a one-dimensional villain. He may be a bureaucrat but he is a competent one.

In the middle of it all, during a rare break in the danger, the incredulous men learn that our corrupt media has already assumed their favorite position as a Tool of the State; that the media is already dutifully reporting the White House lies about protests and YouTube videos; already working hand-in-hand with the Obama campaign to cover-up the truth to re-elect a failed president.

To protect their role in that cover-up, and to drag Hillary Clinton over her own finish line, that cover-up continues to this day. The real injustice, though, has nothing to do with politics. What happened over those 13 hours was a modern-day Alamo, and because our DC Media is nothing more than a pile of boot-licking liars and propagandists, these six heroes have had to wait three years to receive their due.

In case I didn’t mention it, “13 Hours” is nothing close to political.

Michael Bay simply told the truth.

 

Follow John Nolte on Twitter@NolteNC               

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Big Hollywood, 2016 Presidential Race,Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, 13 Hours, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Hillary Clinton’s national lead is slipping faster in 2016 than it did in 2008

www.washingtonpost.com

In 2008, Hillary Clinton saddled up for the Kentucky Derby on a thoroughbred that was a sure thing. Her campaign was the finest colt in Kentucky, at odds that barely made it worth betting on her. The race began, and she was up by a quarter mile. Then, as another jockey started to gain, she slipped out of her saddle. She was barely hanging on, bumping along against the dirt, bruised and struggling and still hanging in there a half-a-length back. And then she lost and grudgingly wished the victor luck in winning the Triple Crown.

So you have to figure that, when 2016 rolled around and everyone was saying, "No, this horse is a sure thing," she was a bit wary. But she got on. She ran strong. She did well. And now, in the final turn, there might be something wrong with the saddle.

If we compare where Clinton is now in theReal Clear Politics polling average, the 2016 picture and the 2008 picture aren't really all that similar. Nationally, she was doing much better in 2008 than she is right now, perhaps in part because the anti-Clinton vote in 2008 was still split between two people -- Barack Obama and John Edwards -- instead of just one. But that recent trend line, a function of two new national polls that were close after a bit of a lull, is not very good news.

In Iowa, Clinton is running a bit better than she did in 2008 -- though, again, she's dipped significantly recently. It wasn't until the last week in 2008 that she fell out of the lead. She eventually came in third.

She's doing far worse in New Hampshire than she did in 2008, thanks to New Hampshire being very much the home turf (and home demographics) of her main opponent. In 2008, her lead in New Hampshire evaporated after her Iowa finish, but she then managed to win anyway.

A critical point to take away from this -- a point that we've made often before -- is that voting changes polling. If you look at her national numbers after Iowa in 2008, she lost three-quarters of her lead after the caucuses -- but gained some of it back after her win in New Hampshire.

In 2016, there's also a big difference between the demographics in Iowa and New Hampshire and other early states, which are much less white. Bernie Sanders struggles with non-white voters, so we can expect to see more dramatic changes after these early states vote.

National numbers don't mean much right now. They're fickle. You can slip out of your saddle, you horse can stumble, and you can still win the race. But it can't be much fun to have it happen in two big races in a row.

Former president Bill Clinton spoke in New Hampshire on Jan. 4, his first speech in support of his wife, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, in 2016. (The Washington Post)

COMMENTS

Iran's Propaganda Victory in One Illegal Image

www.nationalreview.com

Here it is:

This photograph violates international law. Article 13 of the Geneva Convention (III), governing the treatment of prisoners of war, requires Iran to protect prisoners against “insults and public curiosity.” This photograph — including a female sailor apparently forced to wear a headscarf – is a quintessential example of “public curiosity” and would be interpreted as insulting throughout the Muslim world. (And if you don’t think Iran is in a state of armed conflict against the United States, tell that to the families of hundreds of American soldiers who’ve lost their lives to Iranians and Iranian-backed terrorists.)

The sight of members of the American military, disarmed and under Iranian control, is of enormous propaganda value in Iran’s ongoing war against the United States. To its allies in the Middle East, the photo demonstrates Iran’s strength – how many jihadist countries have had this many American servicemembers under their power? – and it demonstrates American weakness. Then there’s this:

“This time, the Americans were cooperative in proving their innocence, and they quickly accepted their faults without resistance,” the analyst, Hamidreza Taraghi, said in a phone interview. “The Marines apologized for having strayed into Iranian waters.”

Never fear, John Kerry made friends with the Iranians, and that made all the difference:

Also playing a role was the strong relationship that has developed between Mr. Kerry and the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, during negotiations on the nuclear deal, Mr. Taraghi said.

“John Kerry and Zarif were on the phone during the past hours, and this helped the problem to be resolved quickly due to their direct contact,” he said.

Nations that take illegal propaganda photos, crow about their seizure of American boats, confiscate part of their equipment, and then point to our allegedly admitted faults aren’t “easing tensions,” they’re flexing their muscles. I’m glad our sailors and boats are back in American hands — minus, apparently, their GPS equipment — but once again Iran has thumbed its nose at the U.S., demonstrating that it does what it wants — whether it’s testing missiles, launching rockets near U.S. warships, or taking, questioning, and photographing American sailors who (allegedly) stray into Iranian waters.

Well, at least our secretary of defense understood the gravity of Iran’s actions:

Around the world, the U.S. Navy routinely provides assistance to foreign sailors in distress, and we appreciate the timely way in which this situation was resolved.

Iran violates international law, and the United States thanks the jihadists for not doing worse. Our country is in the very best of hands.

UPDATE: Now Iran is showing surrender images on television, deliberately humiliating Americans for their home audience:

John Kerry thanked Iran for how they treated our soldiers. Here they are being paraded as trophies on Iranian TV

pic.twitter.com/kVkmVYKHzM

— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) January 13, 2016

COMMENTS

Glutted oil market faces new flood from Iran | The Times

www.thetimes.co.uk

Millions of extra barrels of Iranian crude oil could begin spilling on to world markets next week, adding further to fierce downward pressure on prices, experts have warned.

With the United Nations, which completed inspections at an Iranian nuclear site yesterday, expected to approve the removal of trade sanctions as early as Monday, Iran has pledged to begin pumping up to half a million barrels of extra crude per day within one week.

The excess output promises to exacerbate a growing international glut of oil that has already sent prices sinking to their lowest level in 12 years. The price

COMMENTS

'13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi': Film Review

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Michael Bay's latest action extravaganza portrays the deadly 2012 attack on an American diplomatic compound in Libya.

The vast and underserved heartland audience that made such a smash out of American Sniper a year ago finally has some fresh red meat to call its own in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Michael Bay's latest in-between-Transformers picture actually features just as much action as his giant toy extravaganzas, being an account of the waves of intense firefights that occurred at the American compound in Libya's second city on Sept. 11-12, 2012. The big selling point of Mitchell Zuckoff's book about the incident, which cost the life of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others, was its revelation of the hitherto unknown role special ops played in holding marauding local radicals at bay until all American personnel could be evacuated.

But while this adaptation superficially goes out of its way to avoid being overtly political, its patriotic tenor is as unmistakable as its sentimentality. Even if an unmentioned Hillary Clinton has nothing specific to worry about in regard to the film's content, its mere existence will stir up fresh talk about her behavior regarding the incident, and there's no doubt that Donald Trump fans will eat this up more enthusiastically than anyone.

Although it was never presented as such in news accounts, the siege on the diplomatic enclave and the secret CIA facility a mile away resembles in its dramatization nothing so much as the battle of the Alamo, albeit with a better ending as far as the Americans were concerned. As with so many accounts of Western involvement in the Middle East and other regions — Black Hawk Down, for starters — this is the story of a fiasco, one made less so by the fierce and selfless commitment of a few good men whose old-fashioned kick-ass attitudes form the crux of the yarn's appeal.

Anything remotely relating to the ongoing controversy over then-Secretary of State Clinton's actions, emails and what she knew when remains implicit; when it's stated that both American diplomatic outposts in anarchic, post-Muammar Gaddafi Libya, including the relevant one in Benghazi, were among the 12 such sites on the worldwide “critical” list, meaning they were inadequately secured and vulnerable to attack, one is nonetheless left to ponder where the buck stops on this sort of thing.

In any event, the government's answer is to supply a band-aid in the form of several “private security officers,” the first among equals being former Navy SEAL Jack Silva (John Krasinski), who leaves his family behind one more time to take on a precarious assignment. His impersonation of Davy Crockett is flanked by five other guys with nicknames like Tig and Boon and Tanto and Oz and who are played by buff 30-ish actors whose bushy beards make it next to impossible to tell them apart. But, this being a Michael Bay movie, we can rest assured that they're all tough, potty-mouthed and at their best when sporting night-vision goggles and handling multiple forms of heavy artillery.

Read more Box-Office Preview: Michael Bay's Benghazi Movie '13 Hours' Could Be Politically Divisive

Despite the well-conveyed sense of danger that seems to lurk down every street (some of Bay's best work comes in multiple scenes of vehicles becoming trapped by would-be enemies), suspicious characters seen photographing the Yank facilities and the well-known proliferation of competing gangster and/or radical Islamist factions, official American naivete about such matters prevails from the outset; the CIA, led locally by a hard-headed, by-the-book chief (David Costabile), loftily proclaims that, “There is no real threat here,” while Ambassador Stevens (Matt Letscher) arrives to make a ludicrously optimistic speech about future prospects.

The Americans advisedly lay low on the eleventh anniversary of 9/11 and the day passes uneventfully. The night, however, is another matter. Aided by missiles, a mob attacks the compound at dusk, setting parts of it afire. Confusion reigns: Ambassador Stevens and his aide Sean Smith (Christopher Dingli) are separated from the security force and retreating to a safe room doesn't protect them from heavy smoke that seeps in under the door (Stevens was determined to have died from smoke inhalation). The closest other Americans are 400 miles away in Tripoli and the nearest Air Force jets are based in Sicily; there's no help to be had.

Although terrible damage has been done, the invaders are eventually repulsed by the small band of Americans doing some very expert shooting. Fighting continues on the streets in scenes that carry a violent video-game feel, a new wave of marauders is turned back and, as at the Alamo, a period of low-simmering anxiety permeates the night as a follow-up bombardment is awaited.

On the plus side, the logistics of the situation are well conveyed; the position of the compound on the edge of the city, the considerable distance between the two American buildings and their easy accessibility by would-be troublemakers due to their being bordered by public streets — all this is clearly presented.

Read more 'Ride Along 2': Film Review

On the other hand, there is a noticeable absence of dramatic modulation. To complain about this sort of stylistic shortcoming in a Transformers movie would seem akin to faulting a dish at Denny's for a lack of subtle seasoning. But in this context, and given the solidly constructed and reasonably comprehensive script by Chuck Hogan (The Town), it's easier to see what Bay's style is all about, which is achieving a high level of intensity and then keeping it there, without variance. To use what, under the circumstances, is a far too convenient metaphor, Bay is interested in accelerating from zero to 100 as quickly as possible and then maintaining speed, rather than skillfully shifting gears and adjusting speeds based on curves, hills and road conditions. In this case, he gets you there, but you know the ride could have been a lot more varied and nuanced.

Just as dawn begins to show itself, the mob launches a well-aimed mortar attack from just outside the nearby gates, which is met by ferocious retaliation from the special ops. Little is spared in terms of showing what very high caliber ammo can do to a human body, and there is no doubt that combat and weapons freaks will get off on the comprehensive and detailed display of the latest equipment. At one point, Bay can't resist repeating a shot he introduced in Pearl Harbor that shows a large mortar shell falling slowly and then exploding.

The film's worst moments reside in its cheap bids at sentiment in some of the men's brief exchanges with distant loved ones, its calculated and banal paeans to family life expressed via video links. Unlike American Sniper, this film doesn't bring up, much less explore, the tension within many men between the lure of danger and excitement and the longing for intimacy and home.

Indistinct as some of them are within the group setting, the actors do their tough and gruff stuff perfectly well, led by Krasinski and James Badge Dale. As very few would claim to know what Benghazi actually looks like, one can only presume that the vivid and evocative locations in Malta and Morocco serve their purpose very well, while production designer Jeffrey Beecroft's reproduction of the American compound appears accurate down to the smallest detail. All craft contributions are robust, while the musical score by Lorne Balfe achieves some weird and creepy effects.

Read more Michael Bay Returning as Director for 'Transformers 5'

Distributor: Paramount Production: 3 Arts Entertainment, Bay Films Cast: James Badge Dale, John Krasinski, Max Martini, Pablo Schreiber, Toby Stephens, Dominic Fumusa, Matt Letscher, David Denman, David Giuntoli, David Costabile, Demetrius Gross, Alexia Barlier, Christopher Dingli Director: Michael Bay Screenwriter: Chuck Hogan, based on the book 13 Hours by Mitchell Zuckoff and members of the Annex Security Team Director of photography: Dion Beebe Production designer: Jeffrey Beecroft Costume designer: Deborah Lynn Scott Editors: Pietro Scalia, Calvin Wimmer Music: Lorne Balfe Casting: Denise Charmian, Edward Said

Rated R, 144 minutes

COMMENTS

Trump More Than Doubles National Lead in NBC/WSJ Poll

www.nbcnews.com

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Donald Trump has more than doubled his national lead in the Republican presidential race ahead of Thursday night's GOP debate here, according to the results from a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Trump is the first choice of 33 percent of national Republican primary voters - his highest percentage in the poll. He's followed by Ted Cruz at 20 percent, Marco Rubio at 13 percent and Ben Carson at 12 percent. Chris Christie and Jeb Bush are tied at five percent. No other Republican presidential candidate gets more than 3 percent.

Trump's 13-point lead over Cruz is an increase from last month, when he held a five-point advantage over the Texas senator, 27 percent to 22 percent.

Yet in a hypothetical one-on-one race between the two Republicans, Cruz tops Trump, 51 percent to 43 percent, while Trump beats Rubio in their one-on-one matchup, 52 percent to 45 percent.

In a three-way contest featuring the Top 3 Republicans in the poll, Trump gets 40 percent, Cruz 31 percent and Rubio 26 percent, underscoring the overall strengthen out of the outsider/insurgent wing of the Republican Party.

Maybe the most striking finding in this NBC/WSJ poll is the growing GOP acceptance of Trump. Back in March, only 23 percent of Republican primary voters said they could see themselves supporting the real-estate mogul. Now that number stands at 65 percent.

The Republican candidates with the highest percentages on this question are Cruz (at 71 percent, up from 40 percent in March) and Rubio (at 67 percent, up from 56 percent 10 months ago).

By contrast, only 42 percent of Republicans say that they can see themselves supporting Jeb Bush, which is down from 75 percent in June.

Sixty percent of GOP primary voters say they can see themselves backing Carson - down from 77 percent in the late Oct. 2015 NBC/WSJ poll, when he was leading the Republican field.

The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies (a Republican polling firm) and Hart Research Associates (a Democratic firm) from Jan. 9-13. The margin of error for the responses among the 400 Republican primary voters is plus-minus 4.9 percentage points. For this full poll, click here.

COMMENTS

Oscars: Al Sharpton Criticizes "Fraudulent" Hollywood Over Zero Nonwhite Acting Noms

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Al Sharpton lit into Hollywood Thursday morning after this year's Oscar nominations were released and not a single African American was up for one of the 20 available slots in the four acting categories. 

This marks the second year with this result; the protest hashtag last year was #OscarsSoWhite.

Before that, 2011 was the last time all of the acting contenders were white and then again in 1998.

Sharpton criticized the industry for having a "fraudulent image of progressive and liberal politics and policies" and compared success in Tinseltown to climbing the Rocky Mountains.

“Hollywood is like the Rocky Mountains, the higher up you get the whiter it gets and this year’s Academy Awards will be yet another Rocky Mountain Oscars. Yet again, deserving Black actors and directors were ignored by the Academy – which reinforces the fact that there are few if any Blacks with real power in Hollywood," Sharpton said in a statement.

He added: "Being left out of Awards consideration is about more than just recognition for a job well done; winning an Oscar has long-lasting cultural and economic impacts."

The Academy attempted to diversify membership, inviting 322 new members over the summer, which included Selma star David Oyelowo, British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who appears in Concussion, and Compton director F. Gary Gray.

Awards-caliber films focused on African American stories and performances included Compton, Beasts of No Nation, Will Smith in Concussion, Michael B. Jordan in Creed, Idris Elba in Beasts and Samuel L. Jackson in The Hateful Eight.

Last year, David Oyelowo, who was praised for his role as the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, was one of the most notable snubs. 

All white Oscar nominations are another example of the lack of diversity in Hollywood. Like the Rocky Mts. The higher u climb the whiter.

— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl)January 14, 2016

Hollywood has a fraudulent image of progressive and liberal politics and policies. We must take direct action to correct this. Talk is cheap

— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl)January 14, 2016

Gregg Kilday contributed to this report.

COMMENTS