‘Post’ Nightmare: Spielberg, Streep Dodge Killer Obama Question
Some media observers say overseas reporters cover U.S. politics better than stateside scribes.
It’s a case-by-case situation, of course. It’s not far from the truth, though. We saw a great example of it recently courtesy of the BBC.
“The Post,” out in select theaters now and going wide Jan. 12, stars Meryl Streep as Katherine Graham, The Washington Post publisher circa 1971. Graham approved the publication of The Pentagon Papers under great duress, a watershed moment in journalism. Tom Hanks co-stars as editor Ben Bradlee, and Oscar winner Steven Spielberg is behind the camera.
Talk about heavy hitters.
![The Post | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX](https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FnrXlY6gzTTM%2F0.jpg)
The story itself is both true and significant to U.S. history. That’s catnip to Oscar voters. It doesn’t hurt to have the legendary trio of Hanks, Streep and Spielberg fueling the film. Together, they account for nine Academy Awards.
Stateside reporters are fawning over “The Post” as if it’s the most important drama of the hour, if not the minute.
Why?
In Trump’s America, good journalism matters … more than ever. Or so we’re told. What’s left unsaid? How the era of fake news and monumental MSM gaffes shattered our already shaky trust in news outlets. That’s a subject few, if any, U.S. based reporters will throw at the trio.
What a shame.
Yet one reporter did his homework and asked an equally tough query.
Meet Husam Sam Asi, a BBC TV host and founder of ukscreen.com. Asi recently interviewed “The Post” stars on a range of subjects captured in the following 10-minute clip.
Asi, a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) since 2010, wasn’t satisfied with throwing the screen legends softballs. He hunkered down and challenged them with more substantial queries.
For example, he reminded Streep and Spielberg that President Barack Obama flexed his might against journalists via the Espionage Act. Here’s how Jake Tapper put it:
“The Obama administration has used the Espionage Act to go after whistleblowers who leaked to journalists … more than all previous administrations combined.”
That doesn’t take into account Obama’s war against Fox News or how he spied on Fox News’ James Rosen.
How did Streep and Spielberg, hardcore Democrats who supported Obama during his two presidential terms, react? Let’s just say each has a potent political career awaiting them given their fancy footwork.
Here’s Asi’s corker:
“If you look at the numbers, there were more prosecutions under the Espionage Act during the Obama administration than any other administration. Yet no one in Hollywood was urged to say something about it, or do something about it…”
How did Spielberg answer?
He didn’t. He dodged the question entirely, rambling on about how Daniel Ellsberg, the key source behind The Pentagon Papers’ acquisition, wanted to stop the Vietnam War. Or something. Watch the clip yourself and see if his answer even remotely addresses the question (start at the 7:35 mark).
What about Streep?
The video doesn’t directly connect the question and answer, although given Streep’s response it’s apparent she’s attempting to answer it without actually doing so.
“I think it’s good that that is exposed now. I think we have to hold not only people that we have adversarial political views from to task but I think we also have to hold our friends and our compatriots, people who follow a line of policy that we agree with, we have to hold them to the same standard. I think that’s absolutely valid and important. And that’s sort of what the film is about.”
Asi asked a tough, but fair, question to these A-list stars. He deserves plenty of credit for that … even if the stars couldn’t fairly fire off a response.
In the warped realty these people live in, anything which does not support the “narrative” is obviously false and should be ignored. Putting it right in front of them like that made it impossible to ignore, so they had to sidestep around it.
Keep pushing reality at them and their pretzel like contortions will become interesting indeed.
Dude, Trump has been like the worst dictator and stuff.
Tap dancing while asking for re-write.
Streep (for whom I carry no water and hold in deep disregard) actually replied to the question–not head one directly, but it was a reply. Spielberg, not so much.
He will soon be known as that motherfrackin’ ex-BBC journalist.
Cuz Barry Zer0bama was their Boi. They’re also upset that their Gurl, HiLIARy, lost. As one of her fundraising henchmen, y’all a betcha Hardey Weinerstein would have been empowered to continue harassing females with his 1-D Wander Erection if she won. Lucky for womyn everywhere that the Big D won, $chlonging the opposition with their own gripes against him (Russian collusion, sexual harassment, etc.). Not surprised they made a movie glorifying Washing a ton of comPost…
Don’t you dare call that LOSER Hillary a LOSER just because she LOST, bigly, to a Reality TV attention-whore.
2 Dec 1987: who knew 30 years later that DJT would be President, carrying out his vision to #MAGA? His interview on David Letterman’s NBC late night show demonstrated his smarts, media savvy, diplomacy, and an understanding of the US/World, which was the genesis of #MAGA: https://youtu.be/wVsAir5fDbs
Hitlery: Spielberg, Streep, and Hanks wholeheartedly endorsed her modified campaign slogan for Hollywood: “I’m With Führer”
They are faces. They are directed where to stand, what to say, and what to emote. Empty shells that need thousands of others doing myriad tasks to make them presentable.
Don’t forget that the Ellsberg papers were not about Nixon’s handling of the war. He got US ground troops out of the war. The papers were about the Kenned and Johnson administrations. Nixon defended the principle that a government employee should not have published the information.
…and for that he was crucified.
Nixon’s real crime was not the crimes that were committed in his name, but the cover up he initiated. If he had immediately gone public, and then urged the DoJ to punish the miscreants to the fullest extent of the law, he would never have had to resign under the threat of impeachment.
Nixon’s real crime was much earlier. That of being an active member of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Alger Hiss was one of their class. Richard Nixon was not. In their view, Nixon, not Hiss, committed an unspeakable crime.
Yea,and the irony of it is that Hiss wasn’t busted on any sort of espionage charge…they nailed him for perjury
And when is Obama going to be held accountable for the vast coverups in his administration? From Benghazi, to Hillary’s servers, to Fast and Furious … I could go on and on.
Yeah, never leave out the weaponization of the IRS, and his multi-trillion dollar, coveted “Lie of the Year” award…
Let’s not forget “Citizen’s United” – where the Obama Administration argued before the Supreme Court that Barry had the right to ban ANY form of media, (including but not limited to television, newspapers, magazines, radio, the Internet, books and … pamphlets) two months before a national election and a month before either a local election or a national primary.
The list goes on and on.
The info was classified. His position was the same as every President. You don’t publish classified materiel. The Democrats attacked him for trying to protect two Democrats Something the movie leaves out. Democrats are all politics all the time
Funny that all connected to the break-in were connected, at times, to the CIA.
Just saying. Oh, and the Watergate leaker was active FBI.
But without Nixon or McCarthy to be Snidely Whiplash, nobody would see it at all.
Please stop referring to these knee-jerks as “A List stars.” They are just good mimics with great publicity machines based on their being photogenic. They are not expert at anything other than self-promotion. They have studied nothing; they have debated no-one, and they are openly biased against those who disagree with their narrow gilded perspective of how the world should be. Actually they are rather dumb.
THey are all these things you mention but they are A list stars because of their esteem and their box office draws.
Actually they are no longer even photogenic, not entirely their fault, Hanks and Streep are getting on in age. Excessive alcohol consumption doesnt help either…
Streeptococcus is not an A list star, her name on the marquee is guaranteed box office nerve gas.