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HOT POPCORN ITEM
The Irony Of Hype
By
Omar P.L. Moore/July
23, 2008
Special to The Popcorn Reel
LOS ANGELES, California
John Ennis' documentary "Free For All!", the free online feature about
Ohio politics and the role of former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell in
the presidential election of 2004 and the gubernatorial election of 2006, has
been a lightning rod success on the Internet so far since its debut on July 4.
Now, John Ennis' documentary's chief subject appears in the trailer of a film to
be released in September to coincide with the Republican National Convention.
"Hype: The Obama Effect" will open in select U.S. movie theaters in September,
but it's what Mr. Blackwell says in the film's trailer that has raised a few
eyebrows: "It is only when you begin peeling back the layers," Mr. Blackwell
says in the trailer of Senator Barack Obama, "that you find a disturbing
pattern."
Mr. Ennis, a Los Angeles-based citizen journalist, is a voter registered with
neither of the two major U.S. political parties. Even so, he was irked by
what he saw as the contradictions in Mr. Blackwell's statement on the
presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
"Believe me, the layers and disturbing patterns of Blackwell are as rich as any
tragic hero (or villain) in classic literature, and as plainly broadcast as a
high school theater production," said Mr.
Ennis.
Tonight Mr. Ennis was also quoted in a statement about "Hype: The Obama Effect",
saying that "this is obviously a smear film against Obama, and it happens to
feature my leading man from "Free For All!" -- Ken Blackwell. Most people
don't know that as Ohio's Secretary of State, Blackwell, who happens to be
African American, instigated tactics that resulted in the disenfranchisement of
large numbers of African Americans at the polls during the 2004 and 2006
elections. In 2004, his role was similar to that of Katherine Harris'
role in Florida during the 2000 election."
Ms. Harris, the former Secretary of State in Florida had ordered the purging of
the voting rolls of dozens of thousands of legally-registered black voters, who
due to a corporation named Data Base Technologies (or Choicepoint), which the
Secretary's office in conjunction with then Florida governor Jeb Bush paid $3
million to DBT to create a computer program that made the voter
registration records of up to 100,000 registered black voters in the state disappear.
Many of these "purged" voters turned up to vote on November 7, 2000 only to be told that they weren't
registered.
The Popcorn Reel Film Review:
"Free For All!"
Watch "Free For All!", John Ennis' documentary
here
"Free For All!"
trailer
"Hype: The Obama Effect"
trailer
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