Go To The Movies, Get Arrested, All In The Same Afternoon
A young African-American man with Snoop Dog cornrows was selling the tickets for America: From Freedom to Fascism at the Barton Creek AMC today. He was passing them through the circle cut in the window over the book he was reading: The Millionaire Next Door.
Another man—white, middle-aged, wearing khakis, and not a theater employee—was handing out xeroxed fliers about the film that had “WAKE UP!” in bold letters. He wasn’t pushing them into anyone’s hands; people were asking for them. A respectable number of people—the theater perhaps a third full—showed for the 12:30 screening.
None of this was particularly remarkable until the documentary started. The audience groaned, gasped and at certain points, laughed out loud at the absurdity of the truth.
The Aaron Russo (The Rose, Trading Places) documentary is a nonpartisan look at the gradual and unmistakable downward slide that we as a nation have taken toward a fascist state. By means of a starting point, he sets out to find the written law that requires Americans to pay income tax, in which he unearths a startling fact: There isn’t one.
Using this as a benchmark, he explores the judiciary strong-arm tactics used by the agents of the IRS in their effort to collect from perceived deadbeats. The bulk of the film is comprised of compelling interviews with former IRS and FBI agents, tax attorneys and constitutional law scholars, who are all in agreement. The undeniable fact is that the tax system is unconstitutional and exists to benefit the power holdings of a few invisible entities.
Where is all the federal income tax money going? Building schools? No. Constructing highways? No. Creating a strong military? No, again. Property, gasoline and corporate taxes are taking care of those expenses. The portion that is accounted for—and there are trillions which are not—is paying the interest on the National Debt. Are you mad, yet?
Citing readily available written and televised media, the actual quotable quotes from our nations’ leaders and esteemed figures over the past decades backs up Russo’s argument that we are indeed, moving toward a New World Order.
During our screening today, shortly after Russo’s interview with a juror from the Whitey Harrell trial (about halfway through), the khakis-wearing, handbill man from the lobby came in and shouted to the engrossed audience that he was being arrested by mall security. He said if we wanted to see a live example of what the film was about, to come out into the lobby. En masse, men, women and yes, even children got up and filed out of the theater.
Turns out the man, Doug Bell, was a volunteer for live talk radio Republic Broadcasting Network , who was working to promote the film and get people out on opening weekend. In the lobby we stood together behind the tether (no velvet ropes, it’s the mall, after all) and behind Mr. Bell as he spoke his piece to a single--badge-wearing and armed--security guard on the other side.
He asked the officer repeatedly what law he had broken if he had paid ticket price, but opted to stand in the lobby instead to hand out the fliers—an eloquent and timely argument in this situation. The officer explained that this was private property and the owner of the mall (David Simon) made the rules. Okay, NOW we get it.
Once it was obvious Mr. Bell was not going to be arrested, our crowd dispersed back into the darkness of the theater. Clutching our handbills, we felt powerful in our number.
Evolving into a cry for civil disobedience, this documentary moves from the unconstitutional federal income tax, to the unaccountability of the Federal Reserve (a group of privately owned banks) and onward to the new Federal ID Card law which goes into effect in May of 2008.
The shoestring budget didn’t keep it from a standing ovation at Cannes, but is creating difficulties in distribution here in the United States. At the film’s website the makers of the film are asking for grassroots, word-of-mouth support of its message. They offer downloadable .pdf files for handbills with theater information and are seeking donations to cover costs for wider release. Austin joins New York, Chicago, Tampa and Kansas City this weekend in hosting this most important film.
Interview with Aaron Russo is available here.
AMC Barton Creek Showtimes: 10:15am | 12:35pm | 3:05 | 5:35 | 8:05 | 10:35
