This "crying over their whiskey" and "licking their wounds" endeavor is a profoundly bad exploration of what might have been. There is not a single thing wrong with Presidential also-ran George McGovern, according to this one-dimensional documentary. The movie asks us to believe that this decent guy (who does share many of my values) would really have turned out to be equal parts Joan of Arc, Sir Lancelot and Teddy Roosevelt had he reached the White House. But sharing my values doesn't mean you have any fight in you. Instead McGovern was just another Casper Milquetoast who couldn't get it done. Even 50 years later, McGovern is as dull as dishwater (he appears here); as earnest, decent and bland as a Dickens protagonist.
Hindsight is always terrific: all things that didn't happen, are 100 percent superior (in some minds) than the awful things that we've watched happen. Well we don't need to see what might have happened with his presidency. We already know what happens to the presidencies of lackluster, nice guys. Their worldview proves to be too simplistic for the challenges that are foisted on them, and they are easily played by the more cynical GOP. Just look at the line-up of weak, apologetic Dems who failed to reach the White House because they couldn't assert themselves (Humphrey, McCarthy, McGovern, Stevenson, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry), or the Dems who did make it to the White House who proved to be extremely weak leaders (Carter, Obama).
Attempting to associate McGovern with Camelot, the imagery of the Kennedy years (see title) is just sad & grasping. Amy Goodman, champion of all things Left, loses some credibility for even associating with this. un-nuanced sob-story. hagiography
Hindsight is always terrific: all things that didn't happen, are 100 percent superior (in some minds) than the awful things that we've watched happen. Well we don't need to see what might have happened with his presidency. We already know what happens to the presidencies of lackluster, nice guys. Their worldview proves to be too simplistic for the challenges that are foisted on them, and they are easily played by the more cynical GOP. Just look at the line-up of weak, apologetic Dems who failed to reach the White House because they couldn't assert themselves (Humphrey, McCarthy, McGovern, Stevenson, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry), or the Dems who did make it to the White House who proved to be extremely weak leaders (Carter, Obama).
Attempting to associate McGovern with Camelot, the imagery of the Kennedy years (see title) is just sad & grasping. Amy Goodman, champion of all things Left, loses some credibility for even associating with this. un-nuanced sob-story. hagiography