Has anybody else seen the movie Boogie Man about Lee Atwater?

[JDPriestly]

I finally watched it. Atwater was satanic. Really.

But every Democrat who wants to understand what makes the Republican Party tick, what makes Karl Rove tick, what got the Bushes where they were, must see that movie.

If you have seen it, I'd love to hear what you thought of it.

I thought Lee Atwater truly was a sort of anti-Christ. He was evil incarnate, evil incarnate. The movie makes you wonder whether Karma could work that fast because he was such an evil person and then died under such humiliating and painful conditions. At the end, he looked like the monster he really was.

[Loki]

1. I remember watching that some time ago

and I vaguely remember Atwater and his dirty deeds, and after watching, I kept thinking how sometimes all the havoc we wreck on people's lives and the power that we misuse comes back to haunt us in ways we can't imagine. I think he knew at the end that even with all his pronouncements of "salvation" and "I'm sorry" that it wouldn't stop what was coming before and after his life ended. I wouldn't want to be in Karl Rove or Dick Cheney's shoes, it will be coming for them, don't know what time or what place, but it will come.

[JDPriestly]

5. Do you remember what a strange intensity Atwater had in his eyes

all the time. I wondered whether he was taking some sort of drug. Has anyone else noticed that? I don't know how various drugs might affect the eyes. Atwater was also extremely fidgety. I knew someone that took methamphetamines. She looked strange and was extremely jumpy but was also obsessed with silly details.

In one scene, GWB looks a bit more than tipsy too. That is the scene in which Atwater and Bush appear on stage together and one introduces the other. They look overly excited and happy. But then maybe it was just a very happy time, and maybe they had been drinking. Alcohol is a bit of a depressant, however. I would not expect people to act like Atwater and GWB did if they were high on alcohol. I do not recall that their speech was slurred.

[90-percent]

2. Atwater/Rove

I hope I have this correct;

Atwater worked for Poppy Bush. Rove learned at the feet of Atwater. Some time later, Poppy fired Rove because he was "over the top" in sleaziness.

Later on, Rove latched on to GW and Poppy tried to dissuade his son from involvement with Rove, but GW liked to defy dad now and then and kept Rove on.

Do I have this folklore about Atwater's legacy correct here? Please advise.

-90% jimmy

[JDPriestly]

4. The film showed Karl Rove but did not focus on Rove's relationship with GWB

since Atwater died before GWB was elected.

[Loki]

9. That's pretty close

but Karl goes even further back than that. Interesting anecdote......he worked in the Nixon campaign in 1972 and according to John Dean, the Watergate prosecutors became aware of Karl's "activities" related to re-elect Nixon, but had plenty of other things on their plates during that time.

[slampoet]

3. I remember Atwater's appearence on Late-nite with David Letterman where he played with Paul Schafer

and the band, all night.

I was never better reminded that NBC is owned by an arms company.

[Berry Cool]

6. I will never forget the story about how Atwater's toddler brother died.

According to his biographer, their mother had decided to make doughnuts for the kids while they waited for their father to return home. She filled a deep fryer with oil and heated it for frying. Somehow, his brother was able to grab the handle and pull the fryer full of boiling hot oil over onto himself.

Atwater supposedly witnessed this horrible accident. I can't help but wonder if it permanently warped his soul...to the point where any conscience he may have possessed as a child disappeared. Sort of, if you live in a world in which you can watch your little brother die like that, what's to stop you from becoming a complete nihilist about life and the world and everything in it? What's to stop you from simply giving up and becoming a dark, rotted soul who doesn't care about anyone else in the world and will do whatever it takes to "win" in your own book?

[Berry Cool]

7. But I do want to add, the "Karma" thing is bullshit.

"Karma" doesn't explain why people get cancer and die relatively young. After all, I'm sure Atwater's little brother did nothing to "deserve" his own horrible death. And I'm sure that when he died the poor thing looked pretty monstrous, too.

[PassingFair]

12. Second you on the "karma" superstition, Berry.

Bad things happen to good people too.

Very bad things.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Saw it years ago

A great example of Karma.

[KoKo]

10. I saw it well over a year ago at Indie Theater here in NC..It was very interesting.

I was amazed at how much "air time" that Howard Fineman gets in Dem Indy Movies. (He's always there)...makes me think he might be closer to Liberal than he lets on.

Anyway...for anyone who knows Southern Politics it's not hard to understand how Atwater came about. Remember..Civil War started with Shot across Charleston, SC...and they've profited there ever since.

It was a good watch.......

BTW...Atwater wasn't EVIL...he was just a Southern Good Old Boy doing what they do down here in the POWER CENTER that still has a hand in running our Government. It really isn't all Harvard and Yale...it's the OLD COLONIALISTS..and the FUNDIE BAPTIST POWERS from the NIXON NEW SOUTH combined with the POWERS THAT BE! What a COALITION!

[KoKo]

11. BTW...I RECOMMEND watching this to ALL DU'ers..wherever you can find it online, Netflix, Library or

from neighbor... It's really worth the watch if you don't know his history and are trying to parse out in your mind where we are these days...and the LEGACY of how we got to this SHIT place we are..:-(