Phil Donahue at Brave New Films

BRAVE NEW REVIEW: Body of War

2008-06-16T03:29:47Z

(Body of War - documentary - 87 min - produced and directed by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue - starring Tomas Young, Cathy Smith, Brie Young - 2008)

Inspired by George W. Bush's promise to catch the "evildoers" as he stood atop the rubble of Ground Zero, Tomas Young of Kansas City, Missouri decided to quit his job at K-Mart and called up an army recruiter on September 13, 2001. Tomas assumed he'd be sent to Afghanistan to hunt down Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, but in March 2004, he found himself in Iraq. Just days after arriving, he was riding in an open-top, unarmored personnel carrier when a bullet severed his spinal cord, paralyzing him from the chest down. Tomas had never fired a shot. He was 24 years old.

Tomas's paralyzed body is the subject of Body of War, a new documentary from co-producers/co-directors Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue. But Tomas's wounded, malfunctioning body is both a symbol and evidence of so much more: the lies that led the US into the Iraq war; the failure of Congress to exercise its duties and judgment to prevent this historic blunder; a broken and neglected system for taking care of wounded veterans; and the destructive toll inflicted on the tiny percentage of Americans who are doing virtually all of the sacrificing in this conflict. It is a sad reminder of what happens when a nation, or a young man, rushes to war. But it's also about how, with the benefit of hindsight, a person or a nation crippled by a criminal war can emerge from tragedy to demand accountability and change.

Arianna Huffington Speaks at Brave New Films

2008-07-24T12:54:18Z

Yesterday more than a hundred activists, celebrities and other visitors crowded into the courtyard of Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films in Culver City to hear political pundit and Huffington Post editor Arianna Huffington speak about politics and her new book “Right is Wrong.”

Politically activated media makers like Phil Donahue and Laurie David listened as Arianna described a major shift in politics whereby traditionally progressive ideas are fast becoming mainstream thinking. She minced no words in her description of John McCain’s Faustian bargain with the extreme right wing and the mainstream media’s ongoing journey away from principles of truth and integrity. You can see highlights from the talk in the clip, but to get the full story you’ll just have to buy her book.

Watch the video

Donahue's "Body of War"

2008-07-05T00:23:23Z

Watch the entire show at www.theyoungturks.com

Watch the video

I Destroy Hannity's Best Argument for Endless Iraq War

2008-07-24T13:48:29Z

Phil Donahue was a guest on Hannity and Colmes last Wed. (4/8/08) to promote the documentary Body of War, about a paralyzed soldier’s journey as he comes to grips with his disability and the truth about the Iraq war. Donahue, who co-directed and executive produced the film, did a great job of exposing the violent, short-sighted idiocy of Hannity/neocon “ideology”, which you can see or can read about here, but I'd like to address something else.

Hannity decided to strain his active brain cells and present his best, most airtight, "fundamental" argument for why America needs to stay in Iraq forever — that Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, Hamas, Al Qaeda, etc. (scared yet?) are the modern-day equivalents of fascism, imperial Japan, communism, Nazis, etc., which were all "evil" and took huge amounts of American blood, money, and sacrifice for our nation to defeat.

This was Hannity's best argument for why the US should stay in Iraq forever, continuing to spend over $12 billion a month; cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis; maim and destroy the minds, lives, and families of American soldiers; and lose the respect, love, and authority of the world.

I can debunk it in one sentence.

If staying in Iraq so the US can "win" is so important, call for a draft immediately and demand massive amounts of national sacrifice from every American citizen.

That's where Hannity's "best" argument completely crumbles.

Body of War: Phil Donahue & Iraq Vet Tomas Young

2008-07-24T12:51:54Z

Twenty-two year-old Tomas Young called his Army recruiter on September 13, 2001. He wanted to go to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Instead, his unit was sent to Iraq in March 2004. Less than a week after arriving, Young suffered a shot to the collarbone that left him paralyzed from the chest down. While Young was recovering at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington DC, he met former talk-show host Phil Donahue.

"I didn't know then that I was going to make a movie," Donahue said last night at a Reel Progress screening of the film. But upon hearing Young's story, he wanted to show the human costs of war to a larger audience. Donahue had never made a movie, so he partnered with documentary filmmaker Ellen Spiro. The resulting film, "Body of War," follows Young from his 2005 wedding, through his daily struggles with physical disability, to his involvement in Iraq Veterans Against the War, all set against the backdrop of the 2002 congressional debate over whether to authorize the president to use military force in Iraq. The past year has seen a glut of films about the Iraq conflict, but none so pointedly from the perspective of a returned soldier.

THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS

Watch the video

See Body of War, Hear Body of War * Part 2

2008-07-24T12:54:10Z

http://representativepress.googlepages.com/BodyOfWar
Body of War directed by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue about Tomas Young
Please send the above link to everyone you can.
Promoting this film helps the antiwar movement. I interviewed Phil Donahue in this Representative Press Video, please help amplify his efforts and my efforts, get this video to others. It is important that good crowds show up at the theaters. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9th the movie is showing in NY and Donahue and the co-director will be there. Spread the word.

I want Phil Donahue's appearance in my video to have been productive so I am really trying to get this video maximum exposure.

See Web site for album tracks and movie times:
http://representativepress.googlepages.com/BodyOfWar

http://www.ifccenter.com/index?date=04092008
http://www.bodyofwar.com
http://www.ivaw.org/

Watch the video

See Body of War, Hear Body of War TODAY! Part1

2008-07-24T12:54:10Z

http://representativepress.googlepages.com/BodyOfWar
Body of War directed by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue about Tomas Young
See Body of War, Hear Body of War
Buy the Double Album "Body of War" and Help the Cause
Body of War: Songs that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran is double-CD compilation of songs selected by Iraq war veteran Tomas Young. Buying the album benefits the non-profit organization Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), which Tomas Young selected. "The compilation record was an idea that grew out of my love of music and my reliance on it before, during, and after the war," Young says. "The songs I selected for the record were tracks that inspired, motivated, and at times, literally saved me over the past few years."
See Web site for album tracks and movie times:
http://representativepress.googlepages.com/BodyOfWar

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/WashingtonDC/
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03212008/watch2.html

Watch the video