U.N. Me: Filmmaker roasts U.N. and gets media praise?

June 08, 2012

Writer

Glenn spoke with Filmmaker Ami Horowitz on radio today about his new movie ‘U.N. Me’ which must be a great flick because it bashes the U.N. and it’s getting positive reviews in the press at the same time. There’s a lot of power in the truth - and virtually no one can deny that the U.N. is a total failure.

Read the interview transcript below:

I want to tell you about, you know, our topic today kind of has been to create and to push back and to create a different environment and that we just can't sit around. And Ami Horowitz is a guy that we have had on before. He is a filmmaker and he's really funny, really funny, really talented, really smart. He has produced this new documentary called UN Me, and it's about the UN and how unbelievably corrupt it is. But what he's done is brought people together on the universal hatred of corruption. You know, it reminds me about three years ago, I think, I ran into George Clooney in the hallway and we talked for a while and we both agreed on Somalia. He was ‑‑ he was really upset that the world hadn't done anything and that the UN was incapable of doing anything, but he kept going back to the UN. We both agreed on ‑‑ or not Somalia but Darfur.

STU: Darfur.

PAT: Darfur, yeah.

GLENN: We both agreed on Darfur and we just ‑‑ we just disagreed on who was going to be able to fix it. I remember in that, in that conversation we talked about how incompetent the UN was. But liberals tend to think that they can ‑‑ "Well, we'll fix it. We'll just fix it." No, you can. No, you can't. And Ami shows you why you can't. Good reviews.

Ami, welcome to the program. How are you, sir?

HOROWITZ: I'm doing well, Glenn. I love you, man.

GLENN: Is it ‑‑

HOROWITZ: I just want you to know I'm a Beckite.

GLENN: I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But Ami, let me ask you this. The LA Times, the New York Times, Variety and the Washington Post are all giving this good reviews. Is that the ‑‑

HOROWITZ: The Examiner, Daily News, I can go on and on. It's the best reviewed movie of last weekend. I can't believe it.

GLENN: Is it a death knell, death knell to your movie that these liberal organizations like it?

HOROWITZ: I don't know how to answer that. I think people are ‑‑ I think people are getting pretty pumped that we have an issue. We're ‑‑ I think we'll all agree we're in a ‑‑ our environment is too divisive. We're separating ourselves from each other. We should begin together in an extreme time of need. And I think the UN has an issue. But I'm telling you the right, obviously we were, you know, at the Vanguard of this issue for a long time but now we took this movie to get the other side awake. You know what? If they care about human rights, if they care about human dignity, the UN is not an organization they should be supporting. I was just on MSNBC just this morning. It didn't go well.

GLENN: How'd that go for you? How's Mika? Is she as delightful as we all think she is?

HOROWITZ: They began the conversation by reading a UN statement they put out condemning the movie.

STU: (Laughing.)

HOROWITZ: You know, full of falsities, one‑sided, you know, your taxpayer dollars are well taken care of. They read it exactly the way my mother‑in‑law wrote it.

GLENN: (Laughing.)

HOROWITZ: And I made a crack at Chris Matthews' expense and they didn't take well to that. So it became contentious real quick.

GLENN: Now this bodes well for the movie then. This is good. This is good. All right. You actually ‑‑ I want to talk to you about two things. I want to talk to you about the movie, but I want to start here. You are a filmmaker who, you know, saw the Michael Moore stuff and you've seen the way the culture is going that they have all ‑‑ the left has all of the pieces.

HOROWITZ: Yep.

GLENN: And you said I'm not going to let that happen?

HOROWITZ: No way. It is too big a part of cultural war for us to seed it to the left. The left made a massive mistake years ago when they decided not to compete really in talk radio, and you guys dominated, right? You and Rush and Sean and all those guys took it over and never looked back. And they made a massive miscalculation. And now they cannot get their foot back in the door. It's just too late.

The same thing is happening when it comes to film making and documentary making. They have gotten a formula which works and they have done an excellent job, and it's a phenomenal propaganda tool. And we've been left in the dust, and I don't want that to happen. I'm putting ‑‑ this is a ‑‑ this movie UN Me, it's a beachhead. It's a flag saying we're not going to see this territory to you and we're going to play, you know, your game essentially. And that's what I had to do. And I had to hire ‑‑

GLENN: See, I ‑‑ go ahead.

HOROWITZ: I had to hire guys from the left. I had to hire guys from the Onion, from the Daily Show, Michael Moore's writers and, you know, a guy who edited 30 Rock and the guy who shot Borat, In Keeping Truth. And those guys were the quality guys I needed to make this movie, and that's what we did.

GLENN: But I will tell you this, Ami, while one side is propaganda, one side is, you know, rolls with things that are not true. What you're doing is you're rolling with the truth, no matter which way it cuts.

HOROWITZ: Exactly.

GLENN: That's the difference because the propaganda stuff eventually comes undone and I contend that's why the networks are failing, that's why so much of Hollywood is failing. Everything is failing around them because it's propaganda. This is true.

What was the ‑‑ what was the reaction of the guys who were from the left that were working on this movie. When you finished and when you were going through everything, where do they stand?

HOROWITZ: You know, it's amazing. They were very initially obviously standoffish, right? Here's a guy, rightwing guy who's making a movie about, you know, an issue that the right cares about. And I began to walk them through kind of the way the story's going to unfold and they thought it was intriguing. And I'm telling you after every interview we did, the crew's head was blown off their shoulders. They could not believe the things that they were hearing. Couldn't believe the things they were seeing.

GLENN: For instance, give me ‑‑ give me some examples.

HOROWITZ: I'll give you a great example. When we were interviewing ‑‑ when we were interviewing the Iranian diplomat representing Iran in Geneva and this guy was talking about how that we have no problem with gays as long as they stay in their homes, or as long as they agree to sex changes. Then we have no problem with them. I mean, when he was agreeing that, listen, women shouldn't have the right they have anywhere else in the world because women want to be oppressed.

When they were hearing these words coming out of these guys' mouth and, of course, you know, we're making cracks and jokes about it to kind of add levity to it, these guys were shocked. They were shocked, they were blown away and they became true believers.

GLENN: Okay. The last thing I want to cover with you is, because the movie speaks for itself and I want to ask you as a listener to go and support this movie. It's out, find it in your local theatres, find it wherever you can. It is U.N. Me and support it.

HOROWITZ: It's on video on demand with most of the major cable companies and it's also on iTunes. You can watch it, just replace 90 minutes of Snookie with 90 minutes of a movie that can actually blow you away.

GLENN: No, it's not ‑‑

STU: We need to get our Snookie. Don't count that time, I'm sorry.

GLENN: No, I'm not cutting this. U.N. Me, find it wherever you can, and support it and watch it. Now, here is the place that I wanted to take you the last place. You went down to Occupy Wall Street about a year ago I think with us.

HOROWITZ: Less than that.

GLENN: You went down and you did this amazing piece and while that was a little dicey, it wasn't like this. You actually, you had your life threatened outside of your apartment I believe in New York, right?

HOROWITZ: Indeed.

GLENN: Okay. Tell that story and then I want to ‑‑ and then move into the Ivory Coast hotel room

HOROWITZ: Yeah. You know, it was a few months ago. It was actually, I think it was November. And I just walked out of my apartment in the upper west side of Manhattan and there was a dude standing right outside my door, very well dressed, dapper looking guy and he just simply said to me, he asked me if I was Ami Horowitz and I said yes. And at that point my spidey sense started tingling a little bit. And he said, is this movie more important than your family? And I was in a state of shock. You know, I wish now I would have put, you know, that Kung fu grip in a headlock but, you know, of course you're just kind of stunned.

GLENN: Ami.

HOROWITZ: He just turned on his wheels, went to a waiting cab and off he went.

GLENN: Ami?

HOROWITZ: Yes?

GLENN: Ami, I've seen you. You don't have Kung fu grip.

HOROWITZ: Hey. Come on, man, that ain't cool.

GLENN: No, no. Okay. Now take me quickly to the Ivory Coast.

HOROWITZ: So the Ivory Coast we essentially uncovered peacekeepers had slaughtered unarmed Ivorians and so we were there, you know, filming it and we did this whole piece on girls, you know, peacekeepers gone wild and all the crazy stuff that the peacekeepers do there. And we got back from a full day of shooting, got back to the hotel room on the Ivory Coast and I walk into the room and my safe was open, my money was there and my passport was there. The SIM card from my phone was gone. I slept with a hunting knife under my pillow because, you know, kind of a tough area. That was gone. And there was simply where a mint would have been a picture on my bed with a guy ‑‑ a picture of a guy with his head blown right off. A not‑too‑subtle warning about staying on the Ivory Coast.

GLENN: The documentary is worth seeing. The reason why I bring this up is this is a filmmaker who believes in what he says. This is a filmmaker who is really, really talented, very smart, very funny, and the truth is here. And the truth that people can unite on. This is not a right issue. This is a ‑‑ this is a human issue that the left has evidenced by good reviews in LA Times, New York Times, Variety, Washington Post and me, it is something we can all agree on and it is something that this particular filmmaker has risked his life to tell. Go right now to iTunes. I have it right here on my iTunes. It's U.N. Me and watch this film. Please support Ami Horowitz.

HOROWITZ: Or video on demand with your cable company.

GLENN: All right. Is there anything else you'd like to throw in there?

HOROWITZ: I love you, man, I love you.

GLENN: Thanks, man, I appreciate it. You're a fantastic filmmaker.

Critical theory destroys truth and justice

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Critical theory once stood out as the absurd progressive notion that it is. Now, its maxims are becoming an integral part of ordinary political discourse. The more you repeat a lie, the more you will believe it, and this is the very dangerous place in which we find ourselves today.

Take this critical theory maxim as an example: If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice. It's a necessary evil, if you will, the necessity of “controlled injustice.”

By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we’ll save the republic. We’ll be acting in a noble way.

This definition of justice is defined by the “oppressed,” not the “oppressor.” It is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. To achieve this justice, however, we need to endorse acts on occasion that, while seemingly unjust, serve a higher purpose. It will ensure the stability and the unity of our republic, and this may manifest in ways that seem contradictory to our values. But these are the necessary shadows to cast light on “true justice.”

And isn’t that what we are all after, anyway?

Here’s another critical theory maxim: Sometimes we find the truth through fabrication. Our pursuit of truth sometimes requires a strategic use of falsehoods. The truth is a construct that has been shaped and tailored to promote the well-being of the collective.

We sometimes need to accept and propagate lies designed by "the system” — not the old system, but the system that we’re now using to replace the old to get more justice through injustice and more truth through fabrication.

We’re engaging in a higher form of honesty. When we fabricate, it’s for the right reason. We are reaching up to the heavens fighting for a higher sort of honesty. To fortify the truth, we occasionally must weave a tapestry of lies. Each thread, essential for the greater picture, will ultimately define our understanding and ensure our unity under this infallible wisdom.

The election is coming up. Does this maxim sound familiar? Many think it is imperative that we secure our republic through election control to maintain our republic. Sometimes, we might need to take actions that by traditional standards might be questionable.

The act of securing elections requires cheating. It's not mere deception. It is a noble act of safeguarding our way of life. We're on the verge of losing this democracy, and without deception, we will lose it.

To ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of those we know will destroy it, we may have to make a few fabrications. We're fabricating stories to be able to control or secure the republic through our elections. By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we'll save the republic. Therefore, we'll be acting in a noble way. Stealing an election from those who wish to harm our society is truly an act of valor and an essential measure to protect our values and ensure the continuation of our just society.

If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice.

I know it's a paradox of honor through dishonor. But in this context, by embracing the dishonor, we achieve the highest form of honor, ensuring the stability and the continuation of our great republic.

Let this be heard, far and wide, as a great call to patriotic action. As we advance, let each of us, citizens of this great and honorable republic, consider these principles. Not as abstract or paradoxical but as practical guides to daily life. Embrace the necessity of controlled injustice, the utility of lies, the duty to secure our electoral process, and the honor and apparent dishonor. These are not merely strategies for survival. They are prerequisites for our prosperity.

We all have to remember that justice is what our leaders define, that truth is what our party tells us. Our republic stands strong on the values of injustice for justice, honor through dishonor, and the fabrication of truths. To deviate from this path is to jeopardize the very fabric of our society. Strength through unity; unity through strength.

We've heard this nonsense for so long. But now, this nonsense is becoming an instituted reality, and we are entering perilous times. Don't be fooled by the narratives you will hear during the march to November. Never let someone convince you that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of injustice is needed to achieve a broader, collective vision of justice, that truth sometimes requires fabricated lies and narratives. If we do, justice will cease to be justice, truth will cease to be truth, and our republic will be lost.

Top 5 MOST EVIL taxes the government extorts from you

David McNew / Staff | Getty Images

"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Ben Franklin

The injustice of taxation has been a core issue for Americans since the very beginning of our country, and it's a problem we have yet to resolve. This belief was recently reignited in many Americans earlier this month on tax day when the numbers were crunched and it was discovered that the government was somehow owed even more hard-earned money. As Glenn recently discussed on his show, it's getting to be impossible for most Americans to afford to live comfortably, inflation is rising, and our politicians keep getting richer.

The taxpayer's burden is heavier than ever.

The government is not above some real low blows either. While taxes are a necessary evil, some taxes stretch the definition of "necessary" and emphasize the "evil." Here are the top five most despicable taxes that are designed to line the IRS coffers at your expense:

Income Tax

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

"It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income." -Ben Franklin

On February 24th, 2024 we hit a very unfortunate milestone, the 101st anniversary of the 16th Amendment, which authorized federal income tax. Where does the government get the right to steal directly out of your paycheck?

Death Taxes

Dan Mullan / Staff | Getty Images

"Now my advice for those who die, Declare the pennies on your eyes" -George Harrison

Not even in death can you escape the cold pursuit of the tax collector. It's not good enough that you have to pay taxes on everything you buy and every penny you make your entire life. Now the feds want a nice slice, based on the entire value of your estate, that can be as much as 40 percent. Then the state government gets to stick their slimy fingers all over whatever remains before your family is left with the crumbs. It's practically grave-robbery.

Payroll

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -John Marshall

What's that? The nice chunk of your paycheck the government nabs before you can even get it to the bank wasn't enough? What if the government taxed your employer just for paying you? In essence, you make less than what your agreed pay rate is and it costs your employer more! Absolutely abominable.

Social Security

VALERIE MACON / Contributor | Getty Images

"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -Ronald Reagan

Everyone knows the collapse of Social Security is imminent. It has limped along for years, only sustained by a torrent of tax dollars and the desperate actions of politicians. For decades, people have unwillingly forked over money into the system they will never see again.

FICA

Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images

"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue." -Thomas Paine

FICA is the payroll equivalent of Social Security. Your employer has to match however much you pay. It means it costs your employer even more to pay you—again, you'll NEVER see that money. At this point, are you even working for yourself, or are you just here to generate money for the government to frivolously throw away?

5 DISTURBING ways World War III will be different from previous wars

Oleg Nikishin / Stringer | Getty Images

Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

New York Daily News Archive / Contributor | Getty Images

The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

Galerie Bilderwelt / Contributor | Getty Images

Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

Nick Ut / Contributor | Getty Images

The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

Bill Hinton / Contributor | Getty Images

Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

WPA Pool / Pool | Getty Images

Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

NICHOLAS KAMM / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

Fiona Goodall / Stringer | Getty Images

Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO / Contributor | Getty Images

As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity