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.

The Deep State's NEW plan to backstab Trump

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cheered, believing we’d taken back the reins of our country. But we missed the bigger battle. We failed to recognize the extent of the damage caused by eight years of Barack Obama and decades of progressive entrenchment. The real war isn’t won at the ballot box. It’s being waged against an insidious force embedded deep within our institutions: the administrative state, or the “deep state.”

This isn’t a new problem. America’s founders foresaw it, though they didn’t have a term for “deep state” back in the 1700s. James Madison, in Federalist 48, warned us that combining legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet today, that’s exactly where we stand. Unelected bureaucrats in agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice hold more power than the officials we vote for. They control the levers of government with impunity, dictating policies and stifling change.

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege.

We’ve felt the consequences of this growing tyranny firsthand. During COVID-19, so-called experts ran our lives, crushing civil liberties under the guise of public safety. Our intelligence agencies and justice system turned into weapons of political warfare, targeting a sitting president and his supporters. Meanwhile, actual criminals were given a pass, turning American cities into lawless war zones.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816 that “the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.” Today, we see Jefferson’s prophecy fulfilled. The deep state exercises unchecked power over our freedoms, and information itself is controlled by the fourth branch of government: the legacy media.

Even when we win elections, the deep state doesn’t concede defeat. It switches to survival mode. Trump’s first term proved this. Despite a historic mandate to dismantle the bureaucracy, the deep state fought back with everything it had: leaks, investigations, court rulings, and obstruction at every turn. And now, with the possibility of Trump returning to office, the deep state is preparing to do it again.

Progressives are laying out their attack plan — and they’re not even hiding it.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) recently boasted about forming a “shadow cabinet” to govern alongside the deep state, regardless of who’s in the White House. Nickel called it “democracy’s insurance policy.” Let’s be clear: This isn’t insurance. It’s sabotage.

They’ll employ a “top down, bottom up, inside out” strategy to overwhelm and collapse any effort to reform the system. From the top, federal judges and shadow officials will block Trump’s every move. Governors in blue states like California and New York are gearing up to resist federal authority. During Trump’s first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. Expect more of the same starting January 20.

From the bottom, progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union will flood the streets with protesters, much as they did to oppose Trump’s first-term immigration reforms. They’ve refined their tactics since 2016 and are prepared to unleash a wave of civil unrest. These aren’t spontaneous movements; they’re coordinated assaults designed to destabilize the administration.

Finally, from the inside, the deep state will continue its mission of self-preservation. Agencies will drag their feet, leak sensitive information, and undermine policies from within. Their goal is to make everything a chaotic mess, so the heart of their power — the bureaucratic core — remains untouched and grows stronger.

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move. Progressives never see themselves as losing. When they’re out of power, they simply shift tactics, pumping more blood into their bureaucratic heart. We may win elections, but the war against the deep state will only intensify. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force; and force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege. The deep state has shown us its plan: to govern from the shadows, circumventing the will of the people. But now that the shadows have been exposed, we have a choice. Will we accept this silent tyranny, or will we demand accountability and reclaim our nation’s heart?

The battle is just beginning. We can’t afford to lose.

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

Drone mystery exposes GLARING government incompetence

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

The drone issue is getting way out of hand.

Earlier this month, Glenn first reported on the mysterious drones stalking the night sky over New Jersey, but the situation is increasingly concerning as the sightings have escalated. Not only have drones been seen across the Northeast Coast, including over New York City, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but recently, they have been spotted over the night skies of San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

It doesn't take an expert to identify the potential dangers and risks that dozens of undetectable, unidentified six-foot or larger drones pose to national security. Yet, our government's response has been one of unimaginable incompetence, leaving us to speculate on the origin and intention of these drones and wonder in astonishment at the government's ineptitude. Here are three examples of the government's lackluster response to the mystery drones:

Iranian Mothership and Missing Nuclear Warheads

- / Stringer | Getty Images

After several weeks of hubbub, New Jersey Representative, Jeff Van Drew gave an interview on Fox News where he claimed that the drones originated from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States. This theory has since been disproven by satellite images, which show that all Iranian drone carriers are far from U.S. shores. Another theory suggests that drones may be equipped with sensors capable of detecting nuclear material and that they are looking for a nuclear warhead that recently went missing! With these apocalyptic theories gaining traction in the absence of any real answer from our government, one can't help but question the motive behind the silence.

Pentagon's Limp Wristed Response

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

In a recent press conference, national security spokesman John Kirby responded to reporters demanding answers about the government's lack of transparency, which has caused increasing public anxiety. He insisted that the drones did not pose a threat and were not assets of a foreign power, such as from Iran or China--even though he is still uncertain about their identity and origin. He also claimed that many of the sightings were simply misidentifications of normal aircraft.

This lackluster answer has only further inflamed national anxieties and raised even more questions. If the government is unsure of the identity of the drones, how do they know if they are a threat or if they aren't foreign assets? If they aren't foreign, does that mean they are U.S. assets? If so, why not just say so?

The Pentagon has also stated that they are leaving it up to local law enforcement to spearhead the investigation after concluding that these drones pose no threat to any military installation. This has left many feeling like the federal government has turned a blind eye to a serious issue that many Americans are very concerned about.

Where's Pete Buttigieg?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

We are in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, and with the finish line in sight, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg probably figured nothing else could go wrong on his watch—but boy was he wrong. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg is in charge of the FAA, the agency responsible for managing all air traffic across the nation. One would think that mysterious, 6-foot-long, seemingly intractable drones are invisible on radar and flying above major cities would pose a serious threat to the myriad of legal aircraft that traverse our skies. Yet, Buttigieg has been silent on the issue, adding another failure to his resume which includes: malfunctioning airplanes, the train derailment in Ohio, and the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, just to name a few.

Glenn: How Alvin Bragg turned hero Daniel Penny into a villain

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty.

America no longer has a single, shared understanding of justice. Two Americas now exist, each applying justice differently depending on who you are and where you live. One America, ruled by common sense and individual courage, praises heroes who stand up to protect others. The other, driven by political agendas and corrupted institutions, punishes those same heroes for daring to act.

This stark division couldn’t be clearer than in the case of Daniel Penny, the Marine whose trial in New York City this week drew strong reactions from both sides across the divided line of justice.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare.

Penny was on a subway train last year when Jordan Neely — a man suffering from severe mental illness and reportedly high on drugs — began threatening passengers, saying, “I’m going to kill you all.” The fear on that subway car was palpable, but nobody moved. Nobody, that is, until Penny did what needed to be done. He took action to protect innocent lives.

In the America many of us used to believe in, Penny’s response would be heralded as heroic. His actions mirrored the courage of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who, on September 11, 2001, rallied others with the words, “Let’s roll,” to prevent further tragedy. But in New York, courage doesn’t seem to count anymore. There, the system turns heroes into villains.

Penny subdued Neely using a chokehold, intending only to restrain him, not kill him. Tragically, Neely died. Penny, filled with remorse, told the police he never meant to hurt anyone. Yet, instead of being recognized for protecting others from a clear and present threat, Penny stood trial for criminally negligent homicide.

In Alvin Bragg’s New York, justice bends to ideology. The Manhattan district attorney has made a career of weaponizing the law, selectively prosecuting those who don’t fit his narrative. He’s the same prosecutor who twisted legal precedent to go after Donald Trump on business charges no one had ever faced before. Then, he turned his sights on Daniel Penny.

A jury may have acquitted Penny, but what happened in New York City this week isn’t justice. When the rule of law changes depending on the defendant’s identity or the prosecutor's political motives, we’re no longer living in a free country. We’re living in a state where justice is a game, and ordinary Americans are the pawns.

The system failed Jordan Neely

It’s worth asking: Where were activists like Alvin Bragg when Neely was suffering on the streets? Jordan Neely was a tragic figure — a man with a long history of mental illness and over 40 arrests, including violent assaults. The system failed him long before he stepped onto that subway train. Yet rather than confront that uncomfortable truth, Bragg’s office decided to target the man who stepped in to prevent a tragedy.

This isn’t about justice. It’s about power. It’s about advancing a narrative where race and identity matter more than truth and common sense.

It’s time to demand change

The Daniel Penny case — and others like it — is a wake-up call. We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty. Americans must demand an end to politically driven prosecutions, hold DAs like Alvin Bragg accountable, and stand up for the principle that true justice is blind, consistent, and fair.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare. It’s time to choose which America we want to live in.

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

CEO Brian Thompson's killer reveals COWARDICE of the far-left death cult

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Early on the chilly morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was walking through Midtown Manhattan on his way to a company conference. Suddenly, a masked and hooded figure silently allegedly stepped onto the sidewalk behind Thompson, drew a 3-D printed, silenced pistol, and without warning fired multiple shots into Thompson's back before fleeing the scene on an electric bicycle. After a multiple-day manhunt, a 26-year-old lead suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an employee.

This was not "vigilante justice." This was cold-blooded murder.

As horrific as the murder of a husband and father in broad daylight in the center of New York City is, the story only gets worse. Even before the murder suspect was arrested, left-wing extremists were already taking to X to call him a "hero" and a "vigilante" who "took matters into his own hands." Even the mainstream media joined in on the glorification, as Glenn pointed out on air recently, going out of the way to show how physically attractive the murder suspect was. This wave of revolting and nihilistic fanfare came in response to the findings of online investigators who surmised the murder suspect's motives to retaliate against healthcare companies for corruption and denied coverage. The murder suspect supposedly underwent a major back surgery that left him with back pain, and some of his internet fans apparently viewed his murder of Thompson as retribution for the mistreatment that he and many other Americans have suffered from healthcare companies.

me liking tweets celebrating the assassination of the united healthcare ceo pic.twitter.com/N41w51ZuZR
— 🔻 (@pegasustits) December 5, 2024

The murder suspect and his lackeys don't seem to understand that, other than depriving two children of their father right before Christmas, he accomplished nothing.

The murder suspect failed to achieve his goal because he was too cowardly to try.

If the murder suspect's goals were truly to "right the wrongs" of the U.S. healthcare system, he had every tool available to him to do so in a constructive and meaningful manner. He came from a wealthy and prominent family in the Baltimore area, became the valedictorian at a prestigious all-boys prep school, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in engineering. Clearly, the murder suspect was intelligent and capable, and if he had put his talent into creating solutions for the healthcare industry, who knows what he could have accomplished?

This is the kind of behavior the far-left idolizes, like communists on college campuses who wear shirts that celebrate the brutal Cuban warlord, Che Guevara. Merchandise celebrating the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect is already available, including shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even Christmas ornaments. Will they be sporting his face on their T-shirts too?

A liberal TikToker is selling a t-shirt that glorifies the recent assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in NYC.
“deny , defend, depose” was reported to have been on the shell casings. pic.twitter.com/IWpHYkx2lF
— SteveSant66 🇺🇸 (@SSant66) December 8, 2024

This macabre behavior does not breed creation, achievement, success, or life. It only brings death and risks more Americans falling into this dangerous paradigm. But we still have a chance to choose life. We just have to wake up and take it.

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