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Home/Who We Are/Caucuses and Committees/Film Committee and Film Nights/Past DAUK Film Nights/The Best Democracy Money Can Buy Film Night

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy Film Night

DAUK Film Night: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

was held on March 2017 in London

With the dynamic Greg Palast – the film’s writer, narrator and co-director, as our guest speaker.

All Photos on this page from The Best Democracy Money Can Buy Website


The Filmmaker

Greg Palast

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Film Interviews

Print and video

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Briefing Notes


Books and articles

by Greg Palast

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Organizations working on the issues of voting rights

find them here

The Film Night

While the quirky style and editing of this film divides opinions, its message is central to the well-being of our democracy. Its subject — voter suppression — could not be more relevant now. Greg Palast, an investigative journalist for the Rolling Stone, takes us on a roller-coaster ride to uncover suppression efforts in voting constituencies, especially where there is a large minority presence. He says, “This is the story of the investigation of the theft of the 2016 election — it’s a crime still in progress and a hunt for the very rich guys behind the crime.”

Central to this story of voter suppression is the use of the Interstate Crosscheck computer program, which was launched to compare voter registration data across states to look for evidence of double voting.  The Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, chair of Kansas’s Republican Party, was responsible for introducing this program in 2005. It has been rolled out to 30 states. According to The Voting News, September 2, 2016, “…while the program flagged 7.2 million possible double voting no more than four have actually been charged with deliberate double registration or double voting.”

Greg Palast gives us evidence that Republican officials in many states have used this very program to remove  legitimate voters from the electoral rolls in a way that has disproportionately affected minorities, i.e. Democratic voters. We see the investigative journalist at work: interviewing officials, including Kobach himself, minority voters who have lost their vote and dealing with masses of data. It is a horrific story.

Palast describes the style of the film:

“This real life detective story is told in a film noir style with cartoon animations, secret documents, hidden cameras, and a little help from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit detectives, Ice-T and Richard Belzer, Shailene Woodley, Rosario Dawson, Willie Nelson and Ed Asner, Palast and his associates expose the darkest plans of the uber-rich to steal America’s democracy.” 

However the film and Greg Palast are not without controversy and have attracted criticism. The question arises: If all of his assertions about Crosscheck are true, why aren’t our Democratic leaders and other journalists screaming about this? With Greg Palast as our guest speaker and our very able Stephanie Stewart, a long-time organizer for DAUK GOTV, in the chair, we shall have the opportunity to interrogate this most fascinating lobbyist and filmmaker. 

This Film Night opened the opportunity to discuss other voting rights issues as well: gerrymandering, the gutting of the Voters’ Rights Act, and the often onerous and arbitrary voter ID laws passed in many states. These issues matter.  

About Greg Palast

Excerpt from his website:

Greg Palast has been called the “most important investigative reporter of our time — up there with Woodward and Bernstein” (The Guardian). Palast has broken front-page stories for BBC Television Newsnight, The Guardian, Nation Magazine and now Rolling Stone Magazine.

Palast is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, Armed Madhouse, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and the highly acclaimed Vultures’ Picnic, named Book of the Year 2012 on BBC Newsnight Review. His books have been translated into two dozen languages.

Palast is known for complex undercover investigations, spanning five continents, from the Arctic to the Amazon, from Caracas to California, using the skills he learned over two decades as a top investigator of corporate fraud.

Read more here

Interviews  with Greg Palast With Amy Goodman

Read this Interview with Joy Ann Reid  before the November 2016 election

more interviews here

Books and articles by Greg Palast

Visit Greg Palast’s website for articles and links to resources. 

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy:  A Tale of Billionaires & Ballot Bandits. Seven Stories Press.  Updated edition (4 Oct. 2016)

“The Election was Stolen – Here’s How“. November 11, 2016. 

“The GOP’s Stealth War against Voters“. Rolling Stone. August 24, 2016 


Organizations working on the issues of voting rights

FIND THEM HERE

Disclaimer: The screening of this film does not constitute an endorsement or promotion of the film, nor of any views expressed therein or any association with The Film Committee, DAUK, Democrats Abroad or the Democratic Party. Screenings are solely conceived as educational activities: offering an opportunity for members to discuss issues.

Links to other organizations or publications imply neither endorsement of their policies nor any association with the Democratic Party or Democrats Abroad – UK.

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