How 30 million DVDs sent in 2008 election fuel the anti-mosque debate today

At TPMMuckraker, Rachel Slajda reports:

In the last weeks before the 2008 elections, an organization called the Clarion Fund spent some $16 million to reprint and distribute 28 million copies of their 2005 film about radical Islam and terrorist groups. “Obsession” was inserted into newspapers — and packaged with scary photos of scarf-clad men — in swing states.

That move, funded by a single anonymous donor, may still be echoing in 2010’s protests about the Cordoba House and other mosques around the country.

“The single most powerful piece of media over the past five years that has been effective in persuading average Americans to the Islamist threat has been ‘Obsession,'” Tom Trento, the director of the Florida Security Council, told TPMmuckraker today. Trento said he participated in the multimillion-dollar distribution of the film by giving out tens of thousands of copies at both parties’ 2008 conventions.

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3 thoughts on “How 30 million DVDs sent in 2008 election fuel the anti-mosque debate today

  1. Anthony

    There is a good article here about the people behind this campaign: http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Clarion_Fund

    Funnily enough, Jeffery Goldberg made a good post about it back in 2008 about the group: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2008/10/the-jewish-extremists-behind-quot-obsession-quot/9006/

    And now they are making Iranium. Would be interesting to see Jeffery’s reaction to the film as he has been on the front lines subtly beating the war drums.

  2. Christopher Hoare

    I suppose the US doesn’t have laws against fomenting hatred against defined groups as Canada does? It could have provided a sound legal basis for investigating and possibly prosecuting the producers, distributors and bankroller of “Obsession”.
    Trouble with having so many libertarians in high places; means the society has less protection against extremist propaganda.

  3. Norman

    There are laws on the books in the U.S., but the present DoJ doesn’t enforce them, for what ever reason, otherwise all this crap since “O” was elected wouldn’t be happening now. Who really owns the U.S. Government? Certainly not the people at large.

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