Just in Time for Mid-Term Elections

Interested in some President Bush-bashing? Two new films--one about the Dixie Chicks' grudge match with the president, and the other a mockumentary about the fictional assassination of the president--were released on Friday.

I haven't seen either, but both are being positioned as "talking points" for November's midterm elections, according to a CNN.com article. "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing" covers the fracas between the popular country-music trio and conservatives after lead singer Natalie Maines told London concert goers in 2003 that the Chicks were ashamed to be from the same state as Bush.

With the remark coming at the start of the U.S. war in Iraq, when American patriotism was at a high, Maines' remark triggered fallout as album sales dropped, many radio stations banned their record, and some fans boycotted them.

But perhaps more intriguing than "Shut Up and Sing" is "Death of a President," which has courted controversy from the get-go. Through creative film editing, the movie imagines the assassination of President Bush after giving a speech in Chicago in October of 2007. It shows Vice President Dick Cheney being sworn in and then hustling an even-stricter Patriot act through Congress.

And as these two films are hitting the theater, "The Road to Guantanamo" is coming out on DVD. This documentary tells wrenching story of British Muslims, who through a series of unfortunate events, found themselves held without charges for two years at the notorious U.S. military prison in Cuba. This documentary, more than any other, points a glaring spotlight on horrors of Gitmo and the ruthless way the Bush Administration allowed for the endless detainment of thousands of "terrorist suspects" without real evidence.

Rent "The Road to Guantanamo." You'll learn the price some people are paying for the U.S.'s no-holds barred war on terror. As for the other two films, I wonder if they will really affect the upcoming elections. Faith and politics have walked hand-in-hand through President Bush's two terms, and these films all explore its manipulation to attain some sort of bottom line.

Two years ago, Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" opened up to big audiences nationwide. This movie had some major buzz and was a box-office draw. But President Bush was reelected to a second term, so in that sense the film did little more than make the president look like a buffoon.

But it sure was a great ride while it lasted.