Bush Family Fortunes: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

Perhaps it is his staunch belief in doing as he sees fit, no matter what the repercussions might be. Or perhaps it is his connection to familial fame and fortune that has caused the ire of many a filmmaker. Or perhaps it is the simple fact that he is by far the worst President in most of our lifetimes.

Whatever the rationale might be, President George W. Bush has become one of the largest targets known to man to film a documentary about. Perhaps it was the widespread media attention that Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 garnered, but many a writer or director feel as though the can write a documentary that portrays a different facet of the Bush administration in an attempt to expose one, or maybe many, of the inadequacies of George Bush and those that surround him.

Bush Family Fortunes: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy is an interesting look into the life of George W. Bush and the privileged rise that he experienced to becoming the Commander in Chief of the world's superpower. Although Bush might lead America based on the voting consent of the American people, his rise to power clearly would not have been as remarkable had he not been surrounded by political power and wealth throughout his entire life.

Directed by Greg Palast, an American journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation, Bush Family Fortunes: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy is an interesting and quick glance into the rise of George Bush and the privilege that he garnered throughout his entire life. It is somewhat interesting to see that based on a notion of pure privilege George W. Bush has become the most powerful individual in the free world. Although it is safe to assume that all Presidents of the United States of America have been able to enjoy a certain level of privilege throughout their lifetime, it is safe to assume that no President has benefited more from family name and connections than W.

Palast takes a rather broad and sweeping look at George W. Bush's history of privilege starting off from a very early, and non-political age. I feel as though this was the right course to take, as it proves that the privilege that George Bush relies on started at a very early time in his life. The issue of Bush's questionable involvement in the Texas Air National Guard, rather than joining to serve in Vietnam, is clearly examined in the documentary. Those who served at the time of Bush and even former commanders to Bush all describe the questionable involvement of Bush in terms of his adherence to the regulations of the National Guard. It is interesting to know, as Palast uncovers, that military documents are now missing and anything to substantiate the premise that Bush served his due time seems to have gone missing.

The interesting, and complicated, connection between the Bush family, Bush administration, and Enron is documented in this film. It should, at this point, come as no surprise that there were very direct connections between George W. Bush and CEO of Enron Kenneth Lay. This business friendship started at a time prior to Bush's being elected as President, however, when Bush became President as his campaign coffers started to become larger thanks to Enron executives, the opportunities that went the way of Enron more and more also started to increase.

One of the best parts of the film is the further exposing of the connections between the Bush family dynasty and the Saudi family. Many liberals seem to think that the reason as to why Bush decided to go to war with Iraq is based on the belief that there were vast oil reserves to tap in Iraq. Palast does a good job detailing the deep-rooted relationship between the Bush family and the dollars surrounding the commodity of oil.

Palast also does a decent job looking into the improprieties surrounding the Florida elections of 2000 and the dirty Bush hands that were found mixed into the pot in Florida. Such improprieties include the intentional negligence of George W. Bush's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, in regards to purposely supporting the negligence of leaving minorities, typically supportive of the Democratic party, from voters lists based on faulty felon lists and laws. It is interesting to see Palast not only discuss the topic, but also interview a young black male who was affected by the Bush family dynasty.

The film does allow Bush supporters a chance to discuss why they support the Bush family dynasty. One of the best examples is when Palast interviews a husband and wife duo that is both fervent Bush supporters and lobbyists by trade. Palast is intelligent in the sense that he allows the duo the opportunity to support his thesis of privilege simply by getting the lobbyist to explain how Bush has been good to them.

Bush Family Fortunes: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy is a rather worthwhile documentary to watch to look a little bit more closely at the dynasty involving none other than our President. Most of the information is information that has already been either read or heard by many Americans, however, Palast provides a very good evidentiary backup to the theory that George W. Bush would be nothing sans his family connections.

The soundtrack of the documentary is matched to the music of ardent Democratic musician Moby.

Bush Family Fortunes: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy is 61 minutes in length.