Get Me Roger Stone
As a person living in Trump America you probably think you know how slimy and repulsive this administration is. You’ve watched the news, laughed at the comedy stylings of John Oliver and Samantha Bee, and checked Political Twitter on an hourly basis for the next bit of frustrating news out of our nation’s capital. Sorry to report that in actuality it’s much worse than you can even imagine. Though we’re in hot water now, there’s an evil mastermind behind it all and he is much more insidious and corrupt than you could possibly imagine. This man is named Roger Stone, and he is the subject of this documentary from directors Daniel DiMauro, Morgan Pehme, and Dylan Bank. He is a man who does not apologize, nor does he care about anything but his own infamy and political clout, a dangerous combination.
Roger Stone created his persona in the seventies, and is just as cutthroat and dirty today as he was under Nixon’s tutelage. Stone rose to power and prominence during the Watergate scandal, which should tell you all you need to know. (Stone even tattooed Nixon’s beaming face onto his back! You couldn’t make that up if you tried.) Stone has been a dirty trickster and political dynamo ever since, becoming a campaign manager for several presidential campaigns, and an eventual power player in the lobbying sector of Washington politics. Nearly single handedly Roger Stone decimated much of the regulations we had in place to avoid corruption and espionage in this country. Because of Stone we have lobbyists, Super PACs, and nearly worst of all, we have Donald Trump as president. That’s right, the only real reason Trump is president is because of one eccentric, odious, flippant man, who wants all-out power.
The documentary not only shows how Stone pushed Donald J. Trump to become president, but also showcases how he’s been grooming the real estate magnate for over thirty years. Stone has been there for every Republican victory, he has created a new system of political currency, which he often benefits from, and he is unapologetic. Seriously. The man has many credos which he has named Stone’s Rules, and one of them is that infamy is better than no one knowing who you are. That is absolutely chilling to me, and that revelation came at the very beginning of the film. What’s remarkable about this entire thing is that Stone isn’t beloved or praised by his party. He is often alienated and discriminated against, possibly because he is a pariah and covert trickster, and maybe because he also has leftist leanings. The man is a dandy bodybuilding Republican. That sentence is so full of oxymorons it’s basically gibberish.
In summary, politics is a realm that will always disgust us. We’ve glamorized it in shows such as House of Cards and Scandal, but in reality this isn’t a world of gladiators in suits and white hats. It’s a world run by a small man with an ego as big as his influence. Our fates have been decided by a man who values celebrity more than respectability and candor. If you thought we were doomed now that the free world is being run by an evil idiot, think about how much worse it is that it’s really run by a Machiavellian swindler.
