During the 1980s, a favorite talking point of liberals was that President Reagan tended to confuse movies with reality. In a Friday article, Vox’s Zack Beauchamp accused a current Republican presidential candidate, Ted Cruz, of doing something similar, and alleged that the GOPers who took part in Thursday’s prime-time debate stand for a “view of the world [that] is as much a work of fiction as” Michael Bay's new film, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.
Towards the end of the debate, Cruz touted 13 Hours. Beauchamp commented, “The movie portrays politicians as ‘abandoning’ the Americans in Benghazi. But in reality, that is a conspiracy theory that has been roundly debunked…This moment, Cruz citing a fictitious movie as truth, was of a piece with the debate as a whole. In it, much of conversation about world affairs existed in a make-believe world, and a terrifying one at that, in which the very existence of America is in perilous danger. In other words, it wasn't just Ted Cruz who was living in a fiction last night — it was the entire stage.”
From Beauchamp’s piece (bolding added):
Ted Cruz ended his performance at Thursday's night's debate…by pitching not a policy but an action movie: 13 Hours…
Cruz is correct that the movie portrays politicians as "abandoning" the Americans in Benghazi. But in reality, that is a conspiracy theory that has been roundly debunked.
This moment, Cruz citing a fictitious movie as truth, was of a piece with the debate as a whole. In it, much of conversation about world affairs existed in a make-believe world, and a terrifying one at that, in which the very existence of America is in perilous danger. In other words, it wasn't just Ted Cruz who was living in a fiction last night — it was the entire stage…
In reality, ISIS is getting weaker; for example, it has lost large chunks of its territory, especially in Iraq. There is just no evidence that the group is gaining strength…
…ISIS's threat is real, and Americans are right to worry. But the candidates, and, indeed, the moderator, exaggerated that threat so far beyond reality it is hardly recognizable…
It's worth, just for a bit of perspective, comparing terrorism deaths in the United States with firearm deaths, a threat that the Republican candidates generally downplay…
America just doesn't have much of a domestic terrorism problem. Incidents like the shootings in San Bernardino are vanishingly rare, as violent extremist groups have very few adherents here…
Iran, and its detention of 10 American sailors on Tuesday, was also a major item in the GOP debate. Each candidate discussed it as proof that America under Obama was being humiliated, and that Iran was taking advantage of America's profound weakness…
…Though Iran published embarrassing photos of the Americans being detained, the effect of this was mostly wounded pride, and in all what could have been a dangerous incident was resolved quickly and peacefully…
This wasn't an example of "American weakness"; it was an example of diplomacy managing and defusing a bad situation…
Another common argument in the debate was that America's global position is collapsing and the US military's competence is in free fall…
…[S]pending cuts, imposed under the so-called sequester, have hurt the military somewhat, but it is still by far the best-funded and most powerful military on Earth…
Given what actual evidence tells us about the world, there's basically no way to sugarcoat it: The Republican debate's view of the world is as much a work of fiction as Michael Bay's Benghazi movie.
