Hillary! Uncensored - the Documentary

[karlos]

Hillary! Uncensored - the Documentary
I realise people have already stuck this up, but i think this needs to be more thoroughly discussed as it is causing a big stir over the pond.

'Hillary Uncensored' Film Draws Huge Web Audience
By Fred Lucas
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
October 23, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - The trailer to a new film about Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, "Hillary Uncensored -- Banned by the Media," has garnered big audience numbers -- about 1 million viewers -- on the Internet. The movie documenting alleged campaign finance violations soon will have several screenings in the Northeast, including three in New Hampshire, the state that will hold the first presidential primary.

The trailer to the documentary was the most-viewed video on Google Video for eight straight days (Oct. 13-20), and dropped to the number two slot on Sunday, Oct. 21. (Google Video is an online video-posting service offered by the highly popular Internet search engine Google.) The trailer also was the only political video to make it onto Google's Top 100 video list.

While the video was No. 1 and No. 2 for those specified days last week, it had 862,536 "all time" views, which placed it at 819 out of all the videos ranked on Google. In other words, it was the No. 1 video seen for each day last week but was not the most popular video overall on Google over time. Some videos, for instance, have had "views" near 10 million.

The preview to the film -- produced by Hollywood businessman Peter F. Paul -- was also the number one most-viewed YouTube video in the United Kingdom under the "news & politics" category, according to the YouTube site where it has, so far, earned 173,901 overall viewers. It was also the number six "most viewed overall" for the month in the United States.

Despite the big audience numbers, Paul thinks that Google, in particular, has done little to promote the video because Google has not clearly listed the video in any of its most popular categories.

"The only way to see it is if you look for it," Paul said. To find the video, the words "Hillary Uncensored" must be typed into the Google Video search engine.

In a written statement, Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker said, "While we don't disclose all the specifics of how we rank videos (to prevent people from gaming the system), I can tell you that results are algorithmically based and that we look at a wide variety of information that 's associated with each video -- such as metadata."

"The top-100 don't necessarily duplicate the videos in the 'Popular' section on the front page, and video rankings fluctuate on a regular basis," Stricker said.

Nonetheless, the popularity of the trailer has prompted Paul and the Equal Justice Foundation of America, which helped him produce the film, to move up the film's release date to Nov. 1. Also, five screenings have been scheduled for the film before that date.

The film will first be shown at Harvard University on Oct. 26. After that, the film will be shown at three New Hampshire locations, home of the nation's first presidential primary, where Clinton is campaigning against other Democrats.

A showing at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., is set for Oct. 27. That same day, a showing will take place at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. The next day, the film will be shown at St. Anselm College in Manchester. On Oct. 30, the film will be featured at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.

"This is the first documentary ever released on Hillary," said Paul, a former Clinton friend-turned-foe, who uses his collection of home movies with the Clintons in the film. "I am the only person to ever come forward with the Clintons in their unguarded moments," said Paul. "Hillary's own words and actions will indict her."

Paul is suing former President Bill Clinton and the Clintons' business associate, Jim Levin, and Hollywood producer Gary Smith, all of whom were involved in a Hollywood fundraiser -- orchestrated by Paul -- for Sen. Clinton's first Senate run in 2000.

Paul claims that their actions cost him a multi-million dollar Internet venture, for which he was a majority owner along with comic book icon Stan Lee.

Paul contends that, in exchange for producing a massive star-studded fundraising event that included Cher, Dianna Ross and Brad Pitt, President Clinton agreed to work as a rainmaker for the company after leaving the White House. Paul said the former president reneged on the agreement, causing investors to pull their money from the venture and that this caused the company to collapse.

While a California court ruled on Oct. 16 that Hillary Clinton would not be a defendant in the fraud lawsuit brought by Paul, it said she could still be a material witness and be required to testify about what she knew concerning alleged illegal campaign fundraising.

Clinton attorney David Kendall has maintained the Clintons' innocence and questioned the credibility of Paul, citing his previous felony convictions.

"I don't expect anybody to just believe what I say," Paul said. "I say 'just look at the public record I expose.'"

For her part, Sen. Clinton denied remembering anything regarding Paul's charges.

"I have no recollection whatsoever of discussing any arrangement with him whereby he would support my campaign for the United States Senate in exchange for anything from me or then-President Clinton, and I do not believe I made any such statement because I believe I would remember such a discussion if it had occurred," Clinton said in a written declaration on April 7, 2006.

Paul's film includes a video of Clinton speaking to Paul and Lee about the Hollywood fundraising event.

Paul argues that the tape refutes all of Clinton's claims throughout multiple federal investigations that she did not know about fundraising irregularities in her 2000 campaign. If Clinton helped to plan the event, it could legally constitute a direct hard money donation to her Senate campaign, rather than to her joint fundraising committee, "New York Senate 2000."

The Federal Elections Commission fined the campaign $35,000 for underreporting receipts from the campaign and Hillary Clinton's campaign finance director, David Rosen, was indicted in 2006 for allegedly lying to the FEC. He was acquitted.