America Betrayed

Leslie Cardé's documentary America Betrayed takes a hard look at the sorry state of America's infrastructure—highways, bridges, dams, and levees—much of which remains in disrepair despite the catastrophe in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, which should have been a screeching wake-up call to the nation. A large portion of the blame here is placed on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which is presented as a corrupt, self-serving, and incompetent organization (the film also details how whistleblowers receive swift and harsh retribution for daring to call any negative attention to USACE activities). However, the USACE are not the only villains here: interviews with journalists, scientists, whistleblowers, and politicians (including Barack Obama and John McCain) provide plenty of finger pointing aimed at the Bush administration's mania for rebuilding the infrastructure in Iraq while ignoring U.S. problems, and Congress is taken to task for being indifferent to the need for long-lasting infrastructure upgrades. Narrator Richard Dreyfuss provides the perfect level of indignation while cataloguing the shockingly high number of post-Katrina calamities—most notably the August 2007 collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis—and other disasters-in-waiting. DVD extras include bonus interviews. A hard-hitting film that delivers a stern indictment of those responsible for bad planning and acute ethical lapses, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)