As a career journalist with experience in Washington and elsewhere, I’m as cynical as anybody, so I was about to make fun of the Army rolling its military might -- think M1 tank and armed Humvees -- down Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills Wednesday night in support of a 30-minute, pro-military film, "American Identity," that’s premiering at 8 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

It’s all unfolding with the blessing of President Obama, who offered the producers "best wishes for a successful screening" and similar sentiments from L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, even though the theater -- and potential traffic problems -- are outside his jurisdiction. My thought, of course, was: How does our president have time to do anything but right the financial markets and end a bunch of wars?

Then I had a talk with the film’s writer and...