Even as Al-Jazeera airs the latest terrorist snuff video, showing the beheading of that South Korean translator who had begged -- in English -- for his life, the opening date of terrorist fellow-traveler Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" looms. "It's nearly noon, mountain time, and I haven't yet made a Michael Moore reference," muses Jeff Goldstein of proteinwisdom. "Unless you count 'mountain time.' In which case, never mind."
Speaking of large, unpleasant facts, Roger L. Simon compares Bubba and Tubba and finds Moore by far the greater of two evils. "Two doorstoppers are being unleashed on the American public this week," says Simon:
Bill Clinton's Apologia Pro Vita Bill and Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" (well, it's not exactly a doorstopper, it's a brain stopper). I am unlikely to pony up my ducats for either, although I find Moore's excrescence far more repellent . . . I don't think the book will have any lasting impact, political or otherwise, except on the bottom lines of Bill Clinton and Alfred Knopf.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" is another matter. Reading [Christopher] Hitchens' detailed analysis of the film leaves me disturbed -- not because I doubt anything Hitchens says in this instance. Quite the contrary. What bothers me is that the public is going to swallow this kind of propaganda which, although it is miles below Riefenstahl aesthetically, is nearly her equal in factual distortion. It's almost as if cognitive dissonance has become a great way to influence people and make a fortune in the process.
Hitchens makes the comparison with Hitler's filmmaker as well, correctly linking Moore's Anybody-but-Bush project with that of Soros-stealth-funded "grassroots" groups like MoveOn:
Here we glimpse a possible fusion between the turgid routines of MoveOn.org and the filmic standards, if not exactly the filmic skills, of Sergei Eisenstein or Leni Riefenstahl.
To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability.
MoveOn itself is having another "bake sale" -- as blogged here -- only this time it's something called "Turn up the Heat," an "evening of nationwide house parties that will culminate in a national online town meeting with Michael Moore." They shamelessly lay out their agenda:
Michael Moore's new film Fahrenheit 9/11 is an incredibly powerful movie that lays bare the cynicism and greed behind Bush's war policy. The astonishing and revealing footage in it has the power to change the course of the 2004 election. Millions of Americans will walk out of this movie angry at how George W. Bush has botched the fight against terrorism, deceived the American people, enriched his corporate cronies, and endangered lives around the globe.
Not to be outdone by MoveOn, Hezbollah has asked to help promote "Fahrenheit 911," as Charles Johnson notes, citing NewsMax:
The story then quotes Front Row Managing Director Gianluca Chacra: “We can’t go against these organizations as they could strongly boycott the film in Lebanon and Syria.”
"Now there’s a principled stand for you," comments Johnson:
It speaks volumes about the motivation and intent of these people, that they will surrender to Hezbollah out of fear that their trashy movie won’t make enough money in Lebanon.
And why is Hezbollah so eager to help Moore? Simple. Because his film advances the radical Islamic agenda, in a way that these primitives could never pull off themselves.
You see? Dhimmitude and the profit motive DO mix.
These people are the evil ones. Neo-nazis?
Posted by: goomp | June 22, 2004 at 04:55 PM
Lots of problems with your thinking. First, you're using NewsMax as a source of information. This magazine has published literally thousands of baseless wingnut conspiracy theories. It's like Pravda with an extra helping of crazy-sauce. Second, you quote What bothers me is that the public is going to swallow this kind of propaganda... How is Bush and company claiming Iraq strongly supported and maintained a nuclear and biological arsenal aimed directing at terrorizing American not propaganda? Dude, wake up, Bush lied and now hundreds of our brave soldiers or paying for the price of the lie they told and you bought into. Go see the film, then write a [expletive] review, otherwise, shut the [expletive] up.
Posted by: Eric | June 22, 2004 at 09:04 PM
"otherwise, shut the [expletive] up."
Ah, yes, freedom of speech, etc. etc. I strongly encourage all Moorians to try saying that to my face.
Posted by: Percy Dovetonsils | June 23, 2004 at 09:50 AM