Posted on 06/22/2004 8:41:55 PM PDT by tbird5
One of the many problems with the American left, and indeed of the American left, has been its image and self-image as something rather too solemn, mirthless, herbivorous, dull, monochrome, righteous, and boring. How many times, in my old days at The Nation magazine, did I hear wistful and semienvious ruminations? Where was the radical Firing Line show? Who will be our Rush Limbaugh? I used privately to hope that the emphasis, if the comrades ever got around to it, would be on the first of those and not the second. But the meetings themselves were so mind-numbing and lugubrious that I thought the danger of success on either front was infinitely slight.
Nonetheless, it seems that an answer to this long-felt need is finally beginning to emerge. I exempt Al Franken's unintentionally funny Air America network, to which I gave a couple of interviews in its early days. There, one could hear the reassuring noise of collapsing scenery and tripped-over wires and be reminded once again that correct politics and smooth media presentation are not even distant cousins. With Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, however, an entirely new note has been struck. 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. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental. To describe it as an exercise in facile crowd-pleasing would be too obvious. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of "dissenting" bravery.
In late 2002, almost a year after the al-Qaida assault on American society, I had an onstage debate with Michael Moore at the Telluride Film Festival. In the course of this exchange, he stated his view that Osama Bin Laden should be considered innocent until proven guilty. This was, he said, the American way. The intervention in Afghanistan, he maintained, had been at least to that extent unjustified. Something—I cannot guess what, since we knew as much then as we do now—has since apparently persuaded Moore that Osama Bin Laden is as guilty as hell. Indeed, Osama is suddenly so guilty and so all-powerful that any other discussion of any other topic is a dangerous "distraction" from the fight against him. I believe that I understand the convenience of this late conversion.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.msn.com ...
Hitchens is not too impressed with Moore, is he?
One good tongue-lashing.
I go back and forth on Hitchins. He is a nut on things like Reagan, Kissinger and Mother Teresa - but he has been SOLID in his support of Bush and the War on Terror. SOLID. He always is very eloquent.
I think Hitch would be a fun guy to go drinking with.
Hitch be pissed. Great article.
Hitchens challenges Moore to a debate. I'd love to see it, but I won't hold my breath. Moore doesn't dare...
That was the most glorious ass-kicking I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing...
A long read but every word splendid.
I've never trusted him..here's why. I've been to Canada, and seen worse slums than what he shows in Bowling For Columbine. Vancouver has a REALLY bad area...I think it's the east side.
There are times that Chris drives me nuts...but I'll tell you since he wrote No One Left to Lie To...I have been nodding my head saying you go. He understands that not matter how much we may disagree on the politics of the ordinary that we all can agree that we are at war and that is NOT ordinary. He hates what the left has become because it is as cowardly now as it was during the second world war. He writes well and takes no prisoners...Thanks for the post
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.