Roger (Bush hater) Ebert interview

The Progressive magazine ^ | August 2003 | Matthew Rothschild

[Pokey78]

Well, you know what, I'm 60 years old, and I've been interested in politics since I was on my daddy's knee. During the 1948 election, we were praying for Truman. I know a lot about politics.

Well, I've been interested in the space program ever since I sat on my daddy's knee & watched the Apollo missions, but that doesn't make me a rocket scientist.

[Trust but Verify]

Wow. Where does one start with this idiocy?

[NutCrackerBoy]

I still like Roger as a critic, despite myself.

I think it is hysterical that he was taken in by the premise of the film The Hurricane.

[McGavin999]

From everything I've seen so far, "progressives" have to be about the dumbest people on the planet. They all seem to have an overblown ego, think they are the only ones who have a right to say anything, and we poor peons have to just keep quiet and let them run the world (straight into a hole).

[Tuxedo]

What a bloated idiot.

[nothingnew]

The guy(?) is an arsehole, and his reviews suck. His partner(?) is waiting for him, patiently, with many thumbs up.

FMCDH

[ClearCase_guy]

To watch him on television, he is just so sure, so sure.

Indeed. Wouldn't we all be better off if President Bush just ran around saying, "I don't know what to do!" I'm sure the Democrats would be sympathetic and helpful.

Or, the President could go on TV and say, "Osama bin Laden may have had a point. Maybe it is out fault. You know, the other day I was discussing nuclear war with my daughter and she pointed out to me that maybe the world is safer if North Korea becomes a nuclear power. I'm not sure, but I'm concerned. Very concerned."

[Paul_B]

I've read one Ebert review in my life. It's moral relativism prevents me from reading more. His opinion, in my estimation, is worthless.

[breakem]

Brody spoke out against war and he starred in a World War II movie. I suppose we should have just given Hitler and the Japanese the keys to the city. LOL!

[driftless]

Ebert's ignorance is astounding, but when he got to that giveaway line about taking from the poor to give to the rich which reveals the totally clueless, it's was all I could do to keep from vomiting. Ebert has permanently put himself among the ranks of the stupidest people in the world. But then again I didn't think he was too bright before this collection of idiocies.

[Puppage]

"progressives"

Noun: People who are liberals, but are afraid to say so in public.

YES, they are not only habitual liars, they are also cowards.They would rather climb a tree & lie, than stand on the ground & tell the truth.

[You Dirty Rats]

And here I always thought "Progressives" supported Wallace in 1948.

[chiller]

Start here. 'Sean Penn must be a pretty smart guy'. Or 'Bush wasn't elected.'

Consider that Roger lives off of Hollywood. I would expect not much different from him. He couldn't survive if he was known as a conservative. In this interview, he's defined 'liberal elitism'.

Btw, his weekly show has been relegated to 3 AM in Phoenix. Sorry, Rog. its over.

[x]

Ebert is a joke, a shill for the Hollywood establishment. Don't count on him to ever go out on a limb against their projects.

Metacritic is a good movie review site. You can see how reviewers stack up against each other.

[beckett]

Roger Ebert (real name Reinhold Timme), screenwriter of such immortal soft-porn epics as Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens, displayed his learning in American history not long ago when reviewing the Civil War film Gods and Generals. In the film a character has the nickname Buster. Ebert (or Reinhold, as I like to call him) stated authoritatively that the historical accuracy of the film was flawed because the nickname Buster didn't exist until Buster Keaton invented it in the early 20th century.

Not only was Reinhold unaware that Buster Keaton got his name from the famous late 19th century cartoon character Buster Brown, but he also didn't know that the nickname Buster was popular as long ago as the boyhood of Abraham Lincoln, when sod-busters on the frontier frequently nicknamed their sons Buster.

[Vision Thing]

Ebert: I begin to feel like I was in the last generation of Americans who took a civics class. I begin to feel like most Americans don't understand the First Amendment, don't understand the idea of freedom of speech, and don't understand that it's the responsibility of the citizen to speak out. If Hollywood stars speak out, so do all sorts of other people. Now Hollywood stars can get a better hearing. Oddly enough, the people who mostly seem to hear them are the right wing, so that Fox News can put on its ticker tape in Times Square a vile attack on Michael Moore, and Susan Sarandon is a punchline.

Hmmm. Let's see here.

Looks like Ebert ain't too happy that some Americans neglect their First Ammendment rights. However when he finds a group that actually uses its First Ammendment rights (namely, Fox News), he's even more unhappy. May he continue to suffer from such unhappiness.

[Aetius]

I love it when liberals say money is being taken from the poor and given to the rich. Someone should explain to Ebert that when you cut taxes you are not giving money to anyone, you are simply allowing them to keep more of what is rightfully theirs in the first place. They say this because they know it creates an image in the ill-informed of the government actually giving money to the rich.

[CaptainK]

Ebert: There's an interesting pattern going on. When I write a political column for the Chicago Sun-Times, when liberals disagree with me, they send in long, logical e-mails explaining all my errors. I hardly ever get well-reasoned articles from the right. People just tell me to shut up. That's the message: "Shut up. Don't write anymore about this. Who do you think you are?"

Roger outs himself as a liar because he has never written a statement that a liberal would disagree with. And his criticism of the right's ineptitude at writing an email is a joke. I doubt anyone on the right could match the dreck of Roger's turns at screenwriting Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens.

[beckett]

Ebert: To watch him on television, he is just so sure, so sure. His certainty doesn't come from political or military realities; it comes from apparently on high.

By sticking the word "apparently" in there Ebert avoids what otherwise would be a flat-out lie. Bush has said repeatedly (the accusation is old by know in the WH) that he never prays for "certainty" from "on high" or a specific course of action, but only for strength and wisdom.