Enter the Idiot (Michael Moore)

Jonah Goldberg has referred to Michael Moore, who is speaking to Cornellians today, as a professional idiot. And this phrase is quite possibly the best way to describe his motives and actions. Put simply, he has earned millions of dollars by concocting creative ways to act foolish.

With the possible exception of Jerry Falwell, he is the best-known professional idiot in the country. But whereas Falwell keeps busy accusing popular children's TV characters of being homosexual, Moore has other interests. He keeps busy spouting mercantilist trade theory that has not been given any serious academic credence since the days of the Corn Laws, and arguing for an employment system that has not existed since the days of Soviet Russia.

Were this another type of speaker, even one advocating for similar extreme policies, it would be possible to debate his arguments, finding areas of agreement and points of contention. But historically with Moore, such sensible consideration is impossible. He rants, raves, and carries on -- producing an impressive volume of word-space but little substance or actual argumentation. And while it is difficult to consolidate the collective sum of Moore's foolishness into one column, here are a few notable examples.

The day after Sept. 11, Moore wrote a column blaming America's previous actions for causing the attack. Though he did reserve at least some blame for the terrorists, much of his indignation was centered on how the terrorists killed 3,000 liberal voters (and not 3,000 innocent individuals). According to his daily posting, "if someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him! Boston, New York, D.C., and the planes' destination of California -- these were places that voted AGAINST Bush." Presumably then, terrorist activity south of the Mason-Dixon is more morally acceptable.

During the Florida election battle, Cornell's esteemed guest speaker compared Republicans to Nazis. The comparison is so vile as to shock the conscious of any reasonable individual. Nonetheless, it merits mention. In referring to the Holocaust survivors who live in Florida, he wrote, "Sixty-two years ago tonight, the Holocaust began in full force on what was called Kristallnacht: A few [Jews] survived. I will not allow those who survived to come here to this 'land of the free' be abused again." Such a trivializing comment, comparing a dispute over legal interpretation of U.S. election law to the actual mass murder of 6,000,000 Jews, is truly incomprehensible.

And when Elian Gonzalez washed up on the Florida shore -- after his mother had drowned trying to escape Cuba for America -- Moore, never content with the mainstream, staked out a truly independent position. Some believed that Gonzalez's survival was an act of God and that it would be immoral to send him back to a Communist nation where his fundamental political and economic rights were vulnerable. Others pointed to the importance of respecting the international law, which mandated a return to his loving father in Cuba. But in his "Apology to Elian," Moore divined the intentions of a dead person and became the only American to publicly blame Elian's deceased mother's greed for causing the situation. "The truth is your mother and her boyfriend snatched you and put you on that death boat because they simply wanted to make more money," he said.

Now, Moore should feel free to rant and write to his heart's content. But speaking normatively, the man does not deserve an invitation to go bowling with the Rotary Club, let alone to give an address at an Ivy League school. He is being given an air of undeserved intellectual respectability, and Cornell is being used as an unwitting tool. That serious scholars or students are willing to pay him to ramble is disgraceful. Even more disturbing is the amount he is being paid. Moore is collecting $10,000 for an hour or two of his time at this University, and he'll be sure to plug his new book on at least a few occasions.

So if you attend today, raise some tough questions. Quiz him as to why he thinks it matters whether Democrats, Republicans or Independents were killed in the World Trade Center. Find out if he wants to reconsider his implicit comparison between Theodore Olson (Bush's attorney in the Florida dispute whose wife was onboard one of the downed planes on Sept. 11) and Himmler. Ask him if he'd rather live under the leadership of Fidel Castro or that of George W. Bush. Watch him justify his previous comments, and see how convincing he sounds. Or just use the material here to give him a greeting Lynah style -- by crumpling up this article and throwing it at his head. Given some of his previous comments, such a reaction would be quite appropriate.

Why do you call Ithaca "the City of Evil"?

A few reasons why “Ithaca is the City of Evil”:

Ithaca is home to two colleges, Cornell University (aptly nick-named “the Big Red”) and Ithaca College (which flies the gay flag over its campus), the two major employers in the area. They insure that a disproportionate amount of ”ivory tower liberals” dominate the city.

Locating copies of National Review, The Weekly Standard and the American Spectator require a trip to Elmira or Syracuse, while Ithaca magazine racks remain well-stocked with copies of The Progressive, The Nation, and The New Republic.Readers interested in exposing themselves to a full range of national opinion are simply out of luck.

As a result of the dominiance, politics in Ithaca runs the gamet from “liberal” to “communist.” For years, the town had an openly socialist mayor, Ben Nichols. They later elected him to the school board.

Even today, the City and County governments are dominated by democrats and Green party members. Ithaca is so “Green” that Ralph Nader got more votes in Ithaca than George W. Bush, and the NYS Green Party is holding its 2002 nominating convention there. The current Chair of the County Legislature is a radical former anti-war protester, self-described hippie, who says "My values haven't changed, just my tactics." Even law enforcement is subject to political correctness. The outgoing police chief’s major concern was “pushing for departmental diversity.” The acting chief was chosen because they wanted a woman.

To make matters worse, the liberals who dominate Ithaca work overtime to impose their ultra liberal agenda on the children. The Ithaca City School District has mandated that elementary school students in the first and second grades receive an actual grade on how well they "respect others of varying cultures, genders, experiences, and abilities." It’s even listed on the schools’ report card. Despite this alleged tolerance, a student who was found reading the bible on her lunch hour was chatised for doing so. Another was directed not to bring a book about Christmas to school.

There’s even a taxpayer funded “alternative” (ie, hippie) school that let’s students graduate in majors like basket weaving and political activism.

Need more proof? Do a search for “Ithaca” here at Free Republic, you’ll see a near daily dose of institutionalized liberal idiocy.

As a result of its unfettered liberalism, Ithaca was voted most enlightened (ie, liberal) City in America by the ultra left Utne Reader. Being a good, conservative Freeper, I’m sure you’ll agree that, contrary to what Utne says, “liberal” is not “enlightened.” Unfettered liberalism is, well, evil.

As the most liberal city in America, “Ithaca is the City of Evil.”

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