Friday, June 25, 2004

Politics are fun! I have to hand to it G.W. - he has definitely enlivened (and polarized) the political discourse in this country!  Then there's Reagan's death, Clinton's book, and Fahrenheit 911.  Has there ever been a more exciting time to open up the newspaper, or your browser window?  I'm particularly enjoying Christopher Hitchen's take on the current circus - in the course of two weeks, he's blasted Reagan for being dumb as a stump, and absolutely dismembered Moore's film  - "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".  Both of these columns are well worth reading, regardless of your opinion of Moore or Reagan, for their absolutely elegant and completely ruthless attacks on the current sacred cows of both the left and right.  I myself am not a Michael Moore fan, but so what?  I don't enjoy his adolescent, progandistic, demagoguery, and it is abundantly clear that he plays fast and loose with the truth (and yes, I can back up that assertion with data).  But viva free speech and rabble-rousing, I say!   As long as we don't cast him in the role of saviour or demon, I believe his films can be viewed with something resembling clarity.  I like things that foster dialogue!   I also believe that some of the criticisms levelled at him are spurious at best, and hypocritical at worst - namely, the accusation that the wealth he has accrued from his various films and books bring his working-class sympathies under a cloud of suspicion.  Noblesse Oblige!  American Dream!  Since when are these things so bad?   I mean, I think one has to view his movies as absolutely nothing more than crudely-realized opinion pieces, but there's not too very much wrong with that, in the larger sense. I love this country, which is why I passionately despise George W. Bush.  He has made me ashamed to call myself a patriot, and that is sad, dark day indeed.   3:31:02 PM