Betrayal
Dean
Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" is being distributed informally via the Internet among troops in the field, and its effects on morale are devastating.
Which, as Sully puts it, is exactly what it was intended to do. For it was more than a critique of the Bush administration. Far more. It swept under the carpet all the horrors of Saddam's regime, and portrayed our efforts there as immorally destructive and murderous, and ignored the good. Which makes it by any rational measure a fascist-apologist movie. Indeed, Michael Moore now stands alongside such luminaries as Axis Sally, William Joyce, and Lord Haw-Haw (but not, we should say, Tokyo Rose, who had no choice in what she did and was rightly pardoned by President Ford).
Some of my friends say I make a mistake by writing about Michael Moore. They say I should just ignore him. But I will not stand silent in the face of power. Not when we have people in the field of battle now feeling ashamed of themselves and their service based on Moore's lies.
This is not about the first amendment. Or maybe it is: it is our first amendment right to speak truth to power, and the truth is that this very powerful man has done far more than criticize a President he does not like. Furthermore, he is not "just a film maker" and he is certainly not an "everyday guy." He has been a multimillionaire for many years, selling his schtick to make you think he's a "little guy" because he wears jeans and a baseball cap. Meanwhile, every movie he's ever made has savaged everyday, ordinary people who can't defend themselves.
By the way, you know what I'm tired of hearing from some of my right-wing friends? Talk about how fat Michael Moore is. Fat jokes? Get over it. Who gives a damn how fat he is? Let him weigh a thousand pounds more, or let him drop all the weight and turn into Richard Simmons. It still changes nothing. He is a maggot that eats off the dead, and now we have proof that he has worked direct damage to our troops in the field.
This country is at war and rather than dissenting in a patriotic manner he's betrayed us all. We as Americans cannot stand silent in the face of this. Buy this book. Then go further: See this movie, and tell your friends about it. Don't be embarassed, just do so.
And tell anyone who's impressed with Moore's film to read the meticulously documented, scrupulously fair 56 Deceits In Fahrenheit 9/11.
I'm writing to film maker Michael Wilson to ask if he'll allow his film to be distributed to the troops. I hope he will.
What a wretch Mr. Moore is to hate his people at a time like this.
I don't think the First Amendment applies to military bases in Kuwait.
I also agree with you that his weight is of no matter - being overweight does not turn one into a jerk, after all! And I should know!
I fully support his right to speak his crap, but the First Amendment doesn't cover treason, and thats the by-the-book definition.
What he is, is an asshole. He does "assholery" extremely well. Assholes have a right to be assholes. Assholery is protected by the constitution, but we have a right not to support assholes with our money or words.
My concern is that all the negative publicity that he's gotten just gets converted into plain-ole publicity. The more we rant, the better he's served.
Yes, he needs to be called out. But stooping to the stupid is his trick; we shouldn't be copying him.
It would have been really nice if the "56 Things" item or the book had come out before or immediately after the F911 abortion. Instead, right-wing buffoonery was out of the gate first and colored all criticism as mindless criticism.
We didn't do a good job on this one....
Nevertheless on a moral level here there is no effective difference between his movie and the life of the likes of Axis Sally or, for that matter, Leni Riefenstahl. The movie is objectively and subjectively pro-fascist. Furthermore, just as the Nazi and Japanese propagandists did during World War II, it portrays the President of the United States as a liar and a war criminal who intentionally deceived the troops into a hopeless and pointless and utterly immoral war.
Criminal? No. The 1st amendment cannot be so eviscerated, and since he did not actively join the Iraqi resistance (even though he did refer to them as "Minute Men" and as freedom fighters), there is no moral level in which this man is not the equivalent.
It is not, of course, the criticism of the President that is the problem. It may be odious and it may be that it is well-documented to be deeply dishonest. But any American may criticize any President in any way he wishes. We may find it odious but no more than that.
But it is not stooping to compare him to these traitors, for on a moral level he simply is no different.
Michael Moore fans are not welcome in my home. They are not welcome on my blog. So far as I am concerned they have ceased to exist as persons. You wish to roll your eyes and say "whatever?" That's your right as an American.
It is a sad thing, however. A Michael Moore is a traitor - and I think he could actually be prosecuted as such; all it would take at trial is to prove two things:
1. That the movie was filled with specific lies (already proven, and thus easily provable in court).
2. That it gave aid and comfort to the enemy (probably also provable just by quoting terrorists about the movie).
Its not a free speech thing anymore. Moore is a threat to national security.
2. Beth - the Dems aren't keeping MM away from the convention; Drudge is reporting that he had a nice seat in the President's Box at the Fleet.
http://www.drudgereport.com/dnc7.jpg
As far as fat is concerned, I like fat people. One of my favorite conservatives from the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, the Rev. Dr. Billy James Hargis ("for Christ and against Communism"), was extremely fat. I have always associated fat with conservatism, authority, and power. Fat women are often very sexy to me.
Here's a joke about my favorite fat man:
G. K. Chesterton said to George Bernard Shaw: "Looking at you, people would think there was a famine in England."
And Shaw replied: "And looking at you, they'd think you were the cause of it."
If memory serves, the point is that according to modern legal thought, y'all are missing one component: the person in question as to be actively/purposefully trying to help the enemy. Merely doing something vile that is beneficial to our enemies is not treason.
Moore is, therefore, not a traitor, but merely a contemptible pig. A big, fat, ugly, contemptible pig.
Sorry, Dean, gotta disagree with you on that point. Not only does making fun of his weight help make up for the frustration of not calling him a traitor, it's, well, fun. Besides which he isn't just fat, he's a disgusting, slovenly slob. Can't the man buy a $1.25 disposable razor once in a while!?
On a slightly more serious note, ridicule as always been an effective tool to bring down an enemy. A man (or a woman) can stand insult, attack, or vituperation, but not honest, spontaneous laughter. Ridicule is a powerful weapon.
Back on-topic:
The US Constitution protects those who would overthrow the government of the US. They only thing they can't do is try to do so through violence.
The US Constitution permits Americans to abolish the United States. It permits them to commit national suicide, if they so choose. But they have to do it through a majority vote.
When power is given to the people, the people have power. The Consititution doesn't say you have rights only if you exercise them wisely. Or to the benefit of man. It doesn't even compel you to tell the truth. Yes! You do have a constitutional right to lie.
But everyone else in the country has a right to call you on your lies; to protect the status quo however they define it; to change the form of government.
I think that the fact that we have the right to vote ourselves out of existence is the/ most wonderful things about that piece of paper!
Imagine, trusting the people to do the right thing!!
If that right is worth protecting--and I put my life on the line for 25 years to do so--then you have to accept what it really means. It's a huge risk.
If you want life a certain way, then work to make it so. Parsing semantics in a blog doesn't do a whole lot--unless, of course, your Dean, with a megablog (yes, I know). It could mean making sure that the nut cases aren't running your local school board--even if you don't have kids.
It could mean that you vote for every damn thing that's important to you. It could mean that you spend time thinking and then writing to your elected representatives. It could mean you look for real justice, instead of counting coup against the "enemy".
*Scott grins evilly*
Today Dean's World--tomorrow. . .well, lots of other worlds! ]:-)
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court."
(emphasis mine)
So it is not a matter of individual interpretation. Michael Moore's own words and deeds, with far more than two witnesses to the overt acts, make him a traitor.
As I've said before, he'll never face trial on it, but he meets the definition and mincing words to sound more PC merely emboldens him and his fellow traitors.
"Whether or not Michael Moore is a traitor in the Constitutional sense, in a moral sense he most certainly is a traitor to his country, disloyal, despicable, on the side of the Enemy. I condemn him." (emphasis added)
In that case, you are doing the same thing you condemn Democrats for doing: "I don't care how Bush apologists quibble about words, I know the shrub is guilty!!"
It's the same thing, amigo.
John Irving: did you see my previous post. That was not my interpretation, but one cited by several practicing lawyers. Apparently the contemporary interpretation includes a concious will to aid on the part of the accused. If you wish, I'll see about tracking down the links.
Lawyers, lawyers, lawyers. Not everything is a legal issue. I have the right to morally condemn him or anyone else without invoking any laws or involving any lawyers. Morally, he is unpatriotic. I will defend his right to free speech, but I will also exercise my free speech.
Too bad REAL evil organizations, unlike what Moore and his pawns believe in, don't have auditable paper trails or we might find out how much money gets funneled to Iraq to pay for bombs to blow up American troops. By word and deed, he has committed treason.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.