The Unkind
I know the Left wants their own Rush Limbaugh, but looking at it from afar has the Right been well served by having Rush to begin with? As PJ O'Rourke asks in the latest issue of The Atlantic, "When was the last time a conservative talk show changed a mind? Michael Moore is a great showman and profiteer (most successful gasbags of punditry are). His moves to build up buzz over Fahrenheit 9/11 have been well orchestrated. Like Rush Limbaugh, his movie won't change a single mind. The Hate Bush crowd will buy up tickets galore and gorge themselves on the ample servings of red meat dished out. The curious will also attend and be entertained - Michael Moore movies are entertaining - but I don't think minds will be swayed. Those who loathe Bush will probably agree with the points put forth in this movie. Those who agree with Bush's policies will probably not agree with the POV of this movie (but may find the candid clips of Bush entertaining all the same). Here is an interesting review of Moore's latest by film school graduate Tim Wilkins and here's a critical review offered by columnist Chris Hitchens
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1 Comments:
Very good point. I will always remember my first exposure to Moore was watching "Roger & Me" in a college class called "Propoganda and Persuasion." Niether Rush nor Michael will alter the debate. They merely feed their constituents what they want to hear and inflame the opposition. They are entertainment. We shouldn't waste our time with them.
I'd love to read some well-thought out arguments contrary to my beliefs, but I just can't find them --I don't want anything from a commentator who seems to have too zealous an opinion or something to prove. I just don't feel they are going to give me a fair and balanced (R)(TM) perspective. I searched the Current Events table at B&N the other day for something... all the books seem to fall into three categories: frothing Bush-haters, adoring Bush-lovers, and pro-Iraq foreign policy technocrats. Where are the intelligent anti-war arguments? Why do all the liberal books focus on Bush-hating? That's a given, fine, get over it, I don't care about the Bush-Saudi-Halliburton axis, please tell me something new about the issues...
Incidentally, the last person to change my mind about something was Fareed Zakaria in his book "The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad." (Authored pre-Iraq war, by the way.) I don't know what his politics are, but he changed my perception of democracy: sometimes less is more.
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