Even More on Moore

Okay, I still haven't seen it yet, which I acknowledge, unlike many conservative commentators, excludes me from saying much about Fahrenheit 9/11. But I've been reading more about it and I am just waiting for a time my wife and I can go together. What I'm reading does make it clear that those who are angry about what the film doesn't say have a pretty good case. How do you leave out PNAC and the Neo-cons? What about Israel?

I think what's going on is not some subtle intelligence games here, though let me back up and say that there are always many, many different undercurrents which often swirl in the same or similar directions. For example, it wasn't solely to benefit Halliburton and other defense contractors that the war was fought, but they certainly benefitted, and Cheney's connection to Halliburton is undeniable. It wasn't just about the oil in Iraq, though certainly that was important. I think Moore does talk about those things. And truth to tell, while it may be a bit misleading to focus on Saudi Arabia, those business connections with Bush are clear. Moore thinks Bush didn't go after Saudi Arabia because the ruling family are his buddies. Many of us go further and think there was a partnership to create 9/11 all along. So while it goes further than what Moore is willing to say, I think that that angle is real also.

But what's really clear is who did back this film. Miramax with executive producer Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein is a big democrat. In fact I actually coordinated a protest with lots of Hollywood types in Beverly Hills, of all places, when Bush Senior came to L.A. Harvey and Paula Weinstein were central to that effort. I'll never forget the day I got a phone call from Angelica Houston which got me involved in the protest. In fact, I'm so much in the IN crowd, I'm not sure why I even TALK to you people.

The movie is Democrat propaganda. I don't think you need to go further than that. Anything that digs too deeply and sees that Democrats and Republicans alike are pretty much in sync when it comes to World Domination (though I do think Bush went too fast and too incompetently for the comfort level of segments of the powers that be), would NOT be very good propaganda for the Democrats.

So, no hard hitting expose on how much of the Patriot Act actually got its start under Clinton's anti-terrorism act. But lots of bad stuff on the Patriot Act itself. Nothing bad on Clinton's bombing of Yugoslav civilians, but lots on the bombing of Iraqi civilians. These are all consistent, though as I've said before, Moore's view is not particularly coherent politically. Even supporting the bombing of Afghanistan is a consistent Democratic position, because what Democrat would have had the guts to stand up against that after 9/11? (Well, Jim McDermott, for one...but there weren't many.)

This does not preclude some clever CIA guy from saying, "Hey, we need to dump Bush. I hear Moore is doing an anti-bush film...let's make sure it gets out there." My insider connections, in fact, tell me that...well, okay, I don't actually HAVE any insider connections, which is why I ramble on so.

So, I've lowered my expectations for the Moore film now that I know the obvious targets he chose to leave out. I'll say more when I FINALLY go see the thing!