Saturday, September 10, 2005

No Moore

In that last post, I restrained myself from saying that nobody would really suggest that inept politicians were more responsible for death and destruction than the hurricane was. Because, well, I figured I'd write that and then somebody would say just that.

And, here comes Michael Moore.

"There is much to be said and done about the manmade annihilation of New Orleans, caused NOT by a hurricane but by the very specific decisions made by the Bush administration in the past four and a half years."

(Sigh.) I should've known. Look, I know Moore means well, and I'm sure he's a nice guy in person. But, he's the cuddly blanket that the left should've outgrown by now. We need him like a hole in the head.

The troubling thing about Moore isn't that he's a provocateur; it's that he doesn't seem to provoke anyone on the left. Most of us sort of nod our heads when he stirs up controversy, and think "Okay, well maybe he dumbs everything down that he talks about. And maybe he's dishonest and sensationalistic. But, hey, he means well." I keep hearing the same thing from my lefty friends:
"Sure, he's a propagandist, but he's our propagandist!"- a cop-out that's as cynical as it is hollow. But, it's not just that Moore is dishonest, simplistic, mean and brutish.

It's that he capitalizes on national tragedies almost exclusively to fuel his own career. And, by hiding behind politics, he gives plenty of people the impression that Democrats can't make any political headway unless people die.

Look, Bush fucked up- oh, yes he did. And leftists should be ready and willing to point that out. But, Michael Moore taking the blame so far over the edge of reason doesn't do anything for us. It just gives ammunition for every close-minded conservative who wants to say: "Well, jeez, I'd like to listen to the left, and I know that Bush is a little incompetant. But, look at what crazy shit liberals say! " Moore is our Rick Santorum. He's an embarassment. If conservatives don't want to think at an adult level, we need to show that we can. And that means making Michael Moore sit at the little kids' table.

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