I'm pissed off!
My wife is an anti-Bush liberal, and even she's sick of hearing about Michael Moore. I know how she feels, and I probably shouldn't even post this, but my patience has snapped. My problem is not so much with Fahrenheit 911, which failed to enrage me, but rather with the liberal reaction to it.
I had always believed, as an article of faith, that there are intelligent, fair-minded and intellectually honest critical thinkers on both sides of the ideological spectrum, distributed fairly equally. The aftermath of this one idiotic documentary threatens to single-handedly change all that.
Nearly all the liberals I know and love have astonished me with their opinions of Fahrenheit 911. It's often simply a single-word review: "Great!" If they make any mention at all of Michael Moore's shotgun conspiracy theories, unsubstantiated innuendos, and factual distortions, it's either to minimize them or deny them outright. I'm not talking about mindless, knee-jerk partisans either, but thoughtful, intelligent liberals.
I do not fricken get this! Let's try to imagine, for a moment, that (God forbid!) Ann Coulter decided to make a documentary. Content aside, let's say her film was widely acknowledged for its cinematic merits, at least (I know it's a stretch, but stay with me here).
In this scenario, I honestly do not know one single conservative who would either
- go see it at all, much less stand in line for hours to see it,
- hail it as "great" cinema,
- breezily dismiss the film's obvious bias with a comment like, "Sure it's 'biased', but what isn't?",
- or, while admitting to certain distortions, argue that this election is "simply too important" to quibble over minor details like facts.
Maybe it's just me. Maybe my conservative friends here in New York are different. Maybe by living in such an ideologically hostile environment, they've grown in understanding and open-mindedness by being perpetually challenged.
Whatever the reason, I can never imagine them behaving like their liberal counterparts. I find that dismaying.
I'm sick of Michael Moore and his nonsense. I'm also disappointed by his apologists on the left.