WHQR recently aired Steve Taylor's review of Michael Moore's controversial film "Farenheit 9/11". Pete offers a contrasting view.By Pete Olson
Wilmington NC – [Click the Listen button to hear Pete's commentary.]
Okay, I've worked out a great plan. I'm going to insult you, and then, you're going to give me money. Let's give it a try...
You, sitting in Hampstead drinking coffee - you're one of the dumbest people on the planet.
Hey pal..... you in your downtown office, daydreaming when you should be working - you know why you're smiling all the time? Because you're brain's not loaded down.
Every one of you is ignorant. You don't know a thing about the world...
....now send me seven or eight dollars, okay?
Why do I think none of you are reaching for the checkbook?
It's not fair. After all, Michael Moore has said the exact same things about you, but you'll give HIM seven or eight dollars. Why not me?
Yes, Mister Moore, master of the scripted and selectively edited documentary, and certainly no stranger to controversy, has shown his true colors while touring Europe. He has described Americans as "possibly the dumbest people on Earth." He claims that we grin all the time because our brains aren't loaded down, whatever that is supposed to mean, but I don't think he meant that we have no cares.
Speaking about America, he sympathized with a British audience by telling them that they were "stuck with being connected to America, which is known for bringing sadness and misery around the globe." He forgot to mention that we give away more foreign aid, and feed more hungry people than any other nation on Earth.
In Germany, again talking about America and Americans, he asked, "Should such an ignorant people lead the world?" He then warned, "Don't be like us. Don't go the American way when it comes to economics, jobs and services for the poor and immigrants. It is the wrong way."
Oh....he also holds the theocratic lunatics who are kidnapping and beheading people in Iraq in very high regard. In his words, they are not terrorists, but are "the Revolution, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow - and they will win." That's a pretty good follow-up to his words in the days following September Eleventh, when he accused the United States of committing "so many acts of terror and bloodshed that we had better get a clue about the culture of violence in which we have been active participants."
We'll just skip over what I'd like to do if my hands and Mister Moore's throat are ever in the same room, and I'll ask you a simple question - exactly WHY would you take your hard earned dollars and hand them over to a man who doesn't think much of you, and thinks even less of your country?
Now, there are plenty of people who disagree with our efforts in Iraq. There are those who disagree with our entire economic system, and believe that Socialism could work if we just gave it a little longer than the seventy-five years or so that the Soviet Union did.
But most of those folks have the loyalty, the decency, and the gratitude to realize that while not perfect, this land we call America is pretty darn special. Even among my most liberal friends, I know of none who would ever utter words so despicable as those that flow freely from Michael Moore's mouth on a regular basis.
You see, yje problem is that Michael Moore doesn't represent the loyal opposition. Michael Moore represents the selfishness, greed, and uncaring attitude that he so vociferously condemns. Michael Moore represents Michael Moore - it's ALL about Michael Moore.
He says those things because he knows it sells books, especially in Europe, where they enjoy an American bad-mouthing America. Here at home, it brings people into the theatre. And every American who buys his book, or goes to see one of his movies is lining his pockets in some masochistic ritual that absolutely baffles me. "Oh please, Mister Moore - insult me again and for God's sake take my money!"
Unless, of course, you agree that you're one of the dumbest people on the planet....in which case, give him your money - he has a valid point regarding your intelligence.
I've always been highly suspect of career rabble-rousers, those who continuously attack the status quo just because they can. Michael Moore has reached a new low in rabble-rousing, attacking anything and everything about America, because it makes him rich. He has placed his own wallet ahead of his country.
In that regard, he shares a lot with Benedict Arnold.
Think about that when you're trying to decide what movie to see.
Pete Olson is a retired Marine who lives and works in New Hanover County.