Jun 30
Where the fuck are our investigative reporters?
“A dark time for America” is one of the phrases I keep hearing slung about by the anti-Bush folk, but until now I was pretty sure it didn’t really fit. Now I’ve got a reason to use it. You want to know what “a dark time for America” really is? When American press is so filled with chicken-shits and brown-nosers that Michael fucking Moore has to be the one asking the tough questions and tackling the tough issues. If that isn’t dark, I’m not quite sure what is. Has our press sunk so far that Moore has to fill in for the lack of Woodwards and Bernsteins and independent oversight in modern America?
In case you haven’t guessed, I ‘acquired’ and watched Fahrenheit 9/11. Ironically, this is exactly how I ended up watching it; I had pretty much decided I wasn’t going to watch it, but when given an opportunity to watch it out of the blue, I simply couldn’t resist. I’m very glad that I did, because I learned a lot of things I didn’t know.
Did you know that one of Bush’s close friends and early business partners was the financial advisor for the bin Laden family? Or that the bin Laden family was heavily invested in Bush’s early business efforts? Did you know that our Preisdent allowed all the members of the bin Laden family staying in America to leave on Sept. 13, 2001? Even Air Force One wasn’t flying then. Did you know that the Bush administration has refused to allow an independent investigation into 9/11, and that the reports of Congress’ investigation have been classified? I knew none of these things, and all of them raise very interesting questions.
It’s very obvious from the very beginning of the film that it represents one man’s opinion, and anyone watching the ‘02 Oscar ceremony knows exactly where that man’s opinion stands. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a daring film, willing to bring to light information that I’ve never seen in newsmedia (such as Bush’s Carlyle Group relationship to the Saudi Bin Laden Group.)
It’s hard to not recommend this movie. One poster on the IMDB boards suggested that Moore’s massive attention-to-detail in this work might have been to counter some of the oppposition to Bowling for Columbine’s questionable source material. Also, for those of you seeing this as an anti-Republican film, it isn’t particularly so; many Democratic officials are also chastized on several occasions - most commonly, for their failure to stand up to Bush and his administration on issues like the Patriot Act. Said one IMDB poster, “It’s unfortunate that when one’s ideologies are just slightly in line with those of a particular group, they are instantly lumped in with that group.”
Listen, I know politicians are dishonest. I know that many of them belong to privileged families who benefit directly from their terms in office. I know that the system is corrupt and that it needs to change. But seriously, this is some fucked-up repugnant shit. These people are giving America the finger and doing whatever they want to, and at some point, they should be made to pay for it.
Alas, since I live in Idaho, a state with a solid Republican voting history, I will not get to have a part in any change that happens. So I think I’ll just sit at home and drink on election day. That way, I’ll be covered no matter what happens.