Moore-wellian fables skew

truth by Alex Hughes, Daily Lobo Opinion

Another thing that really irks me is the constant banter stating what Moore is doing is

simply ”patriotic discourse.” Michael Moore is not a patriot. He is a traitor. …

[T]o be a patriot, one has to love

their country. Moore hates America and Americans with equal fervor. I think if it were up to him, he would have sent Osama a

basket of muffins with a nice little thank you card after the Sept. 11 attacks.

I applaud Alex Hughes for actually seeing

F/911. Most of the conservative commentary I have read indicates he’s rather unusual in that regard. That he would then calmly discuss

the movie’s flaws is also respectable. Still, he manages to earn his true credentials as a conservative by declaring Moore a traitor and

dictating what constitutes ‘acceptable’ patriotism (to him). Finally, he finishes trashing Moore by stating Moore is glad America was

attacked. Shameless, Alex. Were you afraid your cohort would reject you if you stayed rational? Or is it that calm conservatives don’t

make it into print — or office?

Hughes says of Moore, he ”doesn’t lie, per se, he just tells the version of the truth that

ignores things that are problematic to the advancement of his world view.” Sounds exactly like what Bush supporters say in defense of

Bush, who said, ”I’m a uniter, not a divider.”

I would call that a lie, per se, told to deceive in order to get something one

would not get if the truth were known. Of course, there is that other classic defense of Bush, ”it wasn’t a lie if he believed it at

the time” (all evidence to the contrary now). Maybe not, but then it is an indication of delusion. mjh

Republicans

get Moore than a challenge from filmmaker By Marisa Demarco

Republicans Review 9/11

Opinion > Guest Columnist: Dude, Where’s That Elite?”

href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/01/opinion/01EHRE.html”>Dude, Where’s That Elite? By BARBARA EHRENREICH, NYTimes

My point

is not to defend Moore, who — with a platoon of bodyguards and a legal team starring Mario Cuomo — hardly needs any muscle from me. I

just think it’s time to retire the “liberal elite” label, which, for the past 25 years, has been deployed to denounce anyone to the left

of Colin Powell. Thus, last winter, the ultra-elite right-wing Club for Growth dismissed followers of Howard Dean as a “tax-hiking,

government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing

freak show.” …

But the left I encounter on my treks across the nation is heavy on hotel housekeepers, community college students,

laid-off steelworkers and underpaid schoolteachers. …

But it would be redundant to speak of a “conservative elite” ….

So

liberals can take comfort from the fact that our most visible spokesman is, despite his considerable girth, an invulnerable target for

the customary assault weapon of the right. I meant to comment on his movie, too, but the lines at my local theater are still

prohibitively long.

The selection

of John Edwards as the Democrats Vice President will enrage the Republicans. He’s a Trial Lawyer, something they hate more than lesbian

socialist welfare mothers on dope. Trial Lawyers are THE enemy (because they hold businesses accountable to their customers and employees

— something the govenment doesn’t do anymore).

Edwards is the antithesis of corporate welfare. The Republicans will try to exploit

him as ”anti-business,” just like liberalism is ”anti-American” — a horrible lie.

Worse, Edwards is going to steal the

whole ‘optimism’ argument. No one is more optimistic than Edwards. Stand Edwards next to Cheney and pick the one who exudes confidence

in the future.

And that’s why Cheney will withdraw and McCain will be Bush’s new choice for VP. If Cheney can’t let go of power and

Bush can’t let go of Cheney’s hand, they’re sunk. mjh