Saturday, June 26, 2004

Michael Moore, King of All Media

Reading this post by Matthew Yglesias it occurs to me that Moore is once again breaking a barrier for left-wing thought in America.

He first did it with the publication of Stupid White Men at the peak of 9/11 hysteria. At the time, the book industry was convinced that it would be a suicide to publish an anti-Bush book at a time when Dubya was pulling down 80+ approval ratings. Moore eventually managed to get the publisher to ship the books and, to the industries' surprise, it became one of the best-selling non-fiction books of the year and has remained in or close to the New York Times Top Ten ever since.

As a result of the success of Moore's book, the floodgates have opened for the publication of left-wing, anti-Bush books. Just go to your local Barnes & Nobles or Borders and look at the Politics & Current Events section. I did just the other day and counted no less than 20 obviously anti-Bush books and, at best, three that were pro-Bush.

The success of Fahrenheit 9/11 (and it will be successful) has the potential to do for the movie industry what Moore's book did for the book industry.

I wonder if he might consider tackling TV again?

Bush to Ireland: I understand terrorism better than you do

I'm with Ezra. How dare Bush lecture the Irish about living with terrorism. Is he really so ignorant of history that he thinks our limited experience with terrorism, compared to the decades of terrorism that rocked Ireland, somehow gives us a better incite into this phenomena?

What. A. Prick.

Friday, June 25, 2004

Never eat your own sh*t

I agree with Oliver Willis. Bush, at one time, may have understood that they were distorting the truth in order to get the war in Iraq. But I think he has come to believe his own lies.

"First of all, most of Europe supported the decision in Iraq. Really what you're talking about is France, isn't it? And they didn't agree with my decision. They did vote for the U.N. Security Council resolution. ... We just had a difference of opinion about whether, when you say something, you mean it."

Really, it no longer matters what Bush's motivation is. Now matter how you spin this he comes off looking bad.

Nader openly courting Republicans to help him get on the Oregon ballot

FLASH! Nader Trashes His Legacy: Courts Righties to Sign Petition Today

(Thursday, June 24th) the Nader campaign made a desperate, last-ditch effort to make the Oregon ballot by teaming up with Republicans eager to help get Bush re-elected.

Ralph Nader himself appeared on Lars Larson's right-wing talk radio show this afternoon to urge Lars' listeners to come to his nominating convention this Saturday. Guest host Victor Bok directly told the audience that they should help Ralph make the ballot to siphon liberal votes and allow George Bush to win Oregon.

This evening, news reporters have confirmed that calls have been made to Republicans from right-wing anti-tax group Citizens for a Sound Economy. Callers said, "I am calling because we have a chance to stop John Kerry from winning Oregon." They went on to urge members to come out on Saturday and sign the petition to nominate Ralph Nader.

Additional calls were made to registered Republicans from Oregon Family Council. The script itself blatantly states that without Republicans "we don't think many people will show up" confirming the difficulty Nader has had in attracting 1000 supporters after his first effort to make the Oregon ballot failed earlier this year.

Many progressives have long argued that Ralph has failed to understand how his campaign would help defeat John Kerry in November. These shocking developments suggest that Ralph knows all too well his value to the right, and worse, demonstrates his willingness to put his own agenda ahead of the larger cause of defeating Bush.

Update: There's a thread on Kos talking about this and other activities by Republicans to get Nader on the ballot in Oregon.

I actually don't fault the Republican groups for doing this. At least they are honest in their motivations.

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Some presidents are more equal than others

The Supreme Court won't order Cheney energy papers to be released (AP):

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said the federal district court judge who ordered records opened to the public had issued too broad a release of documents, without giving appropriate deference to the White House

The president is not above the law, Kennedy wrote, but there is a "paramount necessity of protecting the executive branch from vexatious litigation that might distract it from the energetic performance of its constitutional duties.

He said "special considerations applicable to the president and the vice president suggest that the courts should be sensitive to requests by the government" in such special appeals.

Sexual harassment lawsuits, on the other hand ...

Monday, June 21, 2004

Bush's seven minutes of fame

I'm glad that the Bush's seven minute wait in the Florida classroom, after hearing that the 2nd tower had been attacked, is finally starting to get some media attention. This is due, in no small part, to Michael Moore's inclusion of the entire seven minute scene in Fahrenheit 9/11. But this is something that has always bugged me since that day. Why did Bush just sit there while the world was falling apart around him? As presidential historian Douglas Brinkley says in the above linked article:

"I don't understand how one sits there. I just don't. Minutes are an eternity in that sort of situation. . . . A quick presidential decision may save lives."

The Bushies are trying to push the line that Bush didn't want to panic anyone by rushing out of the classroom the second Andrew Card whispered in his ear. But, as Tom Schaller points out, the choice of "run from the room" and "sit there and act calm" is a false dichotomy. A good leader can project an aura of calm even as they "rush" off to take care of a breaking situation. Doing so would have only taken 30 seconds tops.

But, what has always been even more telling to me than the fact that Bush didn't get up and leave once he learned of the second attack is the fact that, none of his people tried to get him out of their either. In other words, they didn't think the situation was important enough to cut a photo-op short and steer him into another room to find out what was going on.

I think those seven minutes of footage will be devastating to the image of Bush as the steely-eyed leader. And that image is really the only thing he has got going for him.

Sunday, June 20, 2004

I warned you this would happen

Poppy at Patridiot Watch asks why John McCain stumping for George W. Bush is getting such prominent coverage:

McCain's stumping for President Bush as if it is some major incident that deserved 40 point headlines. It is really not that big a deal, especially since John McCain is the Arizona Chairman of the Bush Cheney Campaign!

Not for nothing, but if a sitting Republican Senator who chairs the President's reelection campaign in his home state then stumps with the President it is not news.

There are many reasons for this, not the least being that McCain is probably the second most popular Republican out there (possibly first considering how bad George's numbers have been of late).

But there is an even more important reason: because the Kerry campaign and several prominent Democrats have made the stupid, stupid, STUPID mistake of talking wistfully about a Kerry/McCain ticket. The fact that a man who, rumor tells us, has already been asked by Kerry to be his running mate goes out and campaigns for the man Kerry is running against is news. And it is the Democrats who fostered those kind of rumors that are primarily responsible for it.

I've warned about this repeatedly. All the McCain talk was foolish because it was never going to happen and the disappointment that would follow such a failure would just make Kerry look lesser by comparison. It also makes Bush look better when the inevitable "McCain stumps for Bush" stories came along.

Am I really the only one out there smart enough to realize what a bad idea all that Kerry/McCain talk was?