Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Michael Moore vs. O'Reilly
The Transcript
It should be said, before I begin my 3rd diatribe today (it's a chatty day), that I consider myself politically libertarian. That is to say, I believe the government should mind as much of its own existing business and as little of mine as possible. Any party that expands the government and cuts into my paycheck even more without asking is a problem. Any person "drinking the Kool-Aid," which can be found at the end of the end of either party line, is not ok with me. Which leads me to Michael Moore, who, as I am a trained journalist while he pretends to be, offends me.
I read this transcript of his interview with Bill O'Reilly on Drudge, and got pretty much what I expected, though I thought O'Reilly's responses were a little flat. At any rate, the talking points...
Moore says that because the President acted on misinformation from multiple valid sources, he "lied" to the country and compares it to a pathological criminal who has taught himself to believe his own lies.
A choice based on misinformation is tragic, but not a lie. Repeating the misinformation when you don't know it's incorrect is not a lie. It's incorrect. It's a mistake. In this case, it's a very big one. However, the seriousness of the situation does not morph a mistake into a lie. A lie is a lie. We all know what that is, and his oversimplification of the situation only inflames the public.
Moore: Would you sacrifice your child to remove one of the other 30 brutal dictators on this planet?
...
M: So you would sacrifice your child to secure Fallujah? I want to hear you say that.
O: I would sacrifice myself—
M: Your child—It's Bush sending the children there.
O: I would sacrifice myself.
When we go to war, any war, how many children go? Unless they lied about their age, none. Granted, everyone is somebody's child, and I don't dispute that. However, the people going to war are ADULTS, making what choice is best for their lives. They chose to join the military and defend whatever cause the military engaged in. They haven't been sacrificed "by" someone, they are doing the sacrificing.
The problem is Far Left Democrats in particular don't understand this thinking. They think everything is done for someone, and if it isn't, it should be. Health care should be done for you. Housing should be done for you. Food should be done for you. You money should be spent for you because they know better and see the big picture, while you're just trying to pay your bills. Ergo, if something happens, it happens to you and there is someone else to blame besides yourself. You didn't know better, it just happened. It's obvious they think that way from their election year rhetoric and they are always ready to serve their own constituents up as an example of hapless living.
Example: The Palm Beach Valley voting episode. The ballot was presented to its users and approved, but come voting day, those poor people just couldn't "help" but vote incorrectly. They were forced to! They were old and couldn't make sense of it! Their voting supervisor was cruel! Nevermind that those people are generally touted as reasons behind entire governmental movements, now they're stupid. It should be noted that both groups of people were Democrats, not Republicans.
Back to the point. To ask this question, to present it to the nation in the way that Moore does insults the military. I daresay any military man or woman would appreciate having to ask their parents' permission to join or go anywhere. They aren't stupid, and they don't need anyone excusing them as such. Maybe we don't all agree on the point of them being there, but they've done good work and they shouldn't be used in this way.
Finally, Moore says:
How do you deliver democracy to a country? You don’t do it down the barrel of a gun. That’s not how you deliver it.
That's funny, because in the history of the world...that's exactly how you deliver it. Get real, Moore. And take off your hat... This is a civilized nation and you're indoors, sir.
It should be said, before I begin my 3rd diatribe today (it's a chatty day), that I consider myself politically libertarian. That is to say, I believe the government should mind as much of its own existing business and as little of mine as possible. Any party that expands the government and cuts into my paycheck even more without asking is a problem. Any person "drinking the Kool-Aid," which can be found at the end of the end of either party line, is not ok with me. Which leads me to Michael Moore, who, as I am a trained journalist while he pretends to be, offends me.
I read this transcript of his interview with Bill O'Reilly on Drudge, and got pretty much what I expected, though I thought O'Reilly's responses were a little flat. At any rate, the talking points...
Moore says that because the President acted on misinformation from multiple valid sources, he "lied" to the country and compares it to a pathological criminal who has taught himself to believe his own lies.
A choice based on misinformation is tragic, but not a lie. Repeating the misinformation when you don't know it's incorrect is not a lie. It's incorrect. It's a mistake. In this case, it's a very big one. However, the seriousness of the situation does not morph a mistake into a lie. A lie is a lie. We all know what that is, and his oversimplification of the situation only inflames the public.
Moore: Would you sacrifice your child to remove one of the other 30 brutal dictators on this planet?
...
M: So you would sacrifice your child to secure Fallujah? I want to hear you say that.
O: I would sacrifice myself—
M: Your child—It's Bush sending the children there.
O: I would sacrifice myself.
When we go to war, any war, how many children go? Unless they lied about their age, none. Granted, everyone is somebody's child, and I don't dispute that. However, the people going to war are ADULTS, making what choice is best for their lives. They chose to join the military and defend whatever cause the military engaged in. They haven't been sacrificed "by" someone, they are doing the sacrificing.
The problem is Far Left Democrats in particular don't understand this thinking. They think everything is done for someone, and if it isn't, it should be. Health care should be done for you. Housing should be done for you. Food should be done for you. You money should be spent for you because they know better and see the big picture, while you're just trying to pay your bills. Ergo, if something happens, it happens to you and there is someone else to blame besides yourself. You didn't know better, it just happened. It's obvious they think that way from their election year rhetoric and they are always ready to serve their own constituents up as an example of hapless living.
Example: The Palm Beach Valley voting episode. The ballot was presented to its users and approved, but come voting day, those poor people just couldn't "help" but vote incorrectly. They were forced to! They were old and couldn't make sense of it! Their voting supervisor was cruel! Nevermind that those people are generally touted as reasons behind entire governmental movements, now they're stupid. It should be noted that both groups of people were Democrats, not Republicans.
Back to the point. To ask this question, to present it to the nation in the way that Moore does insults the military. I daresay any military man or woman would appreciate having to ask their parents' permission to join or go anywhere. They aren't stupid, and they don't need anyone excusing them as such. Maybe we don't all agree on the point of them being there, but they've done good work and they shouldn't be used in this way.
Finally, Moore says:
How do you deliver democracy to a country? You don’t do it down the barrel of a gun. That’s not how you deliver it.
That's funny, because in the history of the world...that's exactly how you deliver it. Get real, Moore. And take off your hat... This is a civilized nation and you're indoors, sir.
Comments:
Post a Comment
