~
Turnabout


Two of my oldest friends are old timey died in the wool Democrats. When I saw Mr. Kerry swishing the other day I sent the post to both of them and asked for a comment. Why? Well, aside from the innate desire to be hateful to my friends, I also wanted to try to give them a voice outside of the shrillness of all those explosions on the internet that the medium is prone to on both sides.

The simple fact is, these guys have invariably provided me with the "other" take, and that is something that I for one need badly. To not take a careful look usually means that I'm about to get my comeuppance. Anyhow:

Dan Gilmartin is a political science expert, college professor, careful writer and deep thinker. Irish by genetic predisposition and stubbornly working class. A good guy. He starts with a rant about Michael Moore --

Bob-
I saw Farenheit 9-11 today. Thank you Michael
Moore. I've read some negative reviews too, but
all in all, this is the one I agree
with. I don't agree with it all, and criticizing
Moore for exaggeration is partially valid, but
for the Right, criticism of Bush is un-American;
hell, asking a question is un-American. They've
forced people to take sides; Screw them, I've had
enough of their hypocritical cant -- I want the
bastids OUT.

...Danno

June 30th, 2004 4:34 pm
NY Daily News: "A soaring display of American
patriotism"

Moore's message delivered, big-time
By Denis Hamill / New York Daily News
Tuesday, June 29th, 2004

You could have heard a tear fall.

As an American mother named Lila Lipscomb drowned
in anguish over the death of her son in Iraq, the
packed Loews Bay Terrace theater in Queens was so
silent at the 11 a.m. show of "Fahrenheit 9/11"
on Friday that all you could hear was the rustle
of tissues. I sat in the back of the theater,
with an unemployed construction worker from
Brooklyn, and as the movie played, I watched men
and women, young and old, wiping their eyes in
silhouette.

They were the tears of the nation this weekend as
"Fahrenheit 9/11" blazed from sea to shining sea
as the No.1 movie in America.

This was a brand-new moviegoing experience.

Since I started going to the movies at age 4 at
the RKO Prospect in Brooklyn, I don't think I've
ever sat with an audience so personally involved
with the story being told on screen. This was
not, after all, some exploding-fireball
blockbuster.

No, the exploding fireballs in this film are
real. The dead people in this film are real. The
dialogue is real. Real soldiers, real victims,
real mothers, real dead kids. The bad guys, as
portrayed by filmmaker Michael Moore, are all too
real.

The only thing fake is this administration's
reasons for going to war, exploiting the nearly
3,000 deaths of Sept. 11 so that a rich kid who
went AWOL from the National Guard during the
Vietnam War could send American troops to die in
Iraq and call himself a "war prez'dint."

And the reason the people in the audience, the
American people, get so involved in this movie is
because we are all extras in the story.

The film - as sidesplitting as it is
heartbreaking - is a soaring display of American
patriotism, one that defies classification
because it is a personal statement, the way
Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" was something brand
new in its bloody day. As Paine wrote,
"Government, even in its best state, is a
necessary evil; in its worst state, an
intolerable one."

Moore doesn't tolerate Bush's government.
Sometimes we need a smart, funny, common Joe to
make some common sense out of what's happening in
his country. If there had been cameras around
back in the day, Tom Paine might have made a
documentary instead of writing a pamphlet urging
independence from England.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" oozes with patriotism because
it is a loud celebration of our great Bill of
Rights, telling our commander in chief that we
think his war stinks in an election year.

Look, the Bush campaign spent $85 million in
three months trying to convince the electorate
that John Kerry is a flip-flopping left-wing
threat to national security. Moore spent
$6million to make his documentary showing that
Bush is an arrogant, self-serving, dangerous
buffoon who is a threat to national security.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" is also a corrective to the
daily drumbeat of right-wing talk radio, which
slants the news to fit a radical agenda. Yet the
Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys scorn Michael
Moore for daring to express his point of view
with pictures. But Americans don't like
hypocrites. And so they are forking over $10 a
head to say so, in places like Queens and
Brooklyn and small working-class towns and
neighborhoods across the fruited plain from which
come the kids who do the dying in America's good
and bad wars.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" also has been picked apart by
the legitimate press. But this is because Moore
spanks the American news media for being swept up
in the myopic post-9/11 patriotic hysteria,
allowing themselves to be "embedded" by the
administration and spoon-fed jingoistic Iraqi war
news.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" is also a testament to American
capitalism, because nowhere else on the planet
could a working-class guy from a place like
Flint, Mich., grow up to skewer the President of
the United States with his own words and actions
and turn it into the biggest-grossing documentary
in history, taking in $21.8 million in its
opening weekend.

This is a great American Horatio Alger story, one
that every American should applaud.

Which is exactly what the audience in Queens did
last week after George W. Bush mangled his final
sentence and the end credits rolled. I was as
emotionally moved by the applause as I was by the
film, because that was the powerful sound of "Joe
Public," as Bush refers to We the People.

Out here in the opinionated boroughs, I expected
some boos. I didn't hear one. Instead, I left
with a deeply moved crowd, passing a long line
for the next show.

Back in Brooklyn, the unemployed construction
worker bought a bootleg copy of "Fahrenheit
9/11," shot with a camcorder in a movie house.

He called to say, "Even the audience in the
bootleg film applauds at the end."


++++++++++++++++++++

Then he adds this about the clip of Kerry:

Let me get in line to agree with Mike. All this
Gang of Thugs cares about is the millions in
their corporate buddy's tax breaks. That's not
populist bullshit -- its not my fault that some
people can't do basic arithmetic. Sweet Jesus,
get off the fantasy syllogisms and look around.

I still love ya Bob.

...Danno

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mike Broussard is one of the smartest guys I've ever met, and is probably the best lawyer in Orlando. He's a very serious guy when it comes to things that he believes in passionately and he is one of those guys who has always put his money where his mouth is. I'll say this, I only really respect two lawyers and he is one of them.

Mike says:

Bob: I enjoyed your light reading piece on Kerry, but feel compelled to respond with a television-related story of my own. I am sure you expected nothing more, or less.
I'm watching the news and the story is on McCain's campaign swing for Dubya. McCain is at the podium speaking solemnly about the war on terror, the sacrifice required and in particular, that the ultimate sacrifice suffered by so many of our young men recently being justified by the demands of the war on terror.
On the edge of the screen you see Dubya, who is on the stage with McCain. He is joking and carrying on with some of the fat white men who cluster around him routinely. No clue is the distinct impression the scene gives me.Total disconnect. Now, that scares me much more than Kerry looking like a fairy on the baseball diamond. Wonder how Kerry looked while in country in 1968. Contrast with Bush getting drunk at Yale, as a cheerleader. Scared yet?
Hope all is well with you.MBroussard

and

Bob: I'll respond by telling a tale. I'm having a beer with my father-in-law. I know him to be a life-long Republican. I say "Stuart, I know you're a life-long Republican, why is that?"
Stuart said" Well, my father was a Republican and I just feel like the Dems. give too much money away."
Stuart then said "Mike , I know you are a life-long Democrat. Why is that?" I said"Well, my father was a Democrat and I feel like the Republicans give too much money away."
Bob' it's all about the constituency. Do you really think the "publicans" tax breaks, reduction of gov't , and anti-abortion policy benefit you at all? You didn't get a tax break, the only gov't reduction is in areas that benefit the big boys and you will never have an abortion. John Kerry and the dems. may be less attractive to you than the Bush machine, but don't think they really care about you.
As always, great to hear from you and keep those cards and letters coming.MBroussard

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well, there it is. These are both very convincing guys. Both of them have better noodles than this old country boy. Seems like a long time till November. I just hope they aren't calling the bail bond office looking for some help before then. Don't worry guys... I'll get you out. Hmmm... now about that collateral.


Bob