Posted on by lhl

Interesting reading the various reactions to Michael Moore’s Oscar acceptance speech. Round and round the top goes…

Insight from Time: Shame on You, Mr. Moore! Shame on You!:

If Moore really wants to end the war — and not just boost the spirits of his Upper West Side neighbors — then mightn’t he also want to win over people who oppose the war and yet don’t believe that Bush is an illegimate president swept into office by skullduggery?

Poniewozik (article author) points out that this sort of over-the-top all-in-one take-it-or-leave it type of thing is a characteristic flaw of Moore’s movies, the irony being that, Bowling for Columbine was IMO, Moore’s first film that seemed to transcend that.

I’m not going to rank on Moore. At least he got out there and said it, it’s too bad that it’s not going to make it through the static for those that aren’t in agreement. Only time and bodybags will change that, I suppose.

[added] Interesting tidbit:

The nomination is, in its own way, kind of amazing, but not nearly so much so as the fact that he gets the kind of big corporations and media magnates he loves to attack–such as General Electric, Rupert Murdoch, Disney and Kirk Kerkorian– to subsidize and distribute his work.

“The irony is never lost on me,” said Moore. “They’re doing it because they’re in the business of making money, and I make them money. … And I’m doing it because, through these large media entities, I’m hoping to reach as many people as possible.

“What’s always kind of bothered me about this equation … is that I think they know that ultimately it’s not a dangerous act to put Michael Moore out there. They are so convinced that they’ve done such a good job of dumbing down the minds of the American public, that the public, when they watch ‘TV Nation’ or ‘The Awful Truth’ or this movie on DVD or whatever, will laugh, they’ll cry and they’ll turn it off and switch it to, you know, ‘Help Me, I’m a Celebrity–Get Me Off This Island!’ or whatever that new show is.”

Also interesting, according to MOOREWATCH.com, 76 days have passed since Moore removed his forums and silenced the debates between his supporters and his critics. I was looking for forums on his site and was surprised (yet not) to find this. Praise be joojle.

Posted on by lhl

Apaches Turn Tail and Run. Chew on this:

But consider this. If you were under the thumb of a repressive American government and fighting it tooth and nail for every one of your civil liberties, would you greet an Iraqi army with open arms? How about if they say they’re here to “liberate” you? Would you throw rice at your liberators or take pot shots at the dirty Arabs who can’t even pronounce “Brooklyn” yet point to it on a map and say “We’ll take Brooklyn by tomorrow”? I know that I’d reach for a gun and fight a guerilla war. Would you?

Posted on by lhl

Warblogs:cc – not your regular warblog. Just the facts. Very much recommended. [It’s time we reclaimed the term warblog. Like time we reclaimed the term patriotism or Un-American our civil liberties for that matter]

Warblogs:cc was conceived of and created by Christopher Allbritton, George Paine, Sean-Paul Kelley and Mike Hudack. It’s designed to provide you with a birds-eye view of Gulf War Redux, the American government and civil liberties issues in the United States.

All recommended sites (been refreshing the Agonist every few hours, and Warblogging.com going on the list). Article at WP: Operation Commentary Storm. Also, if you read all the way down, be sure to check out Stand Down’s fact check on Mr Smash.

Posted on by lhl

HNN (History News Network) has some good stuff. Most recently on the blog. Maybe it’ll start to dawn on some of these people that this isn’t a football game:

  • ABCNews: Doubts and Questions: Slow Aid and Other Concerns Fuel Iraqi Discontent Toward United States

    • Why are you here in this country? Are you trying to take over? Are you going to take our country forever? Are the Israelis coming next? Are you here to steal our oil? When are you going to get out?

  • Boston Globe: What Coalition?

    • The reason the word ”coalition” flows every five seconds from the lips of the Bush and Powell is because they do not want us to know that no such thing exists. The United States has 250,000 troops bearing down on Iraq. Britain is contributing 45,000. After that, the next greatest contributor is Australia, with a grand total of 2,000.

Posted on by lhl

More on Clear Channel:

While Clear Channel promoted these as patriotic rallies, the attendees obviously felt otherwise. In addition to waving their provided flags, they also held signs condemning their fellow Americans – liberals, Hollywood, the Dixie Chicks. They were not so much patriotic rallies as pro-war rallies, and not so much pro-war rallies as rallies against anyone who opposes the Bush administration’s policies.