Can “Fahrenheit 9/11” Change The World?
By Linda Thieman
“My
own motivation [in making “Fahrenheit 9/11” was the thought that] we
can't leave this up to the Democrats. It's too serious now. I mean,
this is a party that can't even win when they win. They lose when they
win; you can't get more pathetic than that. We have to save them from
themselves.”
--Michael Moore, Entertainment Weekly (7/2/2004)
With the
DVD-version of “Fahrenheit 9/11” coming out, priced to sell, on
October 5, according to Amazon.com and Entertainment Weekly, and the
video tape version hitting rental stores the same day, Michael Moore
admits in the above interview that the timing of these releases was
chosen to influence the November election as much as possible.
According to CBS Market Watch,
in a Gallup Poll taken in July, about two weeks after the film’s
release, 56% of the 1000+ respondents said they had either seen F 9/11
or planned to see it, with fully 30% of total respondents saying they
would wait to view the film once it came out on video or DVD.
What I
thought was really amazing, though, was that 60% of the people who
identified themselves as Independents planned on seeing the film.
So,
I ask myself . . . to say that we have “noticed” the alarming
techniques and strategies used by the rabid right wing to smear Kerry’s
record recently would be an understatement. It’s reached a kind
of crescendo that makes me wonder whether or not such energy can
realistically be sustained, and if not, when will it all collapse in on
itself to the detriment of those using the smear tactics. Kerry
and the Dems put out a positive vision of themselves, the GOP takes a
topic that is clearly Kerry’s biggest personal strength and Bush’s
biggest personal weakness, and they lie, smear, and manipulate (all the
while hiding behind a front group) with the help of the national media
so that gullible Americans actually start to believe that Kerry’s war
record is built on lies. Then, the junta uses the good ol’
“bait and switch” technique – when enough people clamor for an end to
the smear tactics and the use of the specific front group, suddenly the
GOP is outraged that 527 groups exist at all! They then begin a
concerted effort to eliminate the influence of “evil” liberal groups
like MoveOn.org and ACT. Suddenly, after the damage to Kerry is
done and done well, and the Democrats finally start to fight back, we
are swatted down like annoying gnats, and the volume is turned up even
louder against us on yet another front.
Is it
any surprise that the Democrats cannot stand up to these kinds of
tactics? Especially when they sabotaged one of the few amongst
them who WAS able to on the road to the White House?
If it
weren’t a matter of life and death, I’d say to heck with it and tune it
all out. But, these relentless attacks on Kerry have had quite
the opposite effect than the one intended by the GOP – on me,
personally, anyway. Anyone who reads Blog for Iowa on a regular
basis must know that, as a staunch Dean supporter, I have never warmed
to Kerry. And I know there are many folks out there like
me. But, the more the GOP attacks and the more they reveal their
vicious true nature for all to see, the more it gets my hackles up, and
the more strongly I find myself actually supporting John Kerry.
It’s true. Nothing but the most vile attacks such as these could
have brought it out in me, but I actually am starting to feel
protective of “our guy,” and I’m wanting to fight back. And if
it’s happening to me, one of the last of the diehard Dean supporters,
it MUST be happening elsewhere.
Wow. Nothing like relentless attacks by the GOP to energize the Democratic base!
So, how
much is too much? When will the undecided “middle” wake up to the
GOP tactics? Is there any hope that they ever will?
Which is
what got me to thinking about “Fahrenheit 9/11” coming out on video and
DVD in October, perfectly timed to catch the undecided middle just as
the cacophonous crescendo of the massive, unavoidable GOP smear campaign is waking
them up out of their media-induced slumber.
In politics, timing is everything.
The Beginning of History
by John Berger, CommonDreams.org
Fahrenheit 9/11 has touched Millions of Viewers across the World. But could it Actually Change the Course of Civilization?
… The
film, considered as a political act, may be a historical landmark. Yet
to have a sense of this, a certain perspective for the future is
required. Living only close-up to the latest news, as most
opinion-makers do, reduces one's perspectives. The film is trying to
make a small contribution towards the changing of world history. It is
a work inspired by hope.
What
makes it an event is the fact that it is an effective and independent
intervention into immediate world politics. Today it is rare for an
artist to succeed in making such an intervention, and in interrupting
the prepared, prevaricating statements of politicians. Its immediate
aim is to make it less likely that Bush will be re-[s]elected next
November.
To
denigrate this as propaganda is either naive or perverse, forgetting
(deliberately?) what the last century taught us. Propaganda requires a
permanent network of communication so that it can systematically stifle
reflection with emotive or utopian slogans. Its pace is usually fast.
Propaganda invariably serves the long-term interests of some elite.
… In
more than a thousand cinemas across the country, Michael Moore becomes
with this film a people's tribune. And what do we see? Bush is visibly
a political cretin, as ignorant of the world as he is indifferent to
it; while the tribune, informed by popular experience, acquires
political credibility, not as a politician himself, but as the voice of
the anger of a multitude and its will to resist.
There is
something else which is astounding. The aim of Fahrenheit 9/11 is to
stop Bush fixing the next election as he fixed the last. Its focus is
on the totally unjustified war in Iraq. Yet its conclusion is larger
than either of these issues. It declares that a political economy which
creates colossally increasing wealth surrounded by disastrously
increasing poverty, needs - in order to survive - a continual war with
some invented foreign enemy to maintain its own internal order and
security. It requires ceaseless war.
(Click here to read the full text of the article.)
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Saturday, August 28
Can “Fahrenheit 9/11” Change The World?
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 28 Aug 2004 03:59 PM CDT
Nader Gets On Iowa Ballot
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 28 Aug 2004 12:52 PM CDT
Nader Gets On Iowa Ballot
Quad-City Times DES MOINES — Ralph Nader’s slot on the Nov. 2 Iowa election ballot was assured Thursday after state officials ruled that the independent presidential hopeful’s nomination petition is valid. A three-member panel, including Secretary of State Chet Culver, Attorney General Tom Miller and State Auditor David Vaudt concluded that the petition filed earlier this month contains enough legally valid signatures to put Nader and his running mate, Peter Miguel Camejo, on the Iowa ballot. A Des Moines Democrat had challenged the petition’s legitimacy. Although Nader is a long-shot candidate, his place in the race could have big implications in a neck-and-neck battle between [pseudo-]pResident Bush and the Democratic nominee, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Several polls conducted in Iowa show Bush and Kerry in a virtual dead heat, with Nader drawing a small, but critical, slice of support. (more)
Franker, Race Closer Than Ever, Receives Kucinich Endorsement
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 28 Aug 2004 09:35 AM CDT
Franker, Race Closer Than Ever, Receives Kucinich Endorsement
Former presidential candidate Congressman Dennis Kucinich has officially endorsed Dave Franker in his run for U.S. House. Kucinich joins Democratic Action PAC (DAPAC) and Democracy for Iowa in his endorsement of Dave Franker for Congress in Iowa’s Congressional District 2 (Johnson and Linn counties, amongst others). These endorsements come at a crucial time in the Franker campaign, as Dave gains momentum in his bid to more accurately represent the 2nd district’s interests. The 2nd district race has been rated the best chance for a Democratic pick up in the Midwest by Campaigns & Elections Magazine, with Leach favored just 10 to 9 to win. This rating isn’t an anomaly either. When the D.C. Political Report issued its ratings of congressional races across the country, Franker vs. Leach received a four star rating out of a possible five. Five stars means the race is a total tossup, and one star means the race might as well be over. There are only 17 five star races across the country, which means that Dave’s grassroots campaign has vaulted him into the top 20 closest races nationwide. The most important upcoming event is this Sunday, from 2 pm to 4 pm, at Devotay Restaurant in Iowa City. Former Iowa House Minority Leader Dick Myers will be hosting a fundraiser for Dave, with a suggested contribution of $25. Everyone is welcome, even if you don’t plan on donating. Click here to find other Franker for Congress events. The Franker for Congress campaign will also be running phone banks every night between 6 pm and 9 pm. This is crucial free voter contact. If you have any questions about volunteering, contact Ben at ben@frankerforcongress.com, or at (319) 337-9396. To learn more about Dave Franker, click here or here. To contribute to his campaign, click here.
Connie Wilson: Andre Heinz Speaks in Bettendorf
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 28 Aug 2004 05:56 AM CDT
Andre Heinz Speaks in Bettendorf  Andre Heinz in Bettendorf By Connie Wilson Andre Heinz, the thirty-four-year-old step-son of John Kerry came to town on Wednesday night, August 25, at 7:00 p.m., and addressed a crowd of about 100 citizens gathered in the upstairs meeting room of the Bettendorf Public Library. His opening remarks were that his mother always felt “grounded” when she returned to Iowa, and that there was a rainbow outside that matched the building’s color scheme: observant statements, but not particularly political statements. The rainbow was caused by the all-day off-and-on rain the area experienced on this overcast August day. Andre’s 31-year-old brother, Chris, was not present, and the oldest Heinz son, John IV, has steadfastly refused to have anything to do with the Kerry campaign. He lives a quiet life with his wife and daughter in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, working as a blacksmith and iron worker artisan (he trained, for a while, at Colonial Williamsburg) and as the founder of the private Buddhist Tinicum Art and Science School, in Ottsville, Pennsylvania, which has, among its student enrollment, some troubled youths. John IV is the father of Teresa Kerry’s only grandchild, but Mrs. Kerry has been quoted as saying that it was soon after her grand-daughter’s birth in 1996 that her eldest son “began to hate me.” There is little information available beyond that, and John IV isn’t giving interviews. Andre Heinz graduated from Georgetown with a degree in English and then studied at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Science. Therefore, many of his remarks concerned the environment. He works as an environmental consultant in Stockholm for NaturalStep. It had been announced that, upon arrival, Andre, would first tour the assembled crowd, meeting and greeting, but that turned out to be wrong, as he took the podium (after a brief introduction) and, with a combination of insouciance and savoir faire said that his speech would be addressing three basic topics: 1) The Kerry/Edwards plan for jobs for the middle class. 2) The Kerry/Edwards plan for sensible, affordable health care. 3) How our country can better invest in science and technology. It was probably just as well that young Andre meandered off-topic with humorous asides, as, while certainly important topics, the three outlined above - which he intermittently addressed - can certainly be yawners when voters meet late on a week-night after a long day on the job. After announcing this three-pronged speech plan, however, he wandered a bit (by his own admission) and became bogged-down in the details of the Kerry/Edwards Health Care plan. (This sort of thing usually does not play well to assembled masses; it reminded me a bit of the O.J. trial, that smothered its audience with facts to the point that they could not absorb any more DNA evidence and acquitted a man the nation still thinks is guilty.) more » |
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