I ask in all seriousness: where the fuck are their balls?
Given the amount of controversy this film has generated, it seems wrong to attack it with the usual Mr. Cranky disdain, rather than addressing some of the issues it raises and leting the members of our little online community debate them.
Ironically, I attended a lecture given by Paul Roberts recently. He wrote a book called "The End of Oil". Though I haven't read the book, one of the points he made was that Saudi Arabia provides the United States with more oil than any other country. According to Yahoo, that's about 17.8%. Roberts explained that if the Saudi regime were replaced by a one hostile to the U.S., or if terrorists attacked Saudi Arabian oil facilities, either resulting in the elimination of Saudi Arabian oil from the U.S. economy, there would be an energy crisis in this country like we have never seen. So, whether we like it or not, it's in our country's best interest right now to be friendly to Saudi Arabia.
One of the arguments of Michael Moore's film is that George Bush and most of his administration has compromised the security of the United States because they are so beholden to Saudi Arabian interests. The Bush family's own wealth is directly tied to the Saudis. Furthermore, the Bush family has also bedded down with the Bin Ladens, being that they too are Saudis and their wealth is generated from oil. When Osama Bin Laden attacked the United States on September 11th and George Bush responded by jacking up military spending, he increased the wealth of Osama Bin Laden because Bin Laden (and Saudi Arabia) are investors in the major United States defense contractors.
While this is obviously a salient point, what exactly is the alternative to being friendly with Saudi Arabia? Based on the fact that 15 of the 19 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, ignorant members of the Left suggest that the object of our hatred and military might should have been Saudi Arabia and not Iraq. To say this suggestion is foolish is a mild understatement. While I firmly believe that George Bush is a colossal dickhead, suggesting that his family could have possibly known that their relationship with the Saudis would have turned into the fiasco we face now is to ask them to predict the future. George W. Bush can barely form a coherent sentence. I don't think he'd be able to predict the future. If anybody were paying attention, the goal of the Bush administration in Iraq is completely clear: they are trying to create a country based on the Saudi model. They want a friendly leadership so that they get at Iraq's oil. Given our tenuous foothold in the Arab world, the Saudi regime's relationship with its own people, and our country's ability to suck oil from the world like a kid sticking a straw in a Slurpee, this isn't the worst idea.
There's also another particularly interesting point made in Moore's film about the Democrats. Regardless of the outcome, the situation in Florida during our last presidential election was a mockery of our constitution. It's simply a fact that the state was won by Bush due to Republican efforts that prevented voters unlikely to cast votes in his direction from voting. Most of those voters were black. Moore shows us the scene, Al Gore presiding over a joint session of Congress, as black Congressperson after black Congressperson try to oppose the validation of the election. Each gives a speech, but failing to have their objection signed by only 1 Senator, they are forced to leave the podium. Sorry, but the thought that went through my mind was this: Where was John Kerry? Frankly, where was any Democrat during this whole thing?
Our Democratic leadership in this country is a loose conglomeration of ball-less fucks. It's easy for the Left to be outraged by George W. Bush and the Republicans, but in many ways, the target of much of their hatred ought to be directed at the Democrats and their weak leadership. With these gutless weasels forming the agenda for the so-called "Left" in this country, it really is no surprise that so many people are voting Republican. Democrats simply don't believe in anything, don't stand up for anything, and there's really nothing Americans despise more than somebody who won't take a stand. That's why George W. Bush, despite his lack of intelligence, is so well liked. Despite all his failings (and there are many), at least he stands for something. At least he went after somebody (even if it was the wrong person). At least he tried. Meanwhile, there's John Kerry who voted for the Iraq invasion and then pulled his support and now can't seem to utter a complete sentence without changing his position on something. You know, take gay marriage for instance. Everybody knows that Kerry, if he truly is a liberal, supports gay marriage, but he can't say that he does because he thinks it'll kill his campaign (which it very well might). Yet that's precisely the thing that's killing the Democrats right now -- they won't stand up and say they believe in anything. They don't seem to have a message. I ask in all seriousness: where the fuck are their balls (with apologies to the female Dems)?
Having said all this, it's absolutely disgusting that George W. Bush supporters won't address the points made in Michael Moore's film because they aren't simply fairy tales. They just do what Dick Cheney did in the Senate the other day and scream "go fuck yourself" a lot. Frankly, the Democrats do pretty much the same thing. There's no longer political debate in this country, there's just name-calling. There's no longer investigative journalism in this country, just sound-bites, sensationalism, and headlines.
Now, whose fault is this? I'll tell you: it's ours. You and me and everyone. We have got to be among the most ignorant and selfish people on the face of the planet and we have got in our political system and our President exactly what we deserve. As a country, we have utter disdain for everything and everyone. It's me first and fuck everyone else and that attitude is perfectly represented in our political system. We are the greediest, most conceited people on the face of the Earth and we spread our attitudes like a cancer.
Our politicians perfectly mirror this fact. They are the richest of the rich. George Bush is a rich scumbag whose only interest in the world is creating more wealth for himself and his friends. I'd like not to say the same thing about John Kerry, but um, he's rich too, super-rich. Anyone with that much money has some serious skeletons in their closet and no matter whether they're on the right or the left, their political opponents are always going to be able to dig up dirt.
Until a viable middle class candidate rises up and challenges our current system corporate favoritism, there will always be a plentiful supply of Michael Moores and Ann Coulters to spew bile back and forth across the political fence.
http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/fahrenheit911.html
"We're in a fucking stagmire."
--Little Carmine, 'The Sopranos'