Carl writes:
> 1. I object to the eXile writer's use of the phrase "whiny fags."
Thank you Carl. As everybody knows (or should know), fags don't whine, they screech.
> I think F911's failure to mention Israel's interest in promoting a US
war on Iraq is a glaring lacuna in the film that does the left no good at all.
Here I disagree a little. While not mentioning Israel is an omission, I do not think this lacuna "does the left no good."
I would ask why the omission does the left no good.
The film is an effective tool that has started getting people who would not normally question Presidential narratives to question them. People who do not normally interrogate the truth are doing so.
The film is also having great appeal across racial, ethnic and class lines. The left has finally produced something that is for the consumption of people other than middle class white intellectuals.
In fact, it could be argued that bringing in Israel might have blunted the effectiveness of the film. It would have added another layer of argument that would have brought charges of anti-Semitism and turned people away from the film. Maybe the NEXT film that needs to be made takes this step. With an audience already thinking along new lines, a filmmaker could build on the consciousness that Moore has established.
To me Moore's greatest accomplishment is that he has gotten people to think along new lines. What leftists need to do is build on this energy.
Sadly, most leftists just want to criticize (Moore did not make the film I wanted to see, dammit!!) and convene enervating colloquia (vegetarian tidbits and bottled water served) to analyze what he did wrong instead of acting and trying to do something effective.
Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister