Heart-felt Congratulations to Michael Moore
There is no way on God's green Earth that I would have ever spent even a nickel to see Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911. As a matter of fact, this is one occasion in which I would have been serious in using the old cliche, "You couldn't pay me to see that movie." That's really true. I have no desire to see it (even out of morbid curiosity). Nevertheless, I want to congratulate Michael Moore for putting together a documentary that has exceeded the expectations as well as the successes of any previous documentary, and winning best picture in the People's Choice Awards.
To me, it is important to demonstrate to a large portion of the extreme left of the Democratic Party something that they seem incapable of being: gracious in defeat. You see, I would love to have seen just about any other movie take that prize, but it didn't. Oh sure, I could go off on a tangent and say that it was rigged; that there was no way that this movie cold have garnered enough votes without some sort of voting scandal or fraud. The fact is, it wouldn't change a thing. The movie would still be the "best picture" and the only result would be more negativity and bad feelings in an already bad environment.
However, for some reason, many Dems just can't accept the fact that the election is over and they didn't win. They absolutely cannot get over it and move on. They refuse to offer congratulations to the President on a successful campaign and accept him as the President of the United States. Instead, they feel they have to keep the Ohio-thing alive because Florida was clearly taken out of contention for them this time around. They disrupt the otherwise dignified and ceremonious counting of the electoral votes. They prefer to make plans for disrupting the Presidential Inauguration rather than joining in as Americans have throughout the past even in the face of defeat and celebrate one of the great events in our democracy: the swearing in of the President of the United States.
We've all been there. We all have felt the disappointment of our candidate not winning. That's part of it. I wasn't excited to see Bill Clinton's two inaugurations, but I watched them and took pride in the event because of what the event represented. I feel certain I would have watched the inauguration of Al Gore and John Kerry with great dissatisfaction of the results, but proud at the "peaceable transfer of power" that is a hallmark of the United States of America. Will this peaceful transfer of power continue? Had I been asked in years past I would have been absolutely certain. Now, I have reservations. I fear we are on a dangerous path towards some level of anarchy. The rule of law is less respected than it ever has been in the past and every democratic process seems to be brought into question with the results outrightly rejected as being somehow eschewed.
So, congratulations Mr. Moore. You worked your tail off in order to produce a movie that would unseat the current President of the United States. Though you failed miserably in that endeavor, you have won a much deserved glass statue for excelling in your craft of making documentaries. Obviously, you are very good at it and deserve the honor you receive. Hopefully, that is some consolation to you and to all of the Democrats that voted for it.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 1/11/2005 10:04:00 AM
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3 Comments:
Nice post. I aspire to your graciousness. I am nowhere near being there yet!
I have been thinking about this post off an on and wondering how to respond. I'm no apologist for Michael Moore and in fact have always seen him as sort of a crackpot conspiracy theorist, but I must say, this post does not have the feeling of "heart-felt congratulations." It looks to me more like an opportunity to flay the opposition for its supposed lack of ability to be good sports. If it were only the first and last paragraphs, then I could believe it, but when including the middle three, that tone is lost.
Well, in all honesty, it's both. I really do congratulate him on such success as a documentary producer...for the craft itself. Based on what I've heard from others who purport to know more about the subject material than I, he was off quite a bit on his facts. Beyond that, I'm certainly no fan of the way he has chosen to use his talent as a producer of what amounts to political propaganda, but that's within his right and he has accomplished what few producers within that genre, if any, have ever done.
On the other hand, I pretty unapologetically, yet hopefully not mean-spirited, took the opportunity to point out that many on the far left can't or won't do the same thing. Nobody is asking for a love-fest, but come on, some of the stuff that's flying around is insane. They're still talking about the results in Ohio. That's pretty tame compared to the whacko that painted a swaztika on a house and associated it with Bush's name. It's time to get over it. As I said in my post, no amount of whining and accusing and character-smearing is going to change the outcome of the election. I merely called attention to it and pointed out the need to learn a little graciousness in defeat.
So, you are right to see something more in that post, but just because I used the opportunity to criticize the attitude of one group (of which Moore is certainly a part), doesn't mean that I can't genuinely recognize the achievement of an artist for his craft. I try and speak truth on this blog. Michael Moore is a good film-maker. I don't want to see the movie. The movie is political propaganda. Many (not all) on the left are incredibly bad losers and the results of this election aren't going to change. All true.
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