Hunter S. Thompson digs in his heels.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

Uh...Thompson is well known for his use of massive hyperbole.

 

It would really be neat if people knew about the writer before forming opinions on him.

That's not hyperbole.

 

Just shitty writing.

-=Mike

Thanks for your opinion.

 

But there is no disputing the respect that Thompson has in political and journalist circles.

Journalistic circles involve a lack of actual work, thought, or writing skill.

 

Not far removed from having respect from the readership of "Tiger Beat"

-=Mike

Minimise Minimise Minimise. The last tactic of someone who:

 

A - Has no clue who or what they are talking about.

 

B - Can't really debate w/ substance.

 

C - Is talking out of their ass.

 

 

Hey, maybe if you mention Tiger Beat again maybe they will give you a free subscription. It's all about the plugs dude.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bloviating

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

Here is some writing for you to judge poorly on.

 

 

 

Published on Friday, October 29, 2004 by CommonDreams.org

Upon a Second Viewing of Fahrenheit 9/11

by Guy Reel

 

Michael Moore has said repeatedly that if he could just move one or two percent of the vote with Fahrenheit 9/11, then it is quite possible he could swing the election. When I first saw the movie, the day it was released nationwide on June 25, I doubted it would make much difference. Its allegations about the Afghan oil pipeline seemed too fanciful; after all, nearly all Americans were unanimous in backing our decision to invade Afghanistan and topple the Taliban.

 

If a pipeline came out of that, so what? We may not admit it, but we demand the fuel anyway. And President Bush’s ties to the Saudis and bin Ladens — well, they have all the mightiest of big oil connections — is it so unlikely that they would know and do business with each other while building power on a global scale? That’s the way the old military-industrial complex works. Sure, Bush looked vacuous and contemptible in the movie, but we already knew that. I came out of the theater agreeing with the film critic who said allegorically, “If you shoot at the king, you better make sure you kill him.” And I didn’t believe Moore accomplished that.

 

I was wrong.

 

This movie is getting its second life through DVD and VCR rentals; many who missed it in the theaters are seeing it for the first time, while many others are seeing it for the second. And it’s the second viewing that made all the difference for me. It is apparent now, only hours before the presidential election, how brilliant this movie was in demonstrating the despicable venality of the Bush administration — its contempt for life, for freedom, for the armed forces, for America. There in Moore’s film is then-Rep. Porter Goss, now CIA director, praising the Patriot Act; there is Donald Rumsfeld, remarking that people are going to lie to you sometimes; there is Bush himself, chuckling with that ridiculous grin, “Bring ‘em on,” as our soldiers are shot up, maimed, mutilated, and killed. There is Bush condemning terror and moving on to the more important matter in his life as he remarks, “Now watch this drive,” and hits a golf ball. There is Bush saying how troop deaths hurt him; gone in this scene are the crocodile tears that he shed at the Republican convention, but at least he isn’t smirking.

 

When the movie was made the troop deaths were at a little more than 800. Now they are at 1,110. To Bush supporters: if your man is re-elected, what do you believe is the most likely outcome of the next four years? Seems like it could easily be another 4,000 dead American soldiers, and thousands more maimed; another $3 trillion to $5 trillion debt, forever crippling our ability to fight terror and help our citizens; more giveaways to polluters and cronies; more public policies set by lobbyists for energy companies and pharmaceuticals; and a dismantling of basic social safety nets, including Social Security and education for all. And that’s looking at the bright side. One never knows what sort of strange nuclear brinkmanship Bush may be planning with Iran or North Korea — he certainly isn’t going to tell us.

 

If you are a Bush supporter and you’re reading this, you’re in denial about all this, of course. You must believe in Bush’s policies despite all facts to the contrary. To look at the outcomes of his policies reasonably would effectively be an admission that you were duped, that you were lied to by a person you respected, that you were, in fact, supporting a disastrous regime that, given another four years in power, may very well change all of our lives forever.

 

The thing is, in this movie, Moore is also tough on Democrats. Most did vote to authorize the war resolution; not a single Democratic senator stood up to protest the outcome of the electoral vote when the results were placed before the House and Senate in early 2001.

 

But that’s a key point. Moore believes these actions show Democrats’ weakness, but it could easily be argued that they demonstrate the Democrats’ willingness to put the country’s interests first. Had the situation been reversed, do you believe that not a single Republican senator would have signed a protest against President-elect Gore? Do you believe that ANY Republicans would have refused to sign? The Democrats wouldn’t sign a protest against Bush’s “election” for the sake of national unity and the good of the country; do you think the Republicans think that way? Had President Gore demagogued Congress into voting on a war resolution right before the midterm elections, how many Republicans would have gone along for the good of the country? Perhaps some of them would have, but given the same disastrous planning and horrific outcome, how many do you think would be ready to impeach him today?

 

Fighting our foes demands unity, strength, will, reason, and toughness. Which party demonstrates these qualities? The movie makes it all so clear. Bush divided the nation and the world and weakened our army. He tried to cut combat pay for soldiers and cut taxes for the rich while fighting a war, and following 9/11 he refused to go after Osama bin Laden with the full force of the United States. The United States never had more than 11,000 troops in Afghanistan, and it took Bush two months to go after bin Laden. It was two months’ head start, Moore remarks in the film, for a man who murdered 3,000 of our citizens. What would have been the fate of President Gore had he taken that course?

 

There is a wonderfully disturbing scene in which Bush is shown repeatedly vowing to “smoke them out of their holes,” or variations on the phrase — and then Moore inserts a clip from an old Western with some scraggly cowboys vowing to “smoke them out of their holes.” Then Bush is shown later saying he hadn’t given much thought to bin Laden — a statement that he denied ever making during the third debate with Kerry.

 

That was an outright lie or lapse of memory on the most crucial issue facing America today — a lie or lapse of memory that demonstrated Bush really did not have as his first priority the defense of America or the capture of the man who attacked us. It was an outright lie or lapse of memory committed during a crucial moment in the debate, and it disappeared from the media in a wisp. Gerald Ford made an ignorant debate remark about Poland not being under Communist control and the media went on about it for weeks. Bush made one of the most crucial blunders in debate history, one that that demonstrated his utter incompetence or inability to recall his own outrageously inept worldview, and we ho-hum and note that 48 percent of the electorate still say they support him.

 

That 48 percent is dangerous territory for an incumbent but it doesn’t guarantee Bush’s defeat — in fact, it is near a majority. Could it be that Moore’s prophecy hasn’t yet come true? That his movie will finally knock Bush’s support down that one or two crucial percentage points? Perhaps it will be upon the second viewing — the round of the DVDs and VCRs — that it will happen: Bush gets 46 percent, and Kerry 51.

 

Guy Reel is an assistant professor of mass communication at Winthrop University. He can be reached at [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~There is a wonderfully disturbing scene in which Bush is shown repeatedly vowing to “smoke them out of their holes,” or variations on the phrase — and then Moore inserts a clip from an old Western with some scraggly cowboys vowing to “smoke them out of their holes.” Then Bush is shown later saying he hadn’t given much thought to bin Laden — a statement that he denied ever making during the third debate with Kerry.~

 

 

This is my favorite quote of the article.

[Guest MikeSC]

And BX provides the usual lack of substance. I'm touched that you have such a hard-on for me.

Tuesday night is going to be so much fucking fun.

I agree.

 

I'm gonna have a blast.

 

And, Cheesala, if you're going to post crap work, try and post original crap work.

 

However, I have to wonder why a college prof could praise a movie that is total propaganda.

-=Mike