From my favorite film critic on the Internet, next to myself.
http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/fahrenheit911.html
Fahrenheit 9/11
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,
