Today the RNC email machine's major beef is with Michael Moore. No really! They don't seem to like him.
Moore was spotted sitting near former President Jimmy Carter at the Democratic Convention, which naturally implies that Senator John Kerry endorses or supports everything Michael Moore has ever said. See how that works? Kerry is a Democrat, Carter is a Democrat, Moore sat near Carter. It couldn't be much clearer.
The first Moore nugget they dredge up and demand that Kerry answer for:
Michael Moore Argued In September 2002 That Bin Laden Was Innocent Until Proven Guilty.
MSNBC's JOE SCARBOROUGH: "You brought a tape of yourself debating Michael Moore in September 2002 at the Telluride Film Festival. And here's what he said about Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. Let's take a listen."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MOORE: "It seems as if he and his group were the ones who did this, then they should be tracked down, captured, and brought to justice."
VANITY FAIR'S CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: "Do you mind if I break in and say..."
MOORE: "Yes."
HITCHENS: "Ask you, what is the 'if' doing in that last sentence?"
MOORE: "What is the who?"
HITCHENS: "What is the 'if' doing in that last sentence of yours?"
MOORE: "Well, all people are innocent until proven guilty in this country."
HITCHENS: "So you have no..." ...
MOORE: "Even the worst piece of scum."
HITCHENS: "I feel I have to press you on that. You regard it as an open question, the responsibility of Osama bin Laden?"
MOORE: "Until anyone is convicted of any crime, no matter how horrific the crime, they are innocent until proven guilty. And as Americans..."
HITCHENS: "No, that's all I asked you."
MOORE: "Never leave that position."
HITCHENS: "I'm sorry. So bin Laden's claims of responsibility strike you as the ravings of a clowns, say?"
(MSNBC's "Scarborough Country," 6/30/04)
That dastard! Can you believe he would argue that our system of justice should remain intact? What kind of a Frenchman would argue that we stand by our ideals when confronted with the deaths of 3000 innocents? Doesn't Michael Moore know that this is neither the time nor the place for "democracy" or "fairness?"
Now, sure, Osama has claimed responsibility, and calling him "innocent" may be the wrong choice of words. But as a matter of law in this country, he is. He has had no trial, he has not been convicted of a crime and we are still responsible for proving his guilt, one way or another.
Or, you know, we could just scorch the entire region of the earth in which he may be hiding, killing thousands of innocent people in the process. Either way.
But, in the end, no matter what you think of what Michael Moore had to say, the real salient question is, "What does John Kerry think of what Michael Moore said?"
Good thinkin', Sparky!
However:
1. Bin Laden ain't in this country.
2. Bin Laden ain't American.
3. Due process applies to civil/criminal actions, not the actions of legal or illegal combatants against their avowed enemies/declared targets.
4. If Bin Laden says "I done it"; shouldn't that be good enough? War crimes trials are for AFTER the combat is over, and in case you haven't noticed, combat ain't over.
And a final word or two about Moore: 59 deceits, my friend, 59 deceits. You know what I'm talking about; never let facts get in the way of a story that makes you rich like the stupid, fat, white men you blame for....guess what, the ONLY POSSIBLE SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH YOU COULD PROSPER! Moore is disingenuous, or what less civilized folks tend to call A LIAR. He knows better, you know better, but you're still working hard to fuck up what's going on in Afghanistan and Iraq. Are we perfect? No. Are we acting completely out of altruism? No. Is there another country in the world that would raise a finger to stop the internal repression/oppression and external terrorism/acts of war that both those regimes perpetrated? No.
It's wrong to censor dissent, but it's right to censure stupid ideas and stupid people. Moore has accomplished jack-shit for anybody but himself (I hope you went to his movie and PAID to enrich him for lying to you...) (his squeak of "help the troops" on his website notwithstanding). Every private on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan is helping those civil populations every day, and they wouldn't be there without the "war-monger".
And another thing: the prisoners at Abu-Ghraib were CRIMINALS! What was done to them was mostly right and good, occasionally wrong and bad, but can we get a little fucking perspective here? Naked pictures vs. beheadings, hmmm....hmmm....where is the world outcry against the beheadings? Where is the media coverage denouncing these fucking murderers? The world is mostly decrepit and morally bankrupt, singing a giant chorus of "fuck America" and Moore is helping with the lyrics for new stanzas. No wonder the French like him.
Here's my last point: moral equivalency and relativism is bullshit. There is evil in the world. I'm against it and ready to fight against it. Evil may win, but it will be a bloody, drawn out fight to the finish. Evil will prosper where good people do nothing. Anybody can sit on their ass and throw stones at the people who will try; for you, and the rest of those who choose inaction and decry the American effort: "...and may posterity forget ye were my countrymen." Samuel Adams - look it up.
You know, I was going to respond to this, point by point, but I just don't have the energy. It's all just so sad.
Briefly:
1. Fundamental principles of justice are not bound by borders or jurisdictions.
2. Somehow implying that the validity of the arguments of those who point out the flaws in the system is reduced by pointing out that they have become wealthy and/or famous under that very system is literally one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.
3. It's hard to see how you draw the distinction between "dissent," which you claim to support, and "stupid ideas and stupid people," which you do not. As near as I can tell, it entirely revolves around agreement with your own opinions.
4. There is no evidence that all of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib were criminals, save the word of those who imprisoned them. Is that all we need now?
5. I'm tired of pointing out how retarded and evil it is to justify or even diminish horrible acts committed by one side by pointing out that horrible acts have been committed by others. If you believe in good and evil as you claim to, it is surely not dependent on who the actors are.
6. Insert one of thousands of quotes by a Founding Father showing how utterly baseless and fundamentally unDemocratic your arguments are.
Well, I guess I did respond to it point by point.
B'bye.
