Well Educated Fools

I was the guest of a friend at a going-away party last evening at a fancy restaurant. The gentleman who was moving was an attorney and worked for the District Attorney's office, here in San Francisco. Needless to say, there were several other attorneys present.

Late in the gathering the subject of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 was brought up by one of the guest, who by that time I learned had attended law school at Yale. He was quite animated by the topic and obviously was a fan of both the movie and Moore.

At this point a friend of mine commented that Moore "was just like Rush Limbaugh. Both extremes".

Really? Leave aside the fact that no one can ever honestly name a single issue on which Rush is actually "extreme", let's look at Michael Moore:


Michael Moore's website, September 11, 2001:

If someone did this [9/11] to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him!.

He praises our enemies who are beheading innocents in Iraq and who are fighting against freedom for Iraqis.

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not "insurgents" or "terrorists" or "The Enemy. They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win. Get it, Mr. Bush?

He shows contempt for our American soldiers who fought and died for the removal of the "Butcher of Baghdad" and for the right of Iraqis to vote, go to school, have a free press, an independent judiciary...

I'm sorry, but the majority of Americans supported this war once it began and, sadly, that majority must now sacrifice their children until enough blood has been let that maybe - just maybe - God and the Iraqi people will forgive us in the end.

He slurs civilian workers like Nick Berg and Paul Johnson who were slaughtered trying to help rebuild Iraq's infrastructure helping provide them with clean water and power.

Those are not contractors in Iraq. They are not there to fix a roof or to pour concrete in a driveway. They are MERCENARIES and SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE.

He has contempt for ordinary Americans that he openly expresses to foreign audiences.

They are possibly the dumbest people on the planet . . . we Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We don't know about anything that's happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing.

- London Daily Mirror

Should such an ignorant people lead the world?

-Open letter to the German People in Die Zeit.


At the fall of the Soviet Union he displayed his moral confusion:

One evil empire down, one to go!

Rush Limbaugh speaks for 3 hours per day, 5 days a week and rarely has guests. He is on 600 radio stations with 20 million listeners. He has been doing this for 20 years. Can anyone find one quote from Mr. Limbaugh that is nearly as utterly foolish as any of the above quotes from Michael Moore? Bear in mind that Rush faces a barrage of hostile callers (those who disagree get on first) while Moore has stated openly that he will not give interviews to anyone who will question his film.

Michael Moore is not what troubles me. He is but one ignoramus with a platform. It is the well-educated, intelligent, successful people who support him that is disturbing.

They seem almost giddy that this anti-American drivel is broadcast throughout the world. Are there large numbers of Canadians who would rejoice at blatantly anti-Canadian propaganda garnering worldwide attention and accolades? Are there Germans? French? Belgians? Costa Ricans?

There must be something physiologically satisfying to this segment of our country that takes pleasure in bashing this, the greatest society that ever existed.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this entire affair is that those who cry the loudest about America's "image" in the world being tarnished by Bush are exactly the same people who are embracing this person and this film. Do they think this helps?

What is it about a country that grants to the greatest number of the most diverse peoples, the most freedom and prosperity ever enjoyed by human beings, that makes them so hostile to it?