Lost my ability to articulate

Why can others always put things so much better than I can?? Dag! I saw Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” on Friday (last) and have been wanting to write something about it. But have I? Nope. So, I was surfing Table Talk and saw someone had written this and thought it was pretty eloquent.

I am not a filmmaker myself, but it seems to me that the purpose of documentary film is to show, by use of sound and image, realities which can be lost in verbal reporting. Such “realities” can have more emotional impact than a verbal summary of facts–and therein lies their potential for being used as propaganda. I’m not foolish enough to insist that there isn’t any shade of propaganda in Moore’s film. But I think the reality that the film shows is going to resonate with a lot of people, and that reality is that G. W. Bush and his friends may have more in common with the Bin Ladens than with the people of Flint, Michigan, who are losing their children in the war.

Class is one thing that people in the United States don’t like talking about or acknowledging. Nobody can see this film and not be struck by the obvious conclusion that “the ruling class” may not have the best interests of the common people closest to their hearts. And that may lead to questions about Kerry, too–although the Democrat’s base is traditionally of lower class than that of Bush. I would be happy if the film just makes people more skeptical about politicians in general and the images they get of these people in the media. When G.W. Bush pretends to be “just a regular old guy,” we should laugh and turn away.

With all due respect to my loving family of Repubs, I thought the movie was excellent. Well done and rather pointed (as I expected it to be). I left feeling about 7 different layers of emotion – sadness, anger, outrage to name just a few. I truly do not think W is evil. I think he is a puppet for those who are (Cheney, Rumsfeld (evil personified, if you want to know my true feelings) et. al.). I don’t say I can read auras with the best of them but when I see W, all I see is someone playing way the hell out of his league and wondering when it’s all going to end. And Michael Moore seems to say that as well (among other comments). “Fahrenheit 9/11” preaching to the choir? Maybe. Connected the dots? Oh yes. Worth seeing, especially if you’re a fence sitter.

Btw, just for kicks, I am posting this as re: Moore and his facts in the movie (also from Table Talk):

“The film has been fact checked up the kazoo, and if you are willing to go the michaelmoore.com website you will be able to read reprints from the New York Times and other papers which document how tough Moore has been on documenting this film.” from one poster and this from another: “Moore may have been creative with his choices in music and the way he strung his footage together but the Weinstein brothers had their lawyers fact-check this film out the wazoo. I didn’t see anything in the film that wasn’t somehow based in fact save for things like the obvious satire of “What was Bush thinking?” in that classroom and (the still fact based) speculation about the influence of Unocal’s much wanted pipeline through Afghanistan on the choice of wars and installed leaders.”

Steve-O, I know you won’t see it but I love you no matter what.

In other news, the Washington Caps selected Alexander Ovechkin with the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL entry draft.

?Ovechkin has always been number one,? McPhee said. ?We could have done a trade for volume but none of those players would have been as good as this guy. You don?t get this opportunity very often.?

THANK GOD. After the debacle that was the 2003-2004 season, many were wondering if McPhee would go completely off his rocker and trade away the number one pick (Ovechkin) but fortunately, he took his meds and made the right choice.

However, good thing The Ovecher is an excellent player because with this quote, it’s clear he ain’t a philosopher: “If you are second, you are second. If you are first, you are first,” Ovechkin said. “I always want to be first. My mom and dad always said [whether] you play hockey or football, you always want to be first.” Uhhhh, okay. Dude, pick up your hockey stick, look good in your photo and play your ass off and then you can say any stupid thing you want and we won’t care! hehehe (/shallow)

Alrighty, enough for tonight.

Tomorrow – last day of vacation before the new job starts!