In one of the earliest blogs on this site I commented on a movie Mary and I had just been to Capitalism - A Love Story by Michael Moore. We recommended it.
I believe it was CAB who replied saying you could not watch Michael Moore.
I recently heard a one hour interview with Michael on Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2010/7 My own opinion is that it is well worth hearing, not because you agree or disagree with his politics, but to see what kind of a person he is. Unless he is a fraud from beginning to end, and he totally duped me (and I don't think I'm that gullible) the interview opens a window into his soul. My assessment is that regardless of your opinion of his politics, you will come away from this interview with a view that this is a person of integrity.
If you are about to dismiss Democracy Now as a Left Wing media spot, I would certainly agree that they frequently present what appears to be a left wing point of view. Fundamentally though, I think they are true to their calling, which is to assess events from a democratic perspective. They have been as critical of events in Iran and China as in the USA.
I don't equate people on the left as being bad individuals. I do believe their policies are very damaging to a country, but i think it stems from their lack of clarity in general - not bad intentions. I have heard Michael Moore many times, and i thought him to be a decent human being for sure.
ReplyDeleteGiven you thought we might be surprised that Michael Moore is a decent human, it prompts me to ask if you believe that people on the right in general are bad people, people like Glenn Beck, Dennis Prager, etc.?
Fair question.
ReplyDeleteLet me first say this about the Michael Moore interview. I did not know about his Academy Awards speech denouncing George Bush's entrée into the Iraq war just days after the war began. I had not noticed that when it happened. He talks about his struggle even as he was walking up to receive the award, and about his home trashed after he got home. The story tugged at an important part of me.
I don't know enough about Glenn Beck to give a fair comment. Fox is not my news source. I only go there when I hear of something outrageous and then watch the outrageous snip. I should then not be surprised if I am outraged. I have never, to my knowledge, listened to Dennis Prager. I do hear right wing commentators (like Krauthammer? you referenced once) making vitriolic comments that seem to me to be intended to incite hatred. This, in my mind, is evil -- the incitement, not the people.