When Wishes Are Horses

A few days ago I described Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 as liberal pornography. (The same day, Jonah Goldberg came to the same conclusion, a classic case of great minds thinking alike). I haven't seen the movie, and I'm not planning to. But based on the multitude of reviews I've read, and from hearing reports from those who have seen it, the movie seems to be nothing more than a string of fantasy sequences meant to give liberals a perverse thrill at seeing their worst suspicions blown up and performed for them. It really doesn't matter if the facts presented are true. They want them to be true, they NEED them to be true, and thus in their world, this film becomes evidence. It IS true.

I've noticed a similar phenomenon among the promoters and fellow traveling critics of Fahrenheit 9/11. Not just in regard to the alleged facts presented, but also to the affect the movie is supposed to have on the election. Specifically, the affect it will have on the precious undecided voters still trying to make up their mind on who to vote for. Moore's alleged working class appeal and talent for humor is supposed to be reaching beyond typical partisan political rhetoric, to finally grab and mold those naive minds out there, who don't yet know Bush MUST be defeated. The testimonials on Michael Moore's web site are full of these tales:

[my father] was on the National Mall last week, and a college student asked him to sign a petition to remove the President from office. My father thought that was a rude thing to ask and declined to sign. Leaving the theatre today, he was ready to sign. One vote at a time, one drop at a time, will lead to the wave that will wash Mr. Bush back to Texas for good

I expected a "liberal" looking crowd--whatever that means. But I was SHOCKED to see the perfect blend of American society that viewed the film.

I even got my republican father a ticket to see the movie in Orange County. Needless to say after he saw the movie he now plans to vote against the Bush. He has voted Republican since Nixon.

Everyone was talking about how Bush was going to be damaged beyond repair by this film."

My mother agreed to go (who yesterday the 24th told me she wasn't sure who she was voting for anymore) ... she came out of saying there was no way she would ever vote for Bush in November.

Even prominent pundits are trying to forward this notion. The latest carnival barker being Paul Krugman in the New York Times:

Since it opened, "Fahrenheit 9/11" has been a hit in both blue and red America, even at theaters close to military bases. Last Saturday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his Nascar crew to see it. The film's appeal to working-class Americans, who are the true victims of George Bush's policies, should give pause to its critics, especially the nervous liberals rushing to disassociate themselves from Michael Moore.

All of this anecdotal evidence is, of course, crap. Wishful interpretation or outright lies. Thanks to the efforts of the conservative voices in the media and some honest film critics, Michael Moore has been justifiably stigmatized as a partisan hack in the public's imagination. There are very few sheep left who will be led into this Bush slaughter assuming it's a honest portrayal of the facts.

That doesn't mean the movie still can't be wildly popular for a while. There are more than enough extreme Democrats to give Moore a $20 million opening weekend. In fact, there are probably enough of those types to get him close a $100 million gross, without a single wavering political neophyte getting influenced by his propaganda. Sure, there are going to be a handful of people like this claiming to have fallen under Moore's spell. But the idea that it's going to persuade millions into changing their voting behavior is absurd.

But since liberals would like it to be true, and Moore and the producers of the film NEED it to be true, it is the hype we're going to be hearing until this pornographic sideshow finally leaves town.