The Un-Patriotic Vet

July 9, 2004

It's been a month since I posted on this website, but since it's more of an outlet for me to rant, as opposed to a "mainstream" information source, I really don't give a flying (insert expletive here).

A lot has happened in the past month, Kerry chose Edwards as a running mate (excellent), Fahrenheit 9/11 finally made it to the big screen, Iraq was turned over to the Iraquis (kinda), and polemicists from every crack and floorboard came out to attempt to dispute or discredit Moore's newest film. I am fixating a little on this film because I have spent some of my free time in Yahoo! Chat discussing it, in the user-made room (in the Governmant & Politics category) that was created for that purpose.

Before I go any further, yes I did see Fahrenheit 9/11. I find it absurd that so many people attempt to critique this movie without having ever seen it. I went to see it in a beautiful old theater in the downtown district where I live on opening night. It was quite a sight, the grand old theater had ample seating for over a thousand people and, from where I sat, it appeared that every seat was full.

I am certainly aware that Moore installed his own spin on the facts he presented in the documentary, in fact, there are very few (if any) works by any documentarian that doen't have an angle to it. Moore himself stated the film is more of an "op-ed" piece, so to claim it has a spin, or is opinionated, is pretty redundant and irrelevant. One thing that people should take notice of in the film, instead of Moore's physique, is the facts that are presented. They are real facts, previously reported facts, researchable and verifiable facts.

Inarguable facts.

When I left that theater the evening of June 25th, I didn't feel outraged. I wasn't infuriated. I wasn't pissed off. At least, not any more pissed off at the current administration than I already was when I went into that theater. Instead, I felt validated. I even felt a little calmer, knowing that I just watched a movie that brings to light the facts that I am already aware of, that other people will be made aware of these facts, that there was a thousand people in that theater that was just as outraged as I was and wasn't hoodwinked by Bush's cabinet. It actually felt good to watch it. With all the sadness and horror depicted in the movie, it felt good to know that my outrage wasn't just my own. It is also Moore's, it is also the tens of thousands of moviegoers' nationwide that went to see it in the past couple weeks, it is the audience's at Cannes, it is several thousand citizens' that live in my town. It felt like there is a light at the end of the Bush administrations' tunnel.

With this said, I recommend every American to go see this movie, ignore the opinions if you do not share similiar ones, and look at the facts for yourself. They are not made up, they are not lies, they are not CGI altered.

Then go vote Bush out of office, for we, as Americans, deserve better than him.

Before I sign off, here is a statement from Michael Moore himself about the content of his movie:

Every single fact I state in "Fahrenheit 9/11" is the absolute and irrefutable truth. This movie is perhaps the most thoroughly researched and vetted documentary of our time. No fewer than a dozen people, including three teams of lawyers and the venerable one-time fact-checkers from The New Yorker went through this movie with a fine-tooth comb so that we can make this guarantee to you. Do not let anyone say this or that isn't true. If they say that, they are lying. Let them know that the OPINIONS in the film are mine, and anyone certainly has a right to disagree with them. And the questions I pose in the movie, based on these irrefutable facts, are also mine. And I have a right to ask them. And I will continue to ask them until they are answered.