Not-really-political-ranting

[jedishampoo]

Because I am not usually very political at all. I live in a fantasy world. :) But today I believe I will flip the bird at political ranting.

I made the mistake of agreeing to accompany my friend Stephanie to see Michael Moore speak at UN-Las Vegas a couple of days ago. It was only five dollars, and she was a film major who loves his films, and had no one else to go with her.

Now I was expecting to see political people out there, given Mr. Moore's outspokenness and the subjects of his films...but it was INSANE. People both lined up and chasing us down to sign petitions to GET BUSH OUT OF OFFICE, to recruit us to call people urging them to GET BUSH OUT OF OFFICE, to purchase T-shirts with stupid-looking pictures of the President, etc.

And he said nothing about his movies; his whole talk consisted of Bush-bashing, in the most puerile way. "Did you see how he drank his water during the debate? hee hee ho ha! Isn't he dumb? Don't you all hate this jackass? Give me a cheer for hating the Jackass!" Now I am no Republican. I am for gay marriage, legal abortion, etc. But I am really no Democrat either, come to it.

Who do these people think they are convincing? I just hated to see such stupidity and rampant hate-talk. They were not witty at all, not intelligent. Neither side is better than the other in this respect. If there were fence-sitters, the people they need to convince, then don't you think a juvenile fracas like that would only frighten people away from what they're trying to say deep down about their political views?

Even the very liberal Stephanie wanted to escape early. ::Sigh:: I want the election to be over.

Comments

[soniag.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you posted this. I'm pretty darn liberal, but Michael Moore's hate-mongering scares me. I still haven't seen Fahrenheit 911 because of it.

Hey, what happened to your het Hornblower fic? ("het" and "hornblower" just don't seem to go together, do they?) I've been looking for that!

Which one?

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Howdy Sonia! Which story? I have several that are het... Het is my favorite, I swear...but the latest is 65 pages (my practice Regency romance). Sure you want that one?

Re: Which one?

[soniag.livejournal.com]

Well, you mentioned being about to finish one in your 9/22 post, and I think I got all excited then. Is that the 65 pager? Are your het fics all online? I'm a goober -- sorry!

Getting Out The Grade School Vote

[maiasaura.livejournal.com]

The kindergartners are campaigning for their candidates, with such enlighted debate as, "The police are gonna throw George Bush in jail!" "John Kerry is a wussy pants!" "My president will beat up your president." Alas, it's not going to be over on Nov. 2. Not by a long shot if what we're hearing is any indication.

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

Michael Moore scares me because he does exactly what the ultra-conservatives do. The hyperbole and antics and denigrating of the other candidate is positively counter-productive to those voters who are still trying to decide. The one who scares them the last will push them to vote for the other candidate.

Point out the facts (well, as much as anyone can interpret them). Point out what you think are the consequences. But the radical stuff has got to stop.

Moore lost me a long time before this latest "documentary."

I hear that...

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Glad I'm not the only one scared by him. It cracks me up when actors or directors discuss politics inside their own arenas... I guess he's more political than most because of his documentaries but really, it was WAY more annoying than I'd anticipated.

Now I want to see Team America: World Police so I can see Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin and Tim Robbins puppets be blown up (from what I hear).

[sfdave.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this post for a while. I've finally found a moment and remembered to post my thoughts.

I don't think this type of rally is about convincing the audience. I was at school the other day, listening to some raving lunatic trying to convince someone that his candidate was superior. And the arguments he made were sounding really familiar. Then I realized that he was just running through taking points and sound bites.

That's the effect of these rallies. They get the audience excited. The audience runs out and gets into discussions or debates with their undecided friends. The audience carries the message to the masses.

**shrug** This doesn't change the fact that the rallies are extremely off putting. It sounds like a horrible experience.

Yeah

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

I'm sure he thought he was preaching to the choir... and of course it made me and Stephanie have the political conversation, and I had to face the fact of who I have to vote for...despite my personal animosity at Michael Moore.:)