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My wife is not the most political woman. She was considering voting for Bush in 2000, because she hated Tipper Gore, and Al by extension, for what they did regarding rock music.
I would describe her politics as libertarian in most areas; a bit conservative when it comes to crime and punishment, and welfare; and liberal in such areas as gay rights, and sexual issues. Very anti-abortion, but not a person who believes government meddling is the answer to anything.
I've been proud of her for opening her mind to me in the three years we've been married, and we went to see F911 today. I didn't know what effect the movie would have on her, but I had some idea.
She was pissed. Very pissed. As we walked out of the theater, she let out a torrent of creatively formed invective that would curl your hair. She wanted to know how anybody could say the movie contained lies.
"How could any of it be lies?" she asked, angrily, "everything we saw was stuff that actually happened; most of it came out of the very mouths of the people themselves."
I couldn't answer that question for her. This is a woman who once enjoyed Toby Keith singing about putting a boot up someone's ass, and now felt pain for dead Iraqis. She said if she was an Iraqi, and the American troops came into her house and tied up her college age son and put his face against the floor for nothing like they did to the women in the film, they'd have to shoot her or knock her out for what she would do. I agree that she is telling the truth on that, as a man who knows her well. She said she'd like to take the dead Iraqi baby and hold it up to Bush at a press conference and say, "you killed it. Now you eat it."
It was her opinion that only a blind fool could say the film contained lies.
"They showed Bush with his arm around Prince Bandar. They showed him holding hands with him. He called him 'Bandar Bush,'" she pointed out.
She's right. They showed numerous photos and video clips of Bush 43, and of Bush 41 in all kinds of friendly embraces and situations with various Saudis. They showed a Taliban leader that Bush had invited to America only months before 9/11. The Taliban leader endeared himself to my wife, when a woman reporter asked him a question about how the Taliban treat their women, and he said "I pity your husband. You must give him much trouble."
She didn't know Texas oilmen had invited Taliban to the US when Bush was the governor of Texas. She had no idea the type of people our president hangs around with. She didn't know Bin Laden had members of his family to his son's wedding only months before 9/11 happened, and that those same family members were business partners with both Bush 41 and 43. She certainly didn't know they could fly when no one else could, not even Ricky Martin.
There's nothing in that movie that can be disputed. People can say that Moore favors footage that gives an impression that may or may not be true, but that's as far as it goes. It does NOT favor footage that gives an actual FALSE impression. More importantly, it indicts Bush heavily in regard to lying about the reason to go to war in Iraq, and it doesn't come right out and say ONE THING that is false. It shows Bush make the connection between 911 and Iraq many times in a row. It shows how he BEAT that message into the ground during the buildup to war. What it does NOT show is how he distanced himself from that position after it was shown to be BS, and how complicit our media was in letting him off the hook for that obvious manipulation. If you think Moore manipulates his audience, he's no match for Bush, that's all I can say about that.
The Lila Lipscomb segment of the film enraged my wife. When the Right Wing woman came up to Lila and insisted she was "making it up" about her son dying in Iraq, it reminded me of the Marines on this forum attacking Maria, and saying her father never served in Vietnam. What cruel people! My wife said she would've "knocked that lady out," and I guarantee you that is true.
The scene where Moore asks Congressmen to sign their kids up to serve in Iraq was priceless. I read some of the early spin where Kennedy tried to say that scene was misleading, because he had a cousin who was going to Iraq, and Moore didn't show him talking about it. What bunk! Moore was talking about sending their OWN CHILDREN to Iraq, and he wasn't seriously trying to get them to do it; he was just making a point, WHICH HE DID.
And just how did Moore manipulate his audience in the scene with the recruiters? Was that false in any way? Of course it wasn't.
The Right can parse a sentence here, or an impression there, and say, "that's debatable," and that is IT! Fahrenheit 911 shows so many HARD FACTS one barely knows where to begin.
While I agree that some of the more brainwashed Bushies would see the film and not be swayed, I honestly believe that around 50% of the people who voted for him would change their minds about Bush if they saw this movie. I challenge every Right Wing person in America to have the guts to see this film. Even if it annoys you how Moore uses some of this footage against Bush, or how his narration echoes "liberal talking points," too much of the footage is just raw footage, and cannot be subject to manipulation. It shows what it shows, people.
No wonder so many Republicans are afraid to actually see this movie.
It proves beyond a doubt that Bush is not fit to hold office.
I can't say it converted my wife, as I may have had a hand in doing that some time ago, but I will say this.
She's not apolitical any more. She's fired up about this. Today she made me very proud. Proud to be an American, and proud to be married to a fine woman.
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