When saints collide
international |
arts and media |
opinion/analysis 
Friday October 17, 2003 23:39
by Phuq Hedd
Michael Moore attacks Mumia Abu-Jamal
Michael Moore is often cited as the accessible face of the left -- someone that's in touch with the people, someone that doesn't retreat into the ghetto of arcane politics. For many he's also a shallow populist that misses the boat on many important issues, oversimplifies complex arguments and fails to provide solutions. In his new book he's gone much further: he condemns a man on death row inspite of the absence of a fair trial.
Michael Moore started out as a gutsy documentarian of the effects of "downsizing" upon his hometown and his neighbours with the films "Roger and Me" and "Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint", and later "Downsize This!". All of these dealt well with the subject matter. Moore's last film "Bowling for Columbine" moved into a wider arena, both in terms of distribution and subject matter. It is in this movie that he displays his weakness for rhetoric above argument, painting a rosy picture of Canada as a land of open doors and the USA as a land of fear.
Even while sympathising with the thrust and intent of Moore's work something stank about it -- on the one hand Moore is redressing the absence of biased left-wing coverage and that can be enjoyable, but on the other he is legitimising the tools of deception and slanted presentation.
However, these are all minor quibbles compared with the statement in his latest book "Dude, Where's My Country?" in which he claims that journalist, political activist and cause celebre Mumia Abu-Jamal is "probably" guilty. A strong case is made in this counterpunch article that Moore is talking through his hat:
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff10172003.html
Moore's increasing prominence leads to him being the subject of all sorts of attacks (some of which are demonstrably unfair):
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/wackoattacko/
But the wealth of evidence suggests that Mumia Abu Jamal is an innocent man:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/reports/mumia/
that Moore has made a mistake and that it seems like a retraction or clarification would be in order.
Comments (7 of 7)
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anarchists accept no leaders but are peer responsive. Saints are an odd business, we mostly think of Xian Saints, as those are the most familiar to us. We grow up with vague acceptance of the canon of semi-divinities that occupy one of the most important places of the continuing relationship between Secular and Clerical authority. Thus the national days of the western nations are deemed to be saints' day, yet the origins of saints such as Patrick, Jordi, Jorge, George are as dubious any ritualised memorial of snakes and dragons. & then on the other hand we see more Saints officially created by the supreme Clerical authority in the last 25 years. And those canonisations of JP2 would indeed prompt many to think ..."when saints collide".
I wonder where do the founders of Opus Dei collide with Mother Theresa with Maximillian Kolby, with those of a secular tradition alluded to in Phuqhead's beautiful thought provoking title; Mumia, Moore and if I may suggest- all the glorious dead.
The re-assuring thing about Saints is that one generally must be long dead before they give you a day, a statue, a hymn, a school, relics and mythology.
Mumia it is not generally thought bowled.
Moore it is not generally thought batted.
Baseball is really just like Cricket and Rounders, except at different speeds where the potential for collision is concentrated in a smaller area than other school taught games.
As an anarchist and libertarian of good conscience, I know my saints.
Moore views are really no mystery. He is representing the views of the left liberal, social democratic sector of the White Nation. That is a lonely task since there is no social democrtic tradition in the US to speak of. It is only natural that the racism and chauvinism(his support of the General Wes Clark) inherent in the sector he is from would eventually show themselves.
He is a 'saint of the Left?' Perhaps a fallen saint of the WHITE US left.
is only representing himself and his bank account.The man is a hyprocrite.He has the aduacity to stand on a platform with terrorists and their PR lackeys in Belfast and say that it is OK for the IRA to keep their illeagal weapons yet he then bleats and lies about the gun issue in America.His new book Dude where is my country?[original title,playing on somone elses work]Is more of the same anti Bush ,republican crap.Does the man ever come up with anything original?
Theres a big difference between a society where guns are readily available like the US and the situation in the North. People in the US have guns to protect themselves against greedy fellow citizens. This is the core ideal of American society. Strong survive-- feck the weak.
Whereas in Northern Ireland guns were brought in to protect a nationalist community that was under siege by loyalists in the late 60s and got no help from the 'Republican Party' in power down south ( Fianna Fail in case you were wondering).
Big difference in these situations. Obviously we want a world where no guns are needed but with 'republican politiacl parties' both sides of the Atlantic, thats not going to happen in the near future. The Capitalist world we live in is like an incubator helping the violence in the world to escalate.
That firearms are and were available to buy for the poor oppressed [,at the time]republicans in the good ol gun lovin USA?Well ,maybe if the I Ran Away[as it was known at the time hadn't sold off its guns to the Welsh National Liberation Army].You would have been wiped out.But that is the problem of NI,neither side is right.What was justified in the sixties,the human rights abuses and the fight against it by any means,became a Frankenstein monster in the shape of the conflict of the last 30 years.
My gripe was Lard ass Moore,came over here with the usual Hollyweird liberal ideas of old Ireland.[The idea that we are all running around in trenchcoats,fedoras carrying Tommy guns,and liberating old mother Ireland from the Tans.] Espoused to a now criminal and terrorist group that it is OK to hold on to your AK47s,yet the fat fuck was over bitching and lying in a shite movie about a subject he obvisouly knew diddly squat about in his own country.[which BTW he has disowned,yet still claims all its benefits]].That is blatant hypocrisy Bet you wouldnt hear ol tubbaguts M[H]ooer espousing to the Bloods or Cripps to hold on to their firepower,as they are oppessed.But then he is so damn stupid he proably would.BTW The strong survive ,the weak perish.Is the basic law of survival on this planet.Its not a natural American law.Only the deluded think they can change nature.
M Moore ~ M teresa
R B Barrett ~ C Dessy Connell
Marx ~ Jesus
Socialist Worker ~ Alive
Voice ~ Voice
Rally ~ Mass
Direct action ~ rosary
Chomsky ~ Dessy 2-2
Sparts ~ opus dei
Stalin ~ St Paul
Indymedia ~ stopsatan.com
weekly worker ~ weekly newsletter
trotsky ~ Luther
Labour ~ Labour
Iosaf ~ ?
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