And the Oscar for biggest hypocrite goes to…
More than a couple of you have figuratively arched your eyebrow at my castigation of Michael Moore for his tirade at the Oscars. I’d like to clear up any confusion. I don’t think that Moore’s wrong about Bush or the war, and I think he’s an interesting fellow with some decent filmmaking skills. What he said that night is right on the mark. What struck me as poor form was the time and place of his bombast—especially since a more grateful and graceful individual could’ve made the same points without getting a cacophony of cheers and boos from the assemblage. Add to this that tactless speechmaking rarely changes anyone’s mind, and all that’s left, sadly, is a blowhard on a soapbox. Hey, I can do that much. You want props, you gotta show me something more.
There is another point to be made, one which I didn’t touch on before. That is that Michael Moore was a Naderite in the 2000 presidential election. There are a lot of us who believe it’s as much his fault that we’re stuck with a cowboy president as it is anyone who voted for Bush. Those of us who didn’t think it needed to get worse before it got better, as Ralph Nader claimed, are still more than a little cheezed at those who couldn’t find it within themselves to hold their nose and vote for Gore. We did it. It wasn’t that hard. I’m not saying it was fun. I’m saying it wasn’t that hard. Unless, of course, you lived in Florida and had to use one of those ill-conceived butterfly ballots. Then it was that hard, and you’re forgiven. Moore? He’s got a ways to go.