If you can stand another entry about Fahrenheit 911...

[firecat]

...my sweetie jwermont just forwarded me this excellent critique of the movie by Robert Jensen, professor of journalism at the University of Texas: "Stupid White Movie: What Michael Moore Misses About the Empire".

Comments

[firecat]

The author had this to say about the importance of getting Bush out of office. I largely agree (the one difference is that I'm voting for Kerry even though I'm not in a swing state):

I agree that Bush should be kicked out of the White House, and if I lived in a swing state I would consider voting Democratic. But I don't believe that will be meaningful unless there emerges in the United States a significant anti-empire movement. In other words, if we beat Bush and go back to "normal," we're all in trouble.

Note also that I don't think a significant anti-empire movement will emerge. If the US gets out of the business of empire-building, it will be because we get it beaten out of us or our economy collapses, same way as other empires have fallen.

[rmjwell.livejournal.com]

I find his language interesting in its self-defeatist tone. The christian right didn't spring forth fully formed from the forehead of Jehovah; it involved a lot of grassroots organizing and single-issue voting. I've seen more whinging from lefties like Jensen who want the political fruits with little or none of the labor.