411 Politics Fact or Fiction: Week 44
Posted by Ryan Latimer on 05.21.2007
Now with twice the Michael Moore!
It's Monday everyone, and you know what that means - 411 Politics Fact or Fiction. I'm your host Ryan Latimer, and I'm glad to report I'm feeling super jolly after recieving that free health care in Cuba.
My apoligies for the lack of opening this week as this column is coming in past deadline due to a few extreme circumstances. However, because we have such an awesome editor in Jason Easley, it is coming to you as scheduled. Now the only thing you won't have to sit through is me rambling on in the beginning and trying to be funny.
Great topics meet a great duo of contenders, Easley and 411 Multi-purpose Liberal Commentator Jacob Ziegler. Loser has to sit through a 24 hour Michael Moore film marathon. Sorry Jake, I had to.
1) The Rev. Jerry Falwell, a leading Christian conservative televangelist best known recently for his controversial views on social issues in America, died at age 73 last Tuesday. Falwell is and will be cherished among many in the Christian community, but Falwell should not be remembered as a man who contributed positively to American religion or politics.
Jacob Ziegler: FACT - I admit I am far too liberal to be a fan of Jerry Falwell. I know he meant a lot to a lot of people, so I'll try not to be too offensive here. The most I know about Falwell is his well-publicized battle with Larry Flynt, and being both a liberal and a journalist (shocker I know) I side with Flynt 100%. I think Falwell tried to force a lot of his beliefs on people, and that's something I'm just not on board with. I think he made positive contributions to people who believe exactly the way he does, so I think the only positive influence he had was in being the foil to Larry Flynt in that First Amendment battle.
Jason Easley: FICTION - The reason why this statement is fiction is that the definition of a "positive contribution" is very subjective. If the person making the statement is evangelical Christian, then they are going to view Falwell as a hero, who got Christians active in politics and acted as a moral crusader. If you are a liberal, gay, or of a different faith, then Falwell is probably a villain to you, but the reality is that Falwell had a major impact on late 20th Century American politics. Falwell was also a hateful bigot who used the Bible as justification to spread a doctrine of intolerance. He was a complex figure, who was neither all good or all bad.
Can‘t say I was a "fan" of Falwell, either, but I‘m also never glad to see a human being pass (well, there are always extreme exceptions to that rule). He will be missed by many, and like it or not his legacy will be felt for generations.0 for 1.
2) Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore has been placed under investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department for taking ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for a segment in his upcoming health-care film Sicko. Moore has returned fire by blasting the Bush administration for "probing him for political reasons" and has asked them to call the investigation off. Moore should not have done what he did and he deserves to be investigated and possibly reprimanded.
Jacob Ziegler: FICTION - I'm not aware of any law that says it's illegal to go to or take people to Cuba, so unless he violated the trade embargo or brought Cuban cigars home with him, I don't see any laws being broken. The thing Republicans don't seem to understand is that this is the exact sort of stuff that fuels Michael Moore, so they really should just leave him alone, and that would signify that they don't sweat him. Not that I want to give the Republicans good advice, because I happen to really like Moore as both a filmmaker and a person (I've done some work with him on the Traverse City Film Festival). I'm very excited to see "Sicko."
Jason Easley: FACT- Mike is just trying to hype his movie with these statements. If anybody went to Cuba without permission, they would be investigated. When the embargo is violated, the Treasury Department sends the same standard letter to all involved. The political bias occurred when Moore submitted his application to go to Cuba in October of 2006 and the government ignored it. They didn't accept it or reject it. They just let it rot. In answer to the question Moore should face the same fine that anybody else would for violating the embargo. Breaking the law is breaking the law.
It is my understanding that Moore did in fact violate something, but I believe all this does is create more publicity for his new movie. I despise Michael Moore and find most if not all of his work to be deceptive and self-serving at best, but in this particular case even he makes great points in Sicko that are very argumentative. That said, even a broken clock is right twice a day, and I still refuse to see his films. Although it would be funny is he does get tossed in jail because of this. Not going to happen, but one could only hope. 0 for 2
3) Michael Moore has called out White House hopeful Fred Thompson for refusing to debate him on the topic of US health care, the theme for Moore's new documentary Sicko. The director and the former senator have been trading shots since the beginning of May, when Thompson weighed in on the Treasury Department's investigation into whether Moore violated the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. Thompson should stop avoiding Moore and debate him.
Jacob Ziegler: FACT - I say True with some degree of trepidation, because I think it would soon devolve into an argument more about attacks on character than the issue. But I still think that any time there are disagreements between two figures such as this, both parties should agree to a debate, because it just looks like the one who doesn't want to do it is hiding something or scared.
Jason Easley: FICTION- The last thing I want to see is the D.A. from Law and Order and a filmmaker who knows nothing about politics engage in a so called debate that probably will just be full of name calling. When are the talk show hosts, celebrities, and filmmakers going to learn that just being famous does make them qualified to debate anything? At least Fred Thompson had a political career. People like Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, Franken, and Moore are all the same. They just want to engage in the sport of name calling. They really don't know anything about policy, and really aren't qualified to seriously talk about or debate anything.
Hmm, a politician running for presidential office in 08 vs. a blowhard. Perhaps if Vince McMahon were promoting it…0 for 3
4) Shock jocks Opie & Anthony have been suspended with pay from XM satellite radio for 30 days for making controversial statements concerning the "rape" of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and First Lady Laura Bush during a broadcast. If anything, the duo's punishment was light and Opie & Anthony deserve worse.
Jacob Ziegler: FICTION - I'm not going to say what they deserved, because I don't know exactly what they said. I'm sure it was said in jest, but rape is just one of those areas you don't really go to in such a public forum. It sounds like a mildly dumb thing to say, but nothing that a 30-day suspension with pay won't take care of.
Jason Easley: FACT - This is such a fact. When what Imus said and Opie & Anthony said are compared, it is clear that both statements were really bad. The difference is O&A are on subscriber satellite radio, not over the air commercial radio like Imus. The other part of this is that sexism is more accepted in our society than racism. In the eyes of people like Sharpton and Jackson as long as a statement isn't racist, it is OK. If there was a fair standard applied Opie & Anthony would be fired, just as Imus was, or neither would be fired. Remember America, racism=bad, sexism=OK.
I‘m sure this is just a result of all the hub bub over the Imus controversy and it‘s debatable whether or not O&P would have gotten slapped if Imus Gate didn‘t happen. Personally? The world would be a better place if these two couldn‘t do talk radio. Some call this injustice. I call it amusing. 0 for 4
Bam, clean sweep. I need to pair you two up more often. Good week, everyone.
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