Moore's Worldview

Michael Moore's latest movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, has been criticized by many for a number of different reasons. The main line of criticism has been on the inaccuracies and gross distortions perpetrated by Moore on the historical record in order to enhance the propaganda value of his film. David Brooks, in today's New York Times op/ed, demonstrates that the problem is not simply in the movie, but in Moore's entire worldview: a hatred of America and Americans. Through numerous statements - usually when he's abroad - Moore conveys this to anyone who will listen. The worst part of all of this is not even that he hates America - there are plenty of people who don't like the US. No, the worst part is that his worldview is accepted and supported by many of the liberals in the US, including the leadership of the Democratic Party who expressed their support at a special screening of the movie.

In years past, American liberals have had to settle for intellectual and moral leadership from the likes of John Dewey, Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Luther King Jr. But now, a grander beacon has appeared on the mountaintop, and from sea to shining sea, tens of thousands have joined in the adulation.
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So we have our Sartre. And the liberal grandees Arthur Schlesinger, Ted Sorenson, Tom Harkin and Barbara Boxer flock to his openings. In Washington, a Senate vote was delayed because so many Democrats wanted to see his movie.

The standards of socially acceptable liberal opinion have shifted. We're a long way from John Dewey.