Rush Limbaugh vs Michael Moore

[MossMan]

Fahrenheit 9/11 is a lousy movie …… in my opinion. I don’t care what this film is billed as: documentary, comedy, propaganda, commentary, tearjerker, horror, chick-flick. All I know is that I paid my money and left the theater unsatisfied. The individual segments (despite their shallow factual distortions) would probably work as segments on some politically orientated TV show. But put them all together in a film like this and the result is a tedious mess. My endearing love of all things 3 Stooges would suggest that I have high rate of tolerance when it comes to cheap entertainment. But F 9/11 has shown that even my humble intelligence can only be assaulted for so long.

But then I should have already known this.

Despite being a conservative, I learned long ago that I can only put up with one Rush Limbaugh for so long. I don’t deny that Rush has some satirical abilities and can occasionally come up with some pretty entertaining bits. But trying to sit through more that an hour of his program at a time is almost an impossibility for me. Sure, Rush will occasionally provide actual insight on some topic at hand. But to reach this nugget you have to first wade through Rush’s attempts to blame every imaginable social and political failing on the dreaded liberals. And the evidence he provides is almost always innuendo, baseless suppositions and opinions clearly contrived to obscure the facts while trumpeting a partisan agenda.

Wait a second, who does this sound like? Go watch F 9/11 then sit down and listen to one of Rush’s programs. Now try and tell me that Michael Moore hasn’t learned his craft listening to King Limbaugh at work.

Yet there are people who find both Mike and Rush entertaining. No problems here. Obviously there is place in the marketplace for political entertainment based filled with screeds, rants and self-righteous posturings. Who am I to pass judgment. I’m the guy who thought Porky’s was good enough to warrant paying money to see Porky’s 2. If you find this sort of thing entertaining, then have it.

But here is the thing. If conservatives are going to bash Moore for making his sloppy movie, they should at least spend some time condemning Limbaugh for doing what amounts to exactly the same thing - but on a daily basis. To viciously attack Moore for using the exact same tactics as Limbaugh while giving Rush a pass is to reduce your arguments to undisguised hypocritical partisanship.

And if liberals are going to laud Moore for his political achievement, then they should be similarly praising Limbaugh for his political triumphs. Or at the very least, praising Moore for his astute insights should forever bar someone from ever criticizing Limbaugh again.

Take your pick. Respect them both or hate them both. But defending one and dissing the other is a pretty cynical way to express your political affiliation.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

Well, gosh you gave us a lot to think about. Everyone is influenced by the news, media, movies, radio etc. to a certain extent. I like to think of myself as not falling into any "true believer" category. I will however admit that I had been brainwashed into believing that the war with Iraq was the right thing, at the right time.

You are giving us an "either" "or" proposition. I feel in a way it's impossible to be a 100% for anything. Maybe 99%. I mean, impossible for me anyway. I'm not a blind follower. Alas, I'll probably never have blind faith.

 

[N.Bailey]

As a conservative, I don't like Moore or Rush. They both lean too far to the right/left of their prospective party for my taste.

 

[Robinrs]

Both are huge blowhards, both work overtime to tout their ideology and both have people who listen to them because deep down inside they're glad that someone is SAYING what they're thinking.

Extremes may bother people but the squeaky wheel will always get the grease. Without their tactics neither would be as popular as they are. The high price of saying what you feel.

 

[MossMan]

Originally posted by Robinrs

Extremes may bother people but the squeaky wheel will always get the grease. Without their tactics neither would be as popular as they are.

So true.

When Rush first became a popular figure nationally, he was attacked in the same way Moore is now being attacked. I remember liberal friends and family demanding that I (as a random conservative) justify how Rush could say the things he was saying. I remember newspaper editorials condemning Limbaugh for trying to pass his insights off as political commentary when they were nothing but the rants of a partisan buffoon.

Though I agreed that his opinions were hardly worth listening to, I thought these comments missed the mark. People listened (and listen) to Rush because he is entertaining. In fact I remember Rush once stating that he shouldn’t be judged by how many Republicans get elected, he should be judged by how much he can charge the sponsors of his program.

To that end I think he was right. Moore should be looked at in the vein. Though I may dislike his movie, others clearly find his film entertaining. The success of F 9/11 lies in how many tubs of popcorn are sold, not in whether it affects Bush’s chances in November.

Rush knows his audience and so does Moore. Just a couple of wealthy guys who have figured out how to take advantage of the political times in which we live. So despite this being an election year, it is hard for me to understand why people are getting so worked up over this movie.

 

[richiebaseball]

If you lean too far left or too far right, the same thing happens. You fall down.

Just one man's opinion.

Richard

 

[minniepumpernickel]

Originally posted by richiebaseball
If you lean too far left or too far right, the same thing happens. You fall down.

Just one man's opinion.

Richard

Have you hit the deck, on the right side yet?

just kidding!

 

[richiebaseball]

Originally posted by minniepumpernickel
Have you hit the deck, on the right side yet?

just kidding!

Why? Getting lonely down there on the left side?


Richard

 

[MossMan]

Originally posted by richiebaseball
If you lean too far left or too far right, the same thing happens. You fall down.

Richard

While I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment, comparing Limbaugh to Moore ultimately isn’t about ideology. One could use the tactics of these two “entertainers” to promote a moderate agenda – but as we all know this probably wouldn’t be all that entertaining.

I just find it interesting that people who get all bent out of shape over the tactics of certain political commentators are perfectly willing to give a pass to other commentators as long they agree with their ideology. Looked at from this perspective, the ideology of the commentators using cheap innuendo and shallow suppositions is hardly important. The important factor in this equation is the ideology of those who would attack and defend commentators who use questionable tactics. I don’t even know if Rush and Mike really believe anything they say. But I do know they are getting rich saying it. Not that there is anything wrong with making a buck. All the power to them I say. But to that end I wouldn’t blame either one a bit if they tailored part of their respective messages to take full advantage of the financial possibilities of their programs.

Moore and Limbaugh aren’t interesting because of what they preach, they are interesting because their preaching has become so popular. Thus the only reason we are talking about them is because they are successful entertainers – not incisive political commentators. They attract us for the same reason Justin Timberlake and Julia Roberts attract us.

Getting upset about what Moore says in his movie is akin to getting upset over the content of Janet Jackson’s latest CD.