Why Are We Back In Iraq?

There's really not much point in arguing with a right winger. Especially when they happen to be clairvoyant right wingers.

Meet the Truth for Troops brigade. True believers who claim to believe in the truth but who do so primarily on faith and brand recognition.

I first found out about "Fahrenhype 9/11", which won't be released until the first week in October, at a Media watchdog website called Watching the Watchers which seems to sum up the movie sight unseen (but trailer downloaded): "The one contrast I will draw without having seen the movie (you can expect a full review when I do), is that this looks to be just a bunch of people mouthing off about Michael Moore, not facts, figures, and actual public record pointing to the veracity of their views. F/911 was two hours of footage, two hours of public record with commentary thrown in, not commentary with footage thrown in."

Of course, I haven't seen it either. But neither have these guys: Editors In Pajamas, Infidel Cowboy, Indepundit, Spacecraft, and who-knows-who-else via member posts at Free Republic. It used to be that the reactionaries from the right only wanted to burn books that they haven't read. Now, it appears that they want to buy videos for our troops that they haven't even seen yet.

The idea originated at the JunkYardBlog. This dude (I won't namecheck him...I shouldn't even be providing a link to his site...some liberal bloggers get mad when I help them get hits...but the truth can only be found if you're told where or where not to find it) isn't upset - so much - at the $100 million-plus gross of Michael Moore's documentary. He's mostly pissed because Mr. Moore has encouraged "illegal" file sharing in order to send burnt copies to the troops in Iraq and Aghanistan which might cause some troops "to despise the very country and leadership that sent them to war. For commanders in the field, this can create a potential morale and discipline problem." Too bad he doesn't feel the same way about Rush Limbaugh's broadcasts on Armed Forces Radio which have downgraded the Abu Ghraib sadism to little more than run-of-the-mill frat boy behaviour.

So the Junkyard dog, along with the Michael Moore player haters at Moorelies.com and Moorewatch, are on a mission to buy truckloads of videos to donate to the boots on the ground so they can throw away their Fahrenheit bootlegs. As the fine folks at Moorewatch put it, "The Film is already completed, and is a better “product” to send as opposed to our photocopied lists and such." I don't suppose they spend a whole-lot-of time parsing through the information on those "photocopied lists" either. And even if they do, it doesn't matter, since tricks like this undermine their integrity.

Of course, I'm not going to begrudge our troops for the free videos that they are about to be receiving. It's about time they got something other than stop-gap solutions and jungle camouflage for desert military actions. Although it would probably be more appreciated if the right wingers sent our poorly paid troops fifteen dollars each (the cost of the dvd) instead.

Oh, by the way, "Fahrenhype 9/11" is touted as a bipartisan production. At least that's what the JunkYard blogger claims. I guess this must be the god-given truth because Zell Miller is prominently featured in the trailer. And he's definitely bipartisan. Isn't he? I believe he has plans to switch parties every other presidential convention.

The dysfunctional "Truth for Troops" website alleges that "generous corporate donors have stepped forward to cover the costs associated with our first campaign." I wonder if that means builder Bob Perry (a high profile Republican campaign donor from Texas, as well as the initial funder for the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth and Dirty Campaigning) may have anted up some ground floor greenbacks.

The honest truth is that there will be no "truth for troops" unless there is regime change on November 2nd. And that ain't no hype, either.

# posted by Ron Brynaert : 9/28/2004 08:55:00 PM