Extremists at both sides.

Keeping with the somewhat unwritten modicum of courtesy within my Neighborhood, I thought I would write a response in my own space of why I severely distrust a message coming from Michael Moore, although on the surface it seems to be assertive and optimistic.

I consider Moore to be as contemptible as Rush Limbaugh.  I admit that I'm rather hypocritical not to have seen his films, but I took notice early on that some of the interviewees (soldiers, military family members) of 9/11 spoke out, claiming that they were deliberately taken out of context.  I find that very, very troubling.

Here are a few excerpts and my immediate thoughts:

All week long I have been inundated with media asking me, "gee, Mike, what will you do now that Bush is gone?" Are they kidding? ...We've entered a new era, and if I could sum up our collective first thought of this new era, it is this: Anything Is Possible.

Rose-colored glasses.  I have probably about as many reservations about the Democrats as I do the Republicans.  As I said in my reply, I figure that the Democrats are horribly fractured, and the Republicans are terribly mutated compared to earlier years.  Contemporary politics is very marked by ideology, very distilled.  I would remind readers that although Obama speaks words of change and hope, they are still very much bound by political ideology.  Now, I do admit that after some awful mistakes by the neocons, it's not unreasonable to see a shift to a sort of "neolib" platform to balance things out.  But we have yet to see if words are backed up by real action, and I think it would be worrisome to shift the pendulum too much to the other side.

But this is the week for all of us to revel in this great moment. Be humble about it. Do not treat the Republicans in your life the way they have treated you the past eight years. Show them the grace and goodness that Barack Obama exuded throughout the campaign.

This is where I would say he seems to talk out of both sides of his mouth.  For someone who has lambasted the Bush administration, I think he's a damned hypocrite to try to claim the high road now, and he does it in a way that seems very condescending and even haughty.

I was relieved when Obama was elected-- mostly because I do not trust Sarah Palin.  (In fact, I won't be surprised if she comes back as a frontrunner in 2012.)  To put it coarsely but very bluntly, she smacked of being a neocon butt puppet.  But although I felt Obama was the right choice, so do I still worry about the party behind him.  I'd say a good number of political activists on the blogosphere and social networks are too young to remember Jimmy Carter.  I'm barely old enough to remember him much at all myself.  But I do understand that to date, he was not considered a very good President.  There is no question he remains a very, very good man-- Habitat for Humanity alone is a pure testament of that, especially as he has been reported to be out there working with the laborers.  It's possible that similar things will be said of Obama.

Political satire usually has a strong grain of truth to it.  The Onion parodied Obama supporters, suggesting that they were now at a loss.  (It's been mentioned in the Neighborhood, but if you missed it, it's here.)  Gary Trudeau portrays Alex Doonesbury (daughter of the main character) as being in a rut:
And Doonesbury is known to be a left-leaning political comic strip!  So I think an implication of fanaticism, not to mention a pseudo-Messanic devotion of Obama, is not an unfair assertion.

And as always, I walk the line.  I try to stay away from what I see as extremist.  Those of you Friends who have read my more personal musings, you might recall that I've said I feel like I'm walking a tightrope with my experience.  And Jenn, your big bro loves you always.  Political discussion can get so ugly, but I hope I haven't expressed my thoughts in a way that would seem aggressive.  I can be a passionate person, but such would be pretty antithetical to my intentions.

Thanks again for reading.