We had the opportunity on Friday night to see conservative radio's Mike Gallagher at Penn State University. There were many details surrounding his visit, namely his own personal disgust that Michael Moore's visit on the same night was paid for by Student Activity Fees. The visit by Moore supposedly cost $30,000, more than half of which, Gallagher claims, goes directly to Moore. Gallgher's plan was to raise money through donations by coming to PSU on the same night and giving all of the money he raised towards $15 gift boxes for the troops in Iraq. He raised almost $70,000 (about $2000 being his own donation). Due most likely to the fact that both events took place on the same night, protestors were few.
Since I posted earlier regarding my "undecided voter" status, you may be wondering what made me decide to attend Gallgher's event over Moore's, since it would have been possible for me to attend either. Moore's event was also free, and in a much larger venue. Gallagher was showing the film FahrenHype 9-11, which claims to falsify many assertions in Moore's Fahrenheit 9-11. He was also showing a second film which we didn't stay to see, the Carlton Sherwood production Stolen Honor.
Did the event persuade me? I'm still making up my mind. I have yet to see Fahrenheit 9-11, but I promise all of you and myself I am going to see it this week. And then, I'll probably toss both films out of the decision making process. Really, I think both of these guys are too radical for me. Gallagher may have done right in my mind for donating all that money to the troops, but it concerns me that we've gone back to relying on propaganda films to make up our minds in a presidential election. Like I said before, I want facts I can believe in, not accusations and negativity, and I feel like these facts are hard to come by. Is Moore's film really a lie? Quite possibly. Is FahrenHype 9-11 a lie? Well, if one side can twist the words and edit the footage and play you with emotional accounts, why wouldn't the other?
I think there were only two things that had an effect on me at the event, one of which may influence my vote and the other just an interesting observation. Three of the guests who spoke briefly with Gallagher were soldiers who had returned from Iraq. Obviously they were there to voice their support for Bush and to remind people of their dedication to the war. But the greeting they received from the crowd was louder and longer and more emotional than any Gallagher received, and it was great to see the looks on their faces of humility and surprise at how wonderful the crowd was to them. Whether you think the war is right or wrong, it doesn't matter, but I hope that people understand how much they need to know that people care about them and are thankful that they are doing their jobs with such devotion. They don't have to, they want to; they volunteered to do it.
The other observation that just surprised me was the kind of people that made up the crowd. I went there completely expecting to be one of the youngest, but there were many more young college and even high school students. There was a crowd of hard core punk kids, more metal and black and chains and spiky black hair than I ever though I'd see there. Also, most well known hippie in town, Chuck. Now that threw me. He sat with us, actually, and started going off about the economy in ways that I didn't even understand. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about, but I know nothing about intricate economic details and don't pretend to, so I was admittedly a bit lost. But I rarely hear him talk about anything other than bands or his farm, so it was really interesting and just a bit funny to see him with his torn tie-dye and dreads mingling with the old fogies.
I'd like to think that I'll tell you what my decision is whenever I finally reach it. I suppose I might, if I do reach one. I'm going to force myself to read every single article about local officials this week, because I'm thinking right now that I should be more concerned with them than I have been. I also can't wait to write about my poll-working experience. Stay tuned and wish me luck!
10.25.2004
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2 comments:
I have a DVD for you to seek out, ok? It's called "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War."
DL, you know where I stand, but you seem to be really interested in finding out what both sides are talking about, so I offer this to you for you to better understand where people like me are coming from. This documentary is not loaded with the sarcasm of Michael Moore's piece (although I did like Farenheit 9/11, Moore does go over the top). "Uncovered" is based on countless interviews with former CIA agents, UN inspectors, and other government officials (all of whom have a great number of years inside the government). The film discusses the ways the info about WMD's and the like was misappropiated by the Bush administration. It is about a year old, so does not include footage of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld admitting the intelligence was bad regarding Iraq.
You seem to have a real open mind and I hope you do not take offence to me suggesting this documentary. I hope you get to check it out. Peace!
I will def. try to seek it out if I can within the next week. I just looked around at the website for it...did you know he's the same guy that directed "Steal This Movie"?!? That's so funny.
But seriously, do you really think its worthwhile to use these films as a basis for decision? I mean, I just feel like obviously each one of these filmmakers set out with their own agenda and point they wanted to prove, and they succeeded in doing so. Cynicism has its uses, but maybe I'm just TOO cynical! But, I don't want to pass this judgement until I see it for myself. I can't stand when people criticize Moore's film w/o having seen it and I don't want to do that.
Thank you for the suggestion!
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