Tampon Tim sez anti-Israel protesters are right, doesn't mention Hamas

Michigan, the rust-bucket state made famous by Michael Moore, has the USA's largest Arab population. Travel anywhere in the Middle East, and within 24 hours you're bound to meet a rag-head who says he has relatives in Detroit. 

Michigan is one of the key swing states which is very much in play in the presidential election which will take place in less than two months. Latest polls show President Trump with a slim lead over the Cackler. 

So it was only logical that Veep wannabe "Tampon Tim" Walz should choose an interview with WCMU, the Michigan NPR outlet (of course) to deliver a pat on the keffiyeh to anti-Israel protesters who, he said, "are speaking out for all the right reasons," and that more pressure should be applied to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a Palestinian state. 

Mr A-Walz described the October 7th attack as a "horrific act of violence against the people of Israel" and said that the Jewish state has the right to defend itself and that the United States "will always stand by that." However, he had nothing to say about the attackers. He refused to utter the word "Hamas".

The Biden-Harris administration's tepid support of Israel's response to the horrific act of Islamic terrorism could be a critical issue on Election Day in swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, where the margin between pro- and anti-Israel votes could be a deciding factor.

Pro-Trump Jews react

Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, told the Jewish News Syndicate that "Joe Biden thinks the antisemitic, anti-Israel radical protestors 'have a point', Kamala Harris appeases them, saying they 'are showing exactly what the human emotion should be' and now Tim Walz believes they 'are speaking out for all the right reasons.' What a total disgrace.

"Let’s be clear," Mr Brooks added. "The mobs on our streets and college campuses are wildly antisemitic and anti-Israel and should be totally condemned in the strongest possible terms. It is shameful and appalling that the top leaders of today’s Democratic Party cannot firmly and directly reject their vile antisemitic base."

He concluded, "Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are choosing to put partisan politics ahead of the safety and security of the Jewish community and America's key ally as it fights a war for its very survival. It is disgusting, and the American people will reject Harris and Walz’s extremism in November. Their priorities are clearly not our priorities. Harris and Walz stand with the radical squad, not with us."

Note from Ed.: Thanks to Artwork Arnie for the, errr, artwork!

Michael Moore sez we're asking the wrong questions about Senile Joe

In response to "Democrats ask you to disbelieve what you saw with your own eyes" (WWW 3/7/24), Agent 2 has passed along a lengthy article posted on his Substack by aging looney leftie Michael Moore. (Thanks, Cordelia!) Spoiler alert: When you find out what Mr Moore thinks should be done to solve Joe's Little Problem, you'll realize that Mr Moore, too, has pretty much lost the plot.

To paraphrase an old Richard Pryor joke, "Who are you going to believe? Me, or your own lying eyes?" Since the presidential debate last week, the leaders of the Democratic Party, in full 5-alarm fire mode, want us to believe we didn’t see what we saw.

“It was just a cold.”

“Everybody has an off night.”

“Ok, so it wasn’t his best performance.”

“All presidents have one bad debate.”

“You’re not going to judge 52 years of public service by 90 minutes of a lousy debate, are you?”

"He’s 81! What do you expect? You’ll be 81 someday!”

“He’s not a quitter. He’s all in. This is Scranton Joe we’re talkin’ about!”

"Yeah. Sure. The debate was a disaster. So what?”

These answers are all malarkey. That’s probably because we are asking the wrong question when we ask “What are we going to do about Joe?”

Maybe we should be asking what are we going to do about ourselves — and what can we do to get him some help?

Perhaps we should start with a definition of terms. Why do people keep calling it a “debate?” Isn’t that kind of like saying Israel is at “war” with Hamas? After all, if it’s a “war,” don’t there have to be things like armies, tanks, fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and the threat of nuclear annihilation on both sides? If only one side has these things, and the other side has none of them, is it really a war?

Was it really a debate if one of the debaters is so mentally and physically incapacitated that he cannot complete a sentence, randomly flips between discussing abortion, the three trimesters of a pregnancy and how great his golf game is, then looking around, unable to find one of the four cameras pointing at him, he suddenly turns his head all the way to the left as if he were looking for Rhode Island, and then out of nowhere raises his voice and shouts, “WE FINALLY BEAT MEDICARE!” Not Ohio State, but Medicare.

We saw and we heard all of that, no matter what the Party hacks keep telling us. It was heartbreaking. It was truly, without equivocation, unlike anything any of us had ever seen. No matter where you stood on the Joe Biden scale, from Joe the Working Class Hero to Joe the Banker of Palestinian Ethnic Cleansing, one thing was certain: This was not a cold. This was a human being in utter collapse. Not just political collapse, or performance collapse, but rather a full frontal lobe meltdown where at any moment you had to wonder… was it possible that the sweet and fragile existence we call “life” was about to short-circuit, or worse, lose power (to Trump)? And that no amount of shouting “STAT!” or cutting quickly to a commercial break was going to restore the President-cum-Patient to full capacity in order to save this even more fragile Democracy.

Do not mistake my criticisms of Biden spending 9 months in the loving embrace of Bibi Netanyahu as meaning that I do not deeply appreciate his 3 years of being the most progressive President of my lifetime. That’s right, my friends, there has been more action taken, through executive orders and legislation, to protect the environment, more government officials appointed who are, in their heart of hearts, Democratic Socialists, more serious funding to lift millions out of poverty, more support for labor unions, libraries, single mothers and college students deep in debt. And he has had this fervent, almost religious zeal to fight greed and obscene profits due to a true compassion he has for those dealt a bad hand in life — and he has had more of all of that than all the good presidents like Kennedy, Obama, and Carter were able to muster.

He will have another mini stroke in the next few months (he’s probably had one or two already) and then, sadly, the decline will not be reversed. Best to make a plan now and not wait until October. This is not about whether he’s fit to serve another four years — this is about whether he should serve another four days in the toughest job in the world. That’s the question we should be asking. If he offered to drive you from Flint to Detroit tonight, would you get in the car?

I’m not a doctor. I could be (and hopefully am) wrong about all this. But I do have eyes. They don’t lie. I, like nearly every one of you, had (or currently have) four grandparents and two parents (some of you have even more, with wonderful step-parents and step-grandparents). And if you yourself are over the age of 40, your eyes have seen it, too. The slow decline of your elders, followed by a sudden incident or event and then, without warning, your loved one is confused, not sure where he or she is at, can’t find the keys, can’t find the rest of the thought she just had, or the ability to even end the sentence he was in the middle of. It’s all quite normal and to be expected — and it will visit all of us one day. It won’t feel good. It won’t look pretty. But more than likely, that feeble, humbling moment will not be televised LIVE to an audience of 2 billion people around the world, with Jake Tapper’s hot breath breathing down your neck and telling you, ironically, that your time is up. Who exactly is Jake Tapper, you might ask yourself at 81. It won’t matter. Because at that point, when you suddenly blurt out that there are “1000 trillionaires in America!” and you’ve spent your presidency trying to make them just pay their friggin’ taxes but now you realize these rich-ass barbarians are at your gate — well, then, nothing will really matter.

I’m sorry, my friends, but if I have to be the only one to stand for Joe Biden, to protect him from the cruelest form of elder abuse I’ve ever been forced to watch, well then that’s what I’ll do. He was in epic distress that Thursday night. Every cognitive default in his mind was shutting down. If this had been someone you truly cared about, loved, embraced — what would you have done? Would you have seriously even let him go out on that stage? Who would send an 81-year-old out onto any stage to debate a living monster at 9 o’clock at night for a brawl that would not end until 10:42 PM? Honestly, have any one of you ever looked at the clock, saw that it was getting near 11 PM, and said to yourself, “I think I’m going to give Grams and Gramps a call!” You never did that because it would be cruel. The only people who would think of forcing an elder to perform at that hour of the night would be the same people who would insist on 6 straight days of non-stop “debate prep” — hours and hours each day of standing and talking until you were hoarse and exhausted. 

Trump was right when he turned to Biden to ask him what his problem was as to why he never fires anybody. It’s amazing to me that how, a week later, anyone on this campaign staff still has a job after running this tired and grieving father into the ground. A man who had just watched his only remaining son convicted as a felon for the outrageous crime of needing help, for being an addict. Who would put this old man through a brutal boot camp, make him memorize 200 facts and stats and then pick the wrong podium without once going on the stage the day before to check the lighting, the sight lines, and where the bully would be standing, lying, a smug TV star who knew what the red light on the camera meant, who knew timing and how to wait and when to pounce and devour his prey — all while speaking in his softest, most fake-empathic voice, his most honest statement of the night: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence — and I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

Biden was not well. Biden did not possess the faculties he needed. Something was wrong. Did nobody see this in the days leading up to the collapse? Did not a single person raise their voice to ask, “Maybe we shouldn’t do this to him?”/// But they did do it to him. And the repercussions that we, the world, and the generations after us will have to suffer through are not even part of the discussion this week. It’s all about making sure he stays in the race — and nothing about the risk to his life he is facing as they push him to soldier onward./// So I will say this to protect him from an out-of-control Party machine that is in a panic over what to do. For any of us to be silent now is exactly what the term “elder abuse” is meant to describe. /// Leave Mr. Biden alone. Let him rest. Let him go home.

He has done his job. Let him have his dignity. Do him this favor.

Tell the press that President Biden has asked to have an independent team of doctors do a full medical evaluation of his mental and physical health.

When they are through, they, along with the President, will then announce the full results to the public and give their honest assessment: “For the good of his well-being, he must stop work, he must step down.”

The next day, President Biden will give his final remarks in a short and beautiful statement on the South Lawn of the White House. The place will be packed with thousands of grateful, everyday Americans — fry cooks and teachers, bricklayers and nurses, gay teens and vets, the homeless, the union members and the elder-care workers — all of whom know what he is doing is for the good of the country he loves so dearly. He once saved the world from a man named Trump, and now, in one last selfless act, he is stepping aside to ensure this Trump will be banished for good. Millions, upon hearing him speak while he wipes the tears from his eyes, will weep, too. Biden will never be forgotten. A profile in courage.

The Founders of this country were smart in many ways. They knew there would be presidents who would not make it through even a four-year term. So they set up a position called “Vice President” just for that reason. It’s amazing to think that we’ve had only 46 presidents and that 9 of them (20%) never made it to the end of their term. Four were assassinated. One resigned. Four more died of various illnesses. Each time there was a smooth and peaceful transition with the Vice President being sworn in as the new President.

This is not an unusual moment we are in this week. It happens. There’s precedent. And if President Biden is unable to perform his duties, there is a tried and true solution. He resigns due to the obvious medical issues that were on full display the night of June 27th. His vice president, Kamala Harris, is sworn in as President. By federal campaign rules, she, and only she, inherits all the campaign funds in the Biden-Harris war chest. Biden will urge all his Biden-Harris convention delegates to support her. 

She will now be the Incumbent President who will run on the incredible accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration. There will be no real convention fight, and nearly every American who had planned to vote for Biden will vote for Harris (as recent polling has revealed). Many have already stated that they’d vote for a dead cat or a ficus plant instead of Trump. Some have even said that they would go all-out-Weekend-at-Bernie’s and vote for a “dead” Biden if that meant keeping Trump out of the White House.

One possible bonus in all of this will be that a record number of votes from women for Harris will make up for some of Biden’s loss of the youth and Arab vote. And there’s this: For over 8 months, it has been reported that Kamala Harris has pushed for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. One thing seems possible from this mess we’re in — less Palestinians will die with her in the Oval Office./// And this: Some day we will look back and see that we grew and got better as a country and finally finished the job of having a full, equal and complete Democracy. Our first female President, it turns out, ended up playing a big role in making that happen. Another gift from Joe Biden, picking her, knowing she was the right one when, during their own debate on a stage in 2020, she gently but caustically reminded him that as a Senator in D.C., he once stood in the way of her going to an integrated school in Berkley, CA.

You could see, in that moment, the sadness and shame on his face. He knew right from wrong. And in 2020, he knew, even if most of his supporters weren’t sure about her as his VP, and even if her platform was essentially Bernie’s, that she was the one — and the first of many women and people of color who would lead us to our better selves.

I’m ok with that, aren’t you? Let’s find the courage to fix this. On our 248th birthday.

Now that’s old.

Note from Ed.: Since Mr Moore is obviously badly in need of an editor, I have taken the liberty of dividing in two some of his longer paragraphs, and adding my own emphasis about midway through.

Further reading: Oh no, not again! Dept. "Biden says he's 'the first Black woman to serve with a Black president'", National Post, 5/7/24.

VIDEO: Michael Moore: Polls are wrong, Trump voters undercounted

Earlier today we posted a report from Australia's Sky TV in which the analysts predict Still-President Donald Trump could win Pennsylvania, because "Black Looters Matter". Readers who follow American politics [That would be everybody, this week! Ed.] will recall that Mr Trump won the Keystone State along with Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida, to become the 45th President of the Excited States of America.

What's that you say? There was another swing state that was important in the Trump victory? Ah yes. Michigan. Michael Moore predicted four years ago that the voters of his home state and the other Rust Belt states would send Donald Trump to the White House, and he has said the same thing, again, recently.

As recently as this morning, in fact, in an appearance on The Hill's Rising with Krystal & Saagar. In this short clip, he warns (?) Americans that polls showing Sleepy Joe Biden with a lead over Still-President Trump could be very wrong.

Mr Moore's stated intent (not included in this clip) is to warn those who want to defeat the President not to be complacent, to be sure to get out and vote. His unstated intent -- I'm speculating here -- is to make us Trump supporters complacent, confident that the polls are wrong again and The Donald is going to pull off another political miracle.

Don't bite, dear reader. As Michael Matt says (see "Featured Post" at right), "Go Trump or go lockdown!" If you haven't voted yet, go in person (preferred over trusting the USPS) to the polling place on November 3rd and do the right thing!

Further reading: "1000s attend Trump FL rally, crickets heard at Biden rallies", WWW 14/10/20.

Trump's gonna win... sez Michael Moore!

It may be remembered (although liberals, pollsters and the meeja would like to forget) that frumpy filmmaker Michael Moore predicted in October of 2016 that Donald J. Trump would win that year's election and become President of the United States. That was in his one-and-one-half-man stage show called Trumpland.

We posted an an audio clip at the time, but since it has mysteriously (?) disappeared from YouTube, we'll just repost this quote: "Whether Trump means it or not is kind of irrelevant because he's saying the things to people who are hurting, and that's why every beaten-down, nameless, forgotten working stiff who used to be part of what was called the middle class loves Trump."

But wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's Moore! [Geddit? Ed.] Mr Moore went on to say "Trump's election is going to be the biggest 'fuck you!' ever recorded in human history, and it will feel good!" And so it did.

That was almost four years ago. Fast forward to September of 2018, when Michael Moore, while on the promotional tour for his film Fahrenheit 11/9, told CNN that President Trump is an "evil genius" who will be re-elected in 2020. Don't believe me? Click here to check out the story, which CNN cleverly buried in its Enteretainment section.

What? You'd never follow a link to the Clinton News Network. Don't blame you. Here's the best part. "Too many people in the summer of 2016 were so sure Hillary [Clinton] was going to win, saying no one is going to vote for this idiot. He could win again. I operate as if he is a two-term Trump. I have to. If you think any other way you are guaranteeing that whoever is going to run against him will lose.... I think the man is an evil genius and he was able to outsmart the smartest person ever to run for president...."

Of course no-one paid any attention to that warning because (a) it came from Michael Moore, and (b) it was on CNN. Now, with just over nine weeks to go before the 2020 election, Mr Moore has sounded the alarum again, only this time on his Facebook page. Here `tis.

Mr Moore cited a recent CNN polls showing Slow Joe Biden and Still-President Trump in a virtual tie in battleground states including Minnesota (where seven city mayors endorsed Mr Trump yesterday) and Michigan. A national CNN poll this month showed that Mr Biden's lead has narrowed, now standing at 50% to 46%. And this week a survey from the Republican-leaning Trafalgar Group found the two statistically tied at 47% in Minnesota, with Mr Trump narrowly leading Mr Biden in Michigan.

Of course the polls were famously wrong in 2016. But Michael Moore was right. Who ya gonna believe? Time to get your bets down while you can still get decent odds. Lifetime pct .982.

Book review: Calling out leading liberal hypocrites

Because of the Dempanic, the Fort Mudge Library has been closed for months, so I'm reduced to reading books I bought at various garage and rummage sales but never got around to. One such is Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy, by Peter Schweizer (Doubleday 2005). Although it won the Book With the Longest Title award for 2005, it's actually a fairly slim (219 pp plus notes) volume, a quick and not-too-heavy read for a hot summer day.

One might think, from the title, that Do As I Say (Etc) is going to be a hatchet job, but it's not. The author barely mentions Michael Moore's obesity and scruffiness, Bill Clinton's little tryst with an intern or Ted Kennedy's misadventure at Chappaquiddick. Nor does he dwell on the (((Jewishness))) of six of the eleven leading liberals profiled.

Instead, he presents carefully researched facts and figures detailing the record of Mr Moore, Mrs Bill Clinton, the late Senator Kennedy, and the others (Noam Chomsky, Al Franken, Ralph Nader, Nancy Pelosi, George Soros, Barbra Streisand, Gloria Steinem and Cornel West) on ethical investment, affirmative action and protecting the environment. In the Conclusion, Mr Schweizer sums up his findings thus.

How can we explain the fact that so many prominent individuals who are so passionate about their beliefs don't act accordingly? That seems to be the great paradox of liberalism as practiced by those we have profiled.... In short, they seem more interested in compelling others to embrace their vision of social change than in acting on that vision themselves....

Experience has taught these individuals that their ideas just don't work.... They really don't respect their own ideas and have privately concluded that...liberalism as practiced today does not offer them a road map to happiness.

Soak the rich, but don't soak me. Protect the environment, but let me drive my Hummer and water my lawn. Workers of the world, unite! But running a business with a union shop is just too complicated and difficult. Hire more blacks to fight racism, but let me hire my own people based on ability, not race....

The simple fact is that those in the vanguard of the liberal-left have found their own ideas to be ultimately self-defeating, self-destructive, and unworkable.

The (somewhat) good news for those of us who don't want to do what the liberal elites say is that the peasants are finally seeing at least some of the leading liberal hypocrites for what they are. The Hero of Chappaquiddick is dead. Al Franken is politically dead, killed by #MeToo. Having backed Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, Cornel West finds himself outside the inner circles of the Dumbocratic Party.

Michael Moore signed his own death warrant by revealing the truth about alternative energy. And Hellery Clinton is politically dead too, although she refuses to lie down. But there is still (((George Soros))), now more than ever.

Mr Soros is more dangerous than the others who (mostly) just talk. He puts up real money -- scads of it -- to put the talkers he favours into places where they can take action to bring to pass the New World Order. When Slow Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi talk, what you're really hearing is the voice of Soros, the Master Ventriloquist. Don't be fooled!

The Trudeau Liberals (and Michael Moore) wish Canucks would ignore

American film-maker and certified lefty Michael Moore has been a fan of Canada ever since he mailed a VHS copy of his first documentary, Roger & Me, in a plain brown paper bag to the Vancouver International Film Festival and it went on to win a top prize. Mr Moore has long viewed America's northern neighbour as a more decent, humanitarian version of the Paranoid States of America. So it was "crushing", he said in Vancouver on Friday, to see photographs of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau made up in blackface.

Mr Moore thinks Canucks should overlook Just In's foibles and vote for him again. But just 25% of the country agrees that he deserves to be re-elected. That's according to a poll published yesterday by the Toronto Sun as part of the DART & Maru/Blue Voice Canada Poll. When asked if it is time for a change in government or if the government deserved to be re-elected, 55% said it was time for a change. Only 25% said they thought Mr Socks and the Liberals had done a good job.

The big question is, will some of the 55% hold their noses and vote for M Trudeau and his Gliberal team anyway? Every poll of voting intentions (a different question from the one posed in this poll) has the Liberals in the low 30% range of decided voters, in a statistical tie with Andrew Scheer's Mildly Conservatives. Will the Leaders' Debate tonight change many minds? Will more pix of Just In, in an offensive costume of some sort, surface between now and election day? Will anything happen that will break the tie? Stay tuned!

Left vs far left - Bill Maher & Michael Moore discuss Democrats

A week ago, Walt posted "'No time for moderation, no time for Biden' sez Michael Moore" (WWW 7/9/19), in which I reported on the noted film-maker's warning to the Democrats that if they chose the soft liberal option and put Old Joe Biden at the top of their 2020 ticket, they would lose to President Trump.

Yesterday, Mr Moore appeared on HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher and repeated that warning to the eponymous host. This time, though, he took aim at Fauxcahontas, who he accused of not being far enough to the left, compared with such super-progressive Democrats as the wimmin of The Squad. He asserted that The Squad are viewed favorably by the majority of the American electorate. [Seriously?! Ed.]

Bill Maher, who lamented the leftward drift of the Dems' 2020 presidential wannabes on MSNBC's Morning Joe, was skeptical, to put it mildly. He said he did not think the country was "there" on most issues, including "Medicare for All", a policy supported by some of the Democratic presidential candidates.

Mr Moore said that if the presidential election were held right now, Still-President Donald Trump would emerge as the winner. That's pretty much what Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) said a few days ago, except that Mr Ryan predicted a Trump landslide. See "Tim Ryan (D-OH) predicts Dems could lose 48 states in 2020", WWW 29/8/19 (includes video). BUT, Mr Moore says, the Democrats can win in 2020 if only they choose a candidate who will appeal to the wimmin, coloured people ["people of colour", please. Ed.] and young people who, he claims, make up 70% of the electorate.

ED. HAS BEEN ADVISED THAT THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN BLOCKED DUE TO COPYRIGHT ISSUES. GUESS HBO DOESN'T LIKE YOU TO BE ABLE TO WATCH WITHOUT PAYING.

Walt hopes that the Dumbocrats listen to Messrs Moore and Ryan. Never mind a champagne liberal like Fauxcahontas. Put AOC or Ilhan Omar on top of the ticket, and let's see what happens. I'll make the popcorn.

"No time for moderation, no time for Biden" sez Michael Moore

It would be easy to dismiss obese American film-maker Michael Moore as a left-wingnut who is completely out of touch with the political sentiments of the majority of the American people. But you can't, because every now and then Mr Moore demonstrates remarkable insight into the mood of the public.

When it comes to Democratic party politics, he has given more than one fairly accurate prognosis of events to come. Remember his wise words in Trumpland, a one-man stage show he created to endorse Hellerey Clinton, which turned out to explain perfectly why average Americans (especially those in states like Michigan) voted for Donald Trump.

A couple of days ago, Michael Moore tweeted a dire warning to Democrats: Nominate former Veep Old Joe Biden and risk alienating progressive voters come 2020. The first sin for which he chastises Mr Biden was his attendance at a fundraiser hosted by (((Andrew Goldman))), the founder of the natural gas company Western LNG. As is well known, taking petrodollars is a no-no for all right-thinking [Don't you mean "left-thinking"? Ed.] persons. Here's the Tweet.

"Last night on CNN, a student asked Biden, who had pledged to take NO fossil fuel money, why he was having an NYC fundraiser tonight hosted by Andrew Goldman, the founder of the natural gas co Western LNG. Biden denied it. Then CNN said it was true & that Biden is attending. Wow. We can NOT go through this again, my friends. As with Hillary taking Goldman Sachs $$, then trying to pretend nothing happened, we can NOT risk this again."

The leading light of the commentariat opined that Still-President Trump's issues and supposed divisiveness, by themselves, would not be enough to compel progressives into punching the 2020 Democritic ticket if Mr Biden were at the head of it. "Our base will stay home once more if Biden is the candidate. If they see he's in cahoots w/ fossil fuel, that he has lied. They will not say, 'So what -- Trump's a bigger liar!' They will just give up. Trust me on this."

Mr Moore says that the only antidote to Trump is an "anti-Trump" who is not afraid to fight the incumbent hard in his/her bid for the White House. "We need a completely honest and authentic candidate, the Anti-Trump, a street fighter, and someone who when they say they'll take NO fossil fuel $$, they not only keep their promise, they go after tooth-and-nail and put somebody like Andrew Goldman out of business. They don’t attend a fundraiser of his fat cats!"

Michael Moore's last words for Creepy Uncle Joe? Apologize to the American people and step down to make room for an authentic candidate. "Joe -- you’re driving there right now. For God's sake, turn your limousine around immediately and apologize to the American people. You think [you] can beat Trump. So what! Hillary beat him! Didn’t matter! We need a candidate who will CRUSH him because that candidate has INSPIRED a tsunami of voters with her or his INTEGRITY; his/her progressive vision of what the 21st century should be. That, Joe, isn't you.

"Finally, last night [you] said that we are only 15% of the climate change problem. 85% of it is the rest of the world’s (fault). Are you serious? Wall Street, Corporate America, the poor everywhere who make our goods [for] us, our exploitation of the entire planet — please, Joe, stop!"

While Michael Moore indeed hates Still-President Trump and wants to see him lose, in recent months he (Moore) has been chiding the Democritic establishment for pushing Joe Biden while trying to belittle the progressive base. In a February interview on MSNBC, he told the Dems, "If you’re being moderate, stop being moderate. Take a position. There's no middle ground anymore. There's no halfway point to should somebody be paid a living wage. You know, on the issue of choice, there is no halfway there. You're either for it or you're against it. Do you believe in equal rights for women? Do you believe we should have an Equal Rights Amendment? There's no middle ground. There's no time for moderation."

Indeed. Walt hopes... and I say this sincerely... that the Dems take Michael Moore seriously and nominate a real progressive -- AOC, say, or Pete Buttgeig -- someone that all right-thinking Americans [Don't you mean "left-thinking"? Ed.] can't help but love and vote for.

Springsteen doesn't see anyone who could beat Trump in 2020

Not long ago, slovenly media star Michael Moore opined that the Democrats didn't have anyone [excluding himself? Ed.] capable of defeating Donald Trump in the presidential election due in just under two years. Now a real A-list celeb echos that sentiment. Bruce Springsteen hisself gave an interview to the Sunday Times a few days ago to promote his upcoming Netflix special Springsteen On Broadway. Naturally he was asked to give his learned opinion on American politics, and replied that he doesn't see anyone out there at the moment -- man, woman or "other" -- who's got a shot at taking down the President.

In "Bruce Springsteen on how Donald Trump won over his blue-collar fans", the Times says, "Donald Trump's most dangerous opponent may not be a politician, but a blue-collar rocker called Bruce Springsteen who shares millions of the same supporters as the Republican president, and also understands what makes grassroots America tick. So Trump should be pleasantly surprised to learn that Springsteen, a long-standing Democrat who campaigned for Barack Obama, believes the Donald is heading for a second term in the White House. The president has a flair for winning over working-class voters that the Democrats can't rival, the singer admits. In short, Trump was born to run, and may be unstoppable."

The Boss told the paper, "I don't see anyone out there at the moment -- the man who can beat Trump, or the woman who can beat Trump." In other words, the Democratic Party simply has no "obvious effective presidential candidate" who will be able to take on the president, because they don't "speak the same language" he does. The language he was referring to, he explained, is the language of Middle America.

According to the singer-cum-pundit, Mr Trump spoke directly to the concerns of Americans in flyover country about employment and economic stagnation. The Donald addressed issues that were neglected by both Democrats and Republicans over the last few decades, including the shutting down of steel mills in the 70s and 80s, which Mr Springsteen described as a "severe blow to working people."

Mr Springsteen went on to say that the massive changes occurring at an "incredibly rapid pace", particularly as a result of technological developments, left many Americans seeing their means of income and ways of life in upheaval. What Mr Trump had to say resonated with many traditionally Democrat voters, particularly in the Rust Belt, and (the opinions of the lamestream media pundits notwithstanding) his election was inevitable.

"Add to that," the singer-songwriter added [haha. Ed.], "someone comes in and plays on your racial anxieties, and blames an enormous amount of this on the 'other' from the southern side of the border, and you're going to have an audience for those views." Walt notes that Mr Springsteen didn't say Mr Trump was wrong, only that what he had to say found a receptive audience, just like The Boss's alleged music. Walt predicts that, like Mr Springsteen's concerts, President Trump's act is good for another tour in 2020. Lifetime pct .989.

Tales from Down East: of Acadians and the elusive Americans

Yesterday I promised you some tales from "Down East", which is what Canucks call their four Atlantic provinces: Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. (The term "Maritimes", which you sometimes hear, refers only to the last three.) They say the people Down East are the friendliest, the seafood the finest, and the problems the fewest of any part of the Dominion.

All that and more made Atlantic Canada the preferred destination for the many 1000s of American snowflakes, like Lena Dunham, who threatened (or promised) to leave the Excited States of America in the unlikely (so they thought) event that Donald Trump became President.

Which he did. But did the mortally wounded liberals stage a mass exodus to what Michael Moore thinks is heaven? The ballots were still being counted when Canada's state-owned broadcaster, the CBC, cast doubts on whether it would really happen. (See "Are Americans really going to flee to Canada after Trump win?", 9/11/17.) Would they really ignore Gavin McInnes' warning? Guided by Agent 78, Walt spent last week in Nova Scotia, hunting [read "searching". Ed.] for refugees from the land of the free and the home of the wimpy.

In the first picture you see Walt [Really! Ed.] looking out over the Grand Pré ("Big Meadow"), in the heart of Evangeline country, or Acadia, as she is still proudly known. Evangeline is the heroine of an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (an American!), published in 1847. The poem tells the story of an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians.

The Acadians who still live in the Maritimes refer to the shameful events of the mid-18th century as le Grand Dérangement (the Great Deportation). When the French ceded most of New France to the British, the latter were distressed to find the area around the Bay of Fundy already settled by people who were French-speaking but, even worse, Catholics. So they threw them out. Deported them. The Acadians were shipped off, from a point just a couple of miles from where Walt is sitting in the picture, to the Thirteen Colonies, to France (which the Acadians did not regard as "the old country") and to Louisiana, where their descendants became known as... wait for it... Cajuns! But many of them returned to Canada, and are there in the tens of thousands even now, still proudly Acadian after all these years.

The point of that story -- and I do have one -- is that the idea of ridding your country of people who do not share your language and your values did not originate with Donald Trump! The lesson for Mr Trump is that it's nigh well impossible to expel thousands or millions of people and expect them to stay gone. Before the Glorious War of the Secession, many well-meaning Americans, including "Honest Abe", thought shipping coloured people back to Africa was the solution to the problem of slavery. That was the notion that resulted in the creation of Liberia. Didn't work any better than did the Expulsion of the Acadians.

The best you can do, IMHO, is to close your borders and hope that the "others" will one day assimilate, as did the Acadians. Today they are the most perfectly bilingual and bi-cultural Canadians -- all-round great people.

But I digress.... The mission was to find some Americans who had, post-Trump, navigated Canada's complex and stupid immigration system and settled in Nova Scotia. Agent 78 and I travelled from Halifax southwest to Lunenburg then up to Grand Pré, across through Truro and all the way around Cape Breton Island without meeting (or even hearing of) one (1) American who had recently relocated to that beautiful province.

We did, however, encounter several American tourists -- whiteys, every one -- the kind who can't work out the "funny money". What they have figured out, though, is how to apologize for being American. "Don't blame me. I didn't vote for him." That strikes me as both sad and unnecessary. If you're from a nice part of the USA -- Virginia, let's say -- Down East people will probably welcome you more warmly than if you were from, say, Toronto. Even if you wanted to settle!

Walt has returned: "Tales from Down East" will appear tomorrow

Ed. here. Walt has been enjoying a much-needed break, having accepted an invitation from Agent 78 to have a look around one of Canada's maritime provinces -- beautiful Nova Scotia -- and in particular the remote paradise to which all the snowflakes said they would flee if Donald Trump was elected. That would be very beautiful Cape Breton Island.

In Walt's first attempt at investigative journalism, he tried to find some disaffected Yankee liberals who had relocated to Cape Breton, to see how they liked living in the land that Michael Moore holds up as a kind of Utopia which the USA could become if only a liberal Democrat -- Hellery Clinton, for instance -- were in the White House. Did Walt and Agent 78 (seen here scanning the horizon for snowflakes) find any? Click here for the answer, and other notes from "Down East".

VIDEO: Trump victory has turned America into a kindergarten

Earlier today I said I hoped we'd have no more posts analyzing the Trump triumph. This video featuring Michael Matt is not about the election. It's about the aftermath -- the demonstrations being fomented by the real hate industry in which the fragile little snowflakes are encouraged to take to the streets to whine that they didn't get their way on November 8th.

The editor of The Remnant talks about the election, whining liberals, and the largest hate group in America -- the liberal left. Plus... President-elect Trump faces his first test: Will he cave in the face of hate industry pressure to fire senior adviser Steve Bannon, or will he hold his ground and stick a finger in eye of the most dangerous Christophobes in America. This is YUUUGE.

Michael Moore explains why Donald Trump won

UPDATE: On October 30th we posted the item below, an audio excerpt (no video) from Trumpland, a one-man stage show created by Michael Moore as... get this... an endorsement for Hillary Clinton. But listen to what the arch-liberal Moore is really saying! Taking him at his own words, the average American has every reason to vote for Donald Trump!



"Trump's election is going to be the biggest 'fuck you!' ever recorded in human history, and it will feel good!"

Turns out Mr Moore had it exactly right... exactly right. To those who went to the polls on November 8th to vote for an end to illegal immigration, enforced multiculturalism, unrestricted abortion, economic stagnation, open markets and open borders, etc etc and so forth, Walt addresses his heartiest congratulations!

Lee Siegel explains why we like "Judge Judy"

I confess to being a regular watcher of Judge Judy. For those who live on another planet and have never seen the show, IMDb describes it thus: "Judge Judy Sheindlin, a former judge from New York, tackles actual, small claims cases with her no-nonsense attitude in which damages of no more than $5,000 can be awarded.... After a case is closed, the defendant and plaintiff briefly confront each other outside the court-room."

Judge Judy is an example of what is called "reality TV". At the top of each show, we are told that "The people are real. The cases are real. The judgments are final!" I often paraphrase the first two sentences to "The people are stupid. The cases are stupid." The first sentence can also be changed to "The people are fat!" and be equally true.

Judge Judy, you see, stars average Americans -- the kind of fat, stupid people you see on the news or in a Michael Moore documentary. These fat stupid people do stupid things, as Judge Judy reminds them with her acid put-downs. So why do I watch these over-the-back-fence arguments about dog fights, accidents caused by unlicensed drivers driving cars with no insurance, and gifts to ex-lovers which the giver later claims were loans? Is it like the prurient curiosity we have passing by a car accident or a drunk passed out in the gutter? Why do I not avert my eyes?

Last night the explanation for my fascination was given to me by Lee Siegel, a Jewish, liberal, New Yorker who writes criticism and essays on culture for Harper's, The New Republic and The Atlantic Monthly. How strange that someone totally unlike me, writing in publications I never read, should understand my motivation so well! Here's what Mr. Siegel says in an an essay called "UFOs".

There is [in Americans a] surging love for the absurd, and therefore contemptible, person. From politics to reality shows, we seem to like to be surrounded by people ruleed by greed, hampered by stupidity, blinkered by obsession. These sad, bored [people], their faces blank, their landlocked figures full-sail with heartland obesity...--these people are easy to laugh at, and therefore easy to accommodate.

In America, attention must be paid! Attention, that is, to everything freakish, inadequate, unthreatening, and thus usefully supportive perhaps of a shaky sense of worth, of identity. More and more, the spectacle of human inadequacy on television is like one long public stoning.

Exactly. Watching these obese, doltish and poor people makes us feel better about ourselves. We are better than they. OK... I confess... I am better than they. And I feel good about it. How about you?

Further reading: "UFOs" is the 39th chapter in a collection of Lee Siegel's essays published by Basic Books in 2007 as Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television. The book has not aged well. The first four sections ("Cops", "Sitcoms", "Comedy", and "Cartoons") critique shows which (as Garrison Keillor would say) are no longer with us. I would add, "and a good thing too." The sections on race, religion, war, news and documentaries are still relevant and worth reading.

War endangers our freedoms! (Didn't you know?)

I can hardly wait to see Michael Moore's latest opus, Where to Invade Next, his first film in six years. Here's the trailer.



Where to Invade Next received much critical acclaim at TIFF and other film festivals, and is being much talked up by the lamestream media for being "funny" and not as dark and disturbing as his best earlier works. That got me thinking again about Fahrenheit 9/11, recommended here a few days ago in a message to Republican voters who might have been thinking about supporting JEB! in the primaries.

One of the main themes of Fahrenheit 9/11 is the way in which Dubya and his war-hawk cronies engineered the "War on Terror" and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan to gain more and more power over the American people through the Patriot Act, Homeland Security and so on. The result is that now, more than ever before, the Paranoid States of America is a police state!

Which brings us to Democracy in America, by Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville, a French political thinker and historian. De La Démocratie en Amérique is a classic text, published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840, in which M de Tocqueville examines the democratic revolution that he believed had been occurring in Europe and then America over the preceding seven hundred years. He had something to say about the relationship between war and freedom. Here's a quote from a 1945 translation.

No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country.... War does not always give over democratic communities to military government, but it must invariably and immeasurably increase the powers of civil government; it must also compulsorily concentrate the direction of all men and the management of all t hings in the hands of the administration. If it does not lead to despotism by sudden violence, it prepares men for it more gently by their habits. All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and the shortest means to accomplish it.

I found that quote in The Ordeal of Total War, by Gordon Wright (Harper & Row, 1968). Here's Mr. Wright's commentary.

Tocqueville's dictum, appropriate enough in his own day, is even more applicable in the twentieth century. When nations must mobilize their total resources for a long struggle, the normal tensions between authority and liberty are intensified, and the trend toward dictatorship affects even the most democratic of nations. Where parliaments survive, their usual functions are sharply restricted; decision-making becomes increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small executive group, or even in those of one man.

That was in 1968, before Americans learned the truth about Vietnam, before Nixon, before the Clintons and the Bushes. If Mr. Wright is still alive, he could justly say, "Don't say you weren't warned." Although it seems he doesn't stress the point in Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore can say the same thing.

Going after Taliban was a mistake, sez former general

A lot of Americans (and Canadians) think that the Canadian Armed Forces kind of let the side down by withdrawing their half-dozen aging CF-18s from the US-led mission against ISIS. When it comes to fighting Islamic terrorism (their argument goes) the Canucks will hold your coat until your nose starts to bleed. This is not true. Let me set the record straight.

True, the government of Jean Chrétien declined to join in Dubya's invasion of Iraq, presumably because they thought it was a huge mistake but (being Canadian) wewre too polite to say more than "We'll take a pass on this one. Maybe next time." The wisdom of this decision is apparent in retrospect. If you don't find it so, take a look at Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. You'll find a link to the full-length documentary in "Republican voters: WATCH 'Fahrenheit 9/11'!", WWW 17/2/16.

All the same, the Canadian government took a lot of flak -- figuratively speaking -- from within and without the Great Not-so-white North. So much so that when the Paranoid States of America decided to go into Afghanistan to chase after Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, they decided they'd better get into the scrap to make up for missing the first round. Little did they know that they'd have to fight not just al-Qaeda but the Taliban, since the Taliban controlled huge swathes of Armpitistan, including Kandahar province, one of the toughest targets. Sure enough, that's where the Canucks wound up. They lost proportionately more soldiers than the USA, beginning with four killed by "friendly fire" from the USAF. Some friends, eh!

Major-General Dave Fraser (seen here getting a gong from former Governor-General Michaëlle Jean) commanded both the Canadian task force and the expanded mission of the "Coalition of the Willing" to extend the authority of former Afghan president Krazi Karzai beyond the capital of Kabul in 2006. That was just over 4 1/2 years into the Afghan war and three years into the larger, bloodier struggle in Iraq after the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

Today, in an interview marking the 10th anniversary of the Canadian deployment into Kandahar, Maj-Gen. Fraser had some rather astonishing things to say about the commission. He told Canadian Press that the West made a mistake deposing the Taliban regime in the aftermath of 9/11, and should have simply trained its guns on al-Qaeda. "We thought, naively, that regime change was the solution to the problem," he said. "Looking backwards, I would have actually left the Taliban government in power and said (to them) 'Stay out of the way. We’re here to find Al Qaeda. And as long as you stay out of the way, the special forces will go in there, they will do what is necessary to get Al Qaeda and we will leave.' Had we done that, we wouldn’t be where we are today."

Back then, no-one seemed to appreciate how profound the power vacuum was, he went on, and that the West was creating for itself "a 30- or 40-year problem" not only in Afghanistan but throughout the Middle East.

Maj-Gen. Fraser said the West has only repeated the same mistakes over the last decade. "We repeated it in Iraq," he told CP. "In Libya, we didn’t put any ground troops in and we created an even bigger mess because there’s no government whatsoever in Libya. We went back into Iraq and now for the very first time the international community is beginning to appreciate that regime change is not the solution. [That's] why we’re not pushing to do a regime change in Syria."

Right. Has anyone told the Prez, the Pentagon and the folks at Foggy Bottom about this? To take Maj-Gen. Fraser's argument to the logical conclusion, which is... wait for it... that Western meddling in what is basically a Muslim civil war is only making things worse for the people of the Middle East, and for the West as well? Has anyone learned anything from the events of the last 10 or 20 or 25 years? Errr, apparently not.

Footnote: Is Michaëlle Jean's ADC looking at her chest or what? Whatever happened to Her Serene Highness anyway? Last we heard she was swanning around Paris as the UN's "special ambassador" for her native Haïti. Is it possible she finally went home to share the misery of the poorest state of the Western Hemisphere? Errr, apparently not.

VIDEO: Republican voters: WATCH "Fahrenheit 9/11"!

I see by the meeja that George W. Bush has given a ringing endorsement to his "big little brother", "JEB!". I wonder what brilliant backroom boy thought having Dubya speak up for his brother would boost the Shrub's chances of becoming the Republican candidate for the Presidensity, or at least getting the GOP Establishment to coalesce behind him so as to deny the nomination to a real (?) conservative. [Who did you mean by that? Ed.]

I'm guessing the strategy is to position JEB! as the agent of continuity -- the one who will carry on the good works started by his brother and his father before him. Whether this is such a good idea at a time when most Americans, regardless of party affiliation, hunger for change remains to be seen. To any Republicans -- in South Carolina, let's say -- who think that more Bush-league government might not be such a bad thing, Walt recommends Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the War on Terror. The film is the highest grossing documentary of all time, and we have it for you, via YouTube, right here!

But first (as they say), IMDb's summary of what Fahrenheit 9/11 is all about. "Film-maker Michael Moore provides deep and though-provoking insights on the American security system, the level of paranoia, fear, uncertainty, false values and patriotism, which all combined together to set a stage for George W. Bush to launch a war on Iraq instead of focusing on getting the real culprit(s) behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

"This documentary also focuses on how some Saudis were safely and secretly flown out of America while planes were ostensibly grounded after the attacks. Archived film footage, candid interviews with politicians, and an overall waste of public funds for a war that was initiated on false pretension to wit: a weapon of mass distraction - to take the focus away from the real enemy and get Americans glued to their TV sets to watch innocent Iraqis and Afghans getting killed. And a war that would eventually alienate the USA and its citizens from almost every country on Earth."



Yes, JEB! is in the pro-Saudi "War on Americans" right up to his neck. He makes his first appearance in the film at about the 2-minute mark. As for the Bush family's connections to the houses of Saud and bin Laden -- not to mention Big Oil, Halliburton, etc etc -- anyone who thinks that connection ended with that expiry of Dubya's term needs his/her head read. Hey, Republican voter! Do you really want more of this?!

The solution to the problems of Northern Ireland

Tomorrow is July 12th, "the Glorious 12th", on which the anti-Catholic bigots of the Loyal Orange Lodge celebrate the triumph of King Billy of Orange (he's the one on the white horse) over the Catholic King James II in Ireland 220 years ago. Ireland has never been the same since and Britain still occupies the northern part, which they call Ulster.

The fight over Ulster has continued for about a century since the days of Michael Collins (see the movie!), in spite of peace initiatives by Bill Clinton and others. But Michael Moore, in his book Stupid White Men, proposes a solution, which Walt heartily endorses.

Convert the Protestants of Northern Ireland to Catholicism!

Moore reckons that if just 2.5% of the Protestants of Ulster convert, that would create a Catholic majority. End of problem. And getting that 2.5% to switch should be easy, according to Moore. Just show them the following benefits of being a Roman Catholic.

One guy in charge -- the Pope. There are several thousand Protestant sects. Some are run by committee, some by an elected chair, others simply run like a food co-op, with no one calling the shots. Going Catholic means having a leader for life, someone unafraid of making a decision, giving the faithful a fixed set of rules and boundaries that give one’s life order and clarity. And after the Pope dies, no messy elections -- a couple hundred guys wearing red gather in a room, vote, and a puff of white smoke out of the chimney tells everyone the decision has been made. No campaign speeches, no pandering to the electorate, no recounts.

More sex. Catholics, as we all know, have more babies, and so, you know, that means only one thing -- more sex! Sorry, but in the Catholic Church you can’t get the babies without the sex. And who couldn’t use a little extra sex these days? I’m telling you, let those Protestant Orangemen know they’re going to be getting some, and watch how fast they end those silly parades.

More days off. The Catholic church has six official Holy Days. In countries where the majority of citizens practice Catholicism, these are fully paid days off from work and schooldays off for the kids. Can you name one Protestant Holy Day -- not counting the day the Eddie Bauer Christmas catalog comes out? I didn’t think so.

Free alcohol. You go to Mass every day, you get a free drink of wine. True, you must accept that you’re drinking the Blood of Christ, but hey, you can do that! How many times have you told people the gin and tonic you are nursing is "just water"? Have a little faith!

Catholic girls. See above.

A guaranteed spot in Heaven at the right hand of God Himself! It’s all there in the Bible -- Jesus made Peter the head of the Church, and then he made it clear that only members of the "one true Catholic Church" get past the velvet rope at the pearly gates. So you can continue your allegiance to the Queen and then burn in hell for eternity -- or you can get on the "A list" and enjoy Forever with a first class seat.

Why we should fear fear

FDR said we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Now it seems we (the USA, Britain and Canada) have succumbed to exactly that, to fear. Fear dominates our daily lives, and, because of the pandemic of paranoia which afflicts us, we have surrendered many of our precious freedoms.

Three things got me thinking about this. The first was the noticeable presence of CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras virtually everywhere one goes in Once-Great Britain. I'm not talking only about airports and train stations, but about malls, streets, even laneways and alleys in small towns in the beautiful English countryside. Believe it, Big Brother really is watching you!

Of course we have CCTV in the USA and Canada too. As I write, the Toronto police are busy installing still more "temporary" cameras in that city's downtown core. This is in advance of the G20 summit that will be held in "Toronto the Good" in a month's time.

The cost of "security" for the 36-hour meeting of world "leaders" (including the presidents of Ethiopia and Malawi!) looks like being more than a billion Canadian dollars. That's almost the same as a billion real dollars. All so Prime Minister Harpoon won't get pied during his photo-op with Bollocks Obama.

Then there's the mystery of the sticky stamps. Agent 3 is a stamp collector. He writes Walt to ask why US stamps, unlike those of other countries, can't be steamed or soaked off envelopes. What kind of adhesive does the USPS use...and why?

Walt is stuck for an answer. [Geddit? ed.] But my theory is they use some kind of super-glue so that Osama Bin Laden can't put some kind of germs -- anthrax spores, maybe -- under the stamps so the poison will be unleashed when Agent 3 or some other crazed collector tries to get the stamp off the paper and into his album. If anyone can give a less silly explanation, please e-mail walt.whiteman@yahoo.com.

Since 2001, we live in constant fear of "terrorism", of Osama Bin Laden, of "them". Especially in the Excited States of America, paranoia trumps reason and freedom. This is hardly a news flash. For a good rant on the subject, read Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country?

Moore has been accused of being anti-American and -- horrors! -- anti-war. But the main point of his book is that the Bush administration used 9/11 as a pretext to strip Americans of many of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

Moore cites the USAPATRIOT Act as the most egregious attack ever on the freedom of the individual. Has this act, which set up an authoritarian system rivalling those of Russia and China, been weakened or repealed by the liberal-minded Mr. Obama? No.

The all-seeing, all-powerful government and social order -- make that ORDER -- described by George Orwell in 1984 is the norm in America and its cowering cousins today. We live in a police state. Do your work, pay your taxes...and keep your mouth shut! Or else!

What else ya got?

Walt likes Michael Moore. Apart from being an American who recognizes the superiority of Canadian civilization (not an oxymoron? ed.), he's a genuine, grade-A, certified, bona fide shit-disturber, thus an honorary citizen of Walt Whiteman's World.

Mind you, MM's politics are just a teensy bit leftish for this small-c conservative. Had I been eligible to vote in the USA, I certainly wouldn't have cast my ballot for "the hope machine" (although the alternative didn't exactly inspire confidence either). And I cherish no illusion that America is going to adopt Canadian-style universal health care or regulation of the financial sector until there are reliable reports of ground frost in Hades.

Moore's latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, is, as you would expect, a polemic against the capitalist system that has made America what it is today. (Pause and let the full import of that last clause sink in.) It's not hard to satirize capitalism and capitalists. It's been done very well by others, for instance SCTV's Martin Short in the guise of industrialist and art patron Bradley P. Allen.

But Moore does a skillful job of hoisting the captialists on their own petard. One of the best scenes in the movie is a sequence in which "experts" make a hash of attempting to explain derivatives. And there are trademark Moore stunts, like wrapping yellow police tape around the headquarters of bailed-out Wall Street firms.

It's all very entertaining, as usual, but there is a fundamental problem of philosophy. Moore points the finger of fun at the excesses and nonsenses of capitalism, but he fails to make the case for any other economic system. In fact he doesn't even suggest any alternative.

He speaks of "more democracy" but what does that mean in the world of business and finance? Should we let Joe Sixpack vote on every economic issue that arises? The great unwashed don't know a debit from a credit! (Neither does the finance minister, it seems, but that's another matter.)

Democracy and capitalism have this in common. To paraphrase Churchill, they both look pretty awful -- sometimes spectacularly so -- until one compares them with the alternatives.