Yes, He Hates America

As you all know, over the past couple of years I have written many, many posts critical of Michael Moore, especially his patriotism.  During the same time period we’ve seen the rise of the “Dissent is Patriotic” movement on the left, as if the act of simple dissention itself was inherently patriotic.  I was doing some thinking on this subject today, and I think I came up with a good illustration of this phenomenon using Michael Moore as an example.

Moore is promoted constantly by his supporters as a “true American” and a “real patriot” for “causing people to think” about certain issues.  His detractors, of which I am one, point out that the manner in which he positions his dissent is what makes him un-American, not the act of dissent itself.  A reader of this blog once explained this phenomenon in brilliant simplicity.

[I]t’s not that dissent is unpatriotic, it is the method and rhetoric chosen by the dissenter that can be unpatriotic. Whether you believe this war is just or not, you must accept the fact that we are at war. This said, the act of dissenting in wartime is a patriotic duty if one disagrees with policy, however choosing to do so in a manner that demoralizes troops and demonizes the country they are fighting for is simply....by definition...unpatriotic.

Most of the discussion about patriotism and anti-Americanism has focused around support for the Iraq war and/or the war on terror.  The hawks say that if you’re against the war you’re against America, and the doves say the opposite.  So let’s remove the war from the equation for the time being.  Take a look at this fawning biography of Moore.

Michael Moore can certainly be obnoxious. We might not put up with his behavior from someone who didn’t have such brilliant comic timing or who wasn’t so clearly an American son. But �Bowling for Columbine,� more so than any of his other works, makes it clear that Moore loves America and ordinary Americans, so it’s easier to take it when he outs some of the darker sides of our character. He may not have all the answers. But he’s the only one challenging so many of us to take a long hard look in the mirror. [Emphasis added]

So Moore is a patriot who loves America and Americans.  But what has he actually said about America?  He doesn’t like the American ethic of self-reliance and rugged individualism, as expressed in this sycophantic interview with Katie Couric.

Katie Couric: So why do you think Canada has such a better track record on gun control than the United States?

Michael Moore: Maybe we should aspire to be more Canadian-like.

KC: So, so why do you think Canada has such a better track record than the United States? You partially blame the media and you praise enlightened politicians in Canada.

MM: Yeah. Yeah, basically, I think that’s it. I think there’s a Canadian ethic that says, I mean, the way they live in their society, they believe that they’re all Canadians and they’re all in the same boat. If one of them gets sick, they should get a doctor. We should pay for that. If one of us loses our job, if we’re Canadians, you know, we should help them out. Our ethic in America is, ‘Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Every man for himself. Me, me, me, me, me.’ And, and it’s, it’s just, I think it helps to, you know, create this, this climate where people then become violent toward each other.

The “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality has been the hallmark of American life since this country’s inception.  It’s a distinctly American ethic, standing in stark contrast to the European and Canadian soft socialist ideal of the nanny state taking care of citizens cradle-to-grave.  America was founded on a principle of limited government and individual responsibility, not an all-encompassing government meddling in the private issues of private citizens. 

And what does Moore think about Americans?  We only have to look at what he says about Americans when there are none of them around, like in Germany.

Should such an ignorant people [Americans] lead the world? How did it come to this in the first place? 82 percent of us don’t even have a passport! Just a handful can speak a language other than English (and we don’t even speak that very well.) ...

We approach life relatively openly and generously and without complication. When you ask us for help we come to help you. And when you tell us that donkeys can fly we believe it (when you say it on television.). ...

Ok, come on, you Germans, you really know better! You are well-read. Your media also reports on things south of the Alps. You travel. You value education. And in the past year you took over the moral leadership in the question of war or peace. I urgently ask of you that you show the same moral ability to judge when it comes to maintaining the German social net for those weakest in your country. Don’t go the American way when it comes to economics, jobs and services for the poor and immigrants. It is the wrong way.”

Or in England.

During a recent whistle-stop promo tour of England, Michael Moore was asked by a sympathetic Daily Mirror columnist to meditate on that favorite subject of anti-Americans the world over, America�s supposed �intelligence problem��not, of course, the CIA, NSA kind of intelligence. To the apparent delight of his interlocutor, Moore answered with Il Duce-like subtlety, claiming that �they are possibly the dumbest people on the planet� (note the careful pronoun selection), citing a recent National Geographic world geography survey as irrefutable evidence of our �ignorance� and “embarrassing stupidity.”

So we are a stupid, ignorant, paranoid people according to Moore.  This explains our “culture of fear” which is embodied in our relish at bombing other countries and our fascination with violence here at home.  There are countless other examples of Moore’s negative opinions of America, I could quote them all day.  But honestly, are these the opinions of someone who truly loves his country?  It is my position that they are not.

Let me put it in simple terms.  Say there is a woman you are in love with.  She has red hair, green eyes, likes hip hop, drives a convertible, drinks iced tea, and owns a cat.  After a long relationship this woman ends it with you.  Lonely, you go out and meet a new woman and begin a relationship with her.  She has blonde hair, blue eyes, like country music, drives a pickup, drinks coffee, and owns a parakeet.  You begin to make suggestions to her, that she should dye her hair red, get contact lenses to color her eyes green, maybe pick up a rap CD or two.  One day she comes home from work and she finds in the living room a cat that you just brought home from the pound and the keys to a brand new convertible.  Would you say that you actually love this second woman?  Or are you trying to change and distort her into the image of the first woman, whom you truly love? 

This is what Michael Moore is trying to do with America.  He’s trying to change America into a neo-socialist European-style society.  Moore doesn’t like the free enterprise system, capitalism, property rights, individual responsibility, or the concept of limited government.  All of these are the bedrock upon which American society was built.  Moore likes the nanny state, soft socialism, powerful government, and subservience to a greater good.  These are the qualities upon which most of post-WWII Europe was built.

So, can it truly be said that Moore is an American patriot if his goal is to turn America into Europe?  And if you accept the premise, as I do, that a nation is largely the sum of its people, how can someome who thinks Americans are the most ignorant people on Earth be considered a patriot in any sense of the word?  To use the girlfriend analogy again, if you profess love for a woman, would it be reasonable of you to go behind her back and cal her the “most ignorant bitch in the world” to other women?

Face it, folks.  Michael Moore Hates America. (Just ask Mike Wilson.) So, for all you lefties with your grand visions of America’s future, if your visions seek to distort America away from it’s American identity and into some kind of mamby-pamby version of France, exactly how are you being patriotic?