Pacific Views

The VRWC Hates and Fears Farhenheit 911

It is evident that the right wing is very bothered by Michael Moore's latest film because they understand how effective it can be. If there is one area the VRWC has spent time on, it is in how to sell product. They know how powerful and effective images and stories are in shaping public opinion. (And Bush's Mission Accomplished, flyboy photo-op was a very carefully planned image plus story designed to seal the next election.) The rightwing has spend enormous effort to use advertising to "sell" the Republican worldview and to sell their selected "great leader", George W Bush, (the "strong, capable, bold, and optimistic leader") who they think should be given all deferrence due a dictator (oops, make that a wartime president that shouldn't be constrained from doing whatever he deems necessary to protect the homeland including putting aside laws he doesn't agree with).

The propaganda that the Bush crew used to sell the Iraq war showed that images and stories can make large numbers of people back their justifications even when there is no real basis anchoring the "story" to reality. This week we've seen how actively the Bush regime will work to maintain their worldview (Saddam was in cahoots with bin Laden) even if there is not the slightest trace of evidence to support this assertion. The Bushies know they must keep this particular belief engrained in the public because if the public ever realizes that this was a BIG lie and they were royally conned, the Bush regime will be out so fast their head will be spinning.

For a very long time, many of us were horrified that nothing seemed to affect Bush's approval numbers, even though it was so obvious that Bush was a terrible leader. The problem for the anti-Bushes was that many people were stuck in Bush's worldview and new information was creating a tremendous problem of cognitive dissonance. Many Americans signed up to Bush's worldview (Iraq is responsible for terrorism AND the only way to deal with terrorism is through massive and lethal strikes). And for months, indeed years, the polls showed that the majority of Americans believed that Bush was very good at dealing with terrorism and they were inclined to support him in whatever he said or did. This was a terribly frustrating time for people who realized Bush was a TERRIBLE leader and could only be relied on making things worse because nothing seemed to shake this inherent belief that Bush was a strong leader on terrorism.

Today, things are starting to get dicey for the Repubs because it is clear that more and more people are starting to see what a colossial error Bush made with his elective war on Iraq which redirected the energy and focus needed to address the real problems of terrorism. If people start to believe that Bush screwed up bigtime, nothing will save him, not even the Supreme Court.

So Michael Moore's shot across the bow is a huge problem for the Bushies. First of all, he is using the truth to back up his assertions (unlike the Bushies who have to back up their assertions with outright lies). Second, he has a compelling story that destroys the Bush story. Third, Moore, an incredibly gifted film maker, is better than they are at using images and stories to create a compelling and integrated story -- this will show the Bush story (aka: strong, bold, optimistic leader) as the piece of crap it always was. The right wing believed that they could create the "leader" they needed in Bush. (Looks good in a suit. Knows how to collect money from the Patriots. Is charming - see how he spins foreign leaders with his nicknames and barbeques at the ranch.)

They had so much arrogance that they thought we would buy Bush the leader story forever. Too bad reality interrupted their fantasy. It took an incredible arrogance to believe that they could take a third-rate "every man" and pass him off as a "strong, capable, optimistic" leader and no one would notice. Kudos to Michael Moore because he can break through the fog of lies that the Bush regime spun to justify their massive power grab.