Double Shot
Last night I drove down to Waterville for a Railroad Square movie date with my daughter. We had debated whether to see the Steve Martin movie Shopgirl or the George Clooney movie Good Night, and Good Luck, about Edward R. Murrow, the CBS commentator who took on Senator Joseph McCarthy's liberal bashing. We chose Clooney's movie.
Laced with political commentary that is as pertinent to today's liberal-bashing atmosphere as it was back in the early 50s, this black-and-white movie placed me right into the CBS studios and back rooms where journalists finally came to terms with McCarthyism and decided to face it head-on.
After the movie, I drifted on up the hill to the Colby College campus and went to a showing of the new movie Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices. As I sat waiting for the crowd to build before the movie began, one very young lady in the seat in front of me turned to her girlfriends and said, "So, where will we shop after this?" I have an idea that she just might never shop in WalMart again because this was an extremely persuasive movie!
I won't get into details, but I highly recommend this movie. To me, it perfectly exemplifies what I see as the reality behind the applied theory of "Reaganomics." WalMart succeeds by encompassing the full spectrum of Reagan conservative economics, complete with the high-priced CEO whitewashing over all of WalMart's shortcomings, while simultaneously exploiting its workers and even advising them to get onto state aid at taxpayer expense.
I feel like making a big sign for the back of my pickup saying "Boycott WalMart" and finding strategic places to park. If you want your eyes opened, find a place to see this movie.
Laced with political commentary that is as pertinent to today's liberal-bashing atmosphere as it was back in the early 50s, this black-and-white movie placed me right into the CBS studios and back rooms where journalists finally came to terms with McCarthyism and decided to face it head-on.
After the movie, I drifted on up the hill to the Colby College campus and went to a showing of the new movie Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices. As I sat waiting for the crowd to build before the movie began, one very young lady in the seat in front of me turned to her girlfriends and said, "So, where will we shop after this?" I have an idea that she just might never shop in WalMart again because this was an extremely persuasive movie!
I won't get into details, but I highly recommend this movie. To me, it perfectly exemplifies what I see as the reality behind the applied theory of "Reaganomics." WalMart succeeds by encompassing the full spectrum of Reagan conservative economics, complete with the high-priced CEO whitewashing over all of WalMart's shortcomings, while simultaneously exploiting its workers and even advising them to get onto state aid at taxpayer expense.
I feel like making a big sign for the back of my pickup saying "Boycott WalMart" and finding strategic places to park. If you want your eyes opened, find a place to see this movie.
posted by Bill | 10:12 AM
7 Comments:
So you are now a McCarthy advocate, Mike?
Are you a neo-conservative as well?
Oh, yeah, Farenheit 911...
My favorite part was when Paul Wolfowitz spit on his hands and used it to slick down his hair as he readied himself for a public appearance. That made us squirm... and laugh.
Why haven't you watched this movie, Mike? Are you afraid of it?
The thing with Limbaugh and all his ilk is that he is much farther to the right than Moore or Clooney are to the left. I heard some conservative talk show host yesterday calling centrist Republicans "Liberals." That's an absurd notion. Just how far to the right are these talk show guys?
I remember hearing that just as communists are to the extreme left, fascists are to the extreme right. So just how far to the right do you have to be to call responsible Republicans "Liberal?"
I just read in Joe Wilson's book that John Bolton is a neo-conservative. Some day America will investigate them. It won't be the McCarthy right-wing that will do it, though. The left already wants it, but the centrists of both parties aren't there yet. The day will come when we finally recognize that the neo-cons of today are as vile as the commies back then were - no, actually they are worse because the neo-cons actually have hijacked the country.
So, again Mike, you aren't a McCarthyist. Are you a neo-conservative?
A quote from Mike's "more fair and balanced" link on McCarthy. In the words of the 1987 article's author, James J. Drummey:
"What some people seemingly do not understand is that communists are evildoers and that those who give aid and comfort to communists - whether they are called dupes, fellow travelers, liberals, or progressives - are complicit in the evil and should be exposed and removed from positions of influence."
Fair and balanced indeed...
Mike enjoys being the serpent in Eden.
Bill is a very stupid person. A very stupid person who wants to feel intelligent.
"My favorite part was when Paul Wolfowitz spit on his hands and used it to slick down his hair as he readied himself for a public appearance. That made us squirm... and laugh."
So that makes you an your ignorant liberal friends feel intelligent, huh? Well, I guess it's easier than egtting a college education.
That comment speaks for itself.
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