Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday Round Up

It's Friday afternoon and I'm feeling beat after last night's raucous show, so I'm just gonna do a quick round up of a few things that are worth mentioning.

1) Everyone in Congress is completely corrupt. 30 plus congress-people are currently under investigation by the House ethics committee, which is hilarious, because most of the investigators are probably criminals too. Also, considering lobbyists' sole job is to bribe lawmakers, shouldn't the entire congress be convicted of fraud?

2) Charles Krauthammer is such a tool. This Op-Ed of his isn't worth reading or analyzing, so don't bother doing either. I mention it here only because there's this new meme popping up that the media and the Obama administration are being unfairly critical of the Bush administration. Kraphammer (I know, I know, not my best) poses this rhetorical question:

"Is there anything he hasn't blamed George W. Bush for?"

Well, I don't know if "blame," is the right word, but let's just say that, "looking forward, not backward," has effectively immunized dozens of war criminals from any chance of domestic prosecution. So let's not pretend Obama is holding the previous administration's feet to the fire.

3) Read this movie review and see these movies if you get the chance. Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags, and American Casino both deal with the inherent contradictions of Capitalism, and, as such, should be required viewing for anyone who enjoys this blog.

As I've been saying to my friends recently but have yet to write about here, the most important thing about Michael Moore's newest movie Capitalism: A Love Story has nothing to do with the movie itself. The reason that it should be--though most likely won't be--remembered as one of the most important movies of the decade is because Moore has begun the incredibly important task of raising our collective consciousness to a level where we can criticize Capitalism as an institution. Capitalism in America is like air. It seems so natural that to question it is to reveal yourself to the general population as a raving lunatic.

Capitalism is everywhere in this country, constantly pushing you to consume goods as a way of creating an identity. What Moore is trying to do is create a context in which we can criticize Capitalism in America. That's why his new movie is so important, because although the two movies mentioned above are likely superior films, they aren't making the same kind of waves that Moore did. The three taken together, along with Moore's media appearances, movie reviews, etc are a (very) small step towards living in a society where one can claim to be anti-capitalist and not get thrown in the loony bin.

On that note, have a happy Halloween everybody.

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