Comments on: Moore on CNN http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/ watching, ranting and connecting with documentary film Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:43:18 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: agnes http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/comment-page-1/#comment-6770 agnes Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:27:51 +0000 http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/#comment-6770 I guess I don't know what the "it" is in "that it remains part of the imagination because the majority of people don’t have health care". I'll have to read the book. I have a big reading list though, so I can't promise when. Thanks for the suggestion and for your comments. I guess I don’t know what the “it” is in “that it remains part of the imagination because the majority of people don’t have health care”.

I’ll have to read the book. I have a big reading list though, so I can’t promise when. Thanks for the suggestion and for your comments.

]]> By: David http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/comment-page-1/#comment-6769 David Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:02:35 +0000 http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/#comment-6769 No, it's not a figment and to suggest so is irresponsible, even reactionary. But the PR by Democrats do not speak to people's desires or fantasies. I never suggested that it is a figment or product of someone's imagination. Just the opposite: that it remains part of the imagination because the majority of people don't have health care; it remains part of an imagined desire instead of a material reality. No need to confuse poor PR with facts, but it'd be more clever to illuminate those facts with an ethical spectacle based on dreams and real needs instead of righteous indignation, a solitary appeal based on reason, or moral superiority. No, it’s not a figment and to suggest so is irresponsible, even reactionary. But the PR by Democrats do not speak to people’s desires or fantasies. I never suggested that it is a figment or product of someone’s imagination. Just the opposite: that it remains part of the imagination because the majority of people don’t have health care; it remains part of an imagined desire instead of a material reality. No need to confuse poor PR with facts, but it’d be more clever to illuminate those facts with an ethical spectacle based on dreams and real needs instead of righteous indignation, a solitary appeal based on reason, or moral superiority.

]]> By: Mark http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/comment-page-1/#comment-6768 Mark Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:13:01 +0000 http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/#comment-6768 Awesome! Thanks for posting this, Agnes. Awesome! Thanks for posting this, Agnes.

]]> By: agnes http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/comment-page-1/#comment-6765 agnes Tue, 10 Jul 2007 17:18:23 +0000 http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/#comment-6765 Right, so all those years I spent without health coverage, and that $1200 bill I got from the hospital when I had a throat infection is a figment of my imagination. I wouldn't argue that progressive politics and the Democrats need a total overhaul in their messaging, but let's not confuse poor PR with the facts of peoples lives. Smoke and mirrors does indeed work which is why the conservatives in this country have been able to do the damage they have, including fiscal damage, which is supposedly their big issue! Right, so all those years I spent without health coverage, and that $1200 bill I got from the hospital when I had a throat infection is a figment of my imagination.

I wouldn’t argue that progressive politics and the Democrats need a total overhaul in their messaging, but let’s not confuse poor PR with the facts of peoples lives. Smoke and mirrors does indeed work which is why the conservatives in this country have been able to do the damage they have, including fiscal damage, which is supposedly their big issue!

]]> By: David http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/comment-page-1/#comment-6764 David Tue, 10 Jul 2007 17:05:59 +0000 http://agnesvarnum.com/2007/07/10/moore-on-cnn/#comment-6764 That's because most progressive discourse is embedded in the beliefs of the enlightenment, which are based on empiricism, reason, and rationality. Spectacle, emotion, and association trump facts. Stephen Duncombe has a new book which addresses the spectacle of fantasy and illusion (it's titled Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy). Still, in the above clip, Michael Moore rants in a defensive mood and rarely makes sense. Granted, he's right on in his previous film, but during interviews he appeals to reason in an age of spectacle even though most of his films function as spectacle (in a seductive and convincing manner). That’s because most progressive discourse is embedded in the beliefs of the enlightenment, which are based on empiricism, reason, and rationality. Spectacle, emotion, and association trump facts. Stephen Duncombe has a new book which addresses the spectacle of fantasy and illusion (it’s titled Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy). Still, in the above clip, Michael Moore rants in a defensive mood and rarely makes sense. Granted, he’s right on in his previous film, but during interviews he appeals to reason in an age of spectacle even though most of his films function as spectacle (in a seductive and convincing manner).

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