MICHAEL MOORE: Upstaged by ‘American Sniper’?

There’s a belief among some psychologists that the mind must shape things going on around it to fit whatever core beliefs it contains. If so, Michael Moore’s deepest core belief is apparently in his own greatness — and how dare a movie about Chris Kyle challenge that!

Smarting from a near across the board backlash over his comments about American Sniper, Michael Moore recently issued a tirade against his detractors. There were three key themes he hit upon. First, his unwavering love and respect for the American fighting man and woman. That’s not a typo by the way. Second, his insistence that the Iraq war was wrong. Gasp. What a surprise. Yawn. And finally, his claim that Barack Obama is the greatest military tactician to have ever walked this earth. That’s not a typo either.

To play devil’s advocate and pretend his first point is accurate, isn’t it odd that his chosen way to express unwavering love and respect for the troops is to bitterly critique a film made about a man who served as one of the best in an elite group of troops? Moore’s position brings to mind the guy who says he loves his wife after he’s just beaten her senseless. Moreoever, if this is how Michael Moore treats those dear to him, he must operate like a Michigan-based Saddam Hussein against those he truly has a grudge against.

Moving on to his third point, in Moore’s temper tantrum of a response he notes that Obama was able to take out Osama — note he doesn’t have a problem with precision military action as used in this instance – with a force of 12 and not 150,000 troops on ground like Bush used. It’s probably hard for Moore to understand that the efforts of those 150,000 helped set the stage for that force of 12 to do their job. There were bases in Afghanistan, for example, used by the 12. Logistics, Communications, Food, Support. Intelligence. And so on.

That Michael Moore dismisses what 150,000 troops he supposedly adores did and instead believes Barack Obama commanded a force of 12 to take out Osama on their own is tin-foil hat weird.

Which leads to his diatribe about the Iraq war. As tempting as it is to re-debate the Iraq war for the umpteenth time — and the left always loves re-debating a war — it’s better to step back and look at what Moore is really doing here. Were he truly concerned about the troops, why would he even bother mentioning the Iraq war?

Because opposition to Iraq, Afghanistan, and George W Bush defined Michael Moore for the better part of the previous decade. It’s who he is and what he’s known for among many people. It made him a lot of money. He enjoyed a lot of adoring attention from like-minded elites and from low information fans. American Sniper takes that away from him. Michael Moore is so deeply narcissistic he can’t help but try and snatch it back. He can’t help but to try and re-insert his own sense of greatness back into public discussion now that he’s made a fool of himself for all to see.

Consider it this way. Two football teams are playing a game. Michael Moore is in the stands watching. He doesn’t support football at all. So when a movie is made about the first-string quarterback for football team A does he come out and say, “Boy, that guy was a great quarterback but I still have reservations about the overall game itself”; or does he seek to bitterly discredit what that quarterback did, claim to love all the players on team A, and then question whether the two teams should have played at all?

So it is with American Sniper. Moore couldn’t simply say, “Boy I love the troops and wow Chris Kyle was one of the best of the best, but I still have reservations about Iraq”. No. He initiated his own controversy by first calling Kyle and snipers in general cowards, then claimed to love the troops, and finally recycled his tired, old anti-war
rhetoric in an attempt to retake the public stage.

As sorry as Michael Moore’s performance has been, it’s good to see where his heart really is — and it ain’t with the troops.

Image; http://www.ufrgs.br/vies/vies/o-planeta-se-mobiliza-liberdade-para-julian-assange/