At least the choice is clear

Mark Steyn

Michael Moore

Let me start by saying that I'm not a Michael Moore supporter (duh) nor am I feeling sorry for him as the tide appears to be turning against him. I mean, bitchslapped by Katie Couric, that's got to be a first.

However, I have to say that I find it troubling that a lot of attacks on Michael Moore are nothing more substantive than "Fat Bastard", "Fat Pig", "Fat and Stupid", and the ever-popular "Fat Fuck."

Well, considering that fat attacks are the last allowable prejudice in the twenty-first century, the authors of these attacks are going for easy points and laughs at Moore's expense, and the result is that I don't listen to those attackers anymore, because a lot of them don't have the smarts to come up with anything other than attacks against his weight.

Newsflash: Michael Moore is fat; but then again so am I, and, if you're like the majority of the population, SO ARE YOU.

If you want to convince me that Moore is a traitor, give me proof, check your facts and present them logically. Leave the fat jokes back in Grade 9. It makes the attacker look like they've got nothing else. Substitute "black" or "queer" for "fat" and see if the statements made have anything to do with the substance of the matter, which is that Michael Moore is a left-wing loony who is more interested in making partisan statements than he is in objectively documenting his subjects.

Maybe the reason it's so hard to shake people out of the conspiracy comas that Fahrenheit 911 induced is because when they hear people attack Michael Moore, all they hear is the rage and the personal attacks about his weight.

I've watched all his stuff since Roger & Me. There's a lot of things to attack other than how he looks.

Harry Potter

I have this rebellious streak - no I didn't do drugs or challenge authority as a teenager - I learned the rules and used them to my advantage. No, my rebellious streak jumps out of me when somebody tells me I just HAVE TO see this movie, watch this TV show, like this book, eat this freaking weird food fusion etc. etc.

I hate it when somebody imposes their personal likes on me. I don't know why, but I have an instant motivation to HATE whatever they're pushing. My room-mate Dominic pushed Law and Order on me in the early 90's so I didn't start watching them until 2001 when A&E was running them every four hours. My next room-mate Greg started pushing Tolkien and all the other sword and sorcery books. I avoided them. (No I wasn't sure he wasn't a virgin...)

So, of course, as soon as the Harry Potter books started getting some press, oh, about a MILLION years ago, I vowed to avoid them like the plague, too.

I was wrong. They're bloody brilliant. I've just devoured the first three books in less than two weeks and now I'm hungry for the next ones...

The only thing I seem to have gotten the jump on was the Master and Commander series from Patrick O'Brian. I was in to him before anyone else I knew had even heard of him, although I doubt that series of books will ever be as popular as some of the other things I've shown my disdain for.