printMainstream media only recognizes a narrowly defined spectrum of opinion: Republican and Democratic. The one they consider Right; the other, Left.
Both generally support gratuitous, unconstitutional wars, for ostensibly charitable reasons. Each is more likely to support such adventures if their guy is strafing the lucky recipients of the gift of democracy. To wit, Democrats cheered a “preemptive attack” on Slobodan Milosevic; Republicans rubber-stamped sundering Saddam.
Thus when the topic of Gibson’s anti-war-in-Iraq comments came up, commentators on Fox and elsewhere on the blogosphere (which seems as one-dimensional, in many ways) wondered if the immensely wealthy Gibson was not pandering to “Hollywood elites.” (As if he needs to.)
Gibson is probably a paleo-conservative. As far as I know, he’s always been against this war (it fits with his view about “dem Jews”). More material, why would anything he says matter?
Thomas Fleming’s comments on Malibu Mel are the best I’ve seen so far:
I find the whole Mel Gibson saga depressing, because it reminds me of the grotesque stupidity of American Catholic conservatives, who insist on putting their faith in actors like Ronald Reagan and Mel Gibson. Have they ever read an interview with Gibson? He cannot frame a three-word sentence that does not sound like it comes from the mouth of Malibu Barbie…men who spend their adult lives making movies are, to put it as nicely as I can, unreliable as guides to living…
Why does anyone care what an actor thinks about, whether it is the life of Christ or Jewish influence on history? And why, by the love of all that is holy, would anyone with even the brain of Rush Limbaugh, give two seconds to a Christophobic charlatan like Abe Foxman?…
If you really wish to study the Life of Christ, read the Gospels. If you like C.S. Lewis or Tolkien, read their books and do not waste time on the slick and manipulative films made out of them. Christian lovers of Peter Jackson’s version of Lord of the Rings will be pleased to know that he is contributing a large chunk of their ticket money to promote leftist, anti-Christian moral causes. As the most notorious ‘anti-Semite’ in history once observed, ‘Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’
“Mel’s ‘Malady,’ Foxman’s Fetish“—that too is good stuff (if I say so myself).
Ms. Mercer,
Catholics have a long, adversarial history with the freemasons, and my suspicion is that Mr. Gibson is not impressed with “Skull and Boner” Bush. Our disdain for the masons is very serious–word is out that some rather puzzling policies look ritualistic; I’m not saying that I agree with it, but I do know about these conspiracy theories.
I do agree however, that freeemasonry pushes for the forced tolerance of Islam and other multiculturalist affairs. They are deeply opposed to Catholic doctrine, and have been demonizing the Spanish Catholic/cryto-Jews for many years. The freemasons are false “kabbalists,” perverting and twisting the wise, good-natured wisdom of the Sephardim, and worshiping false Messiahs. I care about Gibson’s words, mostly because he is a “Vatican One” Catholic and I am very curious to see how it all works out.
The devout are very interesting folk.
I read enough papers, online and otherwise that I might suggest, I think, with some authority, that the traditional American political axis has been spun like the red-and-black wheel at a Vegas casino. Where does it stop? Nobody knows?
Except the dealer, of course. And the clever fellow with the sharp eyes and the quick reflexes, the light smile and the opaque eyes who spin after spin, steps nimbly on a concealed button beneath everybody’s notice.
Whose side is he on? Not mine. Not yours. He’s working for the house. Left and right are no longer relevant except as a way of pitting natural allies who, if they stopped to swap notes and card plays, set up a man to watch the way the house plays, would be crying “foul.”
Someone, can’t think who, once condemned the “sin of abstraction” as a means of skirting honest rational debate. I prefer objective correlation but that’s just semantics.
And I’m always up for some antics. Come on, kids, it is NOT about traditional left and right any longer. We been played.
Now we can compare cards now. We can see whose got an extra Ace of Spades and whose been deprived and who is simply depraved and we can do something.
Or we can simply play the game.
We play the game, their game, we lose. House always wins the the game.
Unless you stop playing cards, change the rules.
Here’s the thing I just can’t really understand about guys like Malibu Mel (great name, BTW). Apparently, in his intoxicated rant, he mentioned something about ‘the Jews’ starting the present ‘Mesopotamian misadverture.’ Now, I am well aware that a number of prominent practicioners of what our wonderful Jewish colleage Paul Gottfired has most aptly described as “Neo-Jacobinism” happen to be of Jewish origin. OK, there are some Jews who are into this ideology and have become prominent exponents thereof.
Here’s the question I have for Malibu Mel, Pat Buchanan and others who take the position that this whole affair was for the benefit of Israel. How did Israel benefit? It strikes me that Israel has actually seen the opposite of benefit thanks to all this idiocy. Look at the results of Olmert’s recent attempt to emulate Bushevik war doctrine in Southern Lebanon. Hizbollah is dancing in the streets! The thing that keeps on striking me is just how a typically western country Israel, the youngest nation of the West, really is. As in the rest of the west (described so well by Buchanan) Israel has embraced the insane suicidal faith in modern liberalism instead one in God, culture, religion and nationhood. The neo-Jacobins who Gibson and Buchanan rail against don’t really value Israel – as Israel, the jewish homeland – any more than they value England as the homeland of the English. All are merely real estate designations in their eyes. In the odd case where they do support Israel, they merely employ an unprincipled exception to their overall neo-Jacobin ideology.
To illustrate how ridiculous things are getting in Israel itself, consider the following.
Why is it that Malibu Mel and his companions over at TAC fail to comprehend things like this? If everything is so peachy for Israel, who do we see the spectacle of Jewish worshippers arrested for blowing a shofar for the High Holy Days? To these amateur eyes, it looks like Israel is rapidly becoming as dhimmified as the EU itself.
Just as an aside, I really appreaciate the very fine level of discussion here at BAB. You’ve really facilitated a site for serious consideration and debate of ideas here, Ilana. Thanks for giving us this space to debate and reflect.
[That’s very kind. I appreciate your input, C., but why are there so few of you out there?]
The attention and importance given to the pontifications of the current pop divas and string strummers as they lecture the rest of us on the geopolitical implications of countries involved with X,Y, and Z (when it is doubtful to me that they even have the ability to find said localities on an atlas), demonstrates to me the increasing importance that form over substance is given in this nation. So and So said it and So and So is on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, thus it matters. The fact that So and So makes their living playing make believe and have no credentials in the area that they are spoouting off on, doesn’t matter because they are pretty, or because they wrote a really cool song!! It is all form over substance (other examples are PC langauge wars and affirmative action, etc.) and it is a mark of declining civilization I believe.
Freemasons? My grandfather was a Freemason, and all I can say is, if he was helping to secretly run the world from Ponca City, Oklahoma – he didn’t do right by his grandson.
Ilana,
Your question as to why there are so few people that can and want to debate issues? I believe it is because debate is not taught in the school system. And the only ones who took part in debate, were the ones deemed likely to become judges, lawyers or politicians.
As far as Mel Gibson’s protest of the war, I believe that the war was wrong from the beginning, because Congress abdicated its Contitutional authority to declare war and gave it to an imperial presidency. I don’t know if that is Mel’s stand, but it is mine and should be the stand of everyone who believes in a limited Constitutional REPUBLIC. Please, no more “democracy”
Steve
My father was a freemason and I doubt that he has ever heard of the kabbala or Spanish cryto-jews. Most of the people in his lodge (located in West Texas) were, like him, Baptists as far as I can remember.
I’ll have to admit that they didn’t much see eye-to-eye with the Catholic Church. Way back in those days (late 50’s), those Baptists were under the impression that Catholics had orgies at Mass–which made my Catholic Mother extremely angry when she heard them say that.
One cares about what actors say simply because they get heard. In short, what they say gets into peoples heads and can distort their perceptions.