Dude, Where's My Country - Chapter 1

I am reading Michael Moore's book Dude, Where's My Country. Before you wonder if my cheese has slid off my cracker, my reasons for reading are to see if my preconceived notions about Moore are fair, or at least founded, especially since he's coming out with a new film soon.

To his credit, Moore has a breezy, conversational style that is quite readable. It's the substance, not the style that makes this book execrable. While I plan to slash the whole thing, every chapter is a target rich environment for inanity, and each worth an essay to itself.

Chapter one is all about questions Moore would like George W. Bush to answer, and mostly about the President's business ties with Saudi citizens, particularly the Bin Laden family. The Bin Ladens are involved in a number of business ventures along with the Bush family (according to Moore).

Much of Moore's riff against the President boils down to guilt by association. If the Bin Laden family produced Osama, then they are tainted, and therefore so is Bush. However, the Bin Ladens are a big damn family - nearly 80 people. It's not implausible that the Bin Ladens have legitimate businessmen among them.

That doesn't occur to Moore. He wants to know why all Bush's "oil buddies" failed to sever ties with the Bin Ladens, and when they did, why it took so long. Why Moore thinks the President can order private citizens to sever business ties absent any illegality is not explained. Bush is an Executive, not an Emperor.

I agree with Moore that it's strange that the Bin Laden family was whisked back to Saudi Arabia when all other flights were grounded, but for the President to be personally responsible, Moore would need to demonstrate that Bush knew, and gave the order, and that one of them could have been legally detained. Since the author blows out his colon over illegal aliens being held and tossed out of the country, I doubt he would approve of legal aliens being rousted.

Absent evidence that would lead to a judgment against the President in a civil trial, Moore gives Senator Joe McCarthy a run for his money by stringing together an overwhelming amount of dubious circumstantial evidence. By this sort of logic Moore would have accused Jesus Christ being a pimp and a collaborator with Judea's Roman occupiers, since he consorted with prostitutes and tax collectors.

I deeply dislike Saudi Arabia, but they were a necessary evil during the Cold War, and as satisfying as telling them to go get screwed might be, that would come at the cost of intelligence sources and important strategic assets like oil and bases. This is what "nuance" is all about, a slightly less hostile enemy is better than nothing, and indulging in cathartic antagonism may not have been wise when you have few enough friends in the Middle East. Moore presumes to be smarter than the President, but this possibility isn't even acknowledged, much less considered.

Tim McNabb