Hyperreal Film Club
Whose Political Fantasies Need to Be Reined In?
RECEIVED Mon., Jan. 19, 2004
Dear Editor,
Greg Wilson writes in regard to the MoveOn.org Bush = Hitler "scandal" that the Chronicle owes it to their readers to rein in their political fantasies from time to time rather than reinforcing them. Unfortunately, the only fantasies put forth in the whole controversy were from Mr. Wilson himself.
As part of the Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest, two entrants (out of hundreds) submitted ads that compared Bush to Hitler. MoveOn, who did not sponsor the ads, rejected the entries and even apologized for them. The story got legs when Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie detailed the ads on the RNC Web site along with the fiction about MoveOn sponsorship. In fact, for a time the only place to see the ads was at this Web site. Subsequent rounds of the talk-show circuit by Mr. Gillespie got the distorted story, and the ads aired. (See John Nichols' report at The Nation's Web site www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=1166.)
As a visit to MoveOn.org shows, they do not make such outlandish comparisons regarding Bush, and such an attitude is certainly not "standard fare" as Mr. Wilson would have us believe.
As for MoveOn appearing to be the current mainstream of the Democratic Party, this is of course another distortion. Alas, mainstream Democrats (like most Americans) get their news from radio and television, and do not go the extra step of researching the issues through the alternative media like MoveOn, The Nation, The Texas Observer, The Progressive, or The Austin Chronicle.
Perhaps if Mr. Wilson took the time to research on his own and not take the news as it is fed to him, he may have some better advice to pass along to the Chronicle editors and their readers.
Greg Wilson writes in regard to the MoveOn.org Bush = Hitler "scandal" that the Chronicle owes it to their readers to rein in their political fantasies from time to time rather than reinforcing them. Unfortunately, the only fantasies put forth in the whole controversy were from Mr. Wilson himself.
As part of the Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest, two entrants (out of hundreds) submitted ads that compared Bush to Hitler. MoveOn, who did not sponsor the ads, rejected the entries and even apologized for them. The story got legs when Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie detailed the ads on the RNC Web site along with the fiction about MoveOn sponsorship. In fact, for a time the only place to see the ads was at this Web site. Subsequent rounds of the talk-show circuit by Mr. Gillespie got the distorted story, and the ads aired. (See John Nichols' report at The Nation's Web site www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=1166.)
As a visit to MoveOn.org shows, they do not make such outlandish comparisons regarding Bush, and such an attitude is certainly not "standard fare" as Mr. Wilson would have us believe.
As for MoveOn appearing to be the current mainstream of the Democratic Party, this is of course another distortion. Alas, mainstream Democrats (like most Americans) get their news from radio and television, and do not go the extra step of researching the issues through the alternative media like MoveOn, The Nation, The Texas Observer, The Progressive, or The Austin Chronicle.
Perhaps if Mr. Wilson took the time to research on his own and not take the news as it is fed to him, he may have some better advice to pass along to the Chronicle editors and their readers.
Al Martinez