Fahrenheit 9/11
The Movie
&
The Arrogance of Power
The novel Although it is highly uncommon to review two separate items, particularly two items which do not appear to have anything to do with one another, that is what I am about to do. There are not a better pair [novel & DVD] than the Novel: The Arrogance of Power by Senator J William Fulbright and the movie: Fahrenheit 9/11. Despite the fact that Senator Fulbright wrote a compelling essay which centered on America’s Foreign Policy, specifically the Vietnam War, in 1966 and Michael Moore’s film on the Bush Administration and Operation Iraqi Freedom released in 2004; both offer one perception, what happens when power turns to arrogance.

If anyone has not read this book or watched this movie, I highly recommend them both. I suggest reading The Arrogance of Power prior to viewing the movie. I believe that every American needs to open their minds, take a deep breath, push aside what you know or what you think you know about our politicians, what you know or what you think you know about this present war, watch this movie as if you were a child, innocent without preconceived notion.

This is a serious documentary, there are a few spoofs here and there, but they are needed because of the seriousness of the material that is covered. It is extremely important to realize that Senator Fulbright was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, he spent a great deal of time in the world of politics, and he was an extremely observant individual who utilized facts to form his opinion. Mike Moore who has a radical attitude against the Bush Administration also uses facts to support his documentary.

According to Senator Fulbright, “Criticism is more than a right; is an act of patriotism….” In regards to America’s foreign policy, Fulbright said; “…America is now at the historical point at which a great nation is in danger of losing its perspective on what exactly is within the realm of its power and what is beyond it. Other great nations, reaching this critical juncture, have aspired to too much and, by overextension of effort, have declined and then fallen. Gradually, but unmistakably America is showing the signs of that arrogance of power which has afflicted, weakened and in some cases destroyed great nations in the past. In so doing we are not living up to our capacity and promise as a civilized example for the world; the measure of our falling short is the measure of the patriot’s duty of dissent.” Fahrenheit 9/11 gives us living examples of that arrogance of power in action!

The facts as presented by Michael Moore are all verifiable; although he has a means to present the facts as a slam. I applaud Moore for his ability to track down the truth and bring his findings to the American people. If there were more people like Michael Moore, our country would be in much better shape. Moore goes after more than fact, he gets comments, reviews and even testimony from actual persons affected by the conflicts his documentary highlights.

I laughed, I cried, but most of all I was disgusted that a country as wonderful as America could fall prey to the arrogance of power.