Confusing Freedom With License

Michael Moore is an idiot. He has a typically self-indulgent essay in Sunday's LA Times (wise choice - it makes a good trashcan liner or fish wrap: I can't see what else it might be good for):

As a young boy, I loved the American flag. I'd lead my younger sisters in patriotic parades up and down the sidewalk, waving the flag, blowing a whistle and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance over and over until my sisters begged me to let them go back to their Easy-Bake Oven.

I loved singing the national anthem. I won an essay contest on "What the Flag Means to Me." I decorated my bicycle with little American flags for a Fourth of July parade and won a prize for that too. I became an Eagle Scout and proudly promised to do my duty to God and country. And every year I asked to be the one who planted the flag on the grave of my uncle, a paratrooper who was killed in World War II. I was taught to admire his sacrifice, and I hoped to grow up and do my part, as he had, to keep us free.

But, in high school, things changed. Nine boys from my school came back home from Vietnam in boxes. Draped over each coffin was the American flag. I knew that they also had made a sacrifice. But their sacrifice wasn't for their country: They were sent to die by men who lied to them. Those men — presidents, senators, government officials — wrapped themselves in the flag too, hoping that their lies would never be questioned, never be discovered. They wrapped themselves in the very flag that was placed on the coffins of my friends and neighbors. I stopped singing the national anthem at football games, and I stopped putting out the flag.

I realize now I never should have stopped.

I wish I'd stopped reading at this point, but it was a bit like watching a train wreck. There's a certain morbid fascination to watching something disturbing. I knew it was pointless, but somehow I felt compelled to see what asinine argument Moore would come up with this time. He didn't let me down.

The Master of Illogic has decided (I realize this is a shock) that America is a Dismal Failure and it is quite likely the fault of the Bush administration. To prove this stunningly original hypothesis, Mr. Moore has assembled a penetrating set of questions. The answers are intended to harrow our immortal souls and cause the scales to fall from our eyes, allowing us to see Mr. Moore's America: a latter-day Whore of Babylon headed for eternal damnation at warp speed.

The answers to Mr. Moore's questions, as usual, are not what he would have us believe:

Are you proud that one in six children lives in poverty in America?

First of all, it is the responsibility of parents to provide for their children. The primary reason so many children grow up in poverty is simple: children born to single mothers have lower incomes than children born to married parents. Basic arithmetic reveals the cause: one income is (not surprisingly) generally lower than two combined. The decline of the nuclear family has been responsible for more child poverty than all other factors combined. Numerous government and private programs exist to assist parents of poor children. Americans have more opportunities than any parents anywhere on earth. That is indeed something to be proud of.

Are you proud that 40 million adult Americans are functional illiterates?

America has one of the best free public school systems on the planet. It costs nothing to attend. If you cannot read, there are tutoring programs available to help you catch up. There are free public libraries in every city and town. If you turn on any TV, ads literally beg you to learn to read and offer help if you cannot read, even if you are an adult. Where is the excuse not to learn to read?

Are you proud that the bulk of the jobs being created these days are low- and minimum-wage jobs?

As usual, Mr. Moore offers no proof for this statement; however, this is irrelevant as low- and minimum-wage jobs are not permanent jobs. Labor department statistics show that workers quickly move from these jobs to higher-paid jobs. These are entry-level jobs.

Are you proud of asking your fellow Americans to live on $5.15 an hour?

First of all, I do not recall having asked anyone to live on minimum wage. It would be unwise to plan on living out the rest of one's life at a minimum wage job - this betrays a disturbing lack of ambition. A recent survey showed that 63% of workers earning minimum wage were earning more money within one year. It is not a "living wage" - it is a temporary or starting wage for the vast majority of workers.

Are you proud that, according to a National Geographic Society survey, 85% of young adult Americans cannot find Iraq on the map (and 11% cannot find the United States!)?

Why would it be my responsibility to show them where Iraq is on a map? Again, this information is available on the Internet, at any public library, in an Atlas, on a globe, or in an encyclopedia. This is a silly question. Mr. Moore has too much time on his hands.

Are you proud that the rest of the world, which poured out its heart to us after Sept. 11, now looks at us with disdain and disgust?

Mr. Moore confuses sympathy with approval and genuine desire to help. We had the first after September 11th. We never had the second - how could we lose what we never possessed?

Are you proud that nearly 3 billion people on this planet do not have access to clean drinking water when we have the resources and technology to remedy this immediately?

When did it become the responsibility of the US to provide clean drinking water to the entire planet, assuming we could achieve such a thing?

Are you proud of the fact that our president sent our soldiers off to a war that had nothing to do with the self-defense of this country?

Are you proud of the fact that 3 years after September 11th, you are still doing everything you can to cover up the links between Iraq and al-Qaida?

Mr. Moore believes that "these things represent what it means to be an American these days" and that, not having done well enough according to his standards, America should "hang its head in shame".

I believe Mr. Moore has confused freedom with license. He thinks he ought to be able to say whatever he wishes (regardless of whether it is true), without having to endure the slings and arrows of dissenting speech in return. When he is criticized for his libelous falsehoods, he cries out that he is being muzzled. In reality, he is simply being called upon to defend his statements. This is called the marketplace of ideas: freedom of speech. It is (unfortunately for Mr. Moore) a two-way street.

In America, Mr. Moore has the freedom to be wrong. Others are free to point out his lies, and even to call him an ass.

Freedom is sometimes an uncomfortable commodity.

- Cassandra