The basics of storytelling

Whatever happened to Michael Moore? He seems to have disappeared from both the mainstream media and Left Blogostan. Did the right succeed in marginalizing him? Or is he just hard at work on a new movie? Probably both.

I notice his website is still active and Cindy Sheehan is prominently featured. Maybe that’s where marginalized people go to occupy their time? They probably spend a lot of time together talking about how much they care about so many people being killed and maimed. I know, I know, a lot of people sit around talking about how much they care, but Michael and Cindy seem like they really do care, and they dedicate a good portion of their lives trying to do something about it. Something beyond typing I mean. And that’s not cool. It makes us feel uncomfortable, even as we type.

Anyway, I trust Michael Moore will be back because he is such a good storyteller. That’s what made me think about him. The left, in general, doesn’t tell an effective story and they should take a few cues from the best among them.

Everybody thinks of Iraq when they think of Fahrenheit 9/11, but you may recall that Moore began the movie by telling the story of the 2000 Republican coup d’état that installed George W. Bush as president. And he is right to begin the story there. All the stories, all the outrages – all the day-to-day talking points that we debate for a day or two until the next outrage and its accompanying talking points – all of those stories begin with the stolen election of 2000.

When the United States ceased to be a legitimate democracy the end of the rule-of-law in was a fait accompli waiting to happen. All it took was a couple of plane crashes to start the dominos falling. But even without the plane crashes, it would have been something else. The precedent was set. The law does not apply to George W. Bush. And we have no opposition party.

Historically, when a nation is the victim of coup d’état things are not just going to return to normal any time soon, no matter how successfully the people avoid the facts of the matter. Well, we will see. The United States today provides the first real test of that theory. Never has a coup d’état been so totally ignored by such an overwhelming majority of the population. Normal people, all of the major news media, the (nominal) opposition party, even the election’s actual winner – all of them meekly acquiesced and even supported the coup. Even today, as an illegitimate, beyond the rule-of-law government has us barreling towards Hell in a hand basket, there is rarely, very rarely, any mention of the coup. And without putting the coup at the beginning, the story just doesn’t make sense.

Perhaps you’d think that those on the left might consider taking a lesson from the best story tellers among them, but Moore has, alas, been successfully marginalized. He’s so far out of it he could probably change his name to Noam Chomsky and not be any further from the minds of the American media, left-ish blogs included.