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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hoa Hao who wrote (69859)	9/13/2004 1:18:34 PM
From: gamesmistress	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793899

The American Film Renaissance festival, the nation's first extensive gathering of conservative filmmakers, was a critical and box-office success over the weekend in Dallas, Texas. Some definite gems had their premiere at the festival. "Michael Moore Hates America" featured filmmaker Mike Wilson trying desperately to secure an interview with the left-wing icon in the manner that Mr. Moore popularized in his own leftist films. No surprise that Mr. Wilson was unsuccessful. Filmmaker Don Noth told the tale of six Iraqi men who were tortured by Saddam Hussein and had their hands chopped off, a story first told by columnist Dan Henninger in the Wall Street Journal. "George W. Bush: Faith in the White House" was an intimate look at how the president's religious beliefs have shaped his life. But the clear favorite of festival attendees was "Brainwashing 101," a guide to "speech codes" and political correctness on America's college campuses. In one classic segment, a Republican Sikh student (compete with turban and beard) at the University of Tennessee complained to a student committee that only liberal speakers are brought on campus. In an e-mail that later became public, Justin Rubenstein, a member of the student Issues Committee, wrote fellow committee members that if they "see one of those ragheads, shoot him right in the (expletive) face." A Fox News report on the incident that's replayed in the film concludes: "Rubenstein said his comment was taken out of context." --John Fund Nader Factor John Kerry still has good presidential hair. Give him that. Last week, though, Ralph Nader made it clearer than ever that he's running against Mr. Kerry and the Democrats, not George Bush and the Republicans. At a press breakfast in Washington, St. Ralph declared he would spend the next seven weeks touring the swing states, ripping Dems for trying to keep him off the ballot and John Kerry for running as a me-too candidate incapable of expressing any coherent thought not programmed by his campaign consultants. "We're exposing all the pus and the bile. We're flushing the system out," Mr. Nader said. Mr. Nader is on the ballot in 23 states and can hope for 44 at best. But even if not on the ballot in every state, his Kerry critique will be heard by a lot of liberal-left voters, making them more likely to stay home or -- heaven forfend -- to vote for Bush as the least "fake" candidate. All along, Mr. Nader was the candidate for voters wanting to signal disgust not with Republicans (that's a given) but with Democrats. Mr. Kerry has suddenly made this a fast-growing market. The Democratic nominee's recent swing back to the Howard Dean position on the war suggests just how much Mr. Kerry is worried about keeping his base intact, which tells you just how significantly the race has changed in the past three weeks. With the election just seven weeks away, he's also decided to go to town on the Bush Administration for its unwillingness to seek extension of the vacuous "assault weapons" ban (Washington Post headline today: "For Gun Dealers, Ban Is 'Big Nothing'"). Bill Clinton devoted part of his memoirs to describing how Democrats kill themselves with strident anti-gun politics. Mr. Kerry's staff has reportedly spent the past few days whittling down the number of states where his campaign might still have a chance if it spends enough money. His late and loud anti-gun posturing will make their job that much easier. Question: Is this a candidate now bent on manufacturing excuses for his own defeat so future critics will point to his "courageous" unpopular stands on the "issues" rather than to the man himself? --Holman W. Jenkins Jr. WSJ Opinion Journal Political Diary