Blog: 9 July 04. Enron

9 July

Two brief thoughts for the day:

Thought one: it's interesting to see the Michael Moore backlash in full swing. I haven't seen Fahrenheit 9/11 yet, so I don't have an opinion on it (not that this seems to have stopped some people from weighing in with their valuable thoughts). I enjoyed Bowling for Columbine, though it could have done with a ruthless edit, and Moore's mawkish tendencies occasionally grate. His flaws, though, hardly rate this kind of right-wing hatchet-job.

Or, indeed, this, from the ever-reliable Christopher Hitchens (Anyone know where Hitchens places himself on the political spectrum these days, by the way?

A smart and readable attack, this, from one fat boy on another, but it begs the question: just what has Moore done to deserve this kind of broadside?

Answer: become a successful, populist, irritant to the status quo. He might not always be right (or, indeed, funny), and there might be something increasingly smug about him too (hard to deny it, I'm afraid). And he might eat too much. And I wish he'd take that bloody cap off. But if he wasn't doing it, who would be? There's nothing a Republican despises more than a successful leftie polemicist who moves beyond the liberal ghettoes and speaks to people who don't read The Nation or Chomsky's latest volume. That, surely, is the reason for all the vitriol: Moore's attacks are hitting home.

Thought two: I intend to cut out the picture of former Enron CEO Ken Lay being led to court in handcuffs, which was in all the papers today, and stick it on my wall. An incredibly rare example of a corrupt, overpaid 'fat cat' actually looking like he might get a jail term, rather than a vast payoff, for his crimes. Lay's real crime, of course, was to get caught - and on such a massive scale that even the supine US authorities couldn't turn their heads. But what the hell - let's enjoy it while we can. Chances are it won't come round again for a while.

Posted by paul at July 9, 2004 05:56 PM

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