"War on Penguins" rages on in Medved's USA Today op-ed
In a November 29 USA Today op-ed, conservative radio host Michael Medved continued his attacks on the animated children's movie Happy Feet (Warner Bros., November 2006), claiming that the movie, which features tap-dancing penguins, contains "unmistakably alarming, discomfiting and politically potent elements," and that penguins themselves have "become targets and instruments of powerful propaganda." As Media Matters for America noted, in a November 17 weblog post on Townhall.com, Medved referred to the film as "Crappy Feet" and claimed that it was the "darkest, most disturbing feature length animated film ever offered by a major studio."
Medved is just one of several media conservatives to attack Happy Feet for its alleged pro-environmentalist content, claiming that the movie is intended to indoctrinate children. In his USA Today op-ed, Medved also attacked as propaganda the children's book And Tango Makes Three (Simon & Schuster, June 2005), which is based on the true story of two male penguins at New York City's Central Park Zoo that hatched and raised a penguin chick named "Tango."
If it is propaganda, then which type is worse ... propaganda that will scare us into believing that invading a nation that has nothing to do with the war on terrorism has something to do with the war on terrorism, getting our soldiers killed by the thousands, and Iraqi civilians killed by the tens of thousands ... or propaganda that urges we treat our environment better so that we may live better, healthier and longer?
This is very typical of these types. They will happily use other peoples sufferting, expecially if they helped create the suffering, to promote lies and even more suffering but a movie about the truth is propaganda.
Please US media ship these dinosaurs off to the north pole and leave them there. If there is no global warming, they have nothing to fear, right?
I just don't understand how the environment became a left/right issue. Just the mere mention of pro-environment makes the rightwingers protest - even if no discussion of economics or business is involved. I don't get it.
This of all issues should be bipartisan. The right makes it a partisan issue, not the left. The only point that would make sense is that they are so beholden to the corporations. Though logically, that makes no sense either as proenvironment policies would help rather than hurt corporate profits over the long run. Saying that, maybe these neocons can only see through the short run and don't care about the long.
The president-elect of the Christian Coalition of America “has stepped down, saying the group resisted his efforts to broaden its agenda to include reducing poverty and fighting global warming.” Rev. Joel Hunter said of the split, “When we really got down to it, they said: ‘This just isn’t for us. It won’t speak to our base, so we just can’t go there.’"
That speaks volumes about the Christian Coalition "base", doesn't it?
but it also shows that there are those like Rev. Joel Hunter who, though they may be pro-life and anti-gay marriage (i don't know exactly what his positions are), they realize that issues such fighting poverty and global warming are more important in the long term. This might actually be a beginning of a split in the group over these issues.
I'd welcome that split. Anything that keeps the rational free from the chains of the lunatic fringe is always welcome.
Are you kidding? The only thing corporations really care about are the profits for the NEXT quarter. If this quarter doesn't exceed the last quarter, the company is FAILING.
Finally a subject Michael Medved can espouse with expertise, cartoons!!
... no matter what, the pro-biz crowd view any discussion of the 'environment' as a direct pull on their profits. That's it. It's just all about profit... the workers, the air, water, etc... all can go screw. It's a very twisted mindset.
I just can't think of any other explanation (of course, the right wingers will say its because of the leftist environmentalists who, if given an inch, will take a mile, etc... = all unfounded nonsense used as a veil to limit their responsibility). That's my guess. Perhaps that's unfair? I don't really think so. It all boils down to greed.
Anything and everything that involves the Federal Regulation of industry or commerce, is then made political by those industrial and commercial interests.
The NRA is a good example: One of the more powerful lobbying associations in D.C., their single mission is to prevent any Federal Regulations from being enacted that would further Regulate the manufacture and sale of firearms (and that is their mission... they merely promote themselves as "grass-roots" for it's political value; they represent commercial interests, firearm manufacturers and retailers).
The same can be said of the AMA and of how defensive they are against any Federal Regulation or interference with their trade and industry: Just look at what happened to the Clintons as a result of trying to reform the Medi-Care system.
The petroleum industry, and the automobile industry, are very powerful industrial interests in this country... any and all talk about Regulatory efforts to reduce emissions, is talk about Regulating their industry...
...and they fight back...
...not as well as the NRA or the AMA, but they fight back just the same.
And it's too bad that they, the petroleum and automobile industries, place their revenues and profits (greatly affected by Federal Regulations) above the Health and Public Safety not only of the American People and the People of the World, but of their own children and grandchildren, for ages to come...
As though they, the owners of the petroleum and automobile industries, had some type of privately-owned atmosphere from which their children and grandchildren would breath, the rest of the World be damned.
And by the way, this item quotes the hack as having written (regarding the penguin flick)...
"that the movie is intended to indoctrinate children"
Gee, I don't know... I haven't seen the movie...
Does he mean "indoctrinate children" the way the movie "Cars" was made to do?
Perhaps you've noticed the strange way in which the word "Humans" keeps getting used of late, in these "global warming" talks...
Are "Humans" causing the problem... are "Humans" the culprit... are "Humans" the villain...
One of the more brilliant use of words ever, in any campaign to persuade masses of people from regulating an industry, was employed by the NRA when they brilliantly floated the phrase...
"Hand Guns Don't Kill People...
People Kill People"
Brilliant! It took the focus off firearms, and therefore off the Regulating of them, and made the cause of the problem, the culprit, the villain...
"People"
Yeah... "People with Guns!"
What a laugh... but it was brilliant, and it worked; the NRA is as powerful a lobby as any, and keeps any and all further Regulation of the manufacture and sale of firearms in check... by way of lobbying our Representatives and Senators in Congress.
So what's the cause of the problem of the extraordinary levels of fossil-fuel emissions in our atmosphere... who's the villain and the culprit there?
"Humans"
Yeah, right... "Humans burning petroleum like there's no tommorrow... Humans spewing fossil-fuel emissions like they've got a spare atmosphere in the trunk of the car, ready to go!"
Anytime you hear someone say "Humans" in this argument, and if you want to bedevil any slick tricks they might be up to in the discussion, then just substitute the word "Petroleum Emissions" for "Humans"...
"Humans aren't fouling up the atmosphere...
Petroleum Emissions are!"
That puts those industries (petroleum and automotive) back on the defensive... that puts the focus back where it belongs...
On the Federal Regulation of Petroleum Emissions.
Whenever I hear my conservative friends say "Guns don't kill people, people do." I always repeat it back to them substituting the word "children" for "people".
Guns don't kill children, children do.
That also explains why some people just don't like me. I can be an ass.
I usually catch on to things like that but that one I missed entirely.
Corporate America would prefer to be unfettered in its quest to strip-mine the world and leave nothing but toxic slag heaps in its wake.
He is correct in assert that propaganda is most effective when aimed at a childish mind, which is why Bush's propaganda machine had an easy time mincing Medved's brain into neocon pâté.
It is all about "PENGUIN LUST"
Long live Opus, Cutter John, Bill the Cat and Berkekey Breathed
We were talking about nun-beating.
"[Happy Feet] is the darkest, most disturbing feature length animated film ever offered by a major studio."
"The Passion of The Christ offered a convincing, richly imagined recreation of first-century Judea and heartfelt performances."
'Nuff said.
Happy Feet: overwhelmingly dark, oppressively bleak ordeal of brainwashing
Passion of the Christ: happy-go-lucky lark of daisies and sunshine
Using Michael Meathead’s logic “Three Men and a Baby”, “Three Godfathers”, “My Three Sons”, “Boys Town”, “Bright Eyes” are movies/TV programs that advance same sex parentage and could be classified as homosexual lifestyle propaganda.
Apparently it is ok to fill kids heads with nonsense such as “Intelligent Design”, however presenting them with the reality of nature and the effects of there parents over indulgent polluting lifestyles is an abomination. We are an arrogant species and we deserve all that is coming to us.
By Dr. Seuss. "I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees". Remember that one? Humans destroyed the world because we are evil and selfish. The silver lining in that show was that the environment can and will regenerate itself after we're all dead.
It's still one of the top 25 "most banned books". Some people are so touchy.
clearly this panoply of penguin propoganda must be stopped. their message infiltrates our young as we speak, since they spend a disproportionate amount of time looking at cute, harmless, fuzzy things. we must stop them. i will stop them.
I mean come on. The dancing? Pro-environment content? Next thing you know they will be barring the Junior ROTC and declairing their aeries as nuclear free zones.
I literally don't know what the hell Medved is talking about.
Saw the film with my kids - they loved it and I was bored witless (WAY too many song/dance numbers).
There were two story lines - Mumble (lead penguin) was an outcast (couldn't sing like the rest) and his struggle to fit in. The means by which he tried to do this was to stop human overfishing (depleting their food supply).
Given the news story a month or so back declaring the oceans would be fished out in 50 years, I fail to see how this is propaganda. That not withstanding, the environmentalist bit is mostly drowned out by the "be an individual" theme.
And, oh, by the way: IT'S A FREAKING CARTOON!
... would fit right in with those "holy men" of the past who burned heretics and witches at the stake. It's exactly, precisely the same mindset. Make that, "MINDLESS set", because it combines ignorance with arrogance with paranoia to bring out the absolutely worst characteristics of the human species: hate, violence, destruction, and stunted short-sightedness.
He's probably got a Georgetown condo and an "S" class Mercedes, so that makes him a success, right?
Of course, the liberal propaganda film Bambi is the worst offender. It clearly has anti-hunting, anti-gun bias; why it was allowed to be shown is beyond me.
We must strengthen the powers of our cultural warriors like Medved to wipe the slate clean of these liberal pests.
when i saw bambi. i was upset when bambi's mom got killed and i hated the hunter. nevertheless, i grew up, don't hunt, but don't have a problem with those who do. medved's middle name must be "uptight". i've read that polar bears are having a hard time because so much of the ice they spend time on is melting. maybe if we close our eyes, it will all go away, or so people like medved think.
The most powerful lobby controlling the most powerful instrument of mind control.
because he's gay . . .
Then it was opposition to the Teletubbies for the same reason . . .
Now "Happy Feet" is some kind of code for the danger of global warming {Cavuto}, and "the darkest, most disturbing feature length animated film offered by a major studio."
I'm having trouble believing that these rightwingnut culture warriors are having THAT MUCH trouble distinguishing the animated from real life . . . then I look at the War in Iraq, the one they said was going to be a "cakewalk", and think, well, maybe they are indeed having that much trouble . . .
I heard the righties whining about this movie before I saw it. Now having seen the movie I don't get it. I was on the lookout for the suposed propaganda, but it never really materialized.
There is absolutely zero discussion of global warming or pollution. The "issue" is overfishing which I guess one could argue is "liberal", but come on. And as for the movie being scary I suppose that flies to a certain extent, but no more than any other kids' movie. Old Yeller (family dog turns evil) and Bambi (mother shot dead, child abadoned) are two movies that come to mind quickly that have disturbing themes. Far from being terrorized my 5 and 3 year olds were tapdancing up the aisle after the movie.
Why do right wingers get so defensive about environmentalism? Are they really so far buried in a 'trickle down' mindset that they actually think profits of big oil and coal companies are more important than breathable air and drinkable water? Assuming their motive is financial, I'd really like Rush or Bill O. or Medved how exactly the record profits achieved by oil companies under the current administration has helped their bottom line.
We get ONE planet, people. When the hell are people going to start waking up and lose this "I'm american, I deserve to drive an SUV" attitude? Its almost cro-magnon that we havent extensively implemented so-called 'alternative' fuels at this point. Anyone who tells you we dont have the technology to cheaply manufacture and distribute low/no-emission vehicles has an agenda, or is ill-informed, or both.
The first time I saw this guy was on PBS. He had been paired with Jeffery Lyons to host "Sneak Previews" after Siskel and Ebert took their act to network TV. He was seeing things in films that didn't exist then as well. I didn't know why he was replaced then, but I can why now. I guess when you start to slide in the media, conservative talk radio is the equivalent of skid row.
Happy feet is I have decided I must go see it. Thanks Medved for the film review.
Medved, like other Court Jews who fight to prove how Ammmurrrican they really are ("Kill him, don't kill ME!"), goes overboard in his phony conservatism. What a horror--a cartoon that tells the truth about the environment. Is it more scary than Bambi? Snow White? Is it more disgusting than Steamboat Willie? Or is it more repulsive than Gone With The Wind?
Medved will not let go of his right-wing blame-casting at a mythological leftist media that controls everything. Funny, Mike, that's just what people used to say about Jews. You have lunch with Limbaugh or Hannity lately?
“Oh, we got trouble! Right here in River City! With a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Penguin.”
Anyone remember the Incredible Hulk episode when the Hulk fought the "bad hulk"? Add some green paint to Medved, and there you go!
That's about as "green" as this guy Medved is likely to get though. Its telling to hear someone get SO upset about a cartoon that has a positive message about being good stewards of the earth. "Don't litter. "What a horible message!! Boycott, boycott!". Call up Bill O'Reilly! Call up Tom Cruise for Top Gun II: Eradicate the Penguins!
Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, Medved set the stage.
Right wingers are ridiculous sometimes, and this is one of those times.