Lessons from Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9: Establishment Democrats Sold Out the Voters
By Sophia A. McClennen / Salon
September 22, 2018, 7:39 AM GMT
The Democrats share a lot of blame for the rise of Trump.
Moore brings up the issue of super delegates and their role in the 2016 presidential race, but he does so as only part of a larger exposé of the ways that party leaders have suppressed progressive candidates. Rather than focus only on Bernie Sanders, Moore makes it clear that what happened to Sanders has happened down ticket as well. To drive home the point, “Fahrenheit 11/9” includes a taped conversation where Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who’s been in office since 1981, telling progressive Colorado candidate Levi Tillemann to drop out of the race and cede the spot to the more centrist candidate. When Tilleman questions Hoyer’s interference, Hoyer responds smugly that he has repeatedly chosen who gets to run for the party.
Taken together these scenes help paint a clear picture for why #DemExit grew in steam over the 2016 election, potentially paving the way for the Trump win.
The left is the majority — but doesn't act like it.
Moore runs down the numbers on major issues and underscores the fact that the majority of the country adheres to a left platform. How is it, he asks, that the left is the majority but doesn’t hold power? And why does the majority feel so marginalized politically? To get to the heart of that question “Fahrenheit 11/9” explains how a culture of compromise, conciliation, and passivity has allowed the left to lose.
“Fahrenheit 11/9” then turns to those who are leading the progressive movement. Moore shows how a number of these left leaders were literally forced into action. From Parkland, FL, to the teachers who led the West Virginia strike to the rise of progressive candidates, Moore draws attention to a movement ready and willing to fight for a political platform truly in the people’s interest. They won’t succeed, though, the film argues, until the left acts like the national majority it really is.
“The film that tells us how the fuck we got here and how the fuck we can get out”
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I’m looking forward to seeing it on my TV. I’ve avoided enclosed mass gatherings (such as movie theaters) since Aurora, but that’s just me.