Team America: World Police [Archive] - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

View Full Version : Team America: World Police

Mike F

08-02-2004, 10:51 AM

The creators of South Park have made a new movie in their classic low-tech style, this one lampooning the war on terror. Watch the Trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/team_america/)

Predictably, this has drawn criticism from the White House ("This is just unconscionable"), as documented by the Drudge Report (http://www.drudgereport.com/ta.htm).

So what are everyone's feelings? Is this too serious a topic to poke fun at? Should the White House unclench a little? Is anything that makes fun of Michael Moore inherently good and pure?

Cowperson

08-02-2004, 11:03 AM

Originally posted by Mike F@Aug 2 2004, 04:51 PM
The creators of South Park have made a new movie in their classic low-tech style, this one lampooning the war on terror. Watch the Trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/team_america/)

Predictably, this has drawn criticism from the White House ("This is just unconscionable"), as documented by the Drudge Report (http://www.drudgereport.com/ta.htm).

So what are everyone's feelings? Is this too serious a topic to poke fun at? Should the White House unclench a little? Is anything that makes fun of Michael Moore inherently good and pure?
Just to add to the conversation Howard Dean, speaking today on a government controlled mainstream media outlet, CNN, said terror warnings are politically based.

"I am concerned that every time something happens that's not good for President Bush, he plays this trump card, which is terrorism," said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. "It's just impossible to know how much of this is real and how much of this is politics, and I suspect there's some of both in it," Dean told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

A member of his own party shot him down:

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), speaking on the same program, said no one "in their right mind would think the President or the secretary of homeland security would raise an alert level and scare people for political reasons. That's outrageous."

"This is not chatter, in the sense of just idle conversation," Lieberman added. "This is some real intelligence."
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/218254p-187724c.html

Cowperson

Mike F

08-02-2004, 12:20 PM

Just to add to the conversation Howard Dean, speaking today on a government controlled mainstream media outlet, CNN, said terror warnings are politically based.

I don't think that the admin made up a threat this specific to gain a political advantage, nor do I think they would have sat on a specific threat like this until a specifically opportune time like just after the DNC, but then I don't think they're above using the war on terror in general.

For example, the day after Edwards was announced as the VP candidate, Tom Ridge came out and gave a briefing/press conference basically on nothing... "America is under the threat of attack by terrorists, but we have no new or specific information on where, when or mode of attack."

Cowperson

08-02-2004, 12:59 PM

Originally posted by Mike F@Aug 2 2004, 06:20 PM
Just to add to the conversation Howard Dean, speaking today on a government controlled mainstream media outlet, CNN, said terror warnings are politically based.

I don't think that the admin made up a threat this specific to gain a political advantage, nor do I think they would have sat on a specific threat like this until a specifically opportune time like just after the DNC, but then I don't think they're above using the war on terror in general.

For example, the day after Edwards was announced as the VP candidate, Tom Ridge came out and gave a briefing/press conference basically on nothing... "America is under the threat of attack by terrorists, but we have no new or specific information on where, when or mode of attack."
I agree actually.

Tom Ridge yesterday, while giving his press conference detailing very specific threats to specific buildings also said the information would not have come to light without President Bush's aggressive posture in the Middle East.

So . . . . . he was doing his job in letting the public know about what appears to be a genuine threat via a genuine source but also using the occasion to sell the message that the information would not have come to light - ie: we'd be sitting ducks - without the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, obviously a key election issue.

Was that the appropriate moment to deliver the latter part of that message? I didn't think so. It only lent credibility to those who might claim terror threats are politically motivated and by doing so, weakens the most important part of the message.

By the way, in answer to your post regarding mocking the war on terror, late night talk show hosts do it all the time. The Onion, much closer to 9/11, took it head on with some wicked satire. I would think the Southpark people would be recognized as offering political satire as well. Michael Moore, on the other hand, isn't selling satire. I see a difference.

Cowperson

Calgary Flames

08-02-2004, 01:16 PM

This is a Fata

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/index.php?sho...5&hl=south+park (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/index.php?showtopic=205&hl=south+park)

BlackArcher101

08-02-2004, 02:17 PM

Originally posted by SuperNilson@Aug 2 2004, 03:16 PM
This is a Fata

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/index.php?sho...5&hl=south+park (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/index.php?showtopic=205&hl=south+park)
But how would he know it was posted before with a subject title like that?
Another reason why subjects should actually give a person an idea what is inside a thread, not just to grab their attention.

Calgary Flames

08-02-2004, 06:45 PM

Originally posted by BlackArcher101+Aug 2 2004, 02:17 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (BlackArcher101 @ Aug 2 2004, 02:17 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-SuperNilson@Aug 2 2004, 03:16 PM
This is a Fata

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/index.php?sho...5&hl=south+park (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/index.php?showtopic=205&hl=south+park)
But how would he know it was posted before with a subject title like that?
Another reason why subjects should actually give a person an idea what is inside a thread, not just to grab their attention. [/b][/quote]
Don't ask me... I didn't make the other thread. :P

Dirty Mr. Clean

08-02-2004, 08:55 PM