From time to time I see things in the news that appear to be at odds with conventional wisdom.

Like the Michael Moore bodyguard who got busted at JFK Airport in New York for carrying an unlicensed handgun.

Now, to be fair, the bodyguard, Patrick Burk, was not Moore's personal employee.

Burk works for a California-based security firm called Gavin de Becker and Associates.

Furthermore, it's not like the guy was trying to smuggle the gun on the plane.

He told a ticket agent he had the gun and wished to carry it on a flight to Los Angeles. The gun was unloaded and packed in a bag.

Burk had licenses for the gun from California and Florida, but not from New York, which prompted his arrest, police said.

Apparently, Burk has been assigned to protect Moore at different times in the past.

The contradiction, in my view, comes from the fact that Moore produced a scathing attack film on the American gun culture in 2002.

The film, "Bowling For Columbine," won an Academy Award for the best documentary, which, frankly, is an insult to documentary makers the world over.

By the Academy's definition, a documentary is supposed to be nonfiction, which isn't even close to the case in Moore's film.

And I've listened to Moore's rants about guns. They're only good for killing kids and innocent people and anybody who would want one must be insane.

Surely no sane person would use one for protection.

Besides, Moore tells us the threat of terror is virtually nonexistent. It's just the government's way of controlling us.

So if the risk of terror is nil, what about the risk of a member of the public attacking Moore? If Moore's got himself an armed bodyguard, he must feel fairly threatened.

Or does he?

One interviewer asked Moore if he ever worried about his own safety.

Here's what Moore said:

"No, no. It's not my time yet. You should only fear for my life if you see me at the drive-through window at McDonald's. That's going to off me much quicker than anybody from the NRA. The picture of me dead in the paper next month that you'll get off the wire services will more than likely have a shamrock shake from McDonald's spilled all the way down my front."

In the same interview, Moore talks about how we Americans - except him, of course, who is much more enlightened than the rest of us - are afraid, very afraid.

"One of the points of the film is that we are a nation of very frightened people. ... The wolf is out there. That's not just globally; it's personally, it's locally. And as oftentimes is the case in our country, the wolf at the door is a black man. And the film explores how race is used to manipulate white people's fears. ... I guess I want the American audiences who see this film to examine why we are living in this constant culture of fear and what we can do to break the grip of that. As human beings, we're supposed to have fear; you do need to know when to be afraid so you can preserve your life. But when you're told to be afraid of everything, that there's always a new bogeyman - every two months, there's a new axe to add to the axis of evil - you lose your compass and you forget what you're supposed to be afraid of. And before you know it you're afraid of everything, and everybody is an enemy, and everybody's out to get you. You're not thinking straight. It's a big part of what I try to address in the film.

And also this, where he describe the National Rifle Association as "the most powerful lobby group in the U.S. and whose sole purpose is to make sure that people can have as many guns as they want to have and fire as many bullets as the guns can possibly fire. These people are insane and they have to be stopped. And the majority of Americans, according to every poll, want gun control. This group succeeds with a minority position and I think it's time to hear from the other side; time for the other side to not be afraid to stand up for what they believe in and until we correct the mental problem, we have to put the guns away. So I do believe in gun control - guns have to be put aside until we can act more Canadian-like."

OK, let me get this all lined up here.

Moore hates guns and says people who support their ownership are insane. He says we're stupid to be afraid and that he is more likely to be killed by fast food than an armed assailant.

He also feels it necessary to employ an armed body guard.

Yeah, OK, I'm not getting it, but you know, that's not surprising.

Because I'm not nearly as enlightened as Michael Moore. [[In-content Ad]]