Nutroots Of the World Unite!

Oooh, joy.  Michael Moore is planning to make a movie about the economic crisis.  And who is he turning to for info?  Financial reporters?  Economists?  Business analysts? How about the business geniuses of Daily Kos:

I am in the middle of shooting my next movie and I am looking for a few brave people who work on Wall Street or in the financial industry to come forward and share with me what they know. Based on those who have already contacted me, I believe there are a number of you who know “the real deal” about the abuses that have been happening. You have information that the American people need to hear. I am humbly asking you for a moment of courage, to be a hero and help me expose the biggest swindle in American history.

That would be TARP, right?  Or the CRA?  Or Freddie and Fannie?  Or the Federal Reserve.  Right? Right?! Hmm.  Somehow, I don’t think that’s where this will go.

All correspondence with me will be kept confidential. Your identity will be protected and you will decide to what extent you wish to participate in telling the greatest crime story ever told.

The important thing here is for you to step up as an American and do your duty of shedding some light on this financial collapse. A few good people have already come forward, which leads me to believe there are many more of you out there who know what’s going on. Here’s your chance to let your fellow citizens in on the truth.

If you have any info that would help, please contact me at my private email address: [email protected].

For the rest of you on my email list who don’t work in the financial industry, you’re probably wondering, “What the heck is this all about? I thought he said he was making a romantic comedy!”

Well, I just can’t say much right now. I’m sure you can understand why. One thing I can tell you is that you’re gonna like this movie when I’m done with it. Oh, yeah…

So, again, if you work for a bank, a brokerage firm or an insurance company—or if you have seen things or heard things that you believe the American people have a right to know—please contact me at [email protected].

Thank you in advance for your help!

Yours,
Michael Moore

Now, I’m probably talking out of my ass here, since I don’t work in the movie industry.  But if I were interested, as a writer, in learning the story of how the financial collapse happened and I were advertising for interview subjects, I would probably put anonymous ads in financial magazines or craiglist or something.  I would not want to selectively pick out people who post, write and comment at one of the most liberal websites in the world.  Or one of the most conservative, for that matter.  But then again, I would be interested in the truth, not in constructing a slick polemic targeted at George Bush, Republicans, rich bankers, freemasons and capitalism in general.

Your Uncle MikeS is about to save you $10 on a movie ticket. I’ll summarize the probable movie for you.  This was all the fault of Republicans and evil bankers.  They forced people to buy homes they couldn’t afford so that they could lose hundreds of billions of dollars in foreclosures.  They deliberately crashed the stock market so we would also lose our 401k’s and not be able to retire.  Even now, they are planning the next wave of financial catastrophe.

There is a good story to be told in the financial collapse.  There are certainly villains and idiots aplently.  A good film-maker—such as Alex Gibney, who made Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room could make a compelling film that would educate and enrage at the same time.  But Michael Moore is no Alex Gibney.  And now that he’s about to venture into economics, expect plenty of analysis to skewer his nonsense.

War Porn

Indie war correspondent Michael Yon is suing Michael Moore for copyright violation.  Basically he used one of Yon’s pictures in the banner on his website, and despite numerous requests to take it down has refused to do so.  Be sure and read the whole thing for the specifics, but this section really struck me as being right on.

Justice Potter Stewart once defined pornography by saying, “I know it when I see it.” Pornography and propaganda are closely related, as they are both cynical attempts at manipulation, rooted in a lack of respect for humanity. War Porn is one of the more disturbing developments in the new media, as people on both sides of the Iraq War get their kicks watching video images of death and destruction – as long as it’s their opponents who get killed. Whether it’s an Al Qaeda cell-phone video of an IED attack or the grisly footage of a Coalition air strike, War Porn is degrading and incendiary. Of course, some footage is newsworthy and informative and the public deserves to see it. There is also great value to soldiers in watching footage for training purposes and to better understand battlefields and weapons. But at some point, especially when the material is used to make political points, images of combat can cross the line into pornography. People die in war, but we must never forget that each casualty is a human being, even people as deserving of death as Al Qaeda. Denying our opponents’ humanity, we lose a little of our own.

When someone’s grandmother disseminates the photo of Major Beiger cradling a dying girl in his arms, I allow the usage because I feel she is trying to share the human tragedy. When Michael Moore puts that same photo on his web site, alongside images of George Bush, John McCain and Hillary Clinton, the clear implication is that Farah’s death is their fault. That is a misrepresentation of the facts on the ground, as well as the story of the photo. Farah was killed by a suicide car bomb in Mosul on May 2, 2005. Major Bieger and other soldiers literally risked their own lives to save many children and adults that day, but Farah didn’t make it. Michael Moore apparently does not understand – or refuses to acknowledge – the moral distinction between a man who would murder innocent people, and a man who would sacrifice himself to save them. The photo, as I took it, is the truth, but Moore uses it – illegally – to convey falsehoods. His mind is that of a political propagandist who sees Farah’s death not as a human tragedy, but a tool.

Hey, as long as Mikey can sell his shitty movies and books and keep on making himself even more millions, what the hell does he care?

Somewhere in a penthouse in New York Michael Moore is feeling ill!

President-elect Obama has chosen Dr. Sanjay Gupta as the new Surgeon General when his term begins this month.  You might remember Dr. Gupta from his criticisms of Moore’s propaganda film, er, “documentary” Sicko:

CNN’s Gupta Fact Checks Moore’s Sicko

and his on air debate with the corpulent one over the “facts” of the film:

You tube video of the Gupta/Moore debate over Sicko

Is it any surprise that Moore would not only question, but criticize and attack such a choice?  Check out his website for the numerous references to the decision by Obama:

MichaelMoore.com

Considering the vast knowledge and wisdom of Moore and that fact that according to him we should never question anything HE says, what could someone like Dr. Gupta possibly offer as the Surgeon General?  Well, a lot it seems according to some sources such as U.S. News and World Report:

Gupta, a surgeon and assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University (where he still cares for patients), would bring to the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services unique talents unrivaled by any of the prior 17 surgeons general going back to 1871. Among them are his truly outstanding health communication skills and the fact that he is already a trusted figure in many people’s living rooms on all matters of health and disease—particularly on the major national heath problems that are within the domain of the surgeon general.

But what about the problems facing veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan?  Surely this “quack” wouldn’t know how to address THOSE issues!  Or would he?:

Speaking of wars, Gupta gained some unique battlefield exposure as an embedded correspondent in Iraq with a U.S. Navy medical unit dubbed the “Devil Docs.” He will no doubt bring to the job a perspective on military health eminently helpful to his office as the Iraq War winds down and thousands of men and women return to civilian life carrying with them their wartime experiences and sometimes residual illnesses.

So why would anyone criticize such a choice?  Apparently, it’s because of the fact that Dr. Gupta had the audacity to actually question the “infallible” Moore on the so-called facts in his film “Sicko”.  Consider the criticism from the New York Times’ Paul Krugman:

I don’t have a problem with Gupta’s qualifications. But I do remember his mugging of Michael Moore over Sicko. You don’t have to like Moore or his film; but Gupta specifically claimed that Moore “fudged his facts”, when the truth was that on every one of the allegedly fudged facts, Moore was actually right and CNN was wrong.

So what’s wrong if Dr. Gupta accused Moore of “fudging the facts”?  Which of course, Moore would NEVER do? 

Gupta didn’t say “Michael Moore is an annoying blowhard”; he didn’t say “We question his interpretation of the evidence”; he said he “fudged the facts”. In other words, he accused Moore of lying. That’s a very strong accusation, which had better be backed by solid evidence. Instead, we had CNN misreading a number from Moore; CNN objecting to Moore using a projected health care spending number for 2007 instead of an actual number for 2005 (and the projection was right, by the way); CNN accusing Moore of not showing a number that was in fact right there in the movie. And Gupta did not apologize, except for the misread number.

Huh, so making strong accusations without solid evidence is wrong and therefore brings a person’s integrity into question?  Really?  So can Mr. Krugman or anyone else who defends Moore’s propaganda and cherry picking of information repackaged to push Moore’s agenda tell me what kind of “solid evidence” Moore EVER provides to support his accusations against anyone and everyone he’s ever attacked or accused of wrongdoing?

To be honest, I really don’t care about Dr. Gupta’s qualifications as Surgeon General.  After all, what does the Surgeon General do anyway except provide warnings about stuff we already know is unhealthy?  Does the Surgeon General have the power to directly influence or personally change medical policies or the health care system in our country?  I’m just tickled that Obama, the man that Moore has praised and glorified and taken personal credit for helping to get elected has made a decision that pisses Moore off so badly.  Although I didn’t vote for Obama and still have reservations about how he is going to handle crisis in our country when all he really won the election on was charm and cult of personality, I am really looking forward to see how many of the liberal/democrat flock of sheep start questioning him and are forced to eat crow in front of the rest of us.  It looks like Dr. Gupta is the first appetizer!

Explosively Good Medicine

Meet the doctor.

NHS doctor Bilal Abdulla, who tried to blow up a London nightclub and Glasgow airport, will serve a minimum of 32 years after a judge condemned his “murderous intent” to maim and kill.

Mr Justice Mackay told Bilal Abdulla, 29, he was a “ very dangerous man” who posed a high risk to the British public

He said he had no doubt that Abdulla and his accomplice Kafeel Ahmed, 28, who died a month after the attacks, were planning to “kill innocent civilians on an indiscriminate basis.”

Both men shared equal responsibility, he added, but they may have had “external encouragement.”

Abdulla, a junior doctor from Iraq, and Ahmed, a PhD student from India, tried to set off two car bombs outside the Tiger Tiger night club in London’s West End and when they failed to go off drove a burning Jeep into Glasgow airport in June last year.

The judge said the nails added to the London bombs demonstrated Abdulla’s deadly intent and the car had been parked next to a the glass wall of the nightclub for maximum effect.

He said: “Your murderous intent was best shown by the obstructing of the safety mechanisms on two of the cylinders and by the 800-plus nails in one car and 1,000 in the second, designed to do nothing else but constitute a deadly form of shrapnel to maim, injure and kill.

“The club represented everything that you and Ahmed held in contempt and despised about Western culture - drink, association between the sexes, and music.”

Michael Moore fans will be thrilled to know that Dr. Abdulla’s medical care was provided free by the British government.

Moore is Right.  And Wrong

You just knew the media was going to have to probe the wisdom of the creator of Roger and Me on the auto industry bailout.  But, surprisingly, Moore actually says something right!  Yeah, I know you don’t believe it.  Here it is:

I’ll tell you, it was hilarious just watching these CEOs there (Tuesday) and (Wednesday) testifying in Congress, saying that, you know, that the problem wasn’t theirs, you know, the cars they were building. It was the financial situation that we’re in now.

The problem is the cars they’ve been building. They’ve never listened to the consumers. They’ve just gone about it their own wrong way. I’ll tell you, you know, I’m of mixed mind about this bailout, Larry, because I don’t think these companies, with these management people, should be given a dime, because that’s just going to be money going up in smoke or off to other countries.

GM is currently building a $300 million factory in Russia right now to build SUVs, right outside of St. Petersburg. That’s where your money’s going to go, no matter what they say.

Now, granted, he thinks their big problem is building cars overseas rather than here.  He makes no mention of American companies paying 50% more per hour than other companies thanks to union benefits and featherbedding.  And his cure is, if anything, worse than the disease:

President-Elect Obama has to say to them, yes, we’re going to use this money to save these jobs, but we’re not going to build these gas-guzzling, unsafe vehicles any longer.

We’re going to put the companies into some sort of receivership and we, the government, are going to hold the reigns on these companies. They’re to build mass transit. They’re to build hybrid cars. They’re to build cars that use little or no gasoline.

We’re facing a national crisis, not just an economic crisis, but a crisis of the polar ice caps are melting. There’s only so much oil left under the Earth. We’re going to run out of that, if not in our children’s time, our grandchildren’s time.

There’s got to be a plan set out to find other ways to transport ourselves in other ways than using fossil fuels.

Yes, Barack Obama, who drives an SUV, certainly has the expertise to turn around a flailing industry.  With his degrees in Business Management, Engineering and Chemistry, he’s the perfect man to run this industry. One day, we can look forward to the auto industry being run with the same skill and efficiency with which the government runs Amtrak.

But let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.  Mikey said something right.  He was due to say something right at some point this year as one correct statement per year is his established performance level.  And we, at Moorewatch, are nothing if not fair.

Moore Cries A River

If Michael Moore is indeed changing his movie to a paen to Barack Obama, I can save you the effort of seeing it.  Just read his hysterical open letter.

Who among us is not at a loss for words? Tears pour out. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. A stunning, whopping landslide of hope in a time of deep despair.

In a nation that was founded on genocide and then built on the backs of slaves, it was an unexpected moment, shocking in its simplicity: Barack Obama, a good man, a black man, said he would bring change to Washington, and the majority of the country liked that idea. The racists were present throughout the campaign and in the voting booth. But they are no longer the majority, and we will see their flame of hate fizzle out in our lifetime.

Oh, it gets better.

Moore’s new movie… version 2.0

I know I said in the comments to the previous post I would have this up a couple of days ago - I apologize for the delay. WotLK has me a bit under it’s spell… ;)

Remember the announcements a few months ago about Moore’s new film, the sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11? You know, the one he’s been shooting for a good couple of months? Well… he’s still shooting it… it just isn’t a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11 anymore. Anyone else confused? Cinematical seems to be as well:

By now we all know that Michael Moore doesn’t make documentaries like our grandfathers did. He’s a master of polemics, using his films to rail against corporations, guns, governments, insurance companies, and whatever else riles up his David vs. Goliath sensibility. When his most recent project was announced in May, it was described as a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11 that would “tackle what’s going on in the world and America’s place in it,” as pointed out by The Hollywood Reporter. Now, however, THR says the film will focus on “the global financial crisis and the U.S. economy.”

Moore is still “feverishly shooting” and it’s hoped the film will be ready for release next spring. At first blush, though, it sounds like he decided to make the mid-project adjustment in reaction to (or in anticipation of) the Democrats’ victory. Without Bush to bash, and without the Republican Party in control of Congress, how much mileage could he get out of criticizing U.S. foreign policy with a new President steering a (presumably) different course?

So.... let me see if I have this right. Moore has COMPLETELY changed the topic of his film. It was going to be a polemic that railed against US foreign policy, and now it’s going to be an study of our economic crisis. These are two completely and totally different topics… and yet Moore isn’t stopping his filming or scraping his footage. Somehow he’s going to make all the footage he’s shot about foreign policy now work for and focus on the economy.

.... ummmm...... anyone else confused about how he could possibly pull that one off without coming to both projects with very similar theses, preconceptions and foregone conclusions? Me either. I think Cinematical states the problem quite well:

Unlike many documentary filmmakers, Moore appears to start with a conclusion on his projects and then search for footage to back it up. Documentarians often say they don’t really ‘find’ their film, or discover the story, until they’re knee-deep in editing, but it doesn’t sound like Moore works that way. Which doesn’t mean his films lack meaning or substance or entertainment value, just that they’re more like personal essays than traditional docs.

According to THR, Moore is now saying that the project is less a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11 and more of a bookend to Roger & Me. What more could he say, though, about corporations and big business than he already has? When he endorsed Barack Obama in April, he wrote: “Corporate America is not going to give up their hold on our government just because we say so.” Maybe he wants to hold their feet to the fire until they burst into flame.

If all Moore does is bitch about the economy and complain about corporations, I don’t think it’ll be a very welcome message.

Well said.

I open to the floor to you fine ladies and gentlemen. Thoughts? Comments? Opinions? What do you think about this sudden and drastic turn in Moore’s agenda?

Why I have gone silent

A commenter recently bemoaned the lack of this site’s activity.  Well...I take much of the blame for that.  I have had the politics beaten out of me on *every* front long before the election.  This is NOT about Obama’s victory.  I gave up on my personal politics/oriented blog for the most part about 6 months ago.  This place sucked the joy out of me a year ago.  I cannot seem to find it again.  The fire that drives me to want to rail against the shit I see is still burning...but it’s a small coal, buried under a pile of ash.  I cannot imagine it will stay dormant forever, especially in an administration that will likely try to implement some of the things Mikey loves (to happen to other people), like stealing via outrageous taxes from anyone who works for more than a living wage and populist crap like bread and circuses.  Free money for all!  Tax the rich until there are no rich anymore, it’s only fair!  Mike will hide his wealth in all sorts of tax shelters, I’m sure, paying the bare minimum the government requires while advocating that all of you who make more than you need to pay your bills and buy his DVDs give up all disposable income to help those who make less.  He’s nothing if not consistently inconsistent.

See?  I still have a little fire in there.  Enough to make me mad on occasion.  :) Anyway, I apologize for the lack of activity.  If you feel like you have something you’d like to see on the front page, email me and we can talk about making you an author on the site.  if you are already an author...please feel free to post about anything Mikey brings up on his site.  I understand he’s been one unbearable prick lately.  :)

A Corny Argument

A few weeks ago the lovely DonnaK posted a list of Mikey’s latest idiocies, as well as her critique of them.  One particularly stuck out in my mind.

Proposal Three: Ban high fructose corn syrup. “And I will be the poster boy of that campaign.” Earlier in his lecture, Moore suggested that corn syrup’s historical dominance as a sweetener was a result of government collusion with large agribusinesses.

This is, simply put, one of the most retarded things he has ever said.  The EXACT OPPOSITE is true.  The prevalence of HFCS is a direct result of government interfering in the free market, and it was implement by the Grand Socialist himself FDR.  Here’s what I wrote FOUR YEARS AGO on my personal blog regarding this issue.

There’s one aspect to this that this article neglected to mention.  The next time you buy a Coke look at the ingredients.  You won’t see sugar, you’ll see “high fructose corn syrup.” This is sugar syrup made from corn, and it’s used in almost everything.  Why?  Because the high tariffs on imported sugar inflate the price to such a high level that using corn syrup is far less expensive.  The main group lobbying for these high sugar tariffs is a corporation called Archer Daniels Midland.  Why should ADM care about sugar tariffs?  Because, you guessed it, ADM are the makers of, among other things, high fructose corn syrup.  There’s absolutely no reason that Coca Cola couldn’t be made, as it used to be, with sugar, except for the artificially high price caused by government interference in free trade. 

To put it in simple terms, the government puts tariffs on imported sugar in order to keep the price artificially high.  (I have heard estimates that sugar is five to ten times more expensive than it would be if subject to market forces.) The makers of HFCS only have to make their product a penny or two cheaper than sugar to make it an economically attractive alternative.  Coca Cola alone must save millions, of not billions, of dollars by saving those few pennies with each batch of Coke they produce. 

Why is business able to collude with government?  If government were to get out of the sugar price support business, and let the market decide, you would have fewer products using HFCS because sugar would immediately drop in price.  What Mikey is proposing with his ban on HFCS is treating the symptom, not the disease itself.  If the government were not involved in sugar prices, then there would be no avenue for business to collude with them to keep the price of sugar high.  Mike is therefore correct in stating that it is collusion between agribusiness and government, but he implies some kind of corporate conspiracy, when the simple solution is to just end all farm subsidies once and for all.

So, let’s look at this in the context of the current election.  Cato has a great post up about the policy proposals of the specific candidates regarding this very issue.

In an article in today’s Congress Daily, key sugar lobby groups praised Senator Obama’s newfound enthusiasm for the U.S. sugar program. As a senator from the candy-making state of Illinois, he was none too fond of the price supports and import restrictions that raised input prices for factories in his state.

Not anymore. In a letter to sugar groups, Senator Obama gave assurances that while he “has concerns” with the program, he would listen to and work with them to “reward [their] hard work with policies that will keep [their] industry and your communities strong”. Oh dear.

One former lobbyist pointed out that “…the candidate now “represents a broader range of interest” than when he was a state legislator…[and] added that Obama has never voted against the sugar program and supported the 2008 Farm Bill.” McCain, on the other hand, would likely have lost the support of formerly Republican-leaning farmers because “…[he] has consistently opposed the program and agreed with President Bush’s decision to veto the Farm Bill.” Another lobbyist said that “Sen. McCain seems to want to radically alter [the farm safety net].”

Thus McCain’s policies would achieve the result that Mikey wants, fewer people using products sweetened with HFCS.  And Obama, with his socialist proclivities, will work to keep this very same collusion between agribusiness and government in place.

See, the issue here is that Michael Moore is a died-in-the-wool socialist.  Add to that the fact that his admirers are, generally, not the brightest people in the world.  All you have to do is mention the word “corporation” and it’s like you said “child rapist.” The solution is clear—if you want to avoid collusion between business and government, get the fucking government out of business.  As long as government retains the power to keep price subsides in place, corporations will always have an interest in making sure that government stays there.  It’s much easier to make a few campaign contributions to key legislators than it is to, y’know, actually compete in a free and open market.

Hawaii Bye Bye

It’s hard times for the kiddies in Hawaii.

Hawaii is dropping the only state universal child health care program in the country just seven months after it launched.

Gov. Linda Lingle’s administration cited budget shortfalls and other available health care options for eliminating funding for the program. A state official said families were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.

“People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free,” said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. “I don’t believe that was the intent of the program.”

What?  How can this be?  You mean that when the government provides something for free it provides an incentive for people to take advantage of the system?  My God, who could have ever dreamed of such a thing!

State health officials argued that most of the children enrolled in the universal child care program previously had private health insurance, indicating that it was helping those who didn’t need it.

This is why universal health insurance is such a bad idea.  It encourages people to do things that they normally wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) do.

Update Here’s a quote, generally attributed to Alexander Fraser Tytler which so perfectly predicts and illustrates this dynamic.

“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

• From bondage to spiritual faith;
• From spiritual faith to great courage;
• From courage to liberty;
• From liberty to abundance;
• From abundance to complacency;
• From complacency to apathy;
• From apathy to dependence;
• From dependence back into bondage.

This is why I’m a Libertarian, and why the less government we have in our lives the better.  Nobody will listen, though.  They’ll keep on looking at the ample teat of government as a place to suckle for free, always expecting other people to pay for things they should be doing themselves.  When you remove the incentive for responsible behavior you end up with citizens behaving irresponsibly.

Which, I’m sure, would NEVER happen in Michael Moore’s fantasy healthcare utopia, would it?

Moore’s new movie getting some downloaders in hot water

Everyone hang on to your seats… I’m about to defend Michael Moore. ;)

Cinema Blend has a hot button article up on their site accusing Moore of a few things. The most important allegation of theirs is that Moore was trying to get the people outside the US and Canada who downloaded “Slacker Uprising” through his site in legal trouble. To be completely fair to Cinema Blend and to ensure that I don’t quote anything out of context, I’m going to republish their article in its entirety.

First of all, the idea that Moore would want to get people who wanted to see one of his movies in trouble with the law deliberately seems more than a bit far-fetched to me. Moore’s all about getting people to see him, hear him, watch him, believe in him. Why would he intentionally alienate a single one of his fans, even if they aren’t US citizens? It just doesn’t make sense.

Secondly, Moore doesn’t own the international distribution copyrights for “Slacker Uprising”. Brave New Films does. They get to decide who outside the US and Canada get to download Moore’s movie, not Moore himself. And if they don’t want the movie floating around internationally, they legally must make a showing that they intend to protect their copyright or they could be accused of abandoning it. By suing people and companies who are downloading or distributing “Slacker Uprising” in other countries they are simply protecting what is legally theirs and making a proper legally showing. Michael Moore isn’t part of this equation since the copyright isn’t his. He simply cannot be blamed for this one.

Thirdly, and perhaps more importantly, Moore told everyone in his letter of September 22nd, 2008 that this movie was only available for download in the US and Canada. He said it plainly, albeit perhaps not overly clearly, that this download was only available to US and Canadian citizens: “That’s why I’m giving you my blanket permission to not only download it, but also to email it, burn it, and share it with anyone and everyone (in the U.S. and Canada only).”. HE TOLD EVERYONE. He gave proper notice to those outside the US that this download was not for them. He did his legal duty and I cannot find fault with him on this front.

Now, I will agree with Cinema Blend on one point. Moore really should have made sure that either this movie was available throughout the world or he should have worked out a deal with his distributors to make it so before the lawsuits came flooding down on his fans. However, to lay the blame for this problem at Moore’s feet is wrong. He doesn’t own the international copyrights and he did give notice that the download was only available to the US and Canada.

There are plenty of reasons to dislike Moore. I personally see no need to invent ones that have no real merit, and this one doesn’t.

The response to Moore’s latest book and movie offerings

In answer to your first unspoken question - no, I have not yet seen Moore’s newest free movie, “Slacker Uprising”, nor have I read his book “Mike’s Election Guide”. In answer to your second unspoken question - yes, I do plan on watching the movie but not reading the book. So, since I have no first hand knowledge about the quality of either of Moore’s newest products, I have to turn to the Internet to see how the rest of the world seems to feel about them. The reponse? It’s mixed, but in general things the reviews tend to sound like this:

From The National Review about “Mike’s Election Guide”:

Well, at least he’s spared the local cineplex.

Michael Moore didn’t really bother trying to influence this election with another documentary — his new film, Slacker Uprising, is online-only and merely a travelogue of his 2004 anti-Bush tour — so instead he’s tossed off a book, Mike’s Election Guide. With Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004, Moore at least tried to make a case for voting against Bush, even if it was all conspiratorial nonsense. This time around, Moore’s just been lazy. He’s actually published a book straight-up telling people how to vote.

Given that Moore is a leftist radical given to astounding acts of greed-driven hypocrisy, it’s pretty presumptuous (even for him) to publish an election guide. Let’s face it: Asking Michael Moore to tell you how to vote is like asking Stevie Wonder to drive you to the airport — no good can come of it and ultimately you’re to blame. Now let’s get something out of the way — Mike’s Election Guide is a lame bit of cultural detritus that every living thing can and should safely ignore.

Ouch. I will admit that was one of the harsher reviews I read, but the tenor is about the same all around. But maybe “Slacker Uprising” is faring better after it’s dismal premiere at TIFF last spring? Let’s see:

From MLive.com:

Thankfully, the title has been changed for the better. But the 102-minute film isn’t up to snuff as far as Moore’s films go. It’s a straightforward and repetitive travelogue, consisting primarily of footage of Moore stirring up large audiences with anti-George W. Bush polemics, and introducing celebrity guests, from the sublime (Eddie Vedder) to the shrill (Roseanne Barr). In between, he splices bits of newscasts covering his speeches, which were often subject to Republican vitriol, and fly-on-the-wall scenes of Moore chastising the media at press conferences.

Regardless of what side of the partisan divide you fall, it’s easy to see with Moore’s previous work — “Roger and Me,” “Bowling for Columbine” — that he’s a talented filmmaker and satirist. Those expecting his wit and behind-the-camera skill will be disappointed with “Slacker Uprising” — it’s visually inert, and lacks the by-turns snarky and poignant first-person narration Moore usually provides.

From Emory Wheel:

Where “Slacker Uprising” truly fails is in its lack of organization. The film almost completely abandons the structure of his earlier work, replacing it with the loose, unpredictable structure of a 1970s variety show. It has numerous musical numbers and mediocre guest stars like comedienne Roseanne Barr, who fails to amuse a hefty portion of the on-film audience.

A select few of these musical numbers make for some of the strongest moments in the movie. Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam’s infamous frontman, delivers an inspired acoustic cover of Cat Stevens’ “Don’t Be Shy,” while Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame delivers an uncharacteristic acoustic performance.

These pleasant musical interludes do little more than break up the monotony of speeches — and sometimes they don’t even do that.

When R.E.M. and Anti-Flag take the stage, it is only to deliver more speeches, not to play any of their hits. While the appearance of these very political bands is fitting, especially in a youth-heavy setting, the lack of musical performance is quite disappointing.

Moore’s first-person narration is also absent, making the film feel much less personal than his previous works. Combined with the amount of footage that shows Moore being mobbed by his adoring public, this causes the film to feel a bit like a self-congratulatory pat on the back.

Ouch again. It doesn’t seem that Moore is faring too well with either his book or his movie. If anyone in our audience has seen or read either product, please comment and let me know what you thought. I mean… it *can’t* be that bad...... can it?

What in the world is Michael Moore thinking?

Normally I try to be as unbiased and non-judgmental as possible when I’m reporting on the letters or speeches Michael Moore delivers. However, this particular speech, delivered at the premiere of Slacker Uprising in Ann Arbor, goes so far over the top that I find myself questioning if Moore is either playing an enormous practical joke or he’s really lost his way somehow. Before the screening of his new “free” movie (that he is of course selling copies of for those who don’t download… so much for free for all!), Moore offered seven “modest suggestions” for Barrack Obama should he in fact win the presidential election. The “suggestions” range from the potentially practical to mildly amusing to the rather offensive to the downright ridiculous. I seriously can’t do this justice. Here… read the synopsis for yourself:

Proposal One: Institute a military draft, but only for the children of the top five percent of wage earners in the country. “I am convinced that if they have to send their own kids off to war, there won’t be any wars,” Moore said.

Proposal Two: Sign into law congressman John Conyer’s universal health-care legislation (HR676). “The Obama health plan is no good. The McCain health plan is really, really no good,” Moore said, explaining that on this issue, his support for Obama comes down to the “lesser of two evils.”

Proposal Three: Ban high fructose corn syrup. “And I will be the poster boy of that campaign.” Earlier in his lecture, Moore suggested that corn syrup’s historical dominance as a sweetener was a result of government collusion with large agribusinesses.

Proposal Four: Build wells in the developing nations to provide clean drinking water for all. Moore says it will cost $10 billion to dig wells in villages. “We’re going to spend $12 billion on Iraq in this month alone. $12 billion. One month of Iraq and the entire world can have clean drinking water. What is our problem?”

Proposal Five: Remove the $102,000 income cap on the social security tax. “If you make over 102,000 a year, do you realize the people in that category do not pay one dime on wages they earn over $102,000 ... Why shouldn’t they have to pay the same six-and-half to seven percent rate that you have to pay on 100 percent or your income?” Moore cited former presidential candidate Chris Dodd, who said that if the cap was lifted, the resulting income would be able to fund social security for 75 years. He also told the audience to remind their neighbors that President Bush wanted to “put social security in the hands of Wall Street five years ago ... We’d all be Lehman Brothers.”

Proposal Six: Change the way we do elections. Moore offered several suggestions, including holding elections on the weekend so that more people can get to the polls, allowing multiple parties access to the debates and discarding voting machines in favor of paper ballots.

Proposal Seven: Change the Pledge of Allegiance to reflect “the America we all believe in.” Moore closed his lecture by reading his proposed pledge: “I pledge allegiance to the people of the United States of America / and to the republic for which we stand / one nation, part of one world / with liberty and justice for all.”

I’m.... speechless. Truly speechless. Band high fructose corn syrup? Draft only the children of the rich? CHANGE THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE???  I’m telling you… if Obama has friends like this he certainly needs no enemies. If Moore et al keep these types of stunts up I predict McCain will have no problems at all winning in November.

*shakes head*

Canadian Hands

At one point, during the promotional period for Sicko, Michael Moore said something to the effect of, “Do you think you could find anyone in Canada who would trade their healthcare system for ours?” (If you can remember the exact quote please post a link or, if you’re a fellow poster, put it as an update.) At any rate, recently there was a debate held over universal healthcare, and one of the panelists arguing in favor of it was Paul Krugman, liberal economist and New York Times columnist.  Here’s a portion of an exchange from the debate.

PAUL KRUGMAN
And private insurance? That’s the thing, I— Actually, can I just —I wanted to ask a question. And—

JOHN DONVAN [MODERATOR]
Please—please do—

PAUL KRUGMAN
—and I wanted to ask, actually two questions, to the audience. First, how many Canadians, would Canadians in the room please raise your hands. [ONE PERSON APPLAUDS, LAUGHTER]

JOHN DONVAN
We have about seven hands going up—

PAUL KRUGMAN
Okay, not as many as I thought. Okay, of those of you who are not on the panel who are Canadians,, how many of you think you have a terrible health care system. [PAUSE] One, two—

JOHN DONVAN
We see—almost all of the same hands going up. [LAUGHTER]

PAUL KRUGMAN
Bad move on my part. [APPLAUSE]

Remember, folks, Canada is a utopia where everyone gets all the super awesome magical unicorn healthcare they need, and only evil rich corporations pay for it.

Ping!  Fundraiser reminder

First of all, thank you SO much to every person that has already donated to the server fund.  Some of you did it anonymously, and some of you let me know.  Either way is cool, but those of you who let me know who you are...I’m trying to figure out something cool with which I can thank you.  At the very least I will address each of you individually, as I have developed at least that much class over the years. Well...almost.

As I said the last time, if you think we’re worth a few bucks...please hit the tip jar.  It’s not an emergency, it’s just a bit of a rough patch and this server never gets cheaper.  It never gets more expensive, thankfully, but it never gets cheaper.

All we’re asking for is a small contribution.  Think of it like buying us a pizza...or a couple of microbrews.  Just a few bucks to get the monkey called Softlayer (our hosting provider) off our backs.

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As always...you rock.

It’s fundraising time…

People, you have no idea how little I want to write this post.  I have been putting it off forever, but numbers are numbers, and numbers don’t lie.  My numbers are telling me that I need to once again ask for the support and generosity of the readers of the blogs on our server.

If you read anything by me, Lee, any of the guys at MOA, Moorewatch or Right-Thinking or anyone else we host, and you think we’re worth a few bucks...please hit the tip jar.  It’s not an emergency, no one is dying, no one is losing their house, although our house is part of it - our tax bill went up because our house is worth more, so our mortgage escrow is short and you homeowners know what that means!  Monkeys on backs.

All we’re asking for is a small contribution.  Think of it like buying us a pizza...or a couple of microbrews.  Just a few bucks to get the monkey called Softlayer (our hosting provider) off our backs.

You people are awesome, and have always treated us well.  I hope that every reader of this site knows I appreciate the years of posting, comments and general yacking we’ve all done.

Mkey’s Got A Brand New Film

Um, OK:

Inspired by Neil Young and Radiohead, Michael Moore will release his new film online and for free.

The film, “Slacker Uprising,” follows Moore’s 62-city tour during the 2004 election to rally young voters. It will be available for three weeks as a free download to North American residents, beginning Sept. 23. An official announcement of the film is planned for Friday.

Moore said he considered releasing “Slacker Uprising” theatrically as “Michael Moore’s big election year movie” as he did with 2004’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which was highly critical of President Bush.

Instead, Moore opted for a symbol of gratitude to his fans as he approaches the 20th anniversary of his first film, 1989’s “Roger & Me.”

“I thought it’d be a nice way to celebrate my 20th year of doing this,” Moore said. “And also help get out the vote for November. I’ve been thinking about what I want to do to help with the election this year.”

Wait.  Wasn’t this “Captain Mike”?  I’m confused.  I guess you might as well release it for free since it’s likely that no one will pay to see it.

But this is what makes life beautiful:

The 97-minute long “Slacker Uprising” will be the first major film to be released in such a way. Last December, “Jackass 2.5” was streamed online and for free, but that was only a collection of left over material from “Jackass 2.” Companies like ClickStar, which Morgan Freeman co-founded, have made films still in theaters — such as 2006’s “10 Items or Less” — digitally available for purchase or rental.

Jackass 2.5.  Slacker Uprising.  If the symmetry were any more perfect, I suspect one of us would burst into tears.

The good thing about the film being free is that we can now watch it without having to give Michael a penny.  Maybe we should have a Moorewatch festival complete with drinking game.  To steal a line from P.J. O’Rourke, you just turn the movie on and boy, do you need a drink.

Fred Thompson give Moore something to think about

This was just so funny that I had to share it with you all. PJTV caught up with Fred Thompson last night at the RNC and asked him about Moore’s statements in the last week. Thompson’s reaction was simply priceless. Here, just watch:

Classic. I wonder what Moore’s response will be to this one? ;)

Moore apparently doesn’t know when to quit

Yep… you guessed it. Another letter. This one’s for Joe Lieberman, who, as an “Independent Democrat” from Connecticut dared to speak at the RNC last night urging Democrats, Independants and Republicans alike to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket. During the speech Lieberman made a passing reference to Moore, saying “...if John McCain is just another partisan Republican, then I’m Michael Moore’s favorite Democrat.  And I’m not. And I think you know that I’m not.”

Well… I guess that was enough for Moore to cry foul. You see, it’s okay if he relentlessly attacks people over and over and over again. But if you even mention his name in a speech, then you’re a horrible person for attacking him and why would you be wasting time doing it anyway? He’s just a harmless little filmmaker, don’t ya know!

Enough commentary from me. Here’s the letter, as before, in it’s entirety. You be the judge.

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

Dear Joe:

John McCain IS just another partisan Republican—so that must mean you ARE my favorite Democrat!

But how can you be my favorite Democrat when you are no longer a Democrat? This is very confusing. I was in the middle of taking out the garbage and, all of a sudden, there you were, trash-talking me in front of thousands of cheering (mostly) white people on TV.

What is it with you and your Republican friends always bringing me up? Can’t you stop thinking about me? It’s starting to sound like a fetish! Stop it! Four years ago at the last Republican Convention, John McCain, in his convention speech, also trashed me, calling me a “disingenuous filmmaker” because I called all of you out in “Fahrenheit 9/11.” The crowd at Madison Square Garden went berserk. McCain didn’t know I was sitting above him in the press box, and the crowd wouldn’t stop screaming at me, so I flashed them the “Big L” loser sign and, well, nine of New York’s finest had to help me get out of there alive.

With all the problems facing the world, why is valuable time being wasted reviewing a movie and attacking a filmmaker? And now you, Joe, tonight. Do you think you’re energizing the “base” by attacking me? Better take a look at the scoreboard. While your side has spent years trying to make me the boogeyman, let’s see how it’s worked:

** 2006 Congressional elections: Republicans lose 30 seats in the House and 6 seats in the Senate;

** States That Have Lost a Republican Governor (and elected a Democrat) since 2002: Kansas, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Tennessee—EACH ONE OF THEM A RED STATE!;

** Latest Gallup Poll: Obama hit 50% yesterday for the first time for either candidate, 8 points ahead of McCain!

Do you see the trend?

Putting me in your convention speeches, attacking me nonstop on talk radio and Fox News—and thinking that this helps you—shows just how out of touch you all are.

Two-thirds of the country agree with my position on the war, two-thirds of the country agree with my position on a single-payer universal health care system, two-thirds believe in some form of gun control—name the documentary, pick the issue, and the American public agrees with Michael Moore. So get over me, will ya? You’re only hurting yourself. And I’ve got to finish taking out the garbage.

“… if John McCain is just another partisan Republican, then I’m Michael Moore’s favorite Democrat. And I’m not. And I think you know that I’m not.” Now click your heels together and say, “There’s no place like home on the Republican minority side of the aisle.”

Yours,
Michael Moore
[email protected]
MichaelMoore.com

Another letter from Moore

Wow… he just doesn’t know when to keep his trap shut, does he? First McCain was doing the decent thing by trying to postpone the RNC due to Hurricane Gustav… now he was just using it for “political advantage”. Moore says he thinks the children of the candidates should be off limits… and then backhandedly insults Bristol Palin and Sarah Palin by extension. He makes completely false statements about her stances on issues and even implies she won’t be on the ticket in two weeks. And of course the McCain insults never stop.

Classy. Once again, the above is all of the commentary I will make. I present to you the letter in full below - you make the call.

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

Well, I guess God got my email and answered my prayer. Man, the power of the Internet! He even emailed me back! I’ll share that with you in the next few days. Proof there is a God in heaven? Never explain comedy or satire or the ironic comment. Those who get it, get it. Those who don’t, never will…

John McCain said “it’s time to take our Republican hats off and put our American hats on.” Really? It would have been nice if Sen. McCain had put on his American hat in the three years since Katrina. Just so no one is fooled by all his fake concern for the people on the Gulf Coast, let’s look at his record post-Katrina, compliments of Chris Hayes of The Nation:

If (McCain) cared about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast he could have done something these past three years. He could have made Gulf Reconstruction his issue, he could have excoriated his party for pushing federal dollars into the hands of cronies, for providing inadequate resources, for allowing the further destruction of the wetlands that serve as the only natural barrier to storm surges. He could have taken on the insurance companies that have been serially screwing the residents of the gulf. But he was too busy pushing for more troops, and more war and running for president.

Instead this is his record [via Mother Jones]:

Though McCain issued a statement the next week (after Katrina) calling on Congress to make sacrifices in order to fund recovery efforts, he was quoted in The New Leader on September 1 [2005] cautioning against over-spending in support of Katrina’s victims. “We also have to be concerned about future generations of Americans,” he said. “We’re going to end up with the highest deficit, probably, in the history of this country.”

That attitude was borne out in McCain’s actions and votes. Forty Senators and 100 members of Congress visited New Orleans before he did; he finally got there in March 2006. He voted against establishing a Congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local responses to Katrina in med-September 2005. He repeated that vote in 2006. He voted against allowing up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits to people affected by the hurricane, and in 2006 voted against appropriating $109 billion in supplemental emergency funding, including $28 billion for hurricane relief.

So honestly, it’s an insult to watch him make a show of concern now. ...

The possibility of a storm (a storm that never hit New Orleans, and was no longer a hurricane by last night) was enough for McCain to essentially cancel most of the first day of the convention. Cut and run? The AP reported yesterday that conventions have always been held when the nation was facing perilous moments. Right smack in the middle of World War II, the Republicans and the Democrats both held full conventions. Thousands of Americans were being killed every week. The Republicans held their convention in Chicago less than two weeks after D-Day. No one faulted them for that. In fact, it made Americans feel good that, no matter what happens, NOTHING stops Democracy. No retreat, no surrender…

So McCain and company used the hurricane for political advantage, to have an excuse to not have Bush and Cheney live and in person in St. Paul (Bush will appear Tuesday night via satellite). And he used the hurricane as a chance to release a potentially controversial story in the hopes that the hurricane would dominate the news and not many would notice. One hour after Gustav hit land, the McCain campaign announced that Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter is pregnant. I don’t want to say much more beyond this, as I agree with Barack Obama that “people’s families are off limits, and people’s children are especially off limits.”

I do feel very sorry that this minor, this child, now has to have her privacy sacrificed because her mother accepted an offer to run for VP. Obama’s right—the children are off limits. I remember when John McCain cruelly trashed Chelsea Clinton when she was a child in the White House. He told reporters that she was “ugly” “because Janet Reno is her father.” Of course, McCain would like us now to accord Palin’s daughter the respect he wouldn’t give Chelsea.

This does not mean that a discussion about the stupidity of “abstinence-only” sex ed classes is off the table; nor should we not talk about the right of a teenager to terminate a pregnancy (a right that has been essentially eliminated as the Supreme Court believes forcing a child to have a child against its will is not a form a child abuse), or Gov. Palin’s desire to make abortion illegal for anyone who is raped, a victim of incest or who may die if they bring the fetus to term. She’s “proud” of her daughter’s “decision to have her baby.” Uh-huh. Ok…

Word comes tonight that McCain’s people lied about Palin being vetted—the FBI has admitted they did NOT vet her. So McCain has dispatched ten operatives and investigators to Alaska to find out if there’s anything else that’s about to hit the fan regarding his veep pick, a woman he had run into only once in his life and then called her on her cell phone two weeks ago at the Alaska State Fair. That was it before she made the short list and was selected. McCain’s radar—honed perhaps during his own self-admitted indiscretionary phase of his life—is telling him there’s more to the Palin story. You mean things like her support of the Alaska Secessionist Party or being one of the directors of recently-arrested Sen. Ted Stevens’ political action groups? Heck, I dunno. We shall see…

But before everyone gets all smug and self-righteous about the Palin selection, remember where you live. You live in a nation of gun owners and hunters. You live in a country where one out of three girls get pregnant before they are 20. You live in a nation of C students. Knocking Bush for being a C student only endeared him to the nation of C students. Knock Palin for having kids, for having a kid who’s having a baby, for anything that is part of her normalness—a normalness that looks very familiar to so many millions of Americans—well, you do this at your own peril. Assuming she’s still on the ticket two weeks from now, she will be a much tougher opponent than anyone expects. You live in a country that voted for Dan Quayle.

I’ll close with this report on ABC tonight by investigative reporter Brian Ross. It shows Republicans in St. Paul taking off their Republican hats and putting on their American hats. In the meantime they should keep those hats ready as a new hurricane was announced today. No, not Hannah. She’s already on her way to Florida for Friday. The new one is called Ike, scheduled to hit the Gulf early next week. Ike. He’s the one who warned us about the “military-industrial complex.”

More to come…
Michael Moore
[email protected]
MichaelMoore.com