A point about image

After commenting to one of our resident Moore-ons about SpongeMike Sweatpants’ “everyman” act, I felt it was worth pulling out and making a post about the topic.  Moore has used this “everyman” schtick to maximum effect, and a lot of people don’t seem to get why it’s such a big deal.

Because it’s a lie, that’s why.  Moore writes and directs from a personal perspective, or at least that is what he wants you to believe.  Writers write what they know.  That’s the common-sense saying everyone has heard.  Well, as I said in my comment…

When was the last time you saw Moore talk about how much that apartment cost? Or how many armed guards he has? Or how many SUVs he owns? Or how much it costs to send his kids to exclusive Manhattan private schools? Or something as simple as greeting his private doorman each tine he leaves the building? These are in fact every day parts of his life, and should be making their way into his work. They do not. Why? Because they contradict his carefully crafted “everyman” image. And clothing is just the outward manifestation of that crafted image.

Why doesn’t this stuff make it into Mike’s work in some way?  We hear endless prattlings about Flint even though he didn’t grow up there and hasn’t spent more than a day in the town in a decade or two.  He lives in a multi-million-dollar penthouse on Park Avenue.  Every been to Park Ave, between say 100 and 500?  It’s preposterously wealthy people and chock full of the only people Mike cares about...celebrities.  Nary a one of them has worked a day in their lives doing anything you or I would consider labor.  Yet Mike pretends, with his beat-up cap and shabby clothes, that he can identify with you and me.

No, he can’t.  No man who lives a wealthy life can.  It simply doesn’t happen.  Moore went from middle class to fantastically wealthy.  He skipped that whole “struggle” experience.  I grew up poor.  VERY poor.  Ghetto poor.  I remained that way until my mid 20s.  I’m still only middle middle class (as opposed to lower middle or upper middle).  Moore doesn’t have the first idea what it is like to eat Ramen for a month and still not be able to make the rent.  He doesn’t know what it’s like to sling drugs or collect cans or try to deliver 300 newspapers a day (500 on Sundays) in middle school for dinner money because there simply isn’t any alternative if you want to eat.  These are the lessons of the everyman.  These are the things that people who are actually from Flint learned.  *I* learned these lessons when the economy of Central New York went in the crapper in the late 70s.  I continued to learn them in the early 80s when I begged, borrowed and stole to try to keep the lights on and the roof paid for.  *I* am the everyman.  Single parent family, high school education, no significant marketable skills for which I can point to a piece of paper to prove I’m not a moron...and a very modest income.  Oh, and no health care coverage.

Moore doesn’t know *shit* about my life.  He can’t.  He’s never been close to where I’ve been.  His *parents* might have a clue about where I am now, but Mike doesn’t.

His “man of the people, I’m fighting for you” schtick is as transparent as glass to anyone who has lived the everyman life.  I dress like Mike does because I can’t afford to dress in designer clothes.  As fat a bastard as I am, if I could afford it I would be buying a better class of clothing.  Instead, I’m a Wal-Mart shopper.  I’m a JC Penneys kind of guy.  Because I *have* to be.  The most expensive thing I have ever purchased to wear was my wedding tuxedo (yes, I bought mine!) and I wore it 4 times after that just to get some millage out of it.  Moore doesn’t get it.  He sees guys like me and thinks “Well, if I want them to trust me I have to create an image that says I’m just like them!”

Except it’s hollow and false, and us everymen know it.  It is a lie.  A falsehood.  An untruth.  Smoke and mirrors, and if you believe it, you are the person P.T. Barnum was talking about.

One Mind At A Time

Check out the following comment left to this post by reader Necropenguin.

Last week my sociology professor, who I have much respect for, gave her first test. She is very fond of asking personal bonus questions, so as a bonus she asked the test taker to tell two things about themself so she can get to know the students better. I decided to write an entire paragraph about my membership with this website, and the sites drive to send DVDs overseas to the troops to counter Moore’s propaganda (and that penguins kicks ass, but that’s another story). I purposely waited until I was the last person to turn in my test so she would read my coments and I could get her feedback. She asked if I liked Moore and I said “No”. She said she likes Moore and his work, so I encouraged her to visit this site. She said she would do so and, when I got my test back this week, in red ink next to my answer she said she wanted to “see how the other side saw things.” I never thought of myself to be the ‘other side’, but whatever. So that day we started the next chapter, “Drugs and the Media”. My teacher turns me and this website and Moore into the examples for the discussion about media bias and such. It was really cool as I was able to succesfully defend our actions and refute Moore. She revealed that she had looked at this website during the course of the week and, when questioned by one of the students about how she felt about Moore after viewing our work here, she said she was now “conflicted.”

So to sum it up: What we do here does have an effect. We must NOT forget that. It seems hard at times, I know it does. Like Churchill said, a lie can go around the world before the truth can get it’s pants on. Well the truth is getting around. We are making a difference. And we have to tell people, in a respectable way, that frankly Moore is pulling the wool over their eyes. We have to keep spreading the truth.

And to my sociology instructor: If you’re reading this, thanks for giving ‘the other side’ a chance.

Welcome to the site, professor.  And just for fun, you might want to check out this post, detailing an exchange I had with another pro-Moore sociology professor.

Red Carpet

Tomorrow night I wil be at the official premiere of Michael Moore Hates America, out at the Writer’s Guild in Beverly Hills.  If you’re in the LA area and would like to attend, you can get info from the link above.

They Can Speak For Themselves is live

The site is live.  If you are military, or you know someone who is and you think they would be interested, please send them the link.

http://theycanspeakforthemselves.com/

Thanks!

More on the book idea

I have a lot of support so far for this project, and already some fantastic letters.  A few people have stepped up in private to offer connections, writing skills, book cover work, proofreading, etc.  I feel great about this being a real community effort.  More on that aspect as it develops.

I also have a title and a URL on the way.  I have decided to call it “They Can Speak For Themselves.” I think that sums up the entire spirit of what I want to accomplish in one simple phrase.

Sometime in the next 24 hours the domain theycanspeakforthemselves.com will go live in DNS, but without content for the moment.  I plan to make that the clearinghouse for all info, letters, etc.

Lastly, I wanted to address something that a reader left in the comments.  Now, I know it seems I focus on the negatives all the time, and the reason is I do.  I see a hundred comments, ninety of which are supporting me and ten of which don’t...and guess which ones stick in my head?  Especially when someone is accusing me of something I actively struggle against every single day.  All I have in thsi world is my wife, my computer and my reputation, and I’ll be damned if anyone is going to take any of them away.

Moore’s book: will cherrypick letters that agree with him to support his own point of view.
Jim’s book: will cherrypick letters that agree with him to support his own point of view.

Nothing wrong with that. Yet Jim attacks Moore for attempting to “presume to speak for everyone in uniform” by only printing letters from one side, when he’s going to do the same thing.

*That’s* hypocrisy. Pure and simple.

Kuwashima, let me try to put this in terms even you can understand.

See, the problem here is you are seeing this as a zero-sum game.  Nobody wins unless somebody loses.  Zero sum is a fallacy.  The world simply doesn’t work that way.  Zero sum rarely applies, and when it does, it’s a lot more serious than a book fight.  Death is usually involved when things reach that level, so let’s get a little perspective, shall we?

If Moore tips the balance so far in one direction as to incense me (or anyone else), then you seem to think my goal would be to slam the see-saw back so hard and so far that *my* side hits the ground and Mikey is left stranded in the air.

YOU ARE WRONG.

I don’t, never have and will not ever seek to close Moore’s big fat mouth.  I’m not looking to overpower him, I’m looking to restore balance to the see-saw.

I know that given enough time, money and energy, I could prove beyond all possible doubt that Moore is NOT the man of the people, majority opinion pundit he is portrayed by his people, and the media, to be.  I could, given enough time and money, researchers, private investigators, wiretaps, hidden mics and cameras and so forth dig up enough on him to crush him.  But why would I?  It’s not my thing.  And half of it would be illegal.  It would prove my point in the only court that really matters, though; The court of public opinion.  But I wouldn’t, even if I had the resources, do that.  In the public arena, no one should be silenced.  Privately, in my living room (real or digital) I would never put up with a man like Moore, as I think we all know by now.  But in public?

He has rights.  My entire sense of being is dedicated to protecting those rights.  I am a stronger advocate for real, true freedom than you would ever understand, and I’m disgusted by your pathetic attempt to paint me with the same brush as a proven liar who would do ANYTHING to keep you from hearing another point of view. 

I just want to restore balance.  And if you think that is hypocrisy, then you need to look inside yourself and figure out what is wrong with you.

Putting my money (so to speak) where my mouth is

I’m so thoroughly disgusted by Michael Moore’s new book of supposed letters from soldiers that I’ve decided to put my money...or more precisely, my time, where my mouth is.

I will assemble a counter to Moore’s book.  Unedited, untouched except for the assemblage, a book of letters from soldiers that support the President and do not trust Mr. Moore.

If you are military and you are interested, or you have military family members who would like to participate, please send your letters to letters at moorewatch dot com. All hate mail will be deleted upon receipt, so save your energy, Moore-ons.

If you prefer to write old-fashioned snail mail letters, I will get a P.O. Box and make the address available.  Email would be the best route though, since time is of the essence.

I will touch not a word of these letters.  Not one.  If you send a letter, you must be willing to allow me to publish it AND publish your name and branch of service, so independent people can verify that you are who you say you are and that you wrote what I say you wrote.  EVERYTHING will be public and verifiable.  I refuse to hide any aspect of this.

If we can’t get anyone interested in publishing it, we’ll publish it our damn selves.  But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Off-topic - Need batteries?

I just got a Nikon D70 today, and I accidentally bought the wrong kind of batteries for a backup.  Anyone out there need CRV3 camera batteries?  They cost me 17.95, so there’s no point in returning them, the shipping fee isn’t worth it.  If you want them, let me know, just Paypal me the shipping and I’ll send them to you.

How the media works: Another example

In the first week of July, I received a request for an interview, and I promised to link it here on the site, good or bad.  And here it is.

What’s interesting about it is how different the writer was talking directly to me versus how he portrays me in his article.  Also, his blatant lie up front kind of put me off, so I will be including the entire text of his questions and my responses in the “More” link.  As you can see, I specifically told him the site is about half paid up for the year.  And how does Mr. Reporterman write that up?  “Another “Moore-trepreneur” fills his personal coffers ....” Nice deception, Kukral.

Moore-trepreneurs, Cashing In On Michael Moore

Another “Moore-trepreneur” fills his personal coffers online via his website at www.moorewatch.com. The following description from the site author is as follows:

“MOOREWATCH is dedicated to unearthing the truth behind the doublespeak and falsehood that spews from the mouth (and keyboard) of Michael Moore on a regular basis. Moore is a disingenuous danger to this country, and his assumptions and assertions should not go unchallenged.

The collective expertise and research abilities of the entire Internet are more than enough to debunk most of the nonsense Moore regularly puts forth as fact, and we at MOOREWATCH hope to be the clearinghouse for this information.”

Despite being “dedicated to unearthing the truth” as the website’s main mission, JimK, MOOREWATCH site creator, is also dedicated to getting you to make him a profit. In fact, there are many ways to assist JimK and MOOREWATCH in his own personal profit from Mr. Moore’s name. Choose your favorite method if you are so inclined:

1. Purchase some MOOREWATCH clothing at his online store
2. Make a MOOREWATCH donation via PayPal
3. Contribute the MOOREWATCH Amazon.com fund
4. Purchase a MOOREWATCH advertisement

“Let me be clear, so even a Moore-on can grasp the point: I would take an ad from Michael Moore himself pimping F/911,” said JimK on his bulletin board. ““I have always said that as a capitalist, I will take your money, right or left,” he continued in true “Moore-trepreneurish” fashion.

You can see the whole thing below.

Cabin announcements

Good morning, this is your captain speaking...today we’re surfing at a download speed of 100MB/s and cruising at an altitude of 30,000 feet.  We just wanted to let you know, if you sent an email to JimK in the last 48-72 hours (either to jimk at this domain, or to his Gmail account) please resend it to jimk at MOOREWATCH dot com.  Also, in order to better serve the needs of our travelers, JimK is going back to using that e-mail address for this site, so if you have MOOREWATCH-related info to send, please update your address books.  You’ll find an e-mail link in the upper left corner for your convenience.  And if you look out the left side of the aircraft, you can just make out the shape of an animal.  It looks like they Let Michael Moore out to graze.  What a rare treat, folks.  You almost never see him in public due to the intense censorship he suffers.

*coughCOUGH* Sorry about that folks, just a little sarcasm stuck in my throat.

Well, it’s been nice talking to you, but I have to get back to getting drunk and banging this stewardess.  We know you have a choice of websites when surfing the Internet and we thank you for choosing MOOREWATCH.

Abuse of authority (the son of spam)

I spent some time improving the Cafepress store last night.  I added all the VRWC stuff (most of it anyway) and started a “tasteless” section with what might be the worst shirt I have ever created. :)

I also added some tongue-in-cheek Bush campaign stuff.

Go.  Look.  Buy.  :)

Oscar Predictions

Jim and I made a friendly wager on the phone the other night, and have agreed to make the bet in public.  I believe that not only will F9/11 get nominated for Best Picture, it will also win.  Jim disagrees.  I will let him post his own opinion here, but suffice it to say that he is of the opposite opinion.  May the best man win.

Update From JimK

Refuting Mikey

I just received this from a reader.  I have received numerous emails virtuallly identical to it over the past couple of days.  Michael Moore has posted a list of sources for the points he makes in F9/11, and a lot of people want to know our take on it.

This isn’t “hate mail,” rather a question. Can you debate against the cited sources that Moore posts on his site in regards to the evidence he has backing up his assertations made in Fahrenheit 9/11?

If you can, you really need to do so on the main page.

Look, folks, you guys have to realize something.  Jim and I do this more or less as a hobby.  Michael Moore makes tens of millions of dollars, and has an army of researchers and fact-checkers at his disposal.  We’re a couple of regular Joes who have access to Google.  See the distinction?  Jim and I both work full time and have our own lives, and there are not enough hours in the day to do all this stuff and immediately turn around and factually refute everything Mikey says every time he decides to open his yap.

Let me put it this way.  The day any of you decide to hit the tip jar and give me $100,000, I will gladly quit my job and blog full-time on Michael Moore.  Surely there are members of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy™ reading this, perhaps one or two of you could pony up my salary for the year?

At any rate, Moore is almost impossible to refute.  He learned his lesson from BFC, in that he cannot directly lie, because he will get found out.  So he tells five truths, but does so in such a way that those truths alll give an impression that is a lie.  Jim and I will link to anyone or anything that refutes Moore’s bullshit, but we can’t be expected to do all the work ourselves, especially against as formidable a foe as Mikey.  Refuting his lies and distortions is a full-time job, and as it stands right now, I already have a fulll-time job. 

Update: I just received this about 30 seconds ago from some Moore-on named Aaron, and I simply have to share it.

After reading “there are not enough hours in the day to.... factually refute everything Mikey says every time he decides to open his yap”, I feel compelled to ask you, “Then why do you open yours?”

Facts are facts, and if you can’t dispute them, how do you justify your avid hatred?

This really gets to the heart of why Michael Moore is so popular.  His fans are either so devoid of fundamental logical comprehension skills that they go through life staring at bug zappers for entertainment, or they’re so willfully ignorant that they somehow manage to distort everything they hear into the narrow confines of the world that their Fearless Leader creates for them.

Let me lay it out for you, stupid.  I did NOT say that I couldn’t factually refute Moore’s arguments.  What I did say was that I don’t have time to address every single citation that he put on the linked page on his website.  As I wrote in the post, if you’d like to give me $100,000 I’ll be more than happy to take the next year off and do nothing but blog about Michael Moore.  Nothing would make me happier than to be able to blog for a living.  But, until such a time as that happens, I’m going to rely on the collective known as the blogosphere to assist me.  It’s not my job to refute every single argument of Mikey’s, but it is my job to link to other people who join in the fun. I’ll do my part gladly, but the job is not mine to do alone.

Seriously, not a day goes by when I am not astonished by the monumental stupidity of Michael Moore fans.  Not all of you are drooling retards, but people like Aaron sure make it seem that way.

How to twist the truth

Having been part of an international news story, I now have specific, first-hand knowledge of how easy it is to take the facts and create an alternate reality that, while factually true, is not accurate.

This is precisely what Lee and I accuse Moore of doing on a regular basis.

On book sales and getting together

A reader e-mailed this in, in case anyone is A: in the area and B: would like to attend.  He also mentions that finding Jason Clarke and David Hardy’s book Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man on the shelves is not easy.

At one point it was the number 3 book on Amazon.  OUT OF ALL OF THEM.  Right now it’s hovering at 12.  OUT OF ALL OF THEM.

Nope...nothing wrong here, folks.  Everyone hides books that sell well.  It’s a common practice in bookstores to hide the books that are popular, right?

Anyway, the event.

Doing the Nasty

I’m off to the the movie.  Thoughts to follow.

Thanks!

If you are one of the 34,219 readers who sent me an email link to one or both of the Slate columns posted below, thank you!  It’s good to know that people everywhere are being eagle-eyed regarding Moore references in the media.  Keep sending in those links when you see them!

About your co-host

I’m sick and tired of Moore-ons accusing me of being things I’m not, and of supporting things I can’t stand.  I’m making this post, and I suggest that if you plan on attacking my point of view, you pay specific attention.  You’ll save yourself the trouble of typing a lot of stuff that makes no sense when speaking about *me*.  I speak ONLY for myself here, not Lee, not anyone else.  Just me.