More shilling, but for someone else

Interesting.  I never thought to see if this domain name was available. :)

recently I established the unofficial Michael Moore forums at http://michael-moore.com. I consider myself lucky to have been able to get that domain name. The forums are less than a week old and there are already 26 people registered as of this email. I expect the forums to continue to grow as I give it more publicity over time. Right now as an incentive to get people registered and posting, I’m having drawings for copies of Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man. The only requirement to be entered into the drawings is that you post 10 times.

Excellent.  The more places that we can spread the word the better.  If you missed out on the big book giveaway here, you can take a shot at this site.

Painfully obvious shilling

That’s right, I’m going to abuse my “position” here at MOOREWATCH to do some blatant shilling for the man.

Umm, “the man” in this case is me.  Anyway.

If you, like me, are sick of the whole Vast Right Wing Conspiracy nonsense, why not take it to the next level?  VRWCheadquarters.com at your service.  Let ‘em know up front that your rich, white, powerful male friend in The System won’t allow you to take any guff off those pansy hippy liberal asshat types.  You know the ones.  THOSE types.  Damn left-wingers.  (cue sound of me spitting into an old-tymey brass spittoon)

This is not a charity drive.  This is good old-fashioned capitalism with a fun twist.  The shirts are funny.  Some of you will especially appreciate the Moore-related ones.  More will be added as the ideas come.  And an extra-special offensive department will be opening once we’ve established ourselves a little.  And by “we” I mean “me.” And of course my fellow conspiracy members.

Are you still reading this?  I’m surprised.  You should be at VRWCheadquarters.com with your credit card in hand. 

Fellow Conspirators, you have your orders.

What Arabs Think

Michael Moore: anti-Bush, anti-Arab
By Turi Munthe
Special to The Daily Star
Saturday, July 31, 2004

If Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” has shown up some of the worst hypocrisies of President George W. Bush and his administration, it has done much the same for his enemies. Liberal responses to his docu-soap have been effervescent - both in praise and disdain - and neither reaction has reflected very well on its proponents.

Those who loved the film should be horsewhipped for bowing to some of the most blatantly propagandistic cinema since Leni Riefenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will” and “Olympia.” Those who hated it should be gagged until after the November presidential election, and also horsewhipped for preferring to safeguard their political leanings over a more thorough investigation of the greasy world of politics, media-manipulation and vote-buying, which Moore somehow evokes.

The fact is, however, with Michael Moore you just cannot win.

Let’s start with those at Cannes who loved Moore’s film and awarded him the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest honor. Quentin Tarantino, who headed the jury awarding film prizes, later said: “When I was on stage with Michael Moore, I knew all this politics crap would be brought up, so I just whispered in his ear and said: ‘I just want you to know it was not because of the politics that you won this award. You won it because we thought it was the best film that we saw.’”

“Fahrenheit 9/11,” for those who haven’t seen it, is the ugly stepchild of mistimed comedy and sentimentalism. It has no discernible narrative; it botches the points it tries to score with smug self-righteousness; it contradicts itself ceaselessly; it fails to construct a homogenous argument; it is haphazard, narcissistic, self-promoting, slapdash, intellectually dishonest, and even racist. The only possible way to value the movie as a movie is to regard it as spoof propaganda - a parodic take on Frank Capra for the dumbed-down 21st century. But of course the film is no such thing; it is propaganda straight, with no chaser. 

Guest Commentary: More about those 7 minutes

Michael Moore would have us believe that on 9/11 George Bush threw away seven minutes reading “My Pet Goat” to school children—seven minutes that, had he acted, could have saved hundreds. He’s wrong. But don’t take my word for it—take the 9/11 bi-partisan commission’s word for it (Unless of course you’re a conspiracy theorist, in which case the report has probably exacerbated your paranoia).

Update on the video/lawyer question

Well, as it turns out there doesn’t seem to be any way I can legally offer this piece of brilliance to you, the MOOREWATCH reader, for download.

What piece of brilliance?  Well, an anonymous reader has been working hard to create a truthful version of F911.  The movie runs as shot, only the screen is sometimes overplayed with corrective and factual information that sometimes illuminates, and sometimes blows out of the water, the claims in the film.  The promo contains a punch in the gut near the end...worth checking out.

Right now, only a handful of people have it.  If you want to see it, you’re going to have to use a P2P client that connects to Kazaa’s network and search for “Fahrenheit 9/11 with Facts Fixed promo.” That phrase, without punctuation, BTW, should get you the video.  It’s REALLY great, but the person doing it feels like no one wants to see it because the Kazaa his are low, low, low.

Unfortunately, that’s just the way of the P2P.  *I* know the demand for this thing would be huge if we could post it here, but there’s no way.

If anyone *does* get the video and sets up a torrent file with a tracker, let me know immediately.  I think we all know where that leads us.  :) In the meantime, if you feel brave, get Kazaa and do the search, or, start looking for the spyware/adware free version of Kazaa, the K++ edition.

Update OK, having been off the P2P scene for awhile, I did not realize how hard it would be to get the K++ edition of Kazaa.  New solution.

Download Kazaa and install it.  BUT...then Download DietK and kill all the spyware/adware.

Viola’.

What He Didn’t Tell You

A Walking Ad for Term Limits

Rep. Jim McDermott, who represents the coffee houses of liberal downtown Seattle, was treated like a rock star at the Democratic convention. Everywhere he went, he was recognized as the man whom filmmaker Michael Moore threw Bush Bashing softballs to in “Fahrenheit 9/11.” He was especially popular with a group college Democrats, who sobered up one morning when he told them: “Everybody in this room who is 17 years old should know that the likelihood of a draft in a second Bush administration is almost a certainty.”

Mr. McDermott said he was proud of his appearance in the Moore film because the public’s reaction has “really saved the Constitution and Bill of Rights.” When students told me about Mr. McDermott’s comments here, I suggested his track record of political acumen had included a lot of running off the side of the road. As the Iraq war loomed in September 2002, Rep. McDermott and two other Democratic congressmen accompanied a politically connected Detroit businessman named Shakir al-Khafaji to Baghdad. The trip proved to be something of a propaganda coup for Saddam Hussein, with Mr. McDermott suggesting in a televised interview from Baghdad that President Bush “would mislead the American people” while saying “I think you have to take the Iraqis at face value.”

Mr. al-Khafaji seems to have taken a particular shine to Mr. McDermott, resulting in another contribution—$5,000—to a legal defense fund that had been set up for the congressman in an unrelated case. “He’s a friend and he gives me money,” Mr. McDermott told Roll Call. Apparently, he is no longer a friend. This year, Mr. As-Khafaji’s name appeared on a recently published list of individuals who received oil money from Saddam Hussein. That’s a story you won’t see in Mr. Moore’s film.

Update: In the article above McDermott is quoted as saying, “Everybody in this room who is 17 years old should know that the likelihood of a draft in a second Bush administration is almost a certainty.” Well, as an astute reader points out, that’s because it is Baghdad Jim himself who is sponsoring legislation to reinstate the draft.  He’s even got it posted on his own website!

A little dishonest, perhaps?  Should we expect anything less from someone who appears prominently in a Michael Moore film?

Love of Country

And the latest country whose collective ass Michal Moore kisses is:  New Zealand.

Filmmaker Michael Moore has singled out New Zealand for standing up to the United States over the invasion of Iraq.

Moore, whose controversial documentary on George Bush Jnr’s presidency, Fahrenheit 911, is proving a big box-office hit, is a guest at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

The director came to the convention with a message for Americans, but he also had one for New Zealand.

“I, as an American, am very grateful to the people of New Zealand for not participating in the coalition of the willing like your neighbours in Australia did.

“Courage”

“I can’t imagine what the Bush administration offered or tried to bribe your country into being part of this coalition, but somehow you just stood up and said no and that took a lot of courage and millions of Americans are grateful,” Moore told One News political editor Mark Sainsbury.

Moore’s praise for New Zealand follows condemnation of Farhenheit 9/11 by Australian prime minister John Howard.

Despite not having seen it, Howard described the movie as “propaganda”.

“People should understand that this is a propaganda movie.

“As long as people accept that it’s a biased documentary and it’s designed by someone who has a visceral, political hatred of George Bush. It is in no way objective history,” he said.

Wouldn’t it be an odd thing if Michael Moore ever said anything this nice about, ya know, America?  But of course he won’t.  He doesn’t have a pathological hatred of New Zealand.

Hizzoner Speaks

” You know I can’t tell you I haven’t seen it. I don’t really need Michael Moore to tell me about September 11th.”

-- Former New York City Mayor Rudolf Giuliani, when asked about Fahrenheit 9/11.

Moore getting sued by Pantagraph

A reader just sent in this info:

On Week-Tv the NBC local station just said at the 10 news that the Pantagraph is going to sue Moore over faked headline.

They are only asking for $1.00 but I just wanted you to know.

If we find a web link to the story, we’ll post it here.

Update It appears the local news got a little aggressive with the reality.  Not too far off, but still.  The Pantagraph has had their lawyers send a letter to Moore asking for an explanation, an apology and $1.00 in damages, and are also charging him with a violation of copyright.  It appears he had no permission to re-use the letter to the editor, much less re-format it in a misleading way.

Not only did he fabricate this “proof,” he took it without permission.  Good job, Mikey!

Cash for Sicko

Mikey is looking for cash.

Controversial documentarian Michael Moore is getting set to take on the healthcare industry as his follow-up to the politically charged Fahrenheit 9/11.  Moore told the Associated Press that he’s just started trying to get financial backing for Sicko, a critical look at health maintenance organizations (HMOs).

Moore’s latest is inspired by a segment he did on The Awful Truth, his series which aired on the Bravo network.  In the segment, “Funeral at an HMO,” Moore documents the plight of a diabetic who urgently needs a pancreas transplant and whose HMO won’t help out.  Moore goes to the HMO’s headquarters and puts on a mock funeral for the diabetic patient, making certain to invite the company execs.  Ultimately, the HMO agrees to assist the patient and make sweeping policy changes.

It may be easier for Moore to find the money for this project, since his Fahrenheit 9/11 just became the first documentary film to cross the $100 million mark at the domestic box office.

I wonder why he doesn’t use his take from his $100 million windfall and finance it himself?  He’s have complete creative control, and he and the Weinsteins could distribute the film and pocket all the filthy lucre.

El Presidente and El Tubbo Grande

You know how Michael Moore supporters claim that F9/11 is an immensely patriotic celebration of America?  Well, then why is Fidel Castro going to broadcast it on Cuban TV?

American filmmaker Michael Moore’s Bush-bashing “Fahrenheit 9/11” will play on Cuban public television, potentially increasing the temperature of Havana’s feverish media offensive against President George W. Bush and his policies.

The film is already being screened to great critical acclaim in 120 movie theaters across the island, but television will bring it directly to Cuban living rooms.

In his latest salvo against his northern neighbor, President Fidel Castro dedicated an hour and a half of a speech Monday to Bush’s past alcohol consumption and his “hot-headed, fundamentalist mind.”

“Fahrenheit 9/11” will be broadcast at prime time, in place of the daily “Round Table” program dedicated to themes considered a priority by Cuban authorities.

Now, this is interesting.  What I would like to know is if Moore sanctioned this broadcast.  If so, is he receiving any money for it?  If so, how much?  How much money is he getting from showing the film in 120 Cuban theaters?  And if Castro is stealing the broadcast, will Lion’s Gate make a big stink out of it, the way they did when Jim linked to the BitTorrent file?

I need a lawyer

I have a piece of video.  I don’t want to say what it is yet, but I need someone who is familiar with fair use and copyright to look at it and tell me if we can make it available or not.

If you are able and willing to give real, legal advice and are licensed, please e-mail me and let me know how we can come to a way that you can legally dispense advice to me without money exchanging hands.  :)

Also, you’ll need to download a 150MB video, but it’s worth every moment.

Yeah, but is he popular with anyone who really matters?

Democrats and Republicans finally have found some common ground, an idea that most folks from both parties seem to agree upon:

Michael Moore is political poison.

This phenomenon was first nationally noticed when Moore’s endorsement and stumping for Green Party Candidate Ralph Nader helped him receive 2,882,897 votes in the 2000 presedential election esentially costing Gore an easy win over Bush.

Next came his endorsement of General Wesley Clark in the Democratic primary. Shortly after Moore’s endorsement and appearance at a Clark rally , ABC TV’s Peter Jennings asked Clark how he felt about Moore’s claim that President Bush was a deserter. Clark defended Moore, and within days, Clark dropped nine points in New Hampshire.

This week Moore has been attending events at the DNC convention in Boston,. The effect of his presence is not lost on either party. The Democrats responded to Moore’s recent popularity by not inviting him to speak at the convention. He did get to watch a few speeches Tuesday night, a guest of the Congressional Black Caucus, and even got to sit next to America’s 38th most popular President, Jimmy Carter and his lovely Wife. 

The Lone Star State

Mikey’s decided not to go to Texas.

Liberal film maker Michael Moore early today cancelled an appearance near President Bush’s ranch for a showing of his anti-Bush film Fahrenheit 911.

“We’ve heard he is not going to be here in Crawford, but we’ve heard no explanation,” said Skip Londos, a member of the local Peace House which had hoped the controversial film maker would help draw more people to the event.

There was no immediate explanation, but a Moore staff aide in New York said the film maker decided early today that his appearance might “detract” from the Peace House fund-raiser.

The aide said Moore would remain in Boston, where he has been treated as a celebrity at the Democratic National Convention, and on Friday he would go to New York to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The White House staff here with Bush, who was vacationing in Crawford, has avoided commenting on Moore’s expected arrival. Early today, aides declined to discuss Moore’s decision.

There had been rumors of threats against Moore, and clear signs that some here did not welcome his arrival.

Overnight, 20 bags of composted cow manure were dumped near the spot where television crews do live broadcasts from Crawford, a few miles from Bush’s Central Texas ranch.

The fertilizer, in 25-pound bags, included a sign addressed: “To Michael Moore. One piece of Bull**** deserves another.”

What a gutless coward.  He got what he wanted from his publicity stunt, and now that it comes to actually follow through on it he chickens out.  Typical.

Moore’s hypocrisy encapsulated

Two sentences. That’s all it takes to see what is wrong with Michael Moore.

“I mean, they are up at six in the morning trying to figure out which minority group they’re going to screw today,” Moore continued. “The hate, they eat for breakfast. They are going to fight and they are going to smear, and they are going to lie, and they are going to hate.”

If that isn’t pure, unadulterated hatred, I don’t know what is.  What a hypocrite.

Mikey’s New Slogan

Mikey was speaking at the convention.

“The right wing is not where America is at,” Moore said. “Most Americans, in their heart, are liberal and progressive. It’s just a small minority of people who hate. They hate. They exist in the politics of hate.”

“They’re not patriots,” Moore said. “They’re hate-triots, and they believe in the politics of hate-triotism. Hate-triotism is where they stand, and patriotism is where real Americans stand.”

Moore, who predicted victory for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry — “It’s all over but the voting,” he said — warned that the Republican Party will do almost anything to keep its hold on power. “They’re not going to go without a fight,” he said, “and believe me, they are better fighters than we are.”

“I mean, they are up at six in the morning trying to figure out which minority group they’re going to screw today,” Moore continued. “The hate, they eat for breakfast. They are going to fight and they are going to smear, and they are going to lie, and they are going to hate.”

Is Mikelx writing his speeches now?  I mean, seriously folks, he’s losing it.  This ranks right up there with calling people “Dumb-ocrats” or “Demon-crats.” And the horrifying thought is, this is how the Democratic Party and America’s left wing actually views the world.  He’s their Golden Boy, their figurehead, and he’s as goood a measure of the left-wing current as anyone.

Moore also attacked the media for not asking the “right questions” before the war in Iraq, and he tantalized the audience by recounting a story in which he said a major — but unnamed — television personality told him that Vice President Dick Cheney had interfered with news coverage of the war. Moore said he was on a morning talk show recently, and, “After we went to commercial, the person who was interviewing me said, ‘You know, you’re right. When the war started, it was very difficult here to book the people we wanted to book and ask the questions we wanted to ask. In fact, I got a memo about my tone of voice. Apparently, the brass had received a call from Dick Cheney’s office, they said they didn’t like my tone of voice. I got a memo on it.’”

Moore said he told the person, “You’ve got to tell that story.” But the person answered, “I can’t.” Moore continued: “I said, ‘They can’t fire you. You’re one of the most well-known people in America. You’ve got to tell this story, and if you don’t tell it, I’m going to wait maybe another week.’”

The audience laughed at Moore’s threat to expose the newsperson. Moore promised to tell the whole story on his website and name the person involved. “That person is on notice now,” Moore said, “and I’m doing it in a friendly way.”

Here’s a prediction:  if he goes ahead and breaks this “story,” it will turn out to be bullshit, just like everything else he ever purports.

Moore and O’Reilly, and Storytime with JimK

I watched it last night, *after* reading the transcript and the post/comments here at Moorewatch.  I went in *completely* convinced (and I said this to Lee on the phone) that Bill and Mikey were two morons, and based solely on the transcript it was like watching old people fuck.  You’re happy for them, but you don’t want to *see* it.

I was pleasantly surprised by Bill’s ability to stay focused and just surprised at Moore’s obvious fear of being there.  He looked scared out of his pants.

Now.  The lies exchange.

It’s official: Bush will win

How do I know? Because Michael Moore jinxed it for Kerry.

“A big surprise will come November 2,” Mr Moore said.

“We’ll see the largest number of people voting,” he said. “It ain’t a 50-50 country. People are angry. They want Bush out of the White House.

“You can’t compare this election to any election.

“(September 11, 2001) has made Americans more aware. It’s cool now to talk about politics, it’s uncool to be apathetic. ... The media didn’t see that shift in the country.”

Every single political prediction Moore has ever made have worked out against him.  All of them.  Going back to Reagan.  As soon as Mike says something like this...it’s a lock for the other side.  Screw the VNS.  No exit poll needed.  I’m calling it right now for the next President of the United States of America, George W. Bush.

And I’m going to go out on a limb and predict low voter turnout as well.

/not really going out on a limb with that prediction

Clash of the Morons

Drudge has posted a transcript of tonight’s slugfest between Bill OReilly and Michael Moore.  For the most part it’s a couple of buffoons arguing back and forth, but there are a couple of points I wanted to address.

O: Ok, he says in his book George Tenet looked the president in the eye, like how I am looking you in the eye right now and said “President, weapons of mass destruction are a quote, end quote, “slam dunk” if you’re the president, you ignore all that?

M: Yeah, I would say that the CIA had done a pretty poor job.

O: I agree.  The lieutenant was fired.

M: Yeah, but not before they took us to war based on his intelligence.  This is a man who ran the CIA, a CIA that was so poorly organized and run that it wouldn’t communicate with the FBI before September 11th and as a result in part we didn’t have a very good intelligence system set up before September 11th.

Moore is either completely ignorant of the pre-9/11 intelligence situation or he’s being inteltionally deceptive.  When the CIA was created in 1947 with the passage of the National Security Act it was specifically barred from any domestic police activity.  The CIA got around this by sharing information extensively with the FBI under operations like COINTELPRO.  When that scandal came to light rules were put in place to prevent the sharing of information between the two agencies.  It was precisely because of these rules that, prior to 9/11 there was no cooperation between the CIA and domestic police agencies.  While I believe that the CIA was indeed run poorly prior to (and after) 9/11, the face that there was no information sharing going on had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Ironically, one of the main purposes of the PATRIOT Act was to remove these self-imposed restrictions and permit the CIA and FBI to share information related to terrorism.  I wonder if Moore knew that when he was driving around Congress in an ice cream truck reading the text of the bill through a loudspeaker.

But he’s a big hit in Havana

Do you have these fatigues in a desert camo maybe?

Castro also quoted from other recent books critical of Bush, including Michael Moore’s “Stupid White Men” and “Against All Enemies,” by former counterterrorism official Richard Clarke.

The references “help to explain the strange behavior and bellicosity of the U.S. president,” Castro said.

It’s really very interesting, the number of brutal fascists that line up in support of Michael Moore.  I’m not making any guesses as to what it means, I’m just showing you what Fidel Castro thinks is cool.

We report, you decide.  Now watch this execution.

Thanks to sghipp for the article link