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Politics : Michael Moore Is a Big Fat Idiot -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jagfan who wrote (251)	4/15/2003 9:40:36 AM
From: Lost1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1409

Moore, who bashed Bush at Oscars, charms UT crowd By Jeffrey Gilbert AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Tuesday, April 15, 2003 Dressed in blue jeans and a striped shirt and wearing a baseball cap to cover his long, shaggy hair, outspoken documentarian Michael Moore began his lecture in Austin on Monday night by repeating his now infamous Academy Award acceptance speech and by passing the gold statue around the audience of 4,400 students and guests. "Want to see the Oscar?" he asked the cheering, upbeat crowd as he pulled it out of his bag. "What are the chances I'm going to get that thing back?" He cracked a few jokes about Texas as the award was being admired at Gregory Gym on the University of Texas campus. "Notice how the police have moved in closer as the Oscar is going around," Moore said. "As if Texas prisons aren't full enough already." Moore, 48, won the Oscar this year for "Bowling for Columbine," a film that looks at the pathology of violence in the United States. He has written several books, including The New York Times' top-selling nonfiction book of 2002, "Stupid White Men . . . and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation." Upon winning the Oscar, Moore stirred up nationwide controversy by declaring, "We are against this war. . . . Shame on you, Mr. Bush." Moore said he had not prepared any speech that night. "I didn't even think I was going to win," he said. "During a commercial break, my wife asked me what I was going to do if I won, and I had to think about it." In an interview before his lecture, Moore said 90 percent of the response he has gotten has been positive, and despite having investigated the roots of violence and distemper in his most recent documentary, he has not received any threats. "Should I be getting death threats?" he said, jokingly. "It is pretty risky of me to be coming to Texas, don't you think?" Moore, who compared himself to the slackers who listened to the speech from the gym's upper levels, said the Democratic Party is pathetic right now. "What are they doing? They don't even deserve a place on the ballot," he said. "What you've got to admire about the conservatives is that they have the courage of their convictions. They stand up for what they believe in, and they never waver." Moore said President Bush's approval ratings are so high because people rally around the leader after tragedy strikes, and Bush "is the one occupying the federal land at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue." The reason the United States is at war with Iraq is Bush's need to keep the public's eye off his domestic failures, Moore said. "It's not about the weapons of mass destruction; it's about the weapons of mass distraction," he said. Moore's lecture lasted more than two hours and was sponsored by the Student Endowed Centennial Lectureship, the only entirely student-run organization that brings speakers to UT. Matt Mackowiak, chairman of the committee, said Moore charged $25,000 for the speech. Mackowiak said the committee never thought of canceling the event after what Moore said at the Oscars. "We felt students want to see him, and he will provide an interesting and entertaining lecture," Mackowiak said. The speech sold out in less than five minutes, so organizers moved the event to Gregory Gym, which can hold four times as many people as the LBJ Library, where it was originally scheduled. But not everyone was glad Moore came to UT. Janet Mitchell of Georgetown said she realizes everyone has a right to free speech, but celebrities such as Moore are abusing their access to huge venues. "I think it's pretty sad that UT is wasting money on him," she said. "But if he finds someone who will fund his ability to speak out, more power to him."