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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (137219)	6/21/2004 11:45:19 AM
From: Win Smith	Respond to of 281500

I was going to post that. Michael Moore seems to be the latest to come up for the full bore kill the messenger treatment from W's true believers, following the well established protocol previously used on Scott Ritter, Joseph Wilson, Paul O'Neill, Richard Clarke, and who knows how many others. Some day, somebody's going to notice a pattern there, and outside of true believer circles it's not going to reflect particularly positively on W. The Times and Ebert seem to have picked up on a common favorite element. Ebert: Moore's real test will come on the issue of accuracy. He can say whatever he likes about Bush, as long as his facts are straight. Having seen the film twice, I saw nothing that raised a flag for me, and I haven't heard of any major inaccuracies. When Moore was questioned about his claim that Bush unwisely lingered for six or seven minutes in that Florida classroom after learning of the World Trade Center attacks, Moore was able to reply with a video of Bush doing exactly that. From the NYT article: Besides, it may turn out that the most talked-about moments in the film are the least impeachable. Mr. Moore makes extensive use of obscure footage from White House and network-news video archives, including long scenes that capture President Bush at his least articulate. For the White House, the most devastating segment of "Fahrenheit 9/11" may be the video of a befuddled-looking President Bush staying put for nearly seven minutes at a Florida elementary school on the morning of Sept. 11, continuing to read a copy of "My Pet Goat" to schoolchildren even after an aide has told him that a second plane has struck the twin towers. Mr. Bush's slow, hesitant reaction to the disastrous news has never been a secret. But seeing the actual footage, with the minutes ticking by, may prove more damaging to the White House than all the statistics in the world. I imagine W's handlers are somewhat regretting their role in documenting for the ages that particular little well-orchestrated bit of on-point photoopportunism, but who can say?

To: epicure who wrote (137219)	6/21/2004 1:41:27 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

<"The main point I want people to go away with is that these people got special treatment because they were bin Ladens or Saudi royals, and you and I would never have been given that treatment."> I think whoever can claim to have approved their exit can expect a very fine gratuity when they leave office. I actually approved their exit, not Clarke or Bush. They were merely functionaries. Please send money. You ordinary Americans couldn't fly because you know you wouldn't be paying any gratuities to me. If Clarke can show it was he who approved the Saudi flight from the USA, then it's him and not King George II who should get the retirement donation. I'm not surprised he's claiming the decision was his alone and NOT the president's. Mq

To: epicure who wrote (137219)	6/22/2004 10:27:00 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Michael Moore is antidote to the Bush administration ___________________ By Bruce Kluger Fifteen months ago, Michael Moore called George W. Bush a "fictitious president" in front of 33 million American viewers — this after accepting the best-documentary Oscar for his landmark anti-gun screed, Bowling for Columbine. As the orchestra conductor frantically pumped up the volume and Moore was escorted from the stage, I had two simultaneous thoughts: 1) Good for you, and 2) There goes your career. OK, so I was one for two. This Friday, Moore's latest high-voltage polemic, Fahrenheit 9/11, will premiere across the country, riding a torrent of advance publicity. Pegged to the daily headlines and, more precisely, to the very war that had Moore in such a lather during the Oscar broadcast, the documentary takes on the nation's military-industrial complex, the integrity of our leaders and what Moore defines as the ongoing usurpation of U.S. freedoms by corporate interests. This is not, as they say, a feel-good picture. In a sense, it is almost as though Moore headed straight to his office after being whisked into the wings of the Kodak Theatre in 2003 and began storyboarding Fahrenheit 's opening scenes. In the end, Moore exploited the fallout from his infamous Oscar-night display by putting his money (rather, Miramax's) where his notorious mouth is — and the gamble has paid off. Not only did Fahrenheit capture the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, but more importantly, it continues to be meticulously analyzed by the news media (in other words, taken seriously) and not just in the sections of the paper that feature movie showtimes. Call it this summer's anti-blockbuster. Overshadows other films So, how did Spider-Man, Shrek and Harry Potter find themselves upstaged by an obnoxious loudmouth in a grungy baseball cap — talking geopolitics, no less? The answer lies not in what Moore really has to say about our nation post-9/11 (though what he does say is truly eye-opening), but instead in how hungry America has become during the past three years for an alternate point of view. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration has succeeded in charting the sharp-right course Democrats worried about during the 2000 election, all the while suppressing dissent by wielding the paddle of patriotism. Then-White House spokesman Ari Fleischer wasn't kidding when he warned Americans to "watch what they say" two weeks after the attacks. Just ask Howard Dean, Phil Donahue or the Dixie Chicks. Difference in roles Enter Moore, who has repeatedly reminded us that he is not in the business of rabble-rousing to make friends. And before you can say, "Where are those weapons of mass destruction?" Moore stages a 110-minute "Mission Accomplished" photo-op of his own — one that plays on the fragile emotions and bone-deep concerns of citizens just as successfully (and manipulatively) as the president's aircraft-carrier folly. But there is one big difference: President Bush is not really a flight-jacketed fighter pilot. Michael Moore, on the other hand, has always been Michael Moore — a man whose singular job is to lift the veil of political self-interest and stare squarely into the mugs of those who control our lives and destinies. In such a face-off, whom do you trust? Ironically, I believe both the right and the left have been waiting for such a film as Fahrenheit 9/11. Those of us who continue to wring our hands over this administration's historic stumbles are grateful to Moore for assembling a visual component to our argument. Whether it's a mischievous clip of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz slavering gobs of saliva onto his comb before going on camera, or the disturbing footage of the president continuing to be engrossed in the book My Pet Goat in a Florida classroom for seven interminable minutes after learning of the terrorist attacks. As for those who support the president, grouse as they may, I believe they secretly welcome the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with someone who plays as rough-and-tumble as they do. The truth is, Moore may be as much a propagandist as the spinmeisters at the White House and Pentagon. If he is, he'll surely be held accountable for his truth-twisting, just the way the president should be for his. ________________ Bruce Kluger, a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors, also writes for Parenting magazine and National Public Radio. Find this article at: usatoday.com