Moore terror in the aisles....

Lots of bloggers are mad as hell over Michael Moore's piece of anti-American, Hezbollah-supported propaganda, Fahrenheit 911.

Christopher Hitchens' and Jeff Jarvis both do an excellent job of fisking Moore and the film, and countless other bloggers (too numerous to list) have spoken up.

I am getting a lot of non-blogger traffic right now, and it occurred to me that people who don't have a blog might be wondering what if anything they can do.

Here's are a couple of things you can do:

  • download and print this flyer, then make as many copies as you want and hand them out in front of your local Michael Moore theaters.
  • Tell people that there is an alternative film coming out. More here.
  • UPDATE: I see that Varius Crispinus just wrote a post about the Hitchens piece, too! Now if he could go down to the theater with a few of those flyers, and a camera.....

    UPDATE: Fritz Schranck has written an utterly damning review of Moore and his "mockumentary":

    the idea that we are in this war for our own defense and in part for the defense of one of our closest allies is completely foreign to Mike Moore. Either that, or he simply chose to ignore anything that might conflict with his all-about-the-oilll argument.

    Moore’s attitude about his former fellow Flint residents is one of the most annoying aspects of this film. As Moore describes them, those who decide to enlist are essentially lower-class sheep, incapable of making up their own minds without falling prey to the blandishments of a pair of Marine recruiters. How insulting is that?

    One of the minor stunts he pulls off in this film also helps illustrate how fast and loose Moore is with the underlying facts.

    He goes to Washington, allegedly in an attempt to entice Members of Congress to enlist their own children into the armed services. At one point, you can hear him call out to Delaware’s lone representative, Mike Castle, as Castle walks past.

    Here’s a tip—if you want a Congressman to enlist his children in the Marines, you might first want to make sure he has some.

    Castle has no children, a simple, easy-to-confirm fact which Moore conveniently ignores for the sake of this shtick.

    This is now the third Michael Moore film we’ve watched, and whatever appeal he ever had as a filmmaker is now gone completely. That’s it. No more Mike Moore for me. He can spend his millions preaching to his own choir if he wants, but it’s obvious Moore has no interest in engaging those with whom he disagrees into anything like an honest debate of the issues.

    Life’s too short to spend any more of it with a man like that.
    (Via Glenn Reynolds.)

    The fact that Representative Castle has no children is not relevant to Moore or the people who think like him, because he might as well have had children. Castle is presented as a mere "representative of a mindset" in much the same way that ideologues present all men as rapists, all white people as racists, all homosexuals as pedophiles, all gun owners as "crackers" etc.... If a given example is shown to be fictitious or dishonest, it's irrelevant to those with an agenda.

    MORE: In similar vein, there's a fascinating, must-read post (via InstaNonPunk'd) on "legitimate abuse of power," which demonstrates a common ideological justification of dishonesty and abuse of logic like Moore's by claiming that the other side (in this case Limbaugh, Coulter, etc.) does it too.

    Truth, as always, is irrelevant.

    MORE: Jim Lynch offers a very fair review of the film, and urges Moore haters to see it. Excerpt:

    If you’re a member of the Left or if you simply just hate Bush then this film is for you. This truly is the Passion of the Christ for the Left. Every negative caricature of Bush is here - the idiot, the liar, the fool, the frat boy, etc. It’s all there and you’ll enjoy every minute of it. As well you should and why not? This is raw, partisan red meat and it’s not meant to be “objective” at any point. So sit back with your favorite dainty and enjoy yourself.

    Is the film worth seeing if you’re not a leftie? Yes, I believe it is. As I said above, it is not objective, fair or even accurate in how it presents George W. Bush, 9/11, Afghanistan or Iraq at various points. This is Michael Moore’s vision and this is how he sees things. As such it is an interesting and entertaining look into how the Left views the world and, more importantly, how it views George W. Bush and various events in recent history.

    One minor point: Jim advises those opposed to the film to "get one of your left-wing friends to pay for the ticket for you so you aren’t supporting Moore financially." Here's a better way to handle the financial issue; go to one of those huge Metroplex style theaters, and buy a ticket for some other movie. Then, simply "infiltrate" your way in to the Moore monstrosity. I may get around to seeing it, but I have low tolerance for excessive propaganda these days.... Besides, I already have a pretty good idea of what, and how Moore thinks.

    Andrew Sullivan refuses to see Fahrenheit 911 at all, for similar reasons:

    I cannot bring myself to go to this piece of vile, hateful propaganda. I walked out of "Roger and Me" years ago, before Michael Moore was Michael Moore. I know who he is. I refuse to sit in a theater and subject myself to lies and hate.

    UPDATE: Something else to do. I suppose you can always write to Mr. Moore. (I'm assuming the following is his current address, because it's also listed as his business address):

    Michael Moore
    225 West 83rd Street
    Apartment 17L
    New York, New York 10024
    But speaking as someone who's written a lot of unsolicited letters to VIPs, I wouldn't hold my breath for a personal reply. I suggest being logical -- and above all, it's important to remain civil.

    posted by Eric on 06.26.04 at 02:20 PM





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    Comments

    My comments about the film are here:

    http://www.jimlynch.com/blog/index.php?p=892

    Did any of you actually see it, BTW?

    Jim Lynch   ·  June 27, 2004 12:43 PM

    Sneaky, sneaky! I would never have thought of that ruse to get into the movie! You are quite devious! LOL

    Jim   ·  June 27, 2004 10:14 PM

    Here's an update for ya, via Secular Blasphemy via InstaPundit: seems the Blessed Saint Ralph Nader thinks Moore sold out to the "two-party monopoly" by portraying one party as being worse than the other:

    http://www.instapundit.com/archives/016213.php

    (This has two links to rants on Nader's own site, but I couldn't link to it directly; not sure why.)

    He also gets personal and makes a big fat issue of Moore's girth.

    Raging Bee   ·  June 28, 2004 01:51 PM

    "The Passion of the Crass", as one of Dean Esmay's commenters put it. ha! ha!

    "Here?s a tip?if you want a Congressman to enlist his children in the Marines, you might first want to make sure he has some.

    Castle has no children, a simple, easy-to-confirm fact which Moore conveniently ignores for the sake of this shtick."

    Yes, and that's typical not only of Moore but of a million other people: the near-universal assumption in America that every adult is a parent or wants to be, that everybody has children or else that there's something wrong with you if you don't. It's never stated as a proposition to be debated but always just assumed as a given, an unstated basic premise from which it is assumed that all other conclusions must follow. That presumption is a huge part of what fuels the "won't somebody think of the _children_!" rhetoric that totalitarians use to destroy the liberties of adults.

    Hezbollah-supported propaganda, Fahrenheit 911

    ????

    Are you for real? I think you should see the film before you criticize it. If you have criticism, address them. I think I've had quite enough ad hominem attacks from the Right on this.

    SixFootPole   ·  July 1, 2004 09:26 PM

    I repeated the charge (made elsewhere) of Hezbollah's help with the distribution of the film -- help which Moore apparently said he'd accept.

    The charge is either true or untrue, but it is not an ad hominem attack.

    Eric Scheie   ·  July 2, 2004 07:55 AM


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