Michael Moore's excellent rant.

I was wondering why Michael Moore has been so quiet lately. This email explains it:

Heads Up

April 14, 2004

Friends,

I have never seen a head so far up a Presidential ass (pardon my Falluja) than the one I saw last night at the "news conference" given by George W. Bush. He's still talking about finding "weapons of mass destruction" -- this time on Saddam's "turkey farm." Turkey indeed. Clearly the White House believes there are enough idiots in the 17 swing states who will buy this. I think they are in for a rude awakening.

I've been holed up for weeks in the editing room finishing my film ("Fahrenheit 911"). That's why you haven't heard from me lately. But after last night's Lyndon Johnson impersonation from the East Room -- essentially promising to send even more troops into the Iraq sinkhole -- I had to write you all a note.

First, can we stop the Orwellian language and start using the proper names for things? Those are not “contractors” in Iraq. They are not there to fix a roof or to pour concrete in a driveway. They are MERCENARIES and SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE. They are there for the money, and the money is very good if you live long enough to spend it.

Halliburton is not a "company" doing business in Iraq. It is a WAR PROFITEER, bilking millions from the pockets of average Americans. In past wars they would have been arrested -- or worse.

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not "insurgents" or "terrorists" or "The Enemy." They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win. Get it, Mr. Bush? You closed down a friggin' weekly newspaper, you great giver of freedom and democracy! Then all hell broke loose. The paper only had 10,000 readers! Why are you smirking?

One year after we wiped the face of the Saddam statue with our American flag before yanking him down, it is now too dangerous for a single media person to go to that square in Baghdad and file a report on the wonderful one-year anniversary celebration. Of course, there is no celebration, and those brave blow-dried "embeds" can't even leave the safety of the fort in downtown Baghdad. They never actually SEE what is taking place across Iraq (most of the pictures we see on TV are shot by Arab media and some Europeans). When you watch a report "from Iraq" what you are getting is the press release handed out by the U.S. occupation force and repeated to you as "news."

I currently have two cameramen/reporters doing work for me in Iraq for my movie (unbeknownst to the Army). They are talking to soldiers and gathering the true sentiment about what is really going on. They Fed Ex the footage back to me each week. That's right, Fed Ex. Who said we haven't brought freedom to Iraq! The funniest story my guys tell me is how when they fly into Baghdad, they don't have to show a passport or go through immigration. Why not? Because they have not traveled from a foreign country -- they're coming from America TO America, a place that is ours, a new American territory called Iraq.

There is a lot of talk amongst Bush's opponents that we should turn this war over to the United Nations. Why should the other countries of this world, countries who tried to talk us out of this folly, now have to clean up our mess? I oppose the U.N. or anyone else risking the lives of their citizens to extract us from our debacle. I'm sorry, but the majority of Americans supported this war once it began and, sadly, that majority must now sacrifice their children until enough blood has been let that maybe -- just maybe -- God and the Iraqi people will forgive us in the end.

Until then, enjoy the "pacification" of Falluja, the "containment" of Sadr City, and the next Tet Offensive – oops, I mean, "terrorist attack by a small group of Baathist loyalists" (Hahaha! I love writing those words, Baathist loyalists, it makes me sound so Peter Jennings!) -- followed by a "news conference" where we will be told that we must "stay the course" because we are "winning the hearts and minds of the people."

I'll write again soon. Don't despair. Remember, the American people are not that stupid. Sure, we can be frightened into a war, but we always come around sooner or later -- and the one way this is NOT like Vietnam is that it hasn't taken the public four long years to figure out they were lied to.

Now if Bush would just quit speaking in public and giving me more free material for my movie, I can get back to work and get it done. I've got four weeks left 'til completion.

Yours,

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

Where he was.

Telling Americans they are "stupid" for believing Bush, that Iraqis killing our soldiers are "the revolution," and that innocent Iraqis AND Americans must pay the full price for Bush's lies... those are all very bad things to say. The right-wing echo chamber will pick up on those and characterize them as "typical left-wing thought."

Deal with it!!

We don't need to apologize any longer for who we are. We don't need to hedge, and tone it down, and try to be reasonable. We have a fighting party, a well-developed blogosphere, liberal radio, funded organizations.

Don't worry about what the right-wing is going to say. Been there/done that. Forget them. They will criticize ANYTHING we do. If their criticism had anything to do with reality, they would look at Skippy and switch sides. It's not what we say that creates criticism. It's who we are. We tried appeasing them, pacifying them, being bipartisan, cooperative, reasonable. Look where that got us. We are in a cultural war, but now we have resources with which to defend ourselves.

Really, we will never get anywhere if our strategy depends on not offending them. They are offended, not by what we say, not by what we do, but by who we are. I'm not going to change that, and now I feel equipped to defend it.

Telling Americans they were "stupid" to trust Bush is wrong. You won't win people over by insulting them. The message instead should focus on Bush lying to and misleading all Americans.

Similarly with the other points. The focus should be on Bush, and how disastrous his policies and actions have been.

But you're not going to win someone's vote by telling them they're stupid. THAT in itself is stupid.

That any of those whom we might call "stupid" would be inclined to vote for anyone other than their "fearless leader" regardless. I have to admit that tenacity and bullheadedness are strong traits of those who prefer to worship this maniacal dictator instead of allowing themselves to listen to reason in the first place. On another board that I'm on, Drudge, Worldnet Daily, the Washington Times, and other such questionable rags are their media of choice, so clear thinking is obviously NOT a reich wing strongpoint.

Hell, I experienced his campaign, election and governorship in Texas for six years and I had him pegged as a corrupt, moronic bozo from day one. Anyone with half a brain did.

I'm sorry to say it. Shame on me. But if anyone is fooled by Bush, they are just plain stupid.

Obi-Wan Kenobi said it best: "Who is more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him?"

would never vote for the Dems anyway.

I thinkd it's pointless to worry about what the RWers think. They are NEVER going to agree with us. They will ALWAYS find something not to their liking about us. If we vetted everything we said for their approval before putting it out for public consumption, they would still nitpick.

Personally, I don't give a rat's a** what they think!

Hide behind that large rock all you wish, after all your democratic leadership has set you a fine example of cowardice for three long years now!

I hope the Iraqis will allow the UN to help them after they kick us out, but I understand their unwillingness to have them there.

about how Americans should die for the mistakes until the Iraqis forgive us. I don't think it's the truth, and I don't think the left should be promoting the idea that debts should be repaid in blood.

and he's obviously wound up in quite a tight spring of justifiable outrage. Hence his acerbic remarks and calls for personal accountability and penance.

I'm not Moore's apologist, I'm just reminding folks of what happens when you put your face in a bloody mess all frikkin' day.

You get fucking pissed and raise your voice, not always elegantly.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

http://www.michaelmoore.com/index_hires.php
300k high res version

Oh my god.

very powerful.

Michael always has the right words to say if it walks, quacks and looks like a duck, it's a duck.

and Moore doesnt know my husband and I have been anti war activists from the beginning.
Now I am angry at Moore.
bring the troops home now
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

ready to go back for his third rotation (his wife is getting ready to have her second baby next month)); however, I'm still enraged about this bullshit war.

You're both on the same side.

Every day, more and more. Any off the cuff remarks, even in ironic or satirical statements, are difficult for me now, and for my husband. I wrote to Michael, he immediately wrote back and stated he meant the statement in an ironic sense.
I guess I just want people to be careful in how they choose their words about our kids over there like Michael, who hates Bush and doesnt want to be there at all. Not all parents of soldiers are for Bush are for the war, I have worked far too hard fighting the Bush admin since they stole the election and up til now to be lumped in with some people who support it. I am not blind, nor do I live in illusion.
Michael is only over there to prop up short term profits for wealthy CEOs. His life is on the line, for that. Thats what hes there for , no other reason. Its sickening.

Because I don't think you are talking about the same thing he is. Michael has been nothing but supportive of the troops that are there, and their wish to come home. He was not talking about the US soldiers when he said, "They are MERCENARIES and SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE". He was talking about, well, the MERCENARIES and SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE. That is, people who aren't in the military, and are there just to rake hundreds of thousands of dollars for themselves. Not to mention the millions of dollars their corporations get for pimping them out. Two totally different subjects here.

Mercenaries (aka "contractors") fighting for their bank accounts

US soldiers fighting for their ideals of democracy

, some of them, thinking they were fighting for a reason far above that one.
Many of them are there reluctantly, and dont want to be there.
Many of them just want to come home, and know this is bullhockey and horseshite.
I let Moore know that, he knows, and we worked it out.

What did Moore say to make you mad?

He asked Bush not to call the rebels terrorists--which is a fair request--Afghanistan has the terrorist, Iraq has the rebels and he pointed out that if you aren't in the army you can join a private organization and be a contracted killer for lots of money--that would piss me off--at our government paying those costs.

But what did he say that upset you?

all of the insurgents terrorists, certainly Iraq has attracted many terrorist types as well, considering some of these groups are killing Iraqi civilians as well.

supported the war, "their sons and daughters have to pay the price" to fight it. Most people join the military to defend their country which is a noble calling--they aren't responsible for the Bush Cartel sending them into Iraq.

A lot of folks no doubt signed up after 9-11 when it appeared our country needed defending--getting mired into the quagmire that is Iraq is not what they signed up for.

Moore can be a little heavy handed but he is always ahead of the curve and pretty much right on.

If Michael Moore is the 'worst' the left can do then I think we're just fine. Contrast his left views with the right wing vile that spews out of Hannity and Limbaugh everyday.

Fahrenheit 911's release shall be most welcome.

His quote about us having to sacrifice our children is WAY too much, especially for all those families who have sons/daughters in Iraq.

easy way out. This is what happened in VietNam as well. Those in power will insist we stay there and your sons and daughters will go and many will die there. Like it or not, it's the reality.

from leesa:

"But that is the reality. You WILL have to risk that because there is no easy way out. This is what happened in VietNam as well. Those in power will insist we stay there and your sons and daughters will go and many will die there. Like it or not, it's the reality."

--so, your reasoning (and Moore's) is that because we made huge mistakes and followed a liar into Vietnam and allowed thousands of American soldiers to die, including at least 20 thousand because of Kissinger's war criminal machinations to delay the paris peace talks until Nixon was elected...

because we have assholes who now believe that we lost in Vietnam because of a failure of will, not policy,

because Americans refuse to fact the facts about their own imperialist leaders who want to colonize Iraq...

For all these WRONG reasons, we now have to repeat those same mistakes.

gee, that sounds like good policy...

Elections should be held in Iraq in May, using food ration cards in the place of voter registration cards. Let the chips fall where they may, because, if the truth is that the majority of Iraqis want to have self-government based upon their own traditions, no amount of fighting is going to change what those traditions are, no matter how long Americans stay there and die.

But the truth is that the handover is a lie, as has been reported by the BBC in the actual plans for a handover...it is nothing more than election window dressing, like "mission accomplished" and simply puts the U.S. occupation in writing, whether the Iraqis want it or not.

Get the tanks off the streets. Get the soldiers out of there.

According to those who know the country, Sistani is not like Khomeni and he does not want a theocracy. He has the ability to broker the Shi'a faction.

Let the Sunnis and the Kurds send representatives for their factions and let them hammer out a govt, knowing that if they don't they will face a new occupation, most likely, but of the UN variety since Bush will be gone, if America has any common sense left.

That is -- there are many Americans who think Bush and Co. are messing up Iraq but who STILL supporting the White House. Perhaps he is trying to shock people into realizing that the price for going along with this horrible administration is that soldiers are going to die, and that they cannot have it both ways (oppose the war yet vote for Bush, which it looks like several million voters might do this November).

I don't think he wants those people to die, and he has probably met plenty of parents like Mari who are antiwar.

It seems like a whole bunch of people don't put two and two together when it comes to American soldiers dying as a result of Bush's 'policy' in Iraq.

Michael seems to be saying "the result of your support of Bush is American lives.....understand?"

I was wondering about Michael and his Fahrenheit 911 the other day.

Thanks again. Now I'll check out Moore's website.

"They are talking to soldiers and gathering the true sentiment about what is really going on."

Oh this is gonna be good!!

Moore is right on the money about the euphamisms that are being used, but over-generalizes a little too much. To say that all of the "contractors" are actually "soldiers of fortune" isn't really true. Some "contractors" are working on restoring power and water, and other infrastructure. They have no (or little) military training, and are not there specifically to repress the Iraqi people. Also, I disagree about his characterization of the "Minutemen" of Iraq. Would anyone suggest that the Post WWII Nazi's were actually the "Patriots" of Germany? If their goal was simply to see a free Iraq, then I would agree. We'd like to believe this, but we know that most of the "Minutemen" aren't fighting the US because they believe in a free Iraq. If that was the case, why didn't Hussein have all of these uprisings? Some are fighting to try to gain power, some are fighting because they hate Americans. I'm sorry, but I don't consider either of these reasons noble enough to consider them Iraqi Patriots.

are not there to restore power and water and other infrastructure. My brother is a former special forces officer and twice a year he goes to Blackwater to train these people. And it is not in how to restore electricity or participate in a food convoy. They are MERCENARIES, GUNS FOR HIRE. Furthermore, the Blackwater employees are former soldiers as well. Where do you get the facts to support your statement that "They have no (or little) military training, and are not there specifically to repress the Iraqi people"? Additionally, Blackwater personnel are paid by the CIA.

Would you collaborate with another country who was to invade the USA? I suspect you would after reading your post.

Don

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

"There is a lot of talk amongst Bush's opponents that we should turn this war over to the United Nations. Why should the other countries of this world, countries who tried to talk us out of this folly, now have to clean up our mess? I oppose the U.N. or anyone else risking the lives of their citizens to extract us from our debacle. I'm sorry, but the majority of Americans supported this war once it began and, sadly, that majority must now sacrifice their children until enough blood has been let that maybe -- just maybe -- God and the Iraqi people will forgive us in the end. "

fuck you micheal, leave me out of your movie you whack job.

Do you believe that other countries should spend money and lives to extract us from the mess of our own creation? If so, what is your rationale?

The fundamental insult and flaw here is that the family members of our service people and the Iraqis they are killing wholesale, as well as law abiding disenfranchised USA voters are responsible for the decisions made by Bushcorp and their Democratic accomplices who took us there under false pretense and at the expense of national safety.
"Extract" ourselves? Why dont you ask the opinion of the service people over there in harms way? I dont believe you and I are in the line of fire. Other countries would not and did not sanction this bloody invasion, this aggression by a dictator accountable to none who feel differently, yet jerkoff Moore says more must die to cleanse your sins? He is so fucking screwed up. And clearly you dont mind HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of OUR money being spent on this ILLEGAL WAR OF AGGRESSION? I assume your solution is more money and more lives? Heres a clue... thats the problem, not the solution.

My solution is to get the hell out, today, and write the Iraqis the largest check ever cut.

My solution does not include dragging other countries into this mess and costing them lives and money.

They didn't make the mess--we did. And before you make any more misguided and naive assumptions about me, you should know that I have always been against this illegal war, marched 5 times, etc.

Nonetheless, our country is the aggressor. Our country is the responsible party. Our country allowed this sociopath to go on his war adventure, no matter that a majority of us were against the folly.

I don't need a clue, thanks. Please watch the personal attacks, as it is apparent you have no idea what the fuck you're talking about, as regards me.

Thank you, and have a nice day.

and was simply explaining my take on Moore's bizarre statements. Sorry you took it as a personal attack, but YOU are mistaken there. When you suggest others shouldnt have to foot the bill, I must suggest that NEITHER SHOULD WE!

...right down to Rachel Corrie, even.

But I am of the school of thought that says we broke it and should therefore pay for it. Note that I didn't say "fix" it. We don't have a real good record with fixes.

and as taxpayers we dont get that deal. Take the money from the RNC's limitless coffers in the Grand Caymans, from Halliburton and Enron who transferred their assets overseas when they should have been siezed or frozen, from the Bush family treasury and the Dick Cheney booty fund. Take the money from the Democrats who went along with this crooked crime, but dont loot our treasury further.

and therefore we "own" it. This is why so many of us were in the streets BEFORE the war trying to stop the coming tragedy. Those who put this cabal in power and those who sat back and allowed it to happen and those who waved their flags and cheered it on are responsible. We are ALL responsible in many different ways.

It was for Halliburton, by Halliburton and of Halliburton (and the seven sisters). You shouldnt assign blame to a victimized citizenry who no longer even experience the courtesy of having their votes counted, let alone their voices heard when they march in record numbers against acts of depraved insanity. It is not "ours" and we dont "own" it. Its BUSHCORP, BUSHCORP, BUSHCORP!

he has never lost touch with his roots. I went to hear him speak at the University of North Texas a couple of years ago. Gawd if I had not had to drag my tired body to work so very early the next day I surely would have gotten his autograph (I brought my Stupid Men book with me but the lines were sooooooooooooo long). I just love the guy.

I'll take Garafolo over Moore any day.

:P

other than that, he certainly has a twisted sense of humor. Wesley Clark for peaceful progress! Youre killing me Mike! Youre killing everyone. You are the NRA, arent you?

this type of writing usually comes from those limited in vocabulary and intelligence

Wrong on both counts, but thanks. Sorry if my perception of MM's slimy, belated excuse making for his "misrepresented" remarks vis a vis Mumia and right here where he withholds sympathy for the dying soldiers and offers more sacrifices to wash our filthy hands? Thats disgusting. His limitations are far more obvious than mine. Thanks again.

spoken by few mortals, as it should be. If you think thats offensive, you should see my reaction to pretentious vocabulary exhibitionists with no basic moral compass. Do you know how many times the word fuck can be used in a single sentence?

That he lives high above them in his Upper Westside apartment in Manhattan, sends his kids to private school, and has armed bodyguards accompanying him everywhere he goes.

Great, I canÕt wait for Fahrenheit 911 also.

He fell off his rocker well before 2000 and clearly, despite supporting Kerry he hasn't gotten back on. Yes, he does good things, but he is closing in on the terretory of the worst nutball leftist assholes like Ramsey Clark and Ted Rall.

"The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not "insurgents" or "terrorists" or "The Enemy." They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win. Get it, Mr. Bush? You closed down a friggin' weekly newspaper, you great giver of freedom and democracy! Then all hell broke loose. The paper only had 10,000 readers! Why are you smirking?"

Umm, sorry Mike, we are where we are and it's horrible, but people killing our troops are the enemy. Are they brainwashed and desperate and demonsterably frustrated and therefor predisposed to violence? Yes, but unfortunatly sometimes you have kill the people trying to kill you. Our soldiers want the violence to end, Michael Moore seems to want it to end less, if not at all. Get out of your Manhattan coop, get some exercize, get laid, or something like that, just avoid calling for our soldiers blood to spill if you can help it from now on you frigging jackass.

Is there a release date for Farenheit 911?

Mid-Sept would be nice.

I would love for the UN to take over and other countries to put their troops in, but I'm also a realist and don't blame them for not doing that. I never supported this damn war, but according to "The Left Media" most of the country did, so since we broke it we have to deal with it.

Man, it's depressing and makes me mad at the stupid people who believed Bush.