I don't know if this has been posted. But I love the reaction in this article on Yahoo. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040617/ap_on_en_mo/conservatives_michael_moore_2 Conservatives to Counter 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Thu Jun 17, 3:14 PM ET By ANTHONY BREZNICAN, AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES - While the White House and the Republican National Committee (news - web sites) have taken an official "no comment" approach to Michael Moore (news) and his new anti-Bush documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," some conservatives have mobilized a letter-writing campaign and crafted ads that slam the film and its maker. "Fahrenheit 9/11," which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival (news - web sites), attacks President Bush (news - web sites)'s rationale for the war in Iraq (news - web sites) and accuses him and his administration of manipulating the Sept. 11 terror attacks and fostering fear for political gain. The film will be shown at two New York City theaters starting Wednesday before opening June 25 on at least 500 screens nationwide. It's scheduled to expand to hundreds more in the coming weeks. One of the organizations rallying against Moore is Move America Forward, a pro-Bush group that evolved months ago from the letter-writing campaign that led CBS to drop its controversial TV movie "The Reagans." The group has received several thousand e-mails of support for its Moore campaign, said executive director Siobhan Guiney, a former Republican lobbyist. But she did not know how many were sent to the various theater chains. "Since we are the customers of the American movie theatres, it is important for us to speak up loudly and tell the industry executives that we don't want this misleading and grotesque movie being shown at our local cinema," the group says on its Web site, above a listing of phone numbers and e-mails for various cinema companies. Said Guiney: "(Moore) is critical of what's happening right now, and there's no problem with being critical — but his movie is not a documentary, it's a piece of propaganda." So far, however, Move America Forward's letters about "Fahrenheit 9/11" haven't changed anything. "There has been some communication, but not an overwhelming amount. And we do intend to play the film," said Dick Westerling, spokesman for the theater chain Regal Entertainment Group, which has 6,020 screens in the United States. Move America Forward is funded through private donations, not the Bush campaign or the Republican National Committee, Guiney said. Who is behind the group? Howard Kaloogian is the chairman, a former California Assemblyman who helped organize the Gray Davis (news - web sites) recall campaign and made a failed bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. And who is behind Moore? One of the filmmaker's press strategists is brass-knuckles political operative Chris Lehane, a former press secretary to Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) and frequent Democratic aide who worked on the presidential campaigns of John Kerry (news - web sites) and Wesley Clark (news - web sites). Lehane earned a reputation in 2000 for gathering information on political enemies and bringing it to reporters. Neither Lehane nor Moore would comment for this story. Another independent conservative group, Citizens United, is crafting video ads for television and the Internet that slam Moore. The group's head, David Bossie, is a former Republican congressional aide who was one of President Clinton (news - web sites)'s harshest critics. He was fired in 1998 by then-Speaker Newt Gingrich for withholding the public release of testimony transcripts favorable to the Clintons in a campaign fund-raising probe. Bossie said the ads would target Moore and George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist who donated nearly $13 million to various groups seeking to defeat Bush. "Look, this guy (Moore) is simply producing and advertising this movie at this time to try to affect the election," Bossie said. "And so clearly organizations like mine ... it seems to be left to us to make sure that the media is educated, as well as the American people are educated, as to just what they're up to." The liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org is trying to counter the conservative campaign with mass mailings asking members to "pledge to bring their friends, relatives and neighbors" to "Fahrenheit 9/11" on opening night. Supporters also are sending letters to theaters on Move America Forward's list, urging them not to give in to pressure to block the film. "My guess is that their efforts will backfire and only rally support for the film, which will be terrific as far as I'm concerned," said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate Films, which is distributing the movie. "We need less censorship in this country, not more." ---------------------------------- This is a beautiful and typical conservative reponse. It really is. 1) They accuse Moore of "propoganda". Well duh. His documenteries are editorials. You have to read carefully between the lines. It is stupid to use that as a reason for criticism though. The irony is delicious. Moore accuses Bush of using propoganda based on 9/11 to push his political (and military) agenda. Now conservatives lamblast his movie as "propoganda". Well what the heck has "your" party been feeding the American public then? Cheney says there is an Iraq-Saddam connection (again). The next day the President's OWN COMMISION says that's wrong. Who is the bigger propoganda proponent here? At least Moore hasn't sent anyone to war thanks to his "propoganda". 2) As usual the conservative reponse is to say, "he's free to say what he wants" while writing hundreds of letters to ban the film. Traditional conservatives should be appalled - but I guess it's easier to maintain the party line if you never see the other side. Hurray for neofacist censorship. 3) I really can't stand the conservative tactic to deride Moore. Look, you may not like what he says, but insulting him and calling him a liar is INSUFFICIENT. Jesus, if you think he's wrong - write a response or fund your own damn documentary. Just because he's an activist rather than a party tool should not be the sole reason for damning him. The previous thread in this forum is a perfect example. Calling Moore a "fat f***" is childish and unhelpful to your argument. I did not even bother reading the thread after that starting point... Oh well, just some interesting activities. I can't wait to see the film. I just hope no "Pro-America-All-Bush-Haters-Are-Terrorists" show up and make the movie unwatchable. ---rhad
Shoot! I meant that to be my point 4... All this does is gives the film more publicity. Kind of like all the controversy around The Passion.
People want to drag Moore through the mud, but I have yet to hear of anybody making documentaries on the same subjects from a different point of view.
The Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot. They should ignore Moore, claiming he is too fringe to be dealt with seriously. BTW, I am sure that hard core Republicans won't be lining up to see this film, so Move Forward America's audience does not need to told not to see it.
you know gwayneco you're subtle insinuations about people being in league with "the evil doers" is getting a little old...
People calling me "gwaynie" and "gwayniac" is getting old. Besides, I have no interest in appeasing those who appease terrorists.
For your information not one poster on this board has advocated appeasing terrorists. Administrations selling arms to terrorist supporting states like Iran is hopefully a thing of the past. We may disagree on how to fight the war on terrorism, but I think that most, if not all of us were in favor of military action against Afghanistan(fighting terrorism and not appeasement.) We could say something like we aren't into appeasing torturers, and imprisoners of innocents, in regards to you, but that's not really true nor is it productive to debate. But it is a parallel to you calling Sam and any others who don't buy into this elective war as terrorist appeasers. If you can't argue the facs or opinions presented in these debates and resort to name calling accusing people of being supportive of terrorists, then do us all a favor and bow out of the debate, since you aren't contributing.
Oh I love it! That is perfect. Absolutely perfect. You know, the really irritating thing is that these conservatives, with their die hard support of the most totalitarian administration in the history of the U.S., call those opposing them "anti-american". It's disgusting doublespeak, to use the Orwellian term. Supporters of the regime that gave us the PATRIOT act, approved torture and fear induced media silence are calling me anti-american for saying Bush and his cronies are the worst thing America has ever produced on the political scene. It's disheartening. But not alltogether surprising, says the cynic in me. In a country where the school system is failing and the attention span is falling, who cares about politics anymore? Mark Twain wrote repeatedly that (I paraphrase), "Patriotism to one's country should be given ALL the time. Patriotism to one's government should be given when they deserve it." I like that.
Actually, that cartoon reminds me of The Tracey Ulman Show. There was the skit where she was the daughter of two gay men and she worked at a fast food restaurant for a day and wanted to quit. When her fathers told her she shouldn't give up on anything because everything we do teaches us something. She said that on her first day she learned that "people are mean and cruel and only care about themselves and will do whatever they can to step on others to get to the top." The fathers responded, "Wow, you did learn a lot in one day. I guess you can quit."
I can't wait to see this film. It's just too bad that it won't be released in more than a few theaters per state.
