Michael Moore a victim of his own success
The Independent ^ | 11/16/05 | JANET STREET-PORTER


Whatever happened to Michael Moore, the man who told us his mission in life
was to stop President Bush from getting re-elected? The man who loathed Bush
so much he spent millions of dollars making a film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," the
main purpose of which was to discredit the president. The man who went on
national television and relentlessly toured the United States begging people
to vote the Republicans out of office. Moore never missed an opportunity to
ram home the fact that he sought nothing less than total humiliation for
Dubya.

But since Bush was returned to the White House, Moore has been strangely
silent. Obviously, he found the result extremely unpalatable and Moore is
not someone who likes to lose an argument. Apart from launching a film
festival in a remote part of Michigan a couple of months ago, he seems to
have vanished into thin air. There were stories that he'd been shacked up at
a Florida fat farm trying to lose weight. There were rumors that he's toured
New Orleans after Katrina, but reading his Web site, it's clear that while
keen to rally support for the homeless and jobless, he was not actually
there in person.

Now a new book, "Do As I Say (Not As I Do) -- Profiles in Liberal
Hypocrisy," by the right-wing commentator Peter Schweizer, criticizes Moore
for not living up to the high moral standards he claims to espouse. The
author, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, went through publicly
available IRS documents to discover that Moore's foundation bought shares in
some of the companies he has spent a career in the media attacking.

Not just a few shares either. Don't forget Moore has always said he doesn't
own any stock and doesn't have a broker. But his foundation owns tens of
thousands of shares in Boeing, Sonoco, Eli Lilly and Halliburton, the same
defense company that "Fahrenheit 9/11" attacked for making huge profits out
of rebuilding such countries as Afghanistan and Iraq after U.S. military
intervention.

Even more damaging, try logging on to the Name the Hypocrite Web site and
read claims that Moore, who says conservatives are racist because they don't
support affirmative action, has managed to employ only three black people
out of a work force of 135 working on his books, television shows and radio
projects. Moore, who says Americans who live in white neighborhoods are
racist, has lived for the past seven years in a waterfront home in Central
Lake, Mich., a community of 2,600 residents. The 2000 Census records that
the number of black people living there is zero.

Fourteen months ago, I wrote "he makes politics seem as exciting as a ball
game, as partisan and one-dimensional as a comic. He aims so low it's
extraordinary." Even so, I have always saluted Moore's achievements as a
communicator, putting complicated subjects across to the mass audience. I
commented that denigrating Moore because he distorted the truth in his
movies and books was missing the point, and if every major politician was
judged on how often he got his facts right Bush, Tony Blair and Jacques
Chirac would have been impeached and removed from office years ago.

Over the past year, however, Moore has not only got richer than in his
wildest dreams, but his celebrity status has meant that he now mingles with
the glitterati. Stories of his giant ego and huge tantrums abound, but how
many were manufactured by those on the right fearful of his influence? I
decided to go to the United States and make a documentary about how the
champion of the underdog has morphed into one of the creatures he originally
so despised.

Now Moore is more unapproachable than the pope, more obsessed with his own
security than Elton John. There's a dangerous gap between the Moore of myth
and the reality. For a moment during the presidential campaign, it seemed as
if he sought public office as a way of cleansing the system and achieving a
fairer redistribution of wealth in his country. But many would argue by
taking on Bush in such a heavy-handed way, he actually helped his arch enemy
win, galvanizing wavering Republicans to turn out and vote.

Meanwhile, Moore alienates everyone who has to work with him (outside his
small trusted team) by imposing demands that make Mariah Carey seem like a
reasonable woman.

In my film, I discover just how appallingly he behaved during his British
tour, ordering pizzas and stuffing himself while the audience waited for him
to go on stage. Refusing to meet a woman who knew his mom, who'd come from
his home town and baked him an apple pie. Crowing on the phone in the
interval to his mate in New York about the fact that Vanessa Redgrave and
Bianca Jagger were in the audience, while the public waited for him to
entertain them. The same man who did a deal with two of the poorest people
in his film "Roger and Me" whereby they earned a measly $100, while he made
millions.

In the end, I conclude that Moore is a victim of his own success, with a lot
more in common with Bush than he would care to admit. He's said to be
planning a film about medical insurance in the States but, with his track
record, shouldn't it carry a healthy warning?


RB
35s5
NY

Moore is nothing but a "real" pile of steaming ****.

But at least he was smart and industrial enough to get a dime out of
your pocket.

Joe

Joe, are so dumb. That's not me posting. It does prove why it's so easy
to slap you all around though.

Good grief.


RB
35s5
NY

That's not me posting either! It's just appalling what some will do for
attention.

Good grief.


RB
35s5
NY



"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
oups.com...
Joe, are so dumb. That's not me posting. It does prove why it's so easy
to slap you all around though.

Good grief.


RB
35s5
NY

"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
nk.net...
Michael Moore a victim of his own success
The Independent ^ | 11/16/05 | JANET STREET-PORTER


Whatever happened to Michael Moore, the man who told us his mission in
life
was to stop President Bush from getting re-elected? The man who loathed
Bush
so much he spent millions of dollars making a film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," the
main purpose of which was to discredit the president. The man who went on
national television and relentlessly toured the United States begging
people
to vote the Republicans out of office. Moore never missed an opportunity
to
ram home the fact that he sought nothing less than total humiliation for
Dubya.

But since Bush was returned to the White House, Moore has been strangely
silent. Obviously, he found the result extremely unpalatable and Moore is
not someone who likes to lose an argument. Apart from launching a film
festival in a remote part of Michigan a couple of months ago, he seems to
have vanished into thin air. There were stories that he'd been shacked up
at
a Florida fat farm trying to lose weight. There were rumors that he's
toured
New Orleans after Katrina, but reading his Web site, it's clear that while
keen to rally support for the homeless and jobless, he was not actually
there in person.

Now a new book, "Do As I Say (Not As I Do) -- Profiles in Liberal
Hypocrisy," by the right-wing commentator Peter Schweizer, criticizes
Moore
for not living up to the high moral standards he claims to espouse. The
author, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, went through publicly
available IRS documents to discover that Moore's foundation bought shares
in
some of the companies he has spent a career in the media attacking.

Not just a few shares either. Don't forget Moore has always said he
doesn't
own any stock and doesn't have a broker. But his foundation owns tens of
thousands of shares in Boeing, Sonoco, Eli Lilly and Halliburton, the same
defense company that "Fahrenheit 9/11" attacked for making huge profits
out
of rebuilding such countries as Afghanistan and Iraq after U.S. military
intervention.

Even more damaging, try logging on to the Name the Hypocrite Web site and
read claims that Moore, who says conservatives are racist because they
don't
support affirmative action, has managed to employ only three black people
out of a work force of 135 working on his books, television shows and
radio
projects. Moore, who says Americans who live in white neighborhoods are
racist, has lived for the past seven years in a waterfront home in Central
Lake, Mich., a community of 2,600 residents. The 2000 Census records that
the number of black people living there is zero.

Fourteen months ago, I wrote "he makes politics seem as exciting as a ball
game, as partisan and one-dimensional as a comic. He aims so low it's
extraordinary." Even so, I have always saluted Moore's achievements as a
communicator, putting complicated subjects across to the mass audience. I
commented that denigrating Moore because he distorted the truth in his
movies and books was missing the point, and if every major politician was
judged on how often he got his facts right Bush, Tony Blair and Jacques
Chirac would have been impeached and removed from office years ago.

Over the past year, however, Moore has not only got richer than in his
wildest dreams, but his celebrity status has meant that he now mingles
with
the glitterati. Stories of his giant ego and huge tantrums abound, but how
many were manufactured by those on the right fearful of his influence? I
decided to go to the United States and make a documentary about how the
champion of the underdog has morphed into one of the creatures he
originally
so despised.

Now Moore is more unapproachable than the pope, more obsessed with his own
security than Elton John. There's a dangerous gap between the Moore of
myth
and the reality. For a moment during the presidential campaign, it seemed
as
if he sought public office as a way of cleansing the system and achieving
a
fairer redistribution of wealth in his country. But many would argue by
taking on Bush in such a heavy-handed way, he actually helped his arch
enemy
win, galvanizing wavering Republicans to turn out and vote.

Meanwhile, Moore alienates everyone who has to work with him (outside his
small trusted team) by imposing demands that make Mariah Carey seem like a
reasonable woman.

In my film, I discover just how appallingly he behaved during his British
tour, ordering pizzas and stuffing himself while the audience waited for
him
to go on stage. Refusing to meet a woman who knew his mom, who'd come from
his home town and baked him an apple pie. Crowing on the phone in the
interval to his mate in New York about the fact that Vanessa Redgrave and
Bianca Jagger were in the audience, while the public waited for him to
entertain them. The same man who did a deal with two of the poorest people
in his film "Roger and Me" whereby they earned a measly $100, while he
made
millions.

In the end, I conclude that Moore is a victim of his own success, with a
lot
more in common with Bush than he would care to admit. He's said to be
planning a film about medical insurance in the States but, with his track
record, shouldn't it carry a healthy warning?

Thanks for posting this, Bubbles. It confirms my suspicions about Moore.

By the way, wasn't it Mooron who was just commending your steadfast
adherence to sailing topics lately?

Max