Michael Moore for President
Asked backstage why he made the remarks, Moore answered: ?I’m an American.?
?Is that all?? a reporter asked.
?Oh, that’s a lot,? Moore responded.
-from wire stories on Moore’s talk with reporters after the Oscars
If I hear one more person say about Moore or Natalie Maines or whoever, “They wouldn’t have the freedom to say that in Iraq,” I swear I’m going to beat them senseless with a bag of oranges. What they really mean is, “We could use a little of that repression for these troublemaking peaceniks here,” and I’m sick to death of it. The fact that we have that freedom is supposed to be the reason we love this country so much, and are willing to roam around the world bombing people in order to preserve (and spread) it. Every hawk in this country should be celebrating Moore and Maines and Sarandon and me, for that matter. Because that’s what they say we’re fighting for.
only problem i had with Moore’s speech – enough with the illegitimate presidency crap! – I mean, irregardless of that issue (which is just so tiresome) I think there are clearer reasons to be against this war. I just think you lose too many people, who tune you out once they hear the 2000 election results STILL being disputed. But very very hapy to hear his remarks on the whole.
If it weren’t for dissent, we would still be paying our taxes to the Queen. And beating our slaves.
Irregardless? Did you seriously say that?
Anyway, I know I’m not the only one who had a sinking feeling when GWB “won” the election. I now realize that was because I knew we would be dealing with some retarded global situation which we could have easily avoided with one intellegent conversation instead of “Don’t mess with Texas.” It’s all connected even though it may be “tiresome.”
Amen to all statements. Let the Iraqi people decide their own fate, brutal and butchered as it may be. We have the balls to stand up and protest the government, let these people rid themselves of this dictator themselves.
I agree. Why can’t we just talk to Saddam and come to some intelligent, civilized, peaceful resolution to this weapons of mass destruction deal. Have we learned nothing these thousands of years?
Regardless of the fact that Saddam and Uday dump people in plastic shredders feet first, drag dissidents and athlete losers(see article below) around on the ground, scraping the skin off there backs and dumping them into raw sewage, I don’t see why we can’t diplomatically form some bond of trust and understanding with these people running the Iraqi government and all just go home happy.
Aren’t they just like us? Surely they have some ounce of human compassion that some kind of peace can be reached, so their people can prosper? Why can’t we just continue to contain Saddam as we have for 12 years, and let his people worry about avoiding the plastic shredders, raw sewage pits? These Iraqi people have arms and legs right? -And they are an intelligent people. Why are they so afraid to speak out and rid themselves of this dictator, the same way we have the balls to gather, protest and publically speak out against our government? This war sucks.
There’s no reason we cannot just continue to do inspections, lift these sanctions so Saddam can afford to feed his people, and provide them with adequate medical care…I mean there’s no reason Iraq cannot thrive if we deal with Saddam in a more civil, intelligent fashion. Or perhaps, to reach a civilized resolution, you need somone civil to deal with? Never minding the fact he let his young boy play with grenades as a child, and brought him to watch Daddy beat and torture prisoners, why have we lowered the expectations for Saddam, given up on him? Can he not be dealt with in a more respectable manner?
Michael Moore is absolutely right. Stop bombing Iraq, stop the invasion, let these people go back to the peaceful lives in Iraq they’ve come to enjoy(or why wouldn’t more of them leave it it’s not so peaceful?) and stop this imperial invasion. NOW. God bless freedom of speech, and for everyone to have an EQUAL, honest opinion and the right to speak it.
Human Shields in Iraq:
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030321-023627-5923r
Uday, Rebuilding Iraq into an athletic powerhouse, restoring pride
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2003/03/24/son_of_saddam/
I don’t think those who critique Mr Moore by noting that were he, say, in Iraq, he’d be languishing in a cell somewhere (were he lucky), are necessarily saying that they wish we in the US did that. They’re noting that someone who seems to think that he’s living under an illegitimate and loathesome tyranny does not know whereof he speaks.
They might also want to note to Mr Moore that political freedom of speech doesn’t remove from one the ethical responsibility to speak responsibly and intelligently — not to mention honestly.
If Moore were to be tossed in prison for his ranting, I’d be right in line donating to his legal defense fund. My own objections to him are to his tired rhetoric, self-serving demogoguery, and loose play with facts — followed by wrapping himself in the flag as if that were to deflect all criticism of what he says, not that he said it.
You’ve got a point, uh, whoever the hell you are.
I wish someone could provide a similarly convincing argument to the French so they’d come liberate us from Bush.
My above comment is directed at “Link to article >>” not “*** Dave”.
It was a horrible accident of comment submission timing.
Beautifully said, Adam. Things are too polarized. In quiet moments I’m sure we each concede that the other side has valid concerns. Bravo to Michael Moore for speaking out. Shame on the nightly news for making the story about the boos rather than the real issues.
It’s so easy to comment on posts when nobody knows who you are.
I do not dispute that Saddam is brutal and cruel and sadistic. Lots of people are.
But if that’s our excuse (in a sudden epiphany of moral clarity) to invade countries, then we need to triple our defense budget and institute the draft for all men and women under the age of 40. That’s what it would take for us to properly fulfill our role as Global Goodness Protector.
Except that we’re not, and we never have been. We allow dictators to thrive when it suits our purposes, and we spent billions taking them down when it’s expedient to do so. We are a cynical nation, only ambivalently democratic, and blissfully unaware of our own xenophobia and imperialistic impulses on our cushion of food, gas and money.
I, for one, don’t care if Iraq is a dictatorship or not. I care whether the United State is a dictatorship or not. And right now, we are imposing our will on a sovereign nation, which is dictatorship, whether the victims are American citizens or not. If we can’t maintain democracy at home, we have no right to impose it with explosives and propaganda abroad. Our house needs cleaning, but instead we’ve started a maid service.
I still remember Moore fondly from Roger & Me days. He’s still one of the only people willing to take on corporate crime. And he’s a great showman. But really that’s all he is — a showman. You can see weaknesses in his writing (and in his distasteful behavior) that don’t come across when he’s dazzling you with his filmmaking. More and more, I’m coming to agree with the opinion ***Dave holds. (By the way, thanks for posting that link about Bowling.)
http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/countries/usa?OpenView&Start=1&Count=30&Expandall
I’m not satisfied with a domestic government that merits admonishment from the UN Committee against Torture.
the folks who had opportunity to speak and chose tp remain quiet should be the recepiants of boo’s.
silence = death
read this article from time magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/printout/0,8816,436268,00.htm
personally i found michael moore obnoxious
WORD to you. word to michael moore and natalie maines et al.
although, speaking of words, “fictition” isn’t quite one, right?
“or why wouldn’t more of them leave it it’s not so peaceful?”
“If everyone is starving in Africa, why don’t they just leave Africa?”
Adam, I think the commenters here have gotten even more dumb.
Fantasy baseball does require a certain level of genius.
Oh no you di-int!!!
Global Goodness Protector… lol… thats funny. Yeah, I agree. I think we should just build a wall around this country and mind our own business. I mean hey, we fought for our freedom’s, let them get their’s. So what if we are the worlds sole military super power? So what if we feed, protect, and provide medical aid to most of the globe? I say we bury our heads in the sand and act like we didn’t see anything. Of course, when the people we turn our backs on turn into impoverished, uneducated, revenge seeking, suicide attackers, we can always blame “Dubya” for not acting. Man its so great that we can bitch about his actions or inactions! I do so love being liberal.
That is one of the more nonsensical statements I’ve ever seen. You could just as easily say, “Man it’s so great that we can bitch about Bill Clinton’s actions or inactions, since he damaged the Constitution by getting sucked off. I do so love being conservative.” Your ideas are rife with assumptions about the world: that they like us, that they need us, and that they want to be like us. That our generosity to other nations is altruistic. That terrorism is caused by our wealth and education rather than our Middle East policies.
It must be so nice to think that all we have to do is shut up and follow. You do know what they do to sheep, don’t you?
?Aren’t they just like us? Surely they have some ounce of human compassion that some kind of peace can be reached, so their people can prosper? Why can’t we just continue to contain Saddam as we have for 12 years, and let his people worry about avoiding the plastic shredders, raw sewage pits? These Iraqi people have arms and legs right? -And they are an intelligent people. Why are they so afraid to speak out and rid themselves of this dictator, the same way we have the balls to gather, protest and publically speak out against our government? This war sucks.?
We?re talking about a Dictator that kills the families of the people that speak out against him, and this person asks ?Why are they so afraid to speak out and rid themselves of this dictator, the same way we have the balls to gather, protest and publically speak out against our government??
If there were an organized resistance in Iraq and they came to the US for help and we gave them that help, I’d agree with that 100%. However, in our nation’s history whenever we support armed revolts, they usually end up become alternate dictatorships instead of democracies. Exactly how many democratic countries have we created — other than Japan, which is a much different democracy than our own?
When we attacked Hussein in 1991, we told the Kurds and the Shia Muslims to rise up and overthrow the dictator. Then we pulled the rug out from under them and they were slaughtered. Coming in and being a Daddy State to an errant child will not create democracy — and that’s the final goal.
As has been put so well in Get Your War On: they better be so free they can fly. We’ll be watching. Think of Afghanistan.
John, with all due respect I disagree with your first sentence. What do you think would happen to an Iraqi and his/her family if anyone of them ?asked for the US?s help? And speaking of our nation history, ?armed revolts? resulted in ending slavery, communism, Nazism, and our independence from England. Do you believe that there is a time and a place for war? If so, please elaborate (when, why, and how)