Fascists hate artists.
Artists move us and get their point across in
a way that they can't and it scares them.
Long live freedom of expression!
Long live Michael Moore, an artist.
dave
To the Editor
McAllen Monitor
themonitor.com
AP movie critic Christy Lemire seems to be taken
in by the right-wing smear campaign against Fahrenheit 9/11 (June 25).
Instead of calling the documentary a campaign
ad for Kerry, she should describe it as a campaign ad against Bush.
Just because you are against one thing does not
mean that you are for its greatest competitor; the world is not a Pepsi
Challenge.
Michael Moore supported Clark this year and voted
for Nader in 2000.
Lemire parrots right-wing dis-information.
F 9/11 stated that permission for bin Laden family members and other Saudis
to flee the US was granted two days after the
attack, not that the flights actually took place then, as Lemire claims
Moore said.
Lemire adds that the FBI concluded that Saudis
fleeing the country had no involvement with 9/11. The FBI would not
make such
a quick decision and would still want to question
at length any relatives or possible acquaintances of suspects given that
15 of the 19
hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Lemire
so wants to believe that Moore is wrong that she will accept outrageous
statements.
You can tell that Lemire has adopted Bush-think;
everything is "for or against". She offers two "either-or" reactions that
viewers
may have about the movie: "Bush is a buffoon"
or "Moore is strident". Both may be right; they are not mutually
exclusive.
Lemire tries to raise doubts about Moore saying
"the film fails to mention…that Osama's relatives have renounced him".
The truth is some have while some have not.
The worst part was Lemire's equating F 9/11 with
The Passion of the Christ, seemingly trying to characterize Moore
as the equivalent of a religious fanatic.
Whether or not you agree with Michael Moore, finally
we have a movie about an important topic in the mass-media theaters.
I recommend that people see the movie and decide
for themselves.
G H
McAllen, TX
Michael Moore is a fine film maker.
Fahrenheit 9/11 is sometimes funny, and contains
some interesting footage.
And for his pains, Moore will probably have to
endure real death threats from the looney right wing
--all the while counting the very large piles
of money this movie stands to make.
And it DID win the Palm d'or at Cannes.
But even though Fahrenheit 9/11 has already won
a bunch of honors, it is an astonishingly awful film.
And you do not have to be a right-wing crazy
or a foaming, barking warmonger to reach this conclusion.
The biggest problem is that the film, like the
war against Iraq itself, makes little coherent sense. It starts with
the stolen election of 2000. Does Moore
really want us to believe that 9/11 happened because the wrong person
was occupying the White House? So it seems--even
though there is plenty of evidence to indicate that the attack
of 9/11 was planned over a period of years--most
of them while Clinton was president. Would a President Gore
have been able to stop the attack? Very
unlikely.
Perhaps you were in the rest room when Moore showed how Bush and Unocal
wanted that pipeline in Afghasistan.
This was a huge project that could make them hundreds of millions of
dollars. Some reports say when the Taliban
refused the Bush offer to partner up, he told them they could have,
"a
carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs."
It's very possible that Bush's natural gas deal gone
bad caused 9-11.
Have you rejected that theory or never heard
of it?
Would a President Gore have responded to 9/11
with more enlightened solutions? Maybe. But making that case
would be extremely difficult. After all,
the Democrats voted for every stupid, hate-based initiative coming from
the
White House including the Patriot Act and the
authorization for war against Iraq. And while Al Gore is clearly
more
intelligent than GW Bush and intelligence is
sometimes useful during times of crises, Gore isn't more capable than
Tony Blair who essentially followed the same
script as Bush--and Blair supposedly represents Labour--a Party
whose historic allegiances are far to the left
of American Democrats.
Gore would not have invaded Iraq, and don't you
think Blair has been acting totally out of character?.
His party is crumbling because nobody
in Britain wanted this war, but Blair insisted.
Having made a case that 9/11 happened because
Bush is a lazy moron with no legitimate claim on the presidency,
Moore then attempts to persuade us that the folks
we should really have gotten angry with are the Saudi rich.
After all, most of the hijackers were Saudi nationals.
Of course, the idea that rich folks with 500-room palaces
are the same sort of people who fly airplanes
into buildings is utterly preposterous. But Moore "reasons" that
because some of those rich Saudis are named bin
Laden and a bin Laden is reputed to be the mastermind of 9/11,
we should make that mental leap with him.
Moore would never confuse former GM President Roger Smith with
a laid off GM worker from Flint, but he makes
as large a sociological error by conflating the aspirations of the
Saudi dispossessed with those of the Saudi super-rich.
It's my guess Moore is deeper into this than you
are.
The Saudi royals have been financing these bin
Laden crazies for decades.
Some say it's blackmail, some say it's politics
- whatever, but you seem to be saying there's no connection
between the Saudi Royals and the terrorists,
and maybe that's true. But when Bush censors the part of the
9-11 report that mentions the role of the Saudi
Royals in all this - you don't get suspicious?
From there, Fahrenheit 9/11 morphs from the absurd
to the sappy. We meet a woman whose bosom swells
with pride because she has trained her kids to
sign on for military service. Then we spend a lot of time weeping
with her when she finds out that against astronomical
odds, her son has managed to become one of 850 or so
American deaths in Iraq. Oh Please!!!
Dude, it's an anti-war film.
It showed the effect of the war on some people.
Did you expect Moore to tell a happy war story
where everybody came home safe and sane?
You seem to have a tough grudge against this movie.
It's OK to not like it, but to say, "Oh please,"
when the point
of the film is made makes me worder why you spent
the money.
Films are finite. So when Moore includes
arrant nonsense, a great deal must be left out of narrative.
And most of what was left out is infinitely more
interesting.
For example.
There is no mention of The Project for the New
American Century (PNAC) in spite of the fact they essentially
organized the case for attacking Iraq.
PNAC was not shy about their efforts--posting their plans on the Internet
during the Clinton administration. Paul
Wolfowitz, one of the PNAC stalwarts, is shown rubbing spittle into his
hair
which makes him look very uncool, but we never
hear how his insane beliefs helped stampede a nation into war.
The systematic destruction of Iraqi culture right
after the "liberation" passes unnoticed. When history is written
500
years hence, the looting of the museums in Baghdad
will probably be remembered as the greatest crime against humanity.
The neoliberal idiocies of the occupation--the
link between the failure to rebuild in a timely fashion and the resentment
caused by the looting of an entire economy--are
not even brought up in passing.
I believe you would've enjoyed a six, or eight
hour version of F 9/11 better.
The question of if there is any distinction between
fighting for USA and any other common crime is badly fuzzed in
Fahrenheit 9/11. If the attack on Iraq
is simply a crime, a point of view held by most of the world's populations,
then why should we cry over the death of one
of the criminals simply because he has a grief-stricken mother?
Now I think I see...
You're angry with Moore for saying the soldiers
are heroes?
The dead kid got what he deserved because he
was a killer, too?
Lila's kid didn't grow up waiting for the day
when he could torch Fallujah. He was economically drafted
and then he was sent to his death by the Illegal
Monkey that Moore's trying to unseat.
And of course, this is USA so any intelligent
discussion of Israeli policies is strictly verboten. This is the
hippo in the
parlor but Moore is no more willing to touch
these issues than any other public figure who wants to remain a public
figure.
Why do you have to drag Israel into this?
You wanted a forty hour maxi-series that addressed
every problem?
Fahrenheit 9/11 is only a bad film if compared
to what it could so easily have been. If it is compared to the general
run of mainstream USA media coverage of war and
peace in the middle east, it is brilliant.
Which is why it won the Palm d'or.
But that is no reason for you to spend $8 of your
hard-earned money going to see it.
warmest regards
Jonathan
It was the matinee today. 3/4 full for a matinee
in
Ames is quite a feat for summer, and the fact
that it
is showing in Ames upon opening is most excellent,
as
it only shows in one theater in Des Moines.
It was tough. My eyes welled up the most
when the
black Congressmen were trying to protest the
election
results in the beginning of the movie, only to
have NO
senators sign on to their legitimate grievances,
and
Gore had to gavel them down. That was pathetically
sad. What the hell kind of democracy do we really
have, anyway? I know, Scalia said so.
Will all of the poor kids who laid their
lives on
the line for our country trust us again after
the lies
that led them to Iraq? I don't know, but if they
don't, I don't blame them, and I know that we
all owe
them big time.
Fool me once and I can't put food on my
family.
Don't ever get fooled again, America.
Nick
Bart,
Saw the movie tonight with my girlfriend, who's
been hearing bits and pieces from me of what
Moore put together in one devastating film. Full
house, cheers and applause afterward, even in a
theatre a few miles from a Marine base here in
San Diego. No revelations for me, but the film kicked her ass.
She laughed, cried and is scared shitless for
her Marine son-in-law, who is leaving for Iraq next month.
She now understands what I've been telling her
since she met me. And by the way, I just patronized
one of your sponsors and bought two "Vote
Bush Out" Tshirts.
Keep kicking ass, Bart. I believe we've got the bastards on the run.
James
I saw F9/11 here in Cincinnati at an AMC theatre,
at the 7pm friday
showing. They had it going on three screens,
and it started late.
One moderately freaky thing was that there were
extra security
guards on duty. An AMC rep that I asked
about this said that it was
because the movie was 'Controversial'.
Go Figure.
Fahrenheit 9/11 is a powerful, moving film.
Moore traces the history
of the Bush administration from the election
onwards. He claims that
the Bush presidency was going very badly prior
to 9/11, and that the
attack gave bush and his cronies the opportunity
to rule the country
through fear and surveillance. The movie
is loaded with information.
Its really more than you can take in in a single
sitting. So I'll
just talk about those things that I found the
most memorable.
The film has many themes, but I think you could
fairly divide it
into two parts. In the first half of the
movie, Moore traces George
W Bush's personal history as it relates to his
connections and his
families connection with the Saudis. At
the same time, Moore gives
us a look at the unseemly relationships between
the bushes and the
arms industry. Its a scathing indightment
of the Bushes, and its left
me with a lot of questions about whose side they
are really on. As
Michael Moore puts it, The American people pay
Gearge W Bush
400,000 dollars a year to be president.
Over the last 30 years, the
Saudi royal family has invested 1.4 Billion dollars
in companies
connected to the Bush family.
The second part of the movie relates to the human
cost of the war.
The film takes us to Iraq, to meet the men and
women who do the
fighting. More significantly, Moore introduces
us the the soldiers
who have come home without arms and legs.
Kids who are maimed for
life, and for what? Michael Moore takes
us back to his hometown
of Flynt Michigan, with its crippling unemployment
and economic
hopelessness. For many of the Flint kids,
the military is a
ticket out. We meet the parents of one
young man who died in Iraq.
Its gripping, disturbing footage. The young
man was only one
person in a family that has sent several of its
sons and daughters
to serve in the US Military. I could only
cry as this young man's
mother read his last letter home. You could
see that his loss had
torn a painful, long lasting hole through their
family. So many
young men and women lost on a fools errand.
Keep on Swinging,
Robert
Powerful, Funny at times, and very sad at
other times.
This film should get people that are on the fence
to see Bush and his Bunch
for what they really are. (Greedy, Power Hungry
Neo-cons)
Sincerely,
Tom H
Bart,
Just got back from the show. Only two theaters
in the state of Maine showing it! All sold out shows as far
as I could tell.
We waited in line in a pouring rain but that
wasn't going to deter is (it's a conspiracy, I tell ya!) It was great.
Nothing in it
I didn't already know about (except for
the fact that you can now carry 4 books of matches and 2 lighters
aboard a plane...huh?)
but chock full of stuff for the uninitiated.
Very nice to see it all put together in one place.
Well, not all, but enough to shake the belief system of any fencesitters
who view it.
Hopefully the word-of-mouth will bring in more
and more folks. Box office reports are phenomenal, already breaking
records for a documetary.
I couldn't really find any fault with it. Mike
keeps a pretty low profile. The audience laughed, cheered, booed
and applauded as it
proceeded. These early showings were mostly
to the converted, so it will be interesting to see how 'others' take
to it in the weeks to come.
Keep hammerin' like John Henry!
Lee aka 'Pseudolus'
BartCop:
Went to see F9/11 in Knoxville TN - all shows
were sold out Friday, but we went to the 11:45am matinee Saturday,
which was another packed house. I despise Bush
with a passion and a regular visitor of Bartcop - many of the things
I've read in the past on your site were in the
movie, i.e. "It'd be easier to be a dictator"; Bush/Bin Laden family links,
etc.
Even though it had some humorous moments, overall
it was a very thoughtful movie. I expected more vitriolic Bush bashing,
but instead got the kind of "fair and balanced"
documentary that Americans have been missing out on.
If attendance is any indicator of our fellow citizens longing for change, Bush the Dumber will be a one term pResident just like his daddy.
Chris S
I saw the film on Friday afternoon in Champaign,
Illinois (Republican stronghold). I had purchased tickets for my myself
and my 75 year old mother. The theater was packed
and the crowd was electrified! All of the showings at the New Art
theater were sold out for the day (thank god
for independent theaters).I roared with laughter at Bush and his missteps-
I was furious at the lady in D.C. who had the
nerve to accuse Mrs. Lipscomb in the movie of lying about her son's death
in Iraq - saying it was 'staged.' Most reactions
in the theater were the same. In this republican strong hold - I believe
the
crowd was all Dems and Greens - no repugs in
sight!
My mom was so irritated at Bush she was making cracks about him every time he popped on the screen with his ill advised opinions.
I didn't realize I could be more irritated by
this pRESIDENT -- but this film did it for me. I have been involved in
volunteering
in the past -- and I will again. Illinois is
trending democratic (except for my county) and we will hopefully gain a
Democratic
Senate seat with Barak Obama. Hopefully I can
go volunteer for the Dems in a swing state this fall!
Sue
Hi,
I saw Fahrenheit 911 this afternoon in Plano,
Texas (the heart of Bush Country). I went to the 12:00 show,
because I knew that all the later ones would
be packed and I either wouldn't get in or would have to sit in front.
The movie was truly excellent and the audience
applauded enthusiastically at the end. There was a long line as
I was leaving the theater, so I knew my predictions
of the later shows being packed were correct.
I had read several reviews of the movie before
I saw it and so I will put my perspective on the criticisms I read
- most of which I disagree with and two that
I do agree with.
(critic: Micheal Moore's obvious venom detracted
from the movie): Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed the venom
and didn't think it detracted at all. I
think it increased the impact, if anything.
(critic: he showed too many instances of
Bush's mispronunciations and garbled speech): Actually, there were
very few of these. Most of the Bush speeches
were of him lying like a rug.
(critic: the banjo music was too much): I thought it was funny.
(critic: Bush's staying at the school reading
to kids for 7 long minutes while the WTC was being attacked was
a "so what" sort of thing): No, it was
not a "so what" kind of thing. Our country was being attacked and
the
commander in chief was ignoring it instead of
taking charge of a response to the attacks. This is very important,
especially considering that Bush is trying to
portray himself as a strong leader.
(critic: When Moore shows the "coalition
of the willing", he only mentions the small insignificant countries and
in
a comical way and totally ignores the UK and
Italy, which are large and significant): This is a valid criticism.
Everyone knows that Blair and Berlusconi (but
not the people of those countries) are allies of Bush. I can
understand Berlusconi, since he is an idealogical
buddy of Dubya's, but I do not understand the motivation of
Tony the Enabler. At any rate, these allies
are ones that everyone knows about and failing to mention them in
any way leaves a strong impression of "things
left out" that detracts from the film. I don't know what he should
have said, but he needed to say something.
(critic: What was the point of the sequence
about the state police in Oregon not patrolling the coast due to budget
cuts?
- this was a state budget cut, nothing to do
with the Bush administration): Yes, what was the point of that?
That the
federal government should have reinforced the
patrol in Oregon? Not clear at all.
Perhaps to show that we're NOT safer, because
Bush cut funding.
He's the "war president," protecting us from
harm, remember?
For me, the most interesting part of the movie
was about the financial ties between the bin Laden family
and the Bush family and about all the financial
ties to the Saudi Royal family. I had known about this stuff
only vaguely, before. Overall, I give the
movie an A-.
Best regards,
Martha O
Fantastic! All the showings at our theatre
were sold out, despite our being in the middle of "Bush Country".
Hopefully this movie will compel people to vote
who otherwise wouldn't have.
If there were just some way to show it on TV
in the fall.
Bill C
San Antonio, TX
Bill, it's coming to DVD in September!
I wish it could be on network TV before the election so the cheap-asses
could see it.
I went to the 9:30 am Thursday show in the East
Village. That’s walking distance from where the WTC used to stand.
I’ve always enjoyed MM but was very angry about
his recent support for Ralph Nader a person I consider to be a lying Republican.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. I am one of those
who promised to go see the movie this weekend. When I left the movie theater
I felt just like I had been kicked in the stomach.
I called various members of my family immediately right from the street
to
encourage them to go see this movie. All
the shows were sold out the night before well past 1am and 9:30AM on a
weekday
was actually pretty empty but amazingly the 8:45am
show before it was sold out. People must have gone to work a little late
just to see this movie.
Having read some early reviews before I saw the
movie myself, I can only guess that some reviewers, as usual, left
the theater
before the film was finished. It’s not really
a case of I know his work I know how this is going to end. Even now I have
”Keep on Rockin in the Free World” running through
my head with “Burn the Motherfucker’s Down”( I can’t remember
the song’s real title, I’m old) lying right underneath
it. Shit, and I hate Neal Young!
I really thought I knew most of the stuff that
would be presented in the movie but I was wrong. I learned plenty. I think
CBS
should be REQUIRED to air this movie before the
elections to make up for their shameful behavior over everything that had
to do with the Superbowl and of course their
censorship of the Regan movie. I still remember the equal time laws we
once had
in this country and as far as I can see and hear
it’s been just one long Republican yammer on the TV for so long now I get
most
of my news from the internet now.
As for the R rating? I get Daily Variety and have
been following this business since May and the reason given for the R rating
is
the word “mother fucker” being repeated twice
instead of once. Since, the poor boys of 14 and 15 are going to be the
ones sent
to Iraq pretty much no matter who wins the election
I think they have a right to get this information. Immediately.
And as for the word fuck? Well, it’s ok for Chenney
to use that word right on the floor of Congress, so what’s the big deal?
Well, Bartcop, that is my review. Not a very
good one perhaps but heartfelt and from ground zero as the Republicans
like to call it.
I encourage all to see it. It’s good film making
and funny in parts and sad in others but mostly it presents the truth about
wars
in general and this war in particular.
Thank you for your excellent work always.
Please sign me,
Your Constant Reader
Bart,
I have been a loyal reader of bartcop.com
for over 5 years, and have on occassion submitted graphics for your site.
However, I must tell you about seeing Fahrenheit
9/11.
I attended its screening in Mansfield, OH (a GOP
stronghold, as we don't even have Nation Public Radio).
The show time was 4:55 PM, Saturday,. and the
theatre was only about half full. My life-partner is of Dutch birth,
and she was incarcerated and tortured along with
her mother (Dutch underground coordinator) and her sister.
The girls were just 4 and six when the Nazis
caught their mother with weapons of the underground and with 19 jews in
her attic.
So, this movie was of particular interest to
Mickey, my partner. She dislikes any government that oppresses its people.
The documentation of the Bush family's relationship
with the Saudi royals and the bin Laden family was indicative of
the reason why we abandoned the hunt for Osama
bin Laden, and atacked Iraq. It was just a diversion to allow the
Carlyle Group and other Bush related organizations
to make billions of dollars.
The most poignant scenes were of the Iraqi women
grieving and pleading for Allah's retribution for the US military for
having killed their innocents. Children and women
and men were shown killed for little or no reason. Our military members
interviewed questioned the motives of our military.
The bombing of Baghdad was especially hard for Mickey to watch,
as it brought back memories from her childhood
when first the Germans bombed Amsterdam into submission, then the
Allies bombed it in its' liberation. Innocent
people were killed then and now.
I understand why F9/11 received the highest award
at the Cannes Film Festival.
It DESERVES it and an OSCAR!
Michael Moore is America's most courageous filmmaker!
This film should be REQUIRED viewing for all
Americans; then we could take back America
from the fascist factions of the Rethuglican
Party the have illegally high-jacked America!
Roger Miller
I saw the movie today (Saturday) in Charleston,
SC I expected to be in an almost empty theater- since SC is so conservative,
but we were at the 3:30 showing - had to wait
in line - a crowd was leaving as we came in and when we exited another
crowd
was waiting to come inside. I was so pleased
to see the crowd - Predominantly white, but a great blend of ages and judging
from attire - I would say a mix of incomes.
The crowd absolutely was rapt during the entire movie.
I recommend everyone see this movie - you will
laugh, cry and want to scream in frustration at some points in the movie.
What I think I learned- had re-inforced is that
people in the public eye are terrified of not being liked/accepted.
The result of that is neither our Democratic
leaders or the national media have been willing to offer opposing ideas.
Because we were attacked I understand that- I
was reluctant to criticize at first too- So all of us ( many of us?) are
subject to
the idea of wanting to be accepted. I wish
America had a lot of Michael Moore's. He is unafraid of being laughed
at- he is
willing to be considered crazy or paranoid -
he is willing to be on the "outside".
Thanks to Bartcop for promoting and spreading
the word about the movie- I invited my brother and his wife to go with
me
and pushed to go this weekend- I can't wait to
hear the press about the weekend's attendance. If this many
people were
waiting to see this movie in SC, I feel certain
many many people nationwide will see it.
(withheld)
Bart,
Saw the film Friday night here in Santa Barbara.
There was very little in it that I hadn't heard before, but I spend a lot
of time
visiting BartCop and a host of other good websites.
But I thought the movie was excellent, a strong presentation that moved
the audience.
Because Moore entertains as he informs, people
will want to see it. And if enough people see it, we could be sitting fat
come November.
What I really like, however, was this. Went to
dinner with friends first, and we were a little late getting to the theater
(the Arlington,
the biggest one in town). When we walked in,
they were still showing coming attractions, but the place was full and
we had to sit right up front.
I guess there were two earlier shows, but I don't
know how well they did. Here's the good part. Because the 7:45 show sold
out,
they had to add another. And when we walked out,
the line was all the way down the street and around the corner.
That rocked.
Dan Leahy
I left the theater shaking and wiped my eyes more than once during the film.
Yes, IM a democrat and yes, I detest Bush, but
before you just DID. Now you see WHY you did.
Starting at the stolen election and ending with
the grief of a mother that is hard to watch, especially when
I have a 20 year old son alive and well.
F-911 just grabs you like a case of flu and you get the shakes.
Many parts are difficult to watch. I tried to
like Bush in the beginning-especially after 9-11-2001.
The arrogance and total disregard of anyone else
by the whole lot of them killed any humane feelings I had.
The truth isn't so hard to face-and that is the
only way to save this nation is to send Bush 43, like Bush 41, into the
dustbin of history.
The film showed at only one theatre in Tallahassee.
All shows were sold out.
People waited in line in the rain for tickets.
A police car guarded the front of the building (expecting trouble?).
Anti-Bush protestors dressed up in formalwear
and carried empty martini glasses and signs saying "Billionaires for Bush"
and "Blood for Oil."
Click Here to read Fahrenheit 9/11 Reviews III