• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Michael Moore in trouble?

^^exactly.


I think he made it up so he could do the stroll through flint being all broken down and poor and act like his home was being destroyed. where he did grow up was and is pretty nice.
 
Mycroft said:
Well, you're right. The OP has a noticable lack of quotes directly from Michael Moore, but we can still disect it for a few quotes from his close associates:

"given the concerns about efforts by the Bush administration to confiscate or censor the film", said a source close to Moore.

Not said by MM, but by a source close to him. Does MM disagree? Certainly not enough to ask this source to refrain from hyperbole about censorship.

"President Bush and the administration should be spending their time trying to help these heroes get health care instead of abusing the legal pro-cess to advance a political agenda," producer Meghan O'Hara said.

Again it's not MM, but Meghan O'Hara, but she apparantly feels that a strongly worded letter from the Treasury Department is "abusing the legal process". Does MM disagree?

Then moving on to alternative sources for actual quotes from MM such as the response linked by thinkingaboutit in post #60:

I believe that the decision to conduct this investigation represents the latest example of the Bush Administration abusing the federal government for raw, crass, political purposes.

Well, he certainly claims to be of the opinion that his strongly worded letter from the Treasury Department wasn't something sent to everyone who goes to Cuba but that he was singled out personally for political reasons. Does that qualify as persecution? I think so.

There are a number of specific facts that have led me to conclude that politics could very well be driving this Bush Administration investigation of me and my film.

Here he begins to sound like a truther, the feelings of "persecution" get so strong.

I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me --

Because he broke the law? No, read on...

...I have tried to help the very people they refuse to help, but until George W. Bush outlaws helping your fellow man, I have broken no laws and I have nothing to hide.

Whew! It's getting piled high in here!

I demand that the Bush Administration immediately end this investigation...

Yeah, blah blah blah... Michael Moore may not be sincere in this persecution rhetoric, but he sure is beating it to death.
Click to expand...

Not to mention this:

thinkingaboutit said:
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/51794/

Moore responds ^
Click to expand...
 
EvilSmurf said:
Actually, he was born in Flint. He grew up in Davison, which is only 17 miles away. I'm sure many people in Davison also worked at the GM plant, so I think Roger & Me is still a personal film for him.
Click to expand...

Yes, apparently:
  • Moore's mother was a secretary at GM
  • His father and grandfather were auto workers
  • He attended the U of M at Flint
  • He founded a weekly called Flint Voice
Oh, and he made up that whole thing about growing up in flint to make roger&me seem personal. :boggled:
Click to expand...

If he stated or implied that the situation in Flint (closing down of auto plants) was a personal issue for him, that seems to be demonstrably true.

Then why not just say "I grew up in a suburb of Flint"? Why lie?
Click to expand...
Specifically, what was the lie?
 
Specifically, what was the lie?
Click to expand...
he lied and said he grew up there, when he didnt. he was just born there.

and hey, even if you want to accept what he said, theres plenty of other dishonesty on his part. what he did to charlton heston was absolutely deplorable. the 'from my cold dead hands' clip was from a completely different meeting a year after columbine, after someone gave him a hand made musket, but he tried to pass it off as being from the meeting in denver shortly after columbine.
 
I am no fan of Moore or Cuba but this is total BS. Why shouldn't people be aloud to visit Cuba? Surely it will only show them how much better off they are in America.


Pardalis said:
Exactly. He probably knew what he was doing and broke the law intentionally.

What a flaming fat idiot.
Click to expand...


*COUGH* Rosa Parks *COUGH*


Architect said:
Ach, if he's annoying the right wing he must be doing something right.
Click to expand...


So do 9/11 deniers. If you're in the right you shouldn't have to make stuff up.
 
Alt+F4 said:
That he grew up in Flint.
Click to expand...

He was born in Flint. His family worked there. He grew up 17 miles away. Do you have a direct quote--I'm curious how he phrased this and the context.

Even if it was technically a lie, isn't it fair to say that he had a strong personal connection to Flint, the place of his birth, where his mom and dad and grandfather were employed? The point of the movie was how GM's plant closings affected the community. His family was part of that community (employees of GM). Was he really being dishonest about this? It does not appear that way to me.
 
I'm not big on defending Micheal Moore but I don't actually live in Glasgow, I live in a little town right next to Glasgow but usually just say Glasgow. Am I a liar?
 
As for Moore and co. using this for publicity; according to Moore, via a link Pardalis provided,

First, the Bush Administration has been aware of this matter for months (since October 2006) and never took any action until less than two weeks before SiCKO is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and a little more than a month before it is scheduled to open in the United States.
Click to expand...

eta:

Also, are we certain that Moore broke the law in bringing the folks to Cuba?
 
Last edited:
Civilized Worm said:
I'm not big on defending Micheal Moore but I don't actually live in Glasgow, I live in a little town right next to Glasgow but usually just say Glasgow. Am I a liar?
Click to expand...

I live in a state of Delirium, though some might call it a state of Denial. My neighbors just call it Texas.
 
Civilized Worm said:
I'm not big on defending Micheal Moore but I don't actually live in Glasgow, I live in a little town right next to Glasgow but usually just say Glasgow. Am I a liar?
Click to expand...

Hmmm...

I grew up in a small town about 20 miles east of Portland, Oregon. If I were to tell people I grew up there I wouldn't consider it a lie, I would just consider it giving the short version.

However if I were to make a film of Portland and told people I grew up there, that would be a lie. If you're making a film about it, you're not giving the short version.
 
Mycroft said:
Hmmm...

I grew up in a small town about 20 miles east of Portland, Oregon. If I were to tell people I grew up there I wouldn't consider it a lie, I would just consider it giving the short version.

However if I were to make a film of Portland and told people I grew up there, that would be a lie. If you're making a film about it, you're not giving the short version.
Click to expand...

Mycroft, would you agree that Moore had a personal connection to Flint and GM employees?

Does anyone have a source for exactly what Moore said about growing up there?
 
So the guy knowingly breaks the law to make a film, then complains he's being persecuted?
Click to expand...
I still take issue with the OP.

Did Moore knowingly break the law?

From the NYT:
This month the department sent a letter to Mr. Moore saying it was investigating whether he had violated restrictions on travel to Cuba when he accompanied sick workers seeking free medical care as part of a documentary on America’s health care industry.
Treasury Department representatives did not return phone calls seeking comment. On Mr. Moore’s Web site, the film’s producer, Meghan O’Hara, called the department’s actions a “politically motivated investigation.”
The ailing workers shown traveling to Cuba in the film had helped clean up the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The letter from the Treasury Department asked for detailed information about the trip, including evidence that Mr. Moore was employed as a journalist. Journalists can secure permission to go to Cuba. (bold added)
Click to expand...
And as far as the timing of this goes, from the Houston Chronicle:

OFAC notified Moore in a letter dated May 2 that it was conducting a civil investigation for possible violations of the U.S. trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba.
Moore questioned the timing of the investigation, noting that "Sicko" premieres May 19 at the Cannes Film Festival and debuts in U.S. theaters June 29. The Bush administration knew of his plans to travel to Cuba since last October, said Moore, who went there in March with about 10 ailing workers involved in the rescue effort at the World Trade Center ruins.
Weinstein said the investigation would only help publicize the film.
"The timing is amazing. You would think that we originated this. It reads like a fiction best-seller," Weinstein said. (bold added)
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom