Michael Moore Brings Bush-Bashing to Utah

[joefree1]

Michael Moore Brings Bush-Bashing to Utah

By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer

OREM, Utah - Filmmaker Michael Moore brought his Bush-bashing to conservative Utah Wednesday, saying he felt perfectly safe and was proud of student organizers who held firm against attempts to bar him from the Republican bastion.

"I feel bad for students who had to suffer through this simply because they believe in freedom of expression," Moore said before his sold-out speech to more than 7,000 at Utah Valley State College.

edit ...

Moore's appearance stirred fierce debate in Utah County. Critics said the student government misused public money by spending much of its $50,000 budget to book the "Fahrenheit 9/11" director, whose documentary paints President Bush as an inept leader who rushed into war in Iraq.

Student government leaders organizing the speech, who face a recall petition, said the money was spent properly and that Moore's appearance reflected freedom of expression.

more ...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=762&e=1&u=/ap/20041021/ap_en_ce/michael_moore

on edit: the College felt compelled to bring in Sean Hannity to speak a week before to show they were "fair and balanced." :eyes:

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[lovuian]

1. Awesome!!!

:bounce:

[movonne]

2. What a guy....we owe him so much...Rate this up!!

[joefree1]

5. Done

You have given the news article Michael Moore Brings Bush-Bashing to Utah a rating of 5.
Its current average rating is 3.80 with 42 vote(s).

[partisan to truth]

3. kick! .nt

[Sandpiper]

4. Orem-Provo is probably

The most uptight, white bread, Republican community in the entire country.

I'm amazed that Moore got booked at UVSC.

[Momgonepostal]

for it's size, I might agree

There are probably lots of little bitty one horse towns that are worse.

[Cerridwen]

6. Let's hear it for the students! They're going to have to

continue living there and going to school there after Moore is gone.

[number6]

7. quite entertaining

;)

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[samtob]

10. A whole bunch of dem Mormons will be

very surprised to know there are still people who think they are mutant.
;-)

[Tight_rope]

9. kick!

[idiosyncratic]

11. Michael Moore is very brave to set foot in Utah . . .

:scared:


"You have given the news article Michael Moore Brings Bush-Bashing to Utah a rating of 5.

Its current average rating is 3.81 with 65 vote(s)."

[pfitz59]

12. UTAH-Mormon bashing out of line....

7000 attendees in an area perceived as rabidly Conservative should give you pause to wonder! Throw out the Book of Mormon nonsense and you'll see most Mormons are very down-to-earth on such things as education, social services and the environment. Fundies are extremists, no matter their religion. Mormon zealots give a bad name to the rest of the folks. Jack-mormons and non-church-going saints make up a large percentage off the Mormon faith. Most Mormons I grew up with tended toward MODERATION, not extremism! They were an awfully tolerant bunch, at least those I knew.

[freeplessinseattle]

14. well, I guess it depends

I agree that not all Mormons are zealots and prejudice against the non-LDS, but based on my experiences growing up there between the ages of 5-14 I definitely felt a distinctive chill and suspicion from many many of the Mormons I encountered. maybe it's partially b/c I don't have any religon, and when they'd ask the standard question upon meeting "what ward do you go to?", and after I informed them that I wasn't LDS they'd say, "oh, well what religon are you?" and you should have seen their faces and heard the awkward silence following that revelation. I couldn't say if that happened more or less often than not, but often enough to stick in my formative mind and give me an inferiority complex. I must say though that I did have some true friends that were staunch LDS and very involved in their ward, but accepted me and rarely tried to convert me. I ahve noticed that the Mormons I have met after leaving UT are more welcoming of non-LDS, so I think the clublike attitude is in part a function of the strong majority (this was 20 years ago, keep in mind, so the % of LDS was a bit higher)

[NVMojo]

16. that is interesting and goes along with my thoughts on Moore

in Nevada where 10,000 turn out for him in Reno on a Wednesday and two days later in Vegas, 4,000 show up in the largest population center in the state. SLC area is more like Reno ....where you'd think more conservatives live ...

[pelagius]

20. Gotta agree!

I spent about 10 years doing business in the with Provo area business (little company called Novell) and even had an apartment in Orem for awhile.

Despite some cultural differences (how could I be 28 and STILL not married?), I thought the folks in the area were hospitable and kind. The kind of neighbors just about anyone would hope to have. And I made it clear from the outset I would not be joining the LDS church.

Yeah, it was strange transitioning between my SF Bay Area home and smack-dab LDS central, but a sold-out Micheal Moore lecture doesn't seem at all implausible to me.

[wysiwyg]

22. I'm in Utah, everyone I work with supports Bush

It is absolutely inconceivable that they would vote for anyone other than Dear Leader. In my experience most Mormons here in Utah are not currently members of the Reality Based Community. Mormons from elsewhere seem to be more moderate.

[freeplessinseattle]

13. saw him in Seattle last night

and grew up in UT-never would have thought I'd see the day that people spoke out from the far right majority there. that is so awesome! all I can say about Mooore last night is Wow. it was just what I needed, and to be among all that positive beautiful energy was so uplifting. he gave out the number for the Pfizer Michael Moore hotline in case a "bearded heavyset man in rumpled clothes with a microphone" is spotted: 212.573.1226.


what an emotional inspirational night, I have so much respect for him. I can even forgive him for voting for Nader, and he is trying to right that wrong, telling people that he knows it "feels good" to vote for Nader, but is a few minutes of pleasure worth four years of hell? (the Nader supporters that were disruptive thought so, and were led out. and outside there was a total of 9 (nine) RW protestors. morans)

[Jandar]

15. Something the article doesn't mention...

Some of the good brethren here is Utah Valley are so incensed with the Moore appearance that they tried to pay off the school, provided they cancel the speech. When that failed, Kay Anderson and others filed suit against the school. They are trying to have the student council and the faculty adviser fired, claiming that they violated the schools constitution. And on and on and on it goes.

I've been attending this little shit hole of a school for a long time and this only the second event I ever wanted to attend. (the other was an appearance by the Dalai Lama) Unfortunately I couldn't get tickets. I'm pleased the event it's self wasn't as contentious as the last few weeks. Moore's visit has served as a catalyst for many a confrontation; fortunately, none went beyond verbal violence. It's funny how you can be around, even work fairly closely with people and never know just how ugly they can be.


Here is a link: http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2430211

[NVMojo]

17. that is sort of what that local business man in Reno

tried to do to keep Moore out. Only it didn't work and I think his opposition to Moore backfired when 10,000 showed up for Moore.

[CreekDog]

19. Was a student at BYU when Provo-Orem elected a Democrat to Congress

Bill Orton was elected to that seat 3 times and the 1st time was a landslide.

The Republican ran an ad in the Sunday paper before the election stating how he had family values and he showed a picture of himself with his family. The picture below said that it showed Bill Orton's family, but Bill being single was the only one in his picture.

This was a big time cheap shot and it backfired. Orton won and won big. Incidentally, when he ran for governor, his campaign had about $40,000, and got 43% in conservative Utah against Mike Leavitt, the 3-term, popular and moderate (by Utah stds)governor.

Utah may yet again elect a Democrat to the Governor's office.

One more thing, Jim Matheson was elected to Utah's 2nd district in 2000. The Republicans redistricted him into a hostile area, taking away most of his Democrats and giving him lots of Republican voters. He won in 2002 anyway.

Utah voters can surprise us sometimes. Even Wyoming elected a Democrat to governorship last year.

[gavodotcom]

18. If this catches on, it could replace "book burning" as the #1 Utah sport.

[wysiwyg]

21. If Sean Hannity was the first choice...

the College felt compelled to bring in Sean Hannity to speak a week before to show they were "fair and balanced."

If the students had originally selected Sean Hannity I somehow doubt the college would have brought in Michael Moore to be "fair and balanced.".