Strange Guardian article about Michael Moore.

[No2W2004]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1222496,00.html

This is wierd....the writer obviously wants to out Moore as a rich, snobby white person who could care less about the subjects he makes movies about, but the only things I came away with were:

1) Michael Moore is rich. Duh....success tends to do that. Does being rich mean that one ceases to care about anything?

2) Moore is a hypocrite because he is pointing out flaws in people who are as rich as he is. Oh, did I mention that Moore rode around in a limo while at Cannes? Or that he had Public Relations and Security people with him? Jeez...I don't remember the reports about all the other stars ariving by themselves in Chevy Cavilers wearing jeans & t-shirts....

3) Moore sends his kid to a private school, so he thinks his kid is better than yours. He does print Moore's response, but frames it with comments about how "exclusive" private schools are. Moore states 'the first five years she went to public school, then we moved to New York and we went to see the local public school and we walked through a metal detector and we said, "We're not putting our child through a metal detector." We'll continue our fight to see to it that our society is such that you don't have to have a metal detector at the entrance to schools. But our daughter is not the one to be sacrificed to make things better. And so she went to a school two blocks away. She just went to the nearest other school. Is that a bad thing?' he asks rhetorically of his decision, 'I don't know. Every parent wants to do what's best for their child. Whatever I can afford, I'm going to get my kid the best education I can get.'

This article was listed as a review, even though the author spent the whole article telling us over and over "Michael Moore is rich!!"

[AP]

1. I don't trust the Guardian the way I used to. I never trusted the BBC.

Don't get me wrong. I love the BBC and in fact I love all the news in the UK. But they do have biases and agendas. There's a huge carrot of immense profit at the end of the stick which will shorten when they're all privatized, and I just know they're all preparing for that day. And the Guardian has been changing too. I think with Labor so powerful, the drive by the right to subvert the press has reached a level people don't realize just yet.

[DEMVET-USMC]

4. They also got put in their place so to speak by Lord ? and Tony Blair

for criticizing Blair regarding their entry into the Iraq war. Something like that.ALSO THE TOP MAN AT BBC WAS FORCED TO RESIGN. It seems the British having thier own problems with freedoms they used to have. ...Oscar

[AP]

5. their freedom to show pictures of women in states of undress?

[DEMVET-USMC]

6. Sorry I don`t understand your point.

I have no problem with nudity. ...Oscar

[AP]

10. Paraphrasing a Billy Bragg lyric.

 It says here that the Unions will never learn
It says here that the economy is on the upturn
And it says here we should be proud
That we are free
And our free press reflects our democracy
Those braying voices on the right of the House
Are echoed down the Street of Shame
Where politics mix with bingo and tits
In a strictly money and numbers game
Where they offer you a feature
On stockings and suspenders
Next to a call for stiffer penalties for sex offenders
It says here that this year's prince is born
It says here do you ever wish
That you were better informed
And it says here that we can only stop the rot
With a large dose of Law and Order
And a touch of the short sharp shock
If this does not reflect you view you should understand
That those who own the papers also own this land
And they'd rather you believe
In Coronation Street capers
In the war of circulation, it sells newspapers
Could it be an infringement
Of the freedom of the press
To print pictures of women in states of undress
When you wake up to the fact
That you paper is Tory
Just remember, there are two sides to every story

[AP]

12. Holy Shit. This song was written almost 20 years ago, and every line ...

... looks like it could have been written today:

It says here that the Unions will never learn -------- Ann DeVos, Michigan
It says here that the economy is on the upturn ---------- yes.
And it says here we should be proud
That we are free -- --------------------------"they hate us because we're free"
And our free press reflects our democracy -------That's what they say
Those braying voices on the right of the House ---- ugh, yes
Are echoed down the Street of Shame
Where politics mix with bingo and tits ----------casinos and Janet Jackson
In a strictly money and numbers game----------yep
Where they offer you a feature
On stockings and suspenders
Next to a call for stiffer penalties for sex offenders--uh huh.
It says here that this year's prince is born
It says here do you ever wish
That you were better informed
And it says here that we can only stop the rot
With a large dose of Law and Order------------Patriot Act
And a touch of the short sharp shock---------It's like a fraternity prank
If this does not reflect you view you should understand
That those who own the papers also own this land------yep
And they'd rather you believe
In Coronation Street capers------------------Lacie Peterson
In the war of circulation, it sells newspapers
Could it be an infringement
Of the freedom of the press
To print pictures of women in states of undress---any excuse for a Paris Hilton story
When you wake up to the fact
That you paper is Tory---------------------------Republican
Just remember, there are two sides to every story -----please.

[Vladimir]

13. Its a bit like Yes, Minister - the jokes

never seem to age...

[Vladimir]

14. I don't mean to be difficult

but if the drive by the right to subvert the press is anti-Labour, why is it that the most right-wing newspaper of them all, The Sun, is still propping Blair up at every turn?

[DEMVET-USMC]

2. I`m glad Mike is rich. He is also a brave man. He was one of the first

courageous enough to speak out against BUSHCO at a time when a very few people had the guts to do so . ...Oscar

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

3. Nothing new here...the same old "let's create a controversy" ploy...

...when "Dude, Where's My Country" was first released and Moore was on the book tour, various Fox anchors "exposed" the fact that he was flying on the Warner Brothers corporate plane..."all expenses paid."

:scared:

Now, I don't know if that's true or not...never tried to "Google" it for accuracy...but that was primarily because I didn't care. He wrote the books, he made the movies and did the TV show...he deserves to profit from them, and that doesn't make him a hypocrite.

[wtmusic]

7. Whaddaya mean? This is a GREAT review

"Fahrenheit 9/11 seldom loses sight of its target - the Bush administration - or its sense of humour."

:shrug:

[oblivious]

8. He may be an asshole, but he's our asshole!

I would be happy to put up with his arrogance as long as he keeps getting the truth out to vast audiences. I don't think there's any way he could do what he does if he didn't have a fairly thick shell around him. Go Mike!

[necso]

9. Since when is anyone, much less Michael Moore, sacrosanct?

Where was Michael Moore in 2000 when a few more votes in Florida could have prevented all this --- supporting Nader, of course. And what ever happened to Nader not taking votes away from Gore in swing states and the plan for vote swapping?

Michael Moore isn't Moses and he too has things to answer for. Parroting: "None whatsoever", when asked about regrets for supporting Ralph Nader in 2000, only makes him sound like the neocons, with their unshakeable faith in their own rectitude. It is not enough from a man who, as much as any other Nader supporter, gave us * in the first place. Personal moral certainty is also a very bad place to start for a man purporting to tell the unvarnished truth.

Michael Moore is doing his own thing, and he is welcome to it. At the moment he and the Democratic faithful work for similar ends, in the future, as in the past, we may not.

[Jim Warren]

11. 'scuse me?

Bill Gates is rich. Warren Buffet is rich. The Walton family is rich. The house of Saud is rich and they've even helped the piker Bush family get close to rich.

M. Moore got a few bucks, good for him

Haha, rode around in a limo (that's rich) and I hope to shit he's got a bodygaurd.

[DeadHead67]

15. When they can't refute the message. . . . .

They will try to shoot, or in this case discredit, the messenger. Let's face it, if the worst thing the assholes can use to smear Mike Moore, is that he's rich, then SO WHAT!!!! GOD BLESS MICHAEL MOORE!!!:kick:

[non sociopath skin]

16. The Guardian and Observer hate, loathe and despise Moore...

... and never miss a chance to malign him. This is perfectly consistent with their unrepentantly pro-Blair, pro-Bush, pro-war line.

The Skin