{"id":3802,"date":"2003-03-27T07:34:22","date_gmt":"2003-03-27T12:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=3802"},"modified":"2003-03-27T07:34:22","modified_gmt":"2003-03-27T12:34:22","slug":"target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/03\/27\/target.html","title":{"rendered":"Target"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like Andrea<\/a>, I was about done with this particular thread, but, like Andrea, I just can’t let it go when it keeps ripping itself out of the mouldering grave and grabbing me about the ankles. Some comments from Michael Moore on CNN NewsNight <\/a>with Aaron Brown last night really do needs some commentary.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

MOORE: Well, I think the country is pretty evenly divided about this war as they were with the election results, although the majority did not vote for Mr. Bush. And, at least at the beginning of this thing before we went into the war, the majority really weren’t that anxious to go to war, so.<\/p>\n

Jeez, that seems positively mild compared to the “WE DON’T WANT TO GO TO WAR! THE POPE AND DIXIE CHICKS DON’T WANT TO GO TO WAR! YOU ARE THWARTING THE WILL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, MR. BUSH!” ranting you’ve been doing, Mike. Been reading some polls lately?<\/p>\n

Of course, he has to get in his obligatory “the majority did not vote for Mr. Bush” bit. Have you considered leading a charge for the abolition of the electoral college, Mike? Because, if not, then the rhetoric is sort of pointless.<\/p>\n

[…] I thought it was a very appropriate thing to say because my film is about the American culture of violence, both at home and abroad, and you know, how a government in the name of Mr. Bush in this case, and I put this right in my film how he has manipulated the people with fear and to get them to back his agenda.<\/p>\n

And who would know better about how people can be manipulated by selective editing and imagery than you, Mike?<\/p>\n

And, so for me it was the appropriate thing to do, and frankly, you know, I’m not looking – I mean you know me. I’m not the kind of guy that’s going to stand up there and thank his agent and his lawyer and his agent’s lawyer.<\/p>\n

Well, you did manage to thank your producers. I’m sure there were some other folks who worked on the film (the “Little People” — you remember them, right, Mike?) who wouldn’t have minded some recognition. Or you could have simply said thanks and gone and sat down. Just because someone gives you 45 seconds of soap box does not mean you have to fill it up.<\/i><\/p>\n

BROWN: […] I wonder if in retrospect you wish you had said it or done it differently?
\nMOORE: Yes. I wish I’d said that the children of Columbine and all the other Columbines in this country tonight they’ve learned an important lesson this week which is we adults have taught them that violence is an acceptable method to resolve a conflict. That’s the sad, sad lesson that’s been taught to our children through this war and I wish I’d had a chance to say that.<\/p>\n

Now, you see, that would have been thoughtful. And I agree that it’s a sad, sad lesson, but, unlike Mike, I think it’s a true <\/i>lesson. Sometimes, as a last resort, violence is <\/i>an acceptable method to resolve a conflict. <\/p>\n

But, no, look I was very appreciative of, you know, the standing ovation there and the booing that started was way up in the balcony, and then the people supporting what I was saying started booing them, and then it just turned into a (unintelligible) of people fighting with each other in the audience.<\/p>\n

I see. Mike’s story has changed. Originally he was dismissing it all as just a few boos from the stagehands. Faced with audio of the occurance, that’s clearly not the case. Now it’s up from the cheap seats, riposted by more booing from his dear friends and fellow ideologues down on the floor. Right. Next it will be a chorus of angels burst into boos at the evil violence perpetrated by the shameful Bush administration …<\/p>\n

I didn’t really mean for that to happen.<\/p>\n

No, you meant for everyone to give you a standing ovation all the way through what you had to say.<\/p>\n

I just felt that that was the right thing to do and I’m a person of conscience and I hope all people are that.<\/p>\n

Yes. Hence the booing.<\/p>\n

[…] Well, I think one of your producers told me that on the Internet in the last 24 hours after the Iraq War, Michael Moore was the most trafficked name or whatever on the Internet. So, I think it has, you know, a lot of people have – I’ve had about 20 million hits on my website, incredible mail supporting me, coming back yesterday traveling, people stopping me in the airports thanking me.<\/p>\n

Yes, that’s right, folks. Michael Moore has gotten nothing but praise since then. Only incredible, supportive mail. And, after all, those millions of searches on his name, and hits on his site, are proof that the masses love him, right?<\/p>\n

[…] You know, Aaron, my whole thing for the last 13 years since “Roger and Me” is to attempt to be a voice for all of us that don’t have a voice and a lot of people are grateful that I said the things I said that had to be said.<\/p>\n

Yeah, like these voiceless people<\/a>, right?<\/p>\n

And, you know, I realize some people don’t agree with it, but that’s what great about this country that we have freedom of speech and, you know, and I said what I had to say.<\/p>\n

Yup. That’s why Dubya and Ashcroft can’t have you shipped off to the gulag.<\/p>\n

But with great power comes great responsibility, Mike. You might want to consider the second half of that equation. The right to say whatever you want doesn’t mean you should, all the time, at the top of your lungs.<\/p>\n

It does mean, of course, that people have the freedom to boo you, or criticize you, too. You might consider that, as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like Andrea, I was about done with this particular thread, but, like Andrea, I just can’t let it go when it keeps ripping itself out of the mouldering grave and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,15,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geopolitical-brouhaha","category-media","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":474,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/04\/09\/friend_of_the_f.html","url_meta":{"origin":3802,"position":0},"title":"Friend of the friendless","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-Apr-03 4:47pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael Moore is back out there, rousing his rabble and flogging his product (and in public!). Some excerpts: It appears that the Bush administration will have succeeded in colonizing Iraq...","rel":"","context":"In "Geopolitical Brouhaha"","block_context":{"text":"Geopolitical Brouhaha","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/geopolitical-brouhaha"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3823,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/03\/24\/the_speech_is_t.html","url_meta":{"origin":3802,"position":1},"title":"The Speech is the Thing","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 24-Mar-03 9:07pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Because, after all, what fun is it to lambaste Michael Moore for his Oscar speech without actually quoting it in its entirety? On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and...","rel":"","context":"In "Media & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Media & Culture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3841,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/03\/22\/stupid_white_ma.html","url_meta":{"origin":3802,"position":2},"title":"Stupid white man","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 22-Mar-03 12:07am","format":false,"excerpt":"I know it's probably grossly unfair to tackle Michael Moore's open letter to George Bush four full days after he posted it ... but given Moore's record, I'm not worried...","rel":"","context":"In "Geopolitical Brouhaha"","block_context":{"text":"Geopolitical Brouhaha","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/geopolitical-brouhaha"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3754,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/04\/02\/grow_up.html","url_meta":{"origin":3802,"position":3},"title":"Grow up","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 2-Apr-03 6:25am","format":false,"excerpt":"The LA Weekly, which sits pretty left of center in its editorial policy, suggests that the anti-war movement -- between gloating over slow-downs in the war and staging counter-productive protests...","rel":"","context":"In "Geopolitical Brouhaha"","block_context":{"text":"Geopolitical Brouhaha","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/geopolitical-brouhaha"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3829,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/03\/24\/dog_days_of_war.html","url_meta":{"origin":3802,"position":4},"title":"Dog days of war","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 24-Mar-03 8:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"Perhaps it's not enough sleep, or tummy rumbles, or worries about my trip today (not the flying part, the actual meetings part), but I'm finding little to write about, war-wise....","rel":"","context":"In "Geopolitical Brouhaha"","block_context":{"text":"Geopolitical Brouhaha","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/geopolitical-brouhaha"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4048,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/02\/23\/division_error.html","url_meta":{"origin":3802,"position":5},"title":"Division error","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 23-Feb-03 3:06pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's an interesting, even, dare I say it, insightful article by Robert Fisk about the polarization of thought in the US over the impending war with Iraq. It was a...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}