Posted on 05/19/2004 7:45:48 AM PDT by Sir Gawain
CANNES, France -- Two questions involving the duration of events: (1) So how long, exactly, was the standing ovation for Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11"? And (2) Did President Bush actually remain in a Florida classroom, reading from My Pet Goat, for seven minutes after he was informed of the second attack on the World Trade Center?
Moore's anti-Bush documentary was received rapturously at its black-tie screening here Monday, and a friend told me the ovation lasted 25 minutes. In my report I suggested that Cannes ovations, like the estimates of parade crowds in Chicago, have a tendency to be exaggerated. Since I attended an 8 a.m. press screening, I was not inside the Palais des Festivals to clock it myself.
Now I have another source. The ovation lasted 20 minutes, according to Variety, which may be correct, because its reporters all carry stopwatches to check the running times of movies.
In any event it was "the longest ovation in the history of the festival," according to Thierry Fremaux, the festival's director. At a party Monday evening, I asked Moore. "It depends on when you start counting," he said. "Do you start with the beginning of the closing credits or when the lights go up? When they just wouldn't stop clapping, I walked out and they kept applauding in the lobby."
And as for Bush's delay in reacting to the attack on the World Trade Center? Conventional wisdom has it that the president was reading to schoolchildren when he got the news and quickly left the room.
The Moore version: He was informed of the first attack, went into the room anyway, was informed of the second attack, and remained with the students until a staff member suggested that he leave.
"The teacher in that Sarasota classroom happened to tape the whole event," Moore told me. "We'd seen other footage from the networks, but it was all edited. She just left the camera running. She said nobody had ever asked her for the film. Bush didn't instinctively jump up and go into action, but just stayed on autopilot until someone told him what to do."
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
Like, uh, dude, yeah man, like totally.
Repeating Michael Moore's nonsense sure is a funny way to go about doing that.
That's funny...they didn't seem to have a problem finding Payne Stewart's plane when it went off course a year or so before.
Why was this time different?
Plaid golfer pants show up better on radar.
I bet Maverick and Goose could have got 'em (with Iceman on their wing, of course).
> Don't you think his "duty" to the nation after the first plane hit was just a little bit more important than the "feelings" of a few school kids? <
What was he supposed to do? Jump into a fighter and start scouting for other planes?
Oh, I don't know....maybe TAKING CHARGE OF THE SITUATION instead of lollygagging around and reading to some school kids.
Anything would have been an improvement.
Your petty nitpicking qualifies you for a seat on the 9/11 commission.
Keep up the good work, and don't forget "If you'tre not with the President, you are with the terrorists", and "A vote for a third party is a wasted vote."
That should scare the malcontents and non-appeasables.
Payne Stewart's plane flew on autopilot for hours after the depressurization. Contact was lost over Gainesville FL, and the plane crashed in South Dakota.
Can we have a freeperthon for Goose's wife and kids.
It must be tough on them.
I think Maverick could have done more to save him.
But he is probably a Democrat, so don't expect any congressional hearings or see Goose's wife on Hardball.
What the heck is up with this actionnewsbill guy..
And despite being shown proof, with cites, that you are wrong, you continue affirming Moore's rant.
I'd say I hit the nail right on the head concerning you.
Painted into a corner, you flee. How typical.
A funny, sarcastic line I saw previously on FRwhen these "comments" about GW reading to kids, was that perhaps he should have grabbed a couple of kids and used them as shields as he ran out of the building.
Incredible...
Thanks for the effort to give an overview which reflects real time reality. With Moore we get HIS perspective filtered through HIS agenda. By the way, what did HE do that morning? He seems to be so damn clear on what the President should, could and wasn't doing.... what in fact has he done since except criticize anything and anyone that supports the nation he makes such a fine living castigating?
Moore should be ashamed of himself. He is a lazy, self-centered, ill-informed toad. Instead of celebrating the heroic efforts and sacrifices made that day, he instead uses his time and energy to villify the President, and continue to build up the promise of a terroristic next time.... Worse than a "useful idiot" His ilk is a willing accomplice to aid and abet the enemy. Sadly, he STILL won't get it, when they at last come for him. The problem is that a lot of truly good people will be sacrificed because of his short-sighted drivel.
Most of all, the irony that is so totally lost on the lot of whining libs is that the standing ovation he enjoyed wasn't due to his stellar film, insightful thoughts and vitriolic wit....it was the result of his freedom to spew libelous emotional vomit to an audience of self-serving Hollywood leftist lemmings....it was a right that was paid for by a lot of sweat and blood from the same people that he would be first in line to criticize.
Moore, try making, showing, or enjoying the profits from trying the same venture in the terrorist countries you put so far ahead of your own homeland. There's a word for people like him. Traitor.
I second that. Howlin's timeline is excellent.
I'm no Bushbot; in fact I've used that term here and have been referred to as "Comrade" at times. Criticizing Bush for his actions at the school on 9-11 is non-sensical. It's making mountains, not out of molehills, but out of valleys.
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