Posted on 07/01/2004 7:23:46 AM PDT by Pikamax
More Distortions From Michael Moore Some of the main points in ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ really aren’t very fair at allWEB EXCLUSIVE By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball Newsweek Updated: 6:26 p.m. ET June 30, 2004June 30 - In his new movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” film-maker Michael Moore makes the eye-popping claim that Saudi Arabian interests “have given” $1.4 billion to firms connected to the family and friends of President George W. Bush. This, Moore suggests, helps explain one of the principal themes of the film: that the Bush White House has shown remarkable solicitude to the Saudi royals, even to the point of compromising the war on terror. When you and your associates get money like that, Moore says at one point in the movie, “who you gonna like? Who’s your Daddy?”
advertisement
But a cursory examination of the claim reveals some flaws in Moore’s arithmetic—not to mention his logic. Moore derives the $1.4 billion figure from journalist Craig Unger’s book, “House of Bush, House of Saud.” Nearly 90 percent of that amount, $1.18 billion, comes from just one source: contracts in the early to mid-1990’s that the Saudi Arabian government awarded to a U.S. defense contractor, BDM, for training the country’s military and National Guard. What’s the significance of BDM? The firm at the time was owned by the Carlyle Group, the powerhouse private-equity firm whose Asian-affiliate advisory board has included the president’s father, George H.W. Bush.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
What's the difference. The damage is done. The publicity the media gave this crackpot was unprecedented. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Does someone have a list of all the articles bashing this movie?
And that's not all Moore had to say about his brother Yanks across the pond.
Do they mention that Moore himself is also an investor in the Carlysle Group?
There is a lot of time till the election ..Time spent by the Bush administration making the adherents to MM look like the fools they are
Actually I think that 1) Moore's film was a clear case of "preaching to the choir" and 2) the string of stories debunking his assertions are having the exact OPPOSITE affect that Moore intended, that is to get "swing" voters to vote against Bush.
Despite the box office numbers very VERY few people have seen this movie. It took in 21 Million. At 8 bucks a pop that's only 2.6 million people or less than 10% of the population. I guarantee the majority of those people weren't going to vote for Bush to begin with.
The swing voters who didn't see the movie heard the hype pre-release and are now seeing the post-release stories calling the movie a load of crap. Many won't even bother to go and see it and if they do they will have the follow up stories to gauge what they are seeing.
In a couple of months the movie will be forgotten. The next time we hear about it will be during Oscar time next year.
That is the modus operandi of the left. Float out anything to shapes public opinion and when the truth comes out, it always appears defensive and weaker than the original claim.
The demoncratic candidates have used this process (Bush Knew, Bush should have known, Bush lied, Bush is a dry drunk, conservatism is a mental illness) you name it they have floated it.
You can fool some of the people all of the time and unfortunately there is no voter competency measurement to screen out the fools.
Well, there is he speaking of himself and using the royal "we". :)
I saw a poll this morning. 47% of Americans believe that Bush PURPOSELY misled the American people in order to go to war. 44% said he did not. I find these numbers astonishing. Bush is such a good man, I can't believe what the press has done to him. We have done such a good thing and the press will not let us have any of the rewards. Won't let us feel good about ourselves for even one MINUTE. I'm very, very worried.
Moore is just like all these other celebrities who go to Europe and pander to the crowd by denigrating their fellow Americans to ingratiate themselves. If this walking cheeseburger hates America so much, he should leave.
bump
Backhoe, are you keeping track of this stuff?
these results reflect the quick reaction to a leading question - asked after several months of one-sided media coverage. As the goofy Bush-Saudi-oil conspiracy theories in Moore's film demonstrate, the left is struggling to pin a sinister motive for going to war with Iraq on Bush - and failing. They've basically shot their wad. Reasonable people, after giving this a bit of thought can only come to the conclusion that war with Iraq represented huge political risk for Bush, with very little political gain if things went well. No reasonable motives are available other than an honest effort to back up his pledge to go after sponsors of terror - that the left has now resorted to trotting these conspiracy theories out in front of the general public only helps underline that fact.
Micheal Moores movie proves he is right, Americans going to see it are the most stupid people on the planet.
Pass it along:
http://www.michaelmoorehatesamerica.com/
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/5/19/134418.shtml
Top spinmeisters for Bill and Hillary Clinton have been dispatched to the Cannes Film Festival to help fend off anticipated Republican attacks on conspiracy-minded filmmaker Michael Moore, whose latest production, "Fahrenheit 9/11," accuses President Bush of conspiring with Osama bin Laden.
Former Hillary press secretary Howard Wolfson, along with Michael Feldman - the business partner of Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart - have "parachuted into" Cannes to help with the release of "Fahrenheit," a spokesman for Miramax Films tells the Washington Post.
Also working on media relations for the anti-Bush film: Clinton Whitewater damage controllers Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane.
Lockhart sought to clarify his company's relationship with the controversial filmmaker, telling the Post, "We're not working for Michael Moore, but we are working for Miramax."
Miramax founder Harvey Weinstein, who purchased rights to the film after Disney rejected it, is a close political ally of Hillary Clinton and helped kick off her Senate campaign in 1999 with a glitzy Manhattan gala.
"We felt that having the political expertise to withstand the political attacks would require hiring the people who have the most experience on that terrain," Miramax's Matthew Hiltzik told the paper.
Moore's film accuses President Bush of kowtowing to the Saudis by letting Osama bin Laden's relatives flee the U.S. three days after the 9/11 attacks.
Just two months ago, however, former White House terrorism czar Richard Clark took the wind out of Moore's sails in testimony before the 9/11 Commission.
A Clinton holdover who said he managed the Bush administration's response to the 9/11 attacks from the Situation Room, Clarke admitted that he alone authorized the FBI to permit the bin Ladens to leave.
The Clintons' move to protect Moore is something of a return favor. Earlier this year Moore offered a high-profile presidential primiary endorsement of former Gen. Wesley Clark, who was handpicked by the former first couple in a bid to derail Gov. Howard Dean's campaign.
You know it's getting bad when even Isikof has trouble with the noise.
What damage? The only people who saw this crap were extreme left-wing wackos. Even ordinary liberals and Democrats stayed away.
These people aren't going to see this movie 4 or 5 times like teen girls did to Titanic. This movie is already tanking and will get blown away by Spiderman 2.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.