This "kinship" was also costly to conservative principles.
Posted on 01/11/2005 10:24:20 AM PST by 1LongTimeLurker
MICHAEL MOORE did something shocking for the People's Choice Awards show in Los Angeles on Sunday night - he got himself coiffed.
We're not saying for sure that there was product in the hair; but it certainly looked as if "Queer Eye for the Filmmaker Who Wants That Academy Award Really Bad" had made an emergency house call:
The hair had been trimmed and trained in such a way as to head upward; the scruffy beard we saw only last week in New York had become one of those crisp trendy goatees; the guy was wearing a handsome dark suit and a tie. When "Fahrenheit 9/11" won the best picture award, Mr. Moore dedicated his award to parents with sons and daughters serving in Iraq.
Oh, excuse us, Instant Message from a Columbia J-School young 'un: You're certainly not suggesting that the nomination for the most prestigious award in the country would be given because of middle-of-the-road acceptability or popularity of the director? The Academy Award is given strictly of the basis of merit, is it not? Our reply: Absolutely. The only reason we cannot wait to see what happens with Mr. Moore's look on Jan. 26, the day after the Academy Award nominations are announced, is that he is such a style icon. People magazine, we hear, is naming him "Sexiest Filmmaker to Make a Documentary with the Word 'Fahrenheit' in Its Title in the Year 2004."
Another surprise: Mr. Moore and MEL GIBSON, whose "Passion of the Christ" won for motion picture drama, are fans of each other's work. Asked if he had seen Mr. Gibson's film, Mr. Moore lighted up.
"I saw it twice," Mr. Moore said. "It's a very powerful film. I'm a practicing Catholic. My film might have been called 'The Compassion of the Christ,' though. The great thing about this country is the diversity of voices. When we limit the voices, we cease being a free society."
When Mr. Gibson walked to the press room lectern, he and Mr. Moore seemed delighted to meet each other.
"I feel a strange kinship with Michael," Mr. Gibson said. "They're trying to pit us against each other in the press, but it's a hologram. They really have got nothing to do with one another. It's just some kind of device, some left-right. He makes some salient points. There was some very expert, elliptical editing going on. However, what the hell are we doing in Iraq? No one can explain to me in a reasonable manner that I can accept why we're there, why we went there, and why we're still there."
Eat Your Heart Out, Sumner
The new television season is so disappointing that tomorrow, as a public service, we will be starting up BFtv, the Boldface Television Network, in this very space. Being but a nascent network, we will not be transmitting in video, nor will we necessarily have audio. On the other hand, if we're still broadcasting when summer comes, you can use BFtv to kill the flies.
Sounds Like Someone
We Dated in the 80's
Our Boldface correspondent was saddened not to see PETRA NEMCOVA - the Sports Illustrated cover girl who is recovering from injuries suffered during the tsunami - at the Muscular Dystrophy Association Muscle Team Gala at Chelsea Piers the other day. Last year, Ms. Nemcova raised $22,000 for the organization by auctioning herself as dinner date. She also, we might as well tell you, was a big believer in the three-kiss hello, which she insisted was an old Czech tradition.
(Yes, we agree it's inappropriate for models to manhandle journalists this way, but truly there's no way to pull them off; they're enormous.)
We did, however, run into DOROTHY HAMILL. She had been flogging the arthritis and pain medication Vioxx until its maker, Merck, took it off the market last fall because a new study found it doubled patients' risk of heart attack and strokes.
"I have to say, for me Vioxx was an incredible medication," Ms. Hamill said. "I felt very badly for the people that it affected in a negative way. I would ask Merck all the time: 'Is this safe? Is this safe?' And they assured me it was because I would never take a drug that I thought was bad. It's really a shame. It was F.D.A.-approved. It was like a vitamin pill for me. I took it every day. Fortunately, I was on a very low dose. And I had a great response with it."
With David Jay Lasky
in Los Angeles
and Joe Brescia in New York
What a nice way to thank all those Conservatives who supported your film Mel.
This has already been discussed on two threads. Also, not every conservative is for the war in Iraq.
This "kinship" was also costly to conservative principles.
'This has already been discussed on two threads. Also, not every conservative is for the war in Iraq".
Exactly. There are many types of "conservative"- fiscal, foreign policy, social etc. What does supporting Iraq have to do with The Passion of the Christ?
"However, what the hell are we doing in Iraq? No one can explain to me in a reasonable manner that I can accept why we're there, why we went there, and why we're still there."
Buh-bye, Mel. You and your movie crap are off my watch list.
"No one can explain to me in a reasonable manner that I can accept why we're there, why we went there, and why we're still there."
You must not be willing to understand then, Mel. Might as well move on to things you can accept, like rising from the dead.
Please. I dont agree with Mel's opinion about the war but he is far from being the enemy here. He has an opinion, he voiced it because he was asked. I would prefer him to not give Moore the ammunition but if I had to have everyone agree with me, I would be a lonely person.
It was always about the bottom line and if you had any doubt you must have realized when he was selling souvenir nails that something was amiss.
"What does supporting Iraq have to do with The Passion of the Christ?"
What bothers some people, and rightly so IMO, is not Gibson's opposition to the Iraq war, per se, but his cozying up to Moore, a repugnant, vitriolic creep who has created a Nazi-like piece of agitprop. There are people on the left who oppose the war and yet identify Moore for what he is...a disreputable propagandist. Also, Gibson said he "liked" Moore's movie; this goes way beyond merely being civil, or diplomatic. What does this have to do with The Passion?.....nothing, but it certainly does not flatter Gibson, in my view.
By making such an inane comment, he's shown me that he "doesn't get it", which puts him squarely in the enemy's camp. There is other entertainment out there, exclusive of Gibson. He's off my list.
Ugh - goatees. When I see a girlie man with a goatee, it makes me want to get out the razor and take the whole chin off.
If Mel's words are used JUST ONCE to bolster the morale of the enemy over there and one more soldier gets killed because of it, I would hold him responsible. We are at war...we must use some better judgement on the words we use while getting the same message across. Anybody who ever thought tha Gibson was about anything but money needs to come back to Planet Earth (Sure did like "Signs" though)
As opposed to a reputable propagandist?
Bush's HHS created and distributed bogus news reports for broadcast in order to sway public opinion in favor of his Medicare legislation.
Conclusion
Although the VNR materials were labeled so that the television news stations could identify CMS as the source of the materials, part of the VNR materials--the story packages and lead-in anchor scripts--were targeted not only to the television news stations but also to the television viewing audience. Neither the story packages nor scripts identified HHS or CMS as the source to the targeted television audience, and the content of the news reports was attributed to individuals purporting to be reporters, but actually (were actors) hired by an HHS subcontractor. For these reasons, the use of appropriated funds for production and distribution of the story packages and suggested scripts violated the publicity or propaganda prohibition of the Consolidated Appropriation Resolution of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-7, Div. J, Tit. VI, § 626, 117 Stat. 11, 470 (2003). Moreover, because CMS had no appropriation available to produce and distribute materials in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition, CMS violated the Antideficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. § 1341. CMS must report the Antideficiency Act violation to the Congress and the President. 31 U.S.C. § 1351.
Anthony H. Gamboa
General Counsel
Bull. You know Mel's intentions as much as you know mine. Don't be so presumptuous. (and Signs was fantastic)
"As opposed to a reputable propagandist?"
Well....yes. I won't accept the idea that propaganda is universally bad. Why can't one be a reputable propagandist; in my opinion, WWII propaganda against the Nazis and the Japanese was justified.
Also, I don't like your assumption that I've condoned the matter of Bush's dept. of Health and Human Services and that I am therefore somehow hypocritical. I never even brought Bush into the matter nor have I defended or criticized anything involving Bush. This is deflection and it does nothing to diminish Moore's trail of slime.
True. But, I wasn't talking about WWII propaganda used against an enemy in a declared war. I was talking about a supposedly conservative President who foists propaganda off on an unsuspecting public in order to garner favor for legislation that will greatly enlarge the welfare state. There is a difference, no?
Also, I don't like your assumption that I've condoned the matter of Bush's dept. of Health and Human Services and that I am therefore somehow hypocritical. I never even brought Bush into the matter nor have I defended or criticized anything involving Bush. This is deflection and it does nothing to diminish Moore's trail of slime.
I assumed nothing of the sort. I only sought to point out that the left does not hold a monopoly on the use of propaganda and brought up Bush's HHS Medicare propaganda as an example of this point.
I have no doubt that until I brought this to your attention, you, like most FReepers, were unaware that Bush did this just as you were probably unaware that Bush has signed a Totalization Agreement with Mexico that will allow millions of former and current Mexican illegal aliens to apply for and receive US Social Security benefits for themselves, their wives and their children even if their wives and children have never stepped foot into the US.
Mel's a Paleocon. 'Nuff said.
Im sure Mel voted for Bush so let's not stop likeing him for this now im going to watch The Road Warrior.
Mel Gibson is absolutely right about Iraq.
As an antiwar, anti-Bush voter who was deeply moved by the The Passion Of Christ, I say, "Way to go, Mel!"
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