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This says it all about F9/11 More

This says it all about F9/11

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  • Polemicist? That's just someone who argues with another person's position. That's like saying "Why hold anyone who argues with the president's position higher than the president himself?"

    Well, whether it's true of Moore or not, because that person could be right.

    • No the point is, if the president is given a pass to make inferences and allegations that lead to a large part of the populace believing that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11, why can't Moore make inferences and allegations about Bush family connections to the Saudis? It sounds like you are saying "why hold a polemicist in higher regard than the president" when it's "to a higher standard [of truth]".

      • Sounds more like I shouldn't post when I've only been out of bed for half an hour..... eesh. I completely misread the entire thing.

        At any rate, they ought to be held to the same standard of truth. Just because he's not the president doesn't mean he can't influence people, and you can't go around slinging nonsense just because you're not an elected official. The fact is that a lot of people have put a lot of (mis-placed, IMHO) trust in Moore, so if he's leading people astray with tricky editing and half tru

        • they ought to be held to the same standard of truth. Just because he's not the president doesn't mean he can't influence people

          No real disagreement here :-). But many on the right are not holding them to the same standard of truth.

  • That phrase is trying to be too "cute" in its summary. There's plenty of valid reasons to dislike Michael Moore and his works (see the recent Salon essay that made it to Slashdot's front page, for instance.)
    • Oh absolutely. And I have no issue with people who dislike Moore because he's a self-important fat ranting misleading jerk. I just think it's ludicrous to give the president a pass for invoking Nigerian nuclear weapons parts in the State of the Union but claim Moore's a liar for every omission he leaves out. I think it's clear which message needs to be held to a higher standard of Truth.
  • I liked that line when I read it, too. (Krugman, NYT.)

    Muckracker might be a better term, or propagandist, or rabble-rouser, or demagogue. He certainly has a record of abusing the truth. But whatever the term for what Michael Moore is and does, we have every reason to expect less truthfulness from him than we do from the President when it comes to matters vital to the natiion's future.

    Moore has no duty to the people beyond the duties of any citizen. No one elected him. He's just some guy who has arranged h
    • I wasn't a fan of Moore until I saw this movie, and now I have to admit to a certain admiration. But that admiration is dwarfed by the esteem in which I hold Paul Krugman. He's outstanding.
  • I have problems with Moore too, but I think he does play a valuable role. He raises interesting questions. He mangles the answers, in most cases, but at least he asks the questions. This in itself is a valuable service in a democracy.

    It is indeed quite amusing to see who is ranting about Moore's lies, exaggerations, and insinuations, after watching the same people vigorously defend Dubya for the exact same sorts of acts.

    When the President lies to the people, it is obviously a much bigger deal than when

  • What's the big deal? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by tomhudson ( 43916 )
    Maybe I missed something, but Fahrenheit 911 didn't have anything in it that I hadn't already seen on the CBC news or The 5th Estate at least twice in the last year.

    ... or is it because the news media in the United States were so busy falling over themselves in their rush to self-censor, as Moore points out (which was also old news :-(

    Don't get me wrong - I think it's worth watching. I just think its unfortunate that this is considered "newsworthy" in the US while it's old hat in the rest of the world.

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