The Fine Art Of Political Self-Marginalization

Forget that his latest mockumentary Sicko was DOA, when a would be champion of Liberal and Far-Left causes like Michael Moore is reduced to a cat fight he loses with CNN and Wolf Blitzer because, well, they're obviously biased and in the pocket of the man, I think it's safe to say you have been, for all intents and purposes, politically marginalized. Wasn't he featured at a political convention not all that long ago? He's no Lynn Cheney, that's for sure.

Generally, CNN's main point is Moore's selective use of:

A) Data from outdated reports, and

B) Data from multiple sources, which Moore cherry-picks and collates to present his own distorted view as objective truth.

Ultimately, the entire episodes highlights two things:

Firstly, Michael Moore is an arrogant, bullying blowhard, who can dish out mendacious, vitriolic bile by the handful, but cannot swallow the same criticism no matter how mild.

Secondly, Wolf Blitzer remains a crash test dummy for any guest to have their way with.

Update: Ed Driscoll adds some much needed historical perspective.

Comments

[Purple Avenger]

Amazing -- there actually is a limit to the amount of water CNN will carry for a leftist.

[rixon]

I actually saw sicko (because I had time to kill and die hard wasn't playing) and it was actually surprisingly good, if over the top. If he had focused less on Hilary clinton and domestic politics, and kept the spotlight on people with insurance problems he would have made a better movie.

Honestly, it pains me to say this but he is a master filmmaker and far better than anyone on the right.

[Dan Riehl]

You may be right, rixon. I don't know. Unfortunately, Americans like packaging, we're conditioned that way. As a "package," Moore doesn't sell "health care" and his habit of putting himself in front of his movies fails him this time out IMO.

[Labamigo]

Mike Moore IS a very talented filmaker, but I refuse to concede him any intellectual or persuasive weight.

He strictly tells only one side of whatever story he is "documenting", whether it be health care, terrorism, or gun control.

What he does, he does well, but its like playing tennis without a net.

If he had lived in Germany in 1939, he no doubt could have made some good films for Hitler.

[Ginny]

It's hard to see in him the beauty and archetypal power of Leni Riefenstahl.

[Phoenix]

How can Moore be a good filmmaker under any circumstances if he doesn't tell the truth? He does documentaries, not fantasy films. If he lies and tells only one side, then he's anything but a good filmmaker no matter how you spin it. Last I knew Hollywood didn't have an Oscar category for Best Propagandist.

[Purple Avenger]

"He does documentaries"

Moore denies this when questioned pointedly. The media would like the public to believe they're documentaries though.

[Steevo]

Agreed Phoenix, he's a liar. What's he doing good except grossly twisting reality. He's not dealing with honest facts he's making it up. Under scrutiny for a meaningful portrayal he's a failure. LOL even for CNN.

And, he rots.

[expat]

Will you folks please remember that Michael Moore is considered an authority by many in Europe. He is quoted as a source of information in letters to the editor. His books were on the bestseller lists in Germany forever. His seat of honor position at the 2004 convention was a big part of TV coverage here. He told a Berlin audience that Americans are the dumbest people in the world, according to a Der Spiegel article. Just a few weeks ago, a Kulturzeit TV program reported on the Canadian film that debunked Moore's movies, and the cultural elite were shocked at this info. Michael Moore is disgusting. If Edwards is serious about repairing America's image abroad, he should take on Moore.

[daveinboca]

Didn't this behemoth plant his immense buttocks next to Gee-mah Carter at the 2004 Convention? Mutt & Jeff, or Abbott & Costello---take your pick, but they are both jokers.

[daveinboca]

[Moore] told a Berlin audience that Americans are the dumbest people in the world...[and MM is walking proof of just how stupid one American can be!]

Funny how when Bill Clinton was POTUS, the party-line was that "the American people in their wisdom"...whenever they supported one of his programs. Didn't Moore graduate from Moo U in East Lansing? Maybe that's where he got his impression of the IQ of Americans.

Too bad lhe didn't attend Ann Arbor's University [he probably couldn't qualify cuz of grades or SATs] and discover that many Americans are extremely intelligent, even in his native state of Michigan!

[Hogarth]

Will you folks please remember that Michael Moore is considered an authority by many in Europe.

So was Jerry Lewis. When Europe gets a vote on our domestic issues, give me a call and maybe then I will care what they think.

[Rand Simberg]

"Didn't Moore graduate from Moo U in East Lansing?"

No, he attended the University of Michigan, Flint branch, but dropped out.

[junyo]

"When Europe gets a vote on our domestic issues, give me a call and maybe then I will care what they think."

Right after the next election, when "world opinion" exercises de facto veto power, I'll give you a jingle. I had to discuss this issue with an aquaintance this weekend, and the sum of his criticism boiled down to, "We're not Europe, and Michael Moore says they're great."

[Phoenix]

""He does documentaries"

Moore denies this when questioned pointedly."

PA,

What does Filmmaker Moore call his works of art then? FAT-TOONS?

[Fred Beloit]

"We belonged instead to a dispersed ”metropolitan-media-arts-graduate” tribe. We met over coffee, lunch, drinks and dinner to reinforce our views on the evils of apartheid, nuclear deterrence, capital punishment, the British Empire, big business, advertising, public relations, the Royal Family, the defence budget… it’s a wonder we ever got home. We so rarely encountered any coherent opposing arguments that we took our group-think as the views of all right-thinking people.

The second factor which shaped our media liberal attitudes was a sense of exclusion. We saw ourselves as part of the intellectual élite, full of ideas about how the country should be run, and yet with no involvement in the process or power to do anything about it. Being naïve in the way institutions actually work, yet having good arts degrees from reputable universities, we were convinced that Britain’s problems were the result of the stupidity of the people in charge. We ignored the tedious practicalities of getting institutions to adopt and implement ideas.

This ignorance of the realities of government and management enabled us to occupy the moral high ground. We saw ourselves as clever people in a stupid world, upright people in a corrupt world, compassionate people in a brutal world, libertarian people in an authoritarian world. We were not Marxists but accepted a lot of Marxist social analysis. Some people called us arrogant; looking back, I am afraid I cannot dispute the epithet." The above is an excerpt from a description given by a former BBC producer of his early years as a Liberal. There is more at PJM.

[chris]

I can't wait for your COBRA to run out. Clown...

[joe]

What's wrong, chris? Can't stand any criticism of the fat bastard Moore, who apparently is your hero. You slackers....

I think Moore and Rosie should get together and compare blubber. Those two fat slugs are indicative of liberalism in America. I tell you, I'm touched!

[chris]

Slacker?? Fat slugs?? You rednecks should look in the mirror.

Nice victory in Iraq today, btw.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/16/iraq.main/index.html

[seekeronos]

Hello, HairyBoob Clone #345223 --> "chris".

Same stuff, different sockpuppet.

[Fred Beloit]

Why just health insurance, as Fausta'a blog asks? Why not car insurance? Why not home insurance? Why not cars and homes as well? We all need to move around and we all need shelter. Why not fuel for both into the bargain? Common, Mike Moore, you are too modest in your demands for government payouts. If the Government is responsible for our "welfare", as the Libs insist, these are among the logical conclusions.

[the original charles]

well chris you're the audience they play to, keep encouraging them by buying into their staged for the leftists propaganda killing sprees

they're giving you a big shoutout, and you repay them by taking glee in their morally disgusting attempt to grab power by slaughtering innocents

the blood of the innocents is on your hands as well - you should be very proud

you and yours make me want to puke, make the world a better place by killing yourself

TIA

[Kelli]

Who owns CNN? Corporate big business, that's who. And why would you trust a large corporation to give you objective news? How about news that is anti-large corporation, such as in Moore's case?

TIME-WARNER TBS - AOL (donated 1.6 million to George Bush's 2000 campaign)
America Online (AOL) acquired Time Warner–the largest merger in corporate history.
Television Holdings:
* CNN, HBO, Cinemax, TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Brothers Television, Cartoon Network, Sega Channel, TNT, Comedy Central (50%), E! (49%), Court TV (50%).
* Largest owner of cable systems in the US with an estimated 13 million subscribers.
Media Holdings:
* HBO Independent Productions, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera.
* Music: Atlantic, Elektra, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. Records, EMI, WEA, Sub Pop (distribution) = the world’s largest music company.
* 33 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, In Style, Fortune, Book of the Month Club, Entertainment Weekly, Life, DC Comics (50%), and MAD Magazine.
Other Holdings:
* Sports: The Atlanta Braves, The Atlanta Hawks, World Championship Wrestling.

[tally]

Glad to hear Moore admits his films are not documentaries because I've been pulling my hair out over it. A few documentary rules:
Events are filmed as they happen and are not staged for the camera.
Events take place in the order in which they happened in real life.
The record presented by the film is consistent with available historical evidence.
Filmmakers’ opinions and personal feelings are not expressed.

[bloodrage bob]

"so was jerry lewis". LOL

[seekeronos]

"Who owns CNN? Corporate big business, that's who. And why would you trust a large corporation to give you objective news? How about news that is anti-large corporation, such as in Moore's case?"
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There is little removed from Michael Moore's propagandizing than there was from Joseph Goebbels or those ChiCom fauxtographers that staged and creatively cropped all kinds of photos to demonize the Japanese Army far beyond the actual scope of the atrocities they committed.

And Moore may not be a "corporation", but he has plenty of cash laying about to spin his own fairy tales about how the USA is so in need of "such a pinch", for being such meanies... and how it can be all corrected by ushering in a new age of a Marxist People's Utopia.

[Fred Beloit]

Kelli writes: "Who owns CNN? Corporate big business, that's who. And why would you trust a large corporation to give you objective news?" I would trust a big corporation that wants to make a profit by providing an alternative news source to the big three Liberal network news shows and to the other 24/7 TV news organization. What I would not trust as a source for news is some 20-something airhead who hates all big businesses that in fact make modern living such a pleasure and help make possible the opportunity for plain citizens to comment free of charge to a large readership. I would also not trust as a source for news any documentary film maker who presents us with a one-sided view of Cuba's health care system.