On Thursday (June 24) I attended a press conference with filmmaker Michael Moore outside the Cannon Building. Moore was hyping the release of his highly controversial film ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’. Like a church choir in the deep South, the Congressional Black Caucus flanked Moore to nod and voice support as he made his points.
In his brief statement Moore outlined the main themes of the movie starting with the Florida recounts and moving through September 11, 2001, finally concluding with the current war on terror. One young reporter asked him about the reports of connections to the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Moore deflected the comment saying that the reporter should listen to Rush Limbaugh for entertainment, but not for news. Not having heard what Rush said, I don’t know if he was misinformed. At the least, news stories since then indicate that terrorists do like Moore’s movie.
I have been shocked at the measures Moore has gone to with this movie. During the press conference he constantly accused conservatives of trying to silence his voice. Moore fervidly affirmed that he should have his full freedom of speech. In a Democratic society no one should tell him what he can and cannot say. This might seem unremarkable were it not for Moore’s widely publicized threats to bring libel charges and sue those who criticize his movie.
In the press conference Moore also mentioned that the right wing conspiracy was attempting to silence him by trying to prevent him from advertising his movie. Naturally he did not explain that his politically-charged commercials include images of a presidential candidate–potentially bringing them under the regulations governing political advertising. There is room for debating whether the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform was an over-correction, but if Moore were true to his creed he would be getting all of the information out.
Reflecting on the controversy caused by Moore’s film I am reminded of H.L. Mencken’s observation: “No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people.”