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Moore labels Bush ‘war criminal’ in visit
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by Ryan Masse
Monday, October 18, 2004
The University of Wisconsin, apparently, is full of slackers.
Braving the cold, students came out in droves Saturday night to hear filmmaker and liberal provocateur Michael Moore, who spoke at the Memorial Union terrace as part of his nationwide "Slacker Uprising Tour."
Fiery and profane, Moore repeatedly lashed out at the Bush administration for falsely leading the United States to war in Iraq. He labeled Bush a "war criminal" and suggested the president be led out of the White House in handcuffs.
"There are no weapons of mass destruction, there is no connection to 9/11, and there will be a draft next year if Bush wins," Moore asserted. "George W. Bush — I've never seen a more disgraceful individual in my life."
In defense of John Kerry's sometimes-vague plan to rebuild Iraq, Moore said, if elected, the senator would be placed into an unfair situation. He added the predicament would be similar to the filmmaker destroying a student's dorm room and then asking: "What's your plan to clean up this mess?"
"It's going to ugly; it's going to messy; human lives are going to be lost as a result of the irresponsibility of Bush, and Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld and Cheney," Moore said.
Wearing a red Badger hat, with the "W" in back to prevent sending mixed signals, Moore urged students to represent what he sees as the majority viewpoint in the country — liberalism.
"Republicans have to work really hard because they know they represent the minority viewpoint in this country now," Moore said.
Republicans' success in claiming the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives can be attributed to a majority of Americans not voting, according to Moore. This year, however, "the slackers are rising up," he proclaimed.
Addressing those considering voting for independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Moore praised the consumer activist for moving the Democratic Party to the left, but said the stakes in this year's election are too great to not vote for Kerry.
Moore spoke for more than an hour and attracted more than 4,000 attendees to the Terrace. During the early portions of Moore's speech, a group of students supporting President Bush emerged on the northwest corner of the Terrace, chanting "four more years" to compete with cries of "two more weeks" from the rest of the crowd.
Moore unleashed a profane tirade against the Bush sympathizers, blaming them for sending "poor kids from Milwaukee" to fight in Iraq. The filmmaker labeled the pro-Bush crowd "pathetic assholes," among other expletives.
One of the Bush supporters, UW student Erica Christenson, was not surprised Moore stooped to such behavior.
"I wouldn't expect Michael Moore to be courteous or polite, or to be aware that other people hold different viewpoints," Christenson said. "The things he says are extremely unintelligent, with not a single shred of evidence, and he's just looking for pure crowd reaction."
The pro-Bush crowd disbanded approximately halfway through Moore's speech. One member of the audience was arrested for throwing the liquid contents of a plastic pitcher at the Bush supporters, the UW Police Department reported.
Alyssa Spiel, a 2003 UW graduate, said she did not believe Moore's rhetoric changed any votes in the audience but did feel the filmmaker generated excitement among the sizable gathering of young Democrats.
"At this point everything that everyone can say is basically cheerleading, but I think it's wonderful that he came here because a lot of the stuff he says is in our language," Spiel said. "We need to do everything we can do to make sure Bush does not win."
Mike (October 18, 2004 @ 8:35am):
Why didn't the author of this article mention that Moore read a letter from a solder in Iraq during his speech? Moore talked about many of the letters he recieved from solders and veterans. He recently published a compilation of all these letters in a new book, "Will They Ever Trust Us Again?: Letters from the War Zone". Moore mentioned it in his speech Saturday night by saying something to the extent of "Buy it, photocopy it, steal it, whatever."
There were a number of things Moore talked about that could have been mentioned (like Moore's idea for his next movie), but the author seemed more eager to put a spin on the event than to actually inform readers.
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 9:03am):
Hey MIke (above poster) what do you expect? This is the retarded Badger Herald where the conservatives reign! Of course this is a biased article, the Badger Herald is the Fox News of Madison!
I was at the rally too and while Moore was sort of a jerk for calling those Bush protestors assholes, he's a human being, and fully entitled to those sentiments.
Besides, it didn't seem those protestors had his free speech rights in mind now did they? But of course, no true Republican cherishes free speech, it tends to ruin their day.
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 9:28am):
The letter from the soldier was very poignant, easily the best moment of the rally but it got NO mention. I also question why this article gave so much attention to the group of maybe 40 Bush supporters who tried to disrupt the rally which had well over 5000 people (not 4000). Moore had to ask the Bushies to please show some respect for the soldier and shut up so the people near them could hear when he read the letter. It's not surprising though, I've never, ever met a college republican who wasn't obnoxious.
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 10:42am):
You have never met a college republican who wasn't obnoxous? I find this quite funny, because I know the opposite to be true. Was it the Bush supporters throwing things at the Liberals? No...That was a liberal. Was is it a Republican that ripped my shirt trying to steal my Bush/Cheyney pins? Once again, no, it was a liberal. The Bush Supporters are vocal on campus, but we NEVER get violent or physical. We leave that to the liberals on campus. We simply will let you have your 2 more weeks of believing in the traitor that is John Kerry, until Bush swiftly defeats him again on Nov 2. And as for calling the Herald the "Fox News of Madison", the Herald at least gives Students a voice. You students scream about "Fair representation of both sides" as long as the side not being represented is liberal. Michael Moore came and spoke...ok, where is the Republican speaker to balance? Where is Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, or even Mark Belling. Why don't you rise up for that cause? Yea..didn't think so. Michael Moore is an idiot. His DocuDrama (Not Documentary, Documentaries need to be based on fact) was a joke. And, if you idiots actually believe the draft is coming back if Bush is elected, you need to really think about how you got accepted here. It is a scare tactic used by liberals to try to motivate unintelligent inner city voters to vote. Actually...its kinda like 4 years ago, when the liberals bought alcohol and cigarettes for the homeless to get them to vote...but you guys don't mention that.
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 11:37am):
Anyone protesting was told to keep it on the front steps of the Union yet your obnoxious group still broke the rules and made it difficult for people near you to hear the speech. That was just as obnoxious as if you started your stupid chanting during a band or a movie out on the Terrace. Talk about hypocrites!
You poor little whiners with no voice on campus. What a joke! If you don't like the liberal atmosphere of UW and the city of Madison then why did you choose to come here in the first place especially you out of staters who do nothing but make fun of "the 'sconnies"?
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 11:46am):
At least when Democrats gave the homeless cigarettes (not alcohol) they were getting people to vote. Republicans restrict peoples' right to vote by unjustly and unfairly taking names of likely Deomcrats of the list of registered voters in states like Florida. Remember not all states allow people to register the day of an election.
What about at the polls in Missouri four years ago when the workers were telling voters that god wanted them to vote for Bush. Why didn't you mention that?
Both sides do some stupid crap. But get over yourself.
And if you are going to complain about violence against those that disagree with you, I don't think those were liberals shooting abortion doctors years ago.
I'm sorry somebody tore your shirt. I'm sure no Bush supporters have ever resorted to throwing things or tearing things.
And if you think Moore is so wrong, why do you care to even respond?
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 2:33pm):
Moore is just a fat while rich man making money from a bunch of fools that eat up everything he says. He got paid to come here and he is in politics just like everyone else. "Who is the more foolish? The fool or the fool that follows him?"
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 2:58pm):
The fool is the one who dismisses a valid message just because it comes from a "fat white rich man" (assuming that is what you meant despite the spelling). Apparently you discriminate against overweight people. Nice. That'll sway people's opinions.
Funny how "fat white rich man" could describe Dick Cheney and the "bunch of fools that eat up everything he says".
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 3:25pm):
This is by far the worst, most biased, so-called "news article" I have ever seen in the BH. I was there Saturday night, among the thousands of other students there to see Moore speak to us. There was no such thing as a pro-Bush "crowd"-- it was a couple dozen annoying, misinformed morons wielding their silly signs and disrupting/ruining the speech for those standing around them. Moore was not "profane" towards them-- he went easy on them, I thought. In fact he mentioned repeatedly that if Kerry wins, the new administration would treat the bushit'tes fairly and improve life for all Americans, unlike the current totalitarian regime. The fact that those republican retards left there without a scratch (if a little deservingly damp) shows that the massive crowd went easy on them as well.
The author of this article goes out of his way to leave out important information-- oh, and actual events, not as they occured but as he would have liked to imagine them happening in order to demonize Moore. Please.
Hey Ryan, why don't you give up actual journalism and stick to covering Entertainment from now on, mmkay?
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 4:28pm):
Hey, you just have to remember that the BH was founded by, and still funded by, a conservative think tank.
As they say on their own website, "In the three decades since its birth, the Herald has grown from a weekly conservative rag..."
The BH is not supported by any student funds; it was explicitly founded to oppose the anti-war protests of the late sixties.
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 5:45pm):
In the interest of full disclosure, I'll say at the outset that I'm a Republican. I think Michael Moore is a colossal prick. He distorts the records of Republicans and shows no regard for the truth. But that's been true of uberliberals like him for years. Now, with his boorish behavior, he shows he has no respect for the office of the presidency.
But he's still right about the Bush campaign and the Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Bush is using every dirty trick in the book to try to win reelection, and the SBG is doing everything in its power to violate federal election laws by making an in-kind contribution to BC04 by airing its anti-Kerry movie. And Bush's FEC is refusing to do its job.
Since the film SBG wants to air is such a distortion, the only thing that would truly balance it would be for them to air Fahrenheit 9/11.
So hate Michael Moore all you want. I certainly will. But the only reason he's here shooting his mouth off is because irresponsible Bush backers are trying to lie and cheat in order to keep Bush in the White House. Until we stop lying and cheating to help our candidate, we have no right to claim the high road when our opponents respond in kind.
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 7:12pm):
You're the type of Republican for whom I would actually consider voting. How refreshing!
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 10:31pm):
Great coverage, Ryan. Keep up the good work.
Anonymous (October 18, 2004 @ 10:31pm):
he is trash
Anonymous (October 19, 2004 @ 9:24am):
Dear Mike,
Do you realize that there is another book out by the father of a Marine with positive letters from the front?
Don't just drink the kool-aid.
Anonymous (October 20, 2004 @ 12:29am):
I was just unlucky to happen to stand by the Bush-supporters that Saturday. Their shouting went on for more than 30 minutes, and during the period I could hardly listen to Moore. I book-marked the event on my calendar when I heard he would come to Madison, I came to Terrace around a half hour earlier than Moore's appearance, and like others, I endured the horrible weather for all the speech session. All this was for listening to his speech, not hearing the miserable monotonous chanting.
Erica blamed Moore for not being aware that other people hold different viewpoint. Hell, this comment, I think, should be reserved to describe people like Erica and her colleagues, who tried to hinder other's political speech systematically and infringed others' right to participate in public events. Well, I am not a Democrat and do not like Kerry much, but I could not help but agree with Moore when he called them "pathetic assholes."
Anonymous (November 28, 2004 @ 12:29pm):
Crashing michael moore was fun!. Fighting the left...Doing it right!
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Anonymous (November 30, 2004 @ 10:28am):
Michael Moore is a traitor, and needs to be sent to North Korea to see socialism first hand. I think he will like it there!
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