Wednesday, July 7, 2004

Criticism of Fahrenheit 911 FEATURED ARTICLES - More Distortions From Michael Moore, Newsweek - Newsweek: Howard Rubenstein or David Rubenstein?, MichaelMoore.com - Michael Isikoff & Newsweek Magazine Deceive Public About Fahrenheit 9/11, MichaelMoore.com - Moore's Public Service, PAUL KRUGMAN, NY Times, - Stupid White Movie-What Michael Moore Misses About the Empire, Robert Jensen, Counterpunch QUOTE OF THE DAY "There has been much tut-tutting by pundits who complain that the movie, though it has yet to be caught in any major factual errors, uses association and innuendo to create false impressions. Many of these same pundits consider it bad form to make a big fuss about the Bush administration's use of association and innuendo to link the Iraq war to 9/11. Why hold a self-proclaimed polemicist to a higher standard than you hold the president of the United States?" - - Paul Krugman (In his July 2nd review of "Fahrenheit 911") KNOW YOUR HISTORY - JULY 7th 1540 -- New World: Spanish storm Hawikuh (Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico). Francisco Vasquez de Coronado believes it one of the Seven Cities of Gold; first skirmish between Indians & Europeans in western US. 1979 -- US: 2,000 Indian activists & anti-nuclear demonstrators march through the Black Hills (South Dakota) to protest the development of uranium mines in sacred lands. RHINO HERE: As the 2004 Presidential Campaign moves from a boil to a rolling boil, the Republican smear machine, aided by certain news journalists (and I use the term journalist quite  loosely here) are working overtime to trash Michael Moore & the newly designated Vice Presidential Candidate, John Edwards. In the case of Edwards, you can check out the Republican National Committee's web site where on the same morning Kerry's announcement was made, the Senator from North Carolina was called, "A Disingenuous, Unaccomplished Liberal And Friend To Personal Injury Trial Lawyers."  Rhino thinks Senator Edwards was the safe choice, being white, male & Southern.  I won't get into all the reasons it makes traditional political sense since you can hear all that from the talking heads on the tri letter networks.  I will say that even though I thought Michael Moore's thinking outside the box choices of Oprah Winfrey or Tom Hanks would have been more interesting, fun and a shoe-in, I do much prefer Edwards to a Gephardt choice. Republican National Committee's Edwards Smear Page http://www.gop.com/RNCResearch/Read.aspx?id=4345 As for Mr. Moore, knowing he'd be targeted for all sorts of pot shots on the release of "Fahrenheit 911,"  he set up a crew to deal with accusations that the movie was inaccurate. A major attempt to discredit him has come from Newsweek Magazine's Michael Isikoff & Mark Hosenball, who according to Moore's crew, made some major blunders in their piece; most glaring, confusing the founder of The Carlyle Group, Bush family cohort David Rubenstein, with well-known New York Public Relations executive Howard Rubenstein, a former policy advisor to Jimmy Carter.  The Rhino left voice messages for Mr.'s Isikoff & Hosenball asking for their comments on whose research team had screwed up. No response yet. Here's their article: More Distortions From Michael Moore Some of the main points in 'Fahrenheit 9/11' really aren't very fair at all By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, Newsweek, June 30, 2004 MORE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5335853/site/newsweek And here's Michael Moore's Responses: Newsweek: Howard Rubenstein or David Rubenstein? MichaelMoore.com, 7/1/04 ... the magazine identified high profile, well-known New York Public Relations executive Howard Rubenstein as the founder of the Carlyle Group.   In fact, the founder of the Carlyle Group is David Rubenstein, a close confidante of the Bush family (David likes to go on safari trips with former First Lady Barbara Bush).   Given the similar biographies of the two Rubensteins and how much they look like each other (see photos and stories below), we can understand how easy it must have been for a news magazine like Newsweek to get fooled - just like they were fooled when President Bush said that America needed to go into Iraq because of the WMD and the ties to Al Qaeda... MORE: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/f911facts/index_poll.php Michael Isikoff and Newsweek Magazine Deceive the Public About Fahrenheit 9/11 MichaelMoore.com, 6/23/04 In the June 28, 2004 issue of Newsweek Magazine, Newsweek writer Michael Isikoff makes completely false and misleading statements about facts and issues contained in Fahrenheit 9/11. Isikoff has also gone on television shows repeating the charges.  Here are some of the falsehoods he is telling, and the truth: MORE: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/f911facts/index.php?id=36 Last week, economist & NY Times  commentator, Paul Krugman, wrote that a major reason that Fahrenheit 9/11 was doing so well at the box office is that the "respectable" media haven't been doing their job. "SEND THIS ARTICLE TO A REPUBLICAN!" Moore's Public Service By PAUL KRUGMAN, NY Times, July 2, 2004 Since it opened, "Fahrenheit 9/11" has been a hit in both blue and red America, even at theaters close to military bases. Last Saturday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his Nascar crew to see it. The film's appeal to working-class Americans, who are the true victims of George Bush's policies, should give pause to its critics, especially the nervous liberals rushing to disassociate themselves from Michael Moore.   ..for all its flaws, "Fahrenheit 9/11" performs an essential service. It would be a better movie if it didn't promote a few unproven conspiracy theories, but those theories aren't the reason why millions of people who aren't die-hard Bush-haters are flocking to see it. These people see the film to learn true stories they should have heard elsewhere, but didn't. Mr. Moore may not be considered respectable, but his film is a hit because the respectable media haven't been doing their job... MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/02/opinion/02KRUG.html The Rhino's sure that Mr. Moore knew he'd be getting hit with mega criticism from the right when "Fahrenheit 911" came out. I'm not so sure he would have expected it from the left. Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE, entitled, "Stupid White Movie" is by Robert Jensen, a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin & author of "Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity." While the Rhino has many of the same concerns that Mr. Jensen cites in his piece, concerning the history of U.S. war making & imperialism, I respectfully disagree with him in his final analysis of  "Fahrenheit 911" on the importance of voting Democratic this year.  Moore's doc was made with the specific purpose of inspiring as many Americans as possible to vote against the shrub , a goal I believe the doc will accomplish.  Mr. Jensen seems to think, as many other left leaners do, that since former Democratic Presidential administrations have been involved in dirty dealing regarding war & imperialism, (& I don't dispute that) that Moore's focus on Bush is wrong-headed, as is his statements that the US should not send our troops into war unless absolutely necessary. In the latter, Jensen thinks Moore has missed the point that the majority of US involved wars were empire building projects. Jensen thinks Moore has missed the most important points, or he's capitulated in order to reach the masses who probably wouldn't understand or believe the true analysis of US history. As a filmmaker, I know the hours, weeks & months of research it takes to make a documentary.  I know that for Michael Moore to have created this doc, gotten it into film festivals and more importantly  into theatres  in such a short amount of time, pushing to have it seen in time to make a difference in the election, was a monumental task. Could he have more deeply explored some of the issues, and done so more with a higher level of intellectual analysis? Yes, but it would have been difficult in such a short time and it might have threatened the attraction it now has to so many non-intellectual and even non-politically minded people. That's the Rhino's 2 hooves, but in spite of my disagreements with Jensen's piece, I thought  it relevant to call to your attention. 7:06:31 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Stupid White Movie Stupid White Movie What Michael Moore Misses About the Empire By ROBERT JENSEN, Counterpunch, July 5, 2004 I have been defending Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" from the criticism in mainstream and conservative circles that the film is leftist propaganda. Nothing could be further from the truth; there is very little left critique in the movie. In fact, it's hard to find any coherent critique in the movie at all. The sad truth is that "Fahrenheit 9/11" is a bad movie, but not for the reasons it is being attacked in the dominant culture. It's at times a racist movie. And the analysis that underlies the film's main political points is either dangerously incomplete or virtually incoherent. But, most important, it's a conservative movie that ends with an endorsement of one of the central lies of the United States, which should warm the hearts of the right-wingers who condemn Moore. And the real problem is that many left/liberal/progressive people are singing the film's praises, which should tell us something about the impoverished nature of the left in this country. I say all this not to pick at small points or harp on minor flaws. These aren't minor points of disagreement but fundamental questions of analysis and integrity... MORE: http://www.counterpunch.org/jensen07052004.html "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 6:18:24 AM    comment

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