Michael Moore voices his discontent By Matt Kapko Community editor The Lumberjack 03-13-2002 Filmmaker, author and activist Michael Moore appealed to the progressive elements of Humboldt County by denouncing the new culture of fear in American society. He discussed many consequences of Sept. 11 and offered his personal touch of criticism and humor on each issue. "The American people are sick and tired of the fear of speaking out or getting picked up by the Aschroft police and sent to some prison where no one knows where they're at," Moore said. "We represent the mainstream of this country. "It's actually a very liberal progressive country. The American public is liberal on the issues. You're sitting here in Arcata thinking it's just us. Maybe a couple people in Berkeley, a few stoners in Chico." His most recent book, "Stupid White Men," faced a fate similar to many other writers whose thoughts were deemed inappropriate in the current political climate. After 50,000 copies were printed on Sept. 10, his publisher, Harper Collins, demanded he rewrite 50 percent of the book and change the title or it was going to be pulped -- a term used for recycling books that aren't being released. "We've come far; even the oppressors are now thinking recycle," Moore said. Nevertheless, the book was released uncensored thanks to numerous librarians from around the country who sent complaints to the publisher. Moore offered the audience some questions for President Bush that he feels every American should be entitled to know. He insisted the American public should know all the financial connections between the bin Laden and Bush families, a history of 20 years, he said. He brought up Thomas L. Friedman's op-ed column in The New York Times in which Friedman wrote, "The Saudi Embassy in Washington rushed all of Osama bin Laden's relatives out of America after Sept. 11 on a private Saudi jet before they could be properly questioned by the FBI." Moore said this occurred on Sept. 12, when all planes in the United States were still under orders to be grounded. He denounced the past proposals on part of the United States to build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan. He questioned the reasons for the million the U.S. government gave to the Taliban in May under the guise of "humanitarian" aid. "How deep does it go?" Moore asked. "We need to find out the truth." Moore also showed clips from a new movie he is working on that deals with what he described as the American culture of violence. "What is it about Americans needing to arm themselves to kill each other and people around the world?" he asked. He showed a segment dealing with the school shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. In this clip, Moore addressed the chilling irony of the major employer of many of the parents in Littleton. Moore pointed out that this company manufactures weapons of mass destruction for the U.S. military. A second scene from the film served as a closing to Moore's appearance at the Van Duzer Theatre March 5. This clip offered images of wars and numerous conflicts throughout the world, which the film claimed the United States to be a sponsor of, or an active participant in. "The nightly news, as part of the corporate media, tells us we don't mean (anything); it doesn't really matter what you do; you can't do anything about it," Moore said. "Behind the curtain we're the boss, we can change anything. We need proportional representation." Moore said he got involved in politics at the age of 18. He ran for a school board election with one platform: to fire the principal and assistant principal. He won, and within six months, he convinced the school board to fire them for negligence. Reaching out to what he called laziness, Moore said, "If you're pissed off, you're political. It's a slacker revolution." Home