Posted on 07/28/2004 5:37:52 AM PDT by kattracks
Cambridge, Mass. (CNSNews.com) - Leftwing filmmaker Michael Moore attacked "right-wingers and Republicans" as "hate-triots" who "believe in the politics of hate-triotism" during a speech to a "Take Back America" event on Tuesday. The event was hosted by the Campaign for America's Future.
A sometimes screaming and impassioned Moore told an overflow crowd of nearly one thousand people at a Boston hotel that the country is overwhelmingly liberal.
"Most Americans, in their heart, are liberal and progressive. It's just a small minority of people who hate, they hate, they exist in the politics of hate, they don't believe two consenting adults should have the right to be in love and share their lives together and be legally protected by the state," Moore said to applause.
"They are not patriots; they are hate-triots, and they believe in the politics of hate-triotism. Hate-triotism is where they stand, and patriotism is where real Americans stand. And that is the truth and that needs to be reported," Moore added.
Moore, dressed in his familiar baseball hat and jeans, clearly reveled in the audience reception.
His film Fahrenheit 9/11 recently earned more than $100 million, making it the highest grossing "documentary" in history. Moore, who has been ubiquitous at the Fleet Center, has received a superstar reception from Democrats, even sitting in former President Jimmy Carter's VIP box on Monday night.
Moore lamented that conservatives and the GOP have 'hijacked' the symbols of patriotism.
"I don't know what it is with right-wingers and Republicans. They seem to have hijacked over the years the word patriotism and the American flag -- these things -- and it's an odd thing because the true patriots are those that believe the important thing is to ask questions," Moore said.
Moore declared that conservatives in America are in the minority.
"The right wing -- that is not where America is at -- the majority of Americans are liberal and progressive when it comes to the issues," he said.
"Every poll shows that the majority of America believe in women's rights, the majority of Americans want stronger environmental law, the majority of Americans want gun control laws, the majority of Americans are pro labor," he added.
Moore did credit conservatives and the GOP with being better at promoting their policies.
"They are better fighters than we are. You have to give them their props for that.
They are up at six in the morning trying to figure out which -- you know -- minority group they are going to screw today -- the hate that they eat for breakfast," Moore said.
"Our side, we never see six in the morning, unless we have been up all night," he added.
"So they are going to fight and they are going to smear and they are going to lie and they are going to hate. And we have to get out there and counter that with the truth," he added.
'Want Bush out of office'
Moore rejected any notion that the country is evenly split over the presidential election and predicted a Bush defeat in November.
"I got to tell you, I have traveled across this country quite a bit in the last year, it ain't a fifty-fifty country. People are angry, they want Bush out of office, they want to be able to send their kids to college, they want to be able to go to the doctor," Moore said.
"I believe we will have the largest percentage of people voting in our lifetime come November 2nd," he added.
Moore ended his speech with a message to Sen. John Kerry:
"Here's my plea to the Democrats and to Mr. Kerry. You will not win this election by being weak-kneed and wimpy and wishy-washy and lacking the courage of your conviction," he said.
"Push for the liberal progressive agenda that the majority of America already agree with," he added.
Moore also took aim at the news media for what he saw as its role as "cheerleaders" for the Iraq war.
"Journalists fell asleep on the job, journalists didn't ask the tough questions...That is not un-American, that is pro-American, to ask the questions -- that is patriotic," he shouted.
Troops 'abused by the Bush administration'
Moore said that the U.S. military is being abused by the Bush administration.
"Who are the troops? The troops are those that come from the other side of the tracks, the troops are the people that come from families who have been abused by the Bush administration," he said to applause.
"The way you keep the troops is when you send them off, some of them to their deaths, so that your rich benefactors can line their pockets even more, the Halliburtons, the oil companies, that is anti-American, that is unpatriotic," he added.
'I got a memo on it'
Moore told the audience that a "well-known" morning news personality had revealed to him that Vice President Dick Cheney put pressure on the program because the "tone" of the newsperson's voice during the war coverage was not to Cheney's liking.
Moore said he was a guest on the unnamed program recently, and he recalled his conversation with the host, as follows:
"After we went to commercial, the person who was interviewing me said, 'You know, you're right. When the war started, it was very difficult here to book the people we wanted to book and ask the questions we wanted to ask. In fact, I got a memo about my tone of voice. Apparently, the brass had received a call from Dick Cheney's office, they said they didn't like my tone of voice. I got a memo on it.'"
Moore urged the newsperson to tell the story publicly.
"You've got to tell that story," Moore recounted. But the unnamed newsperson replied, "I can't."
"I said, 'They can't fire you. You're one of the most well-known people in America. You've got to tell this story, and if you don't tell it, I'm going to wait maybe another week,'" Moore said to laughter.
"That person is on notice now," he added.
Moore told the audience that he planned to name the newsperson on his website if they did not come forward on their own.
Moore also revealed that he has not received any death threats despite the controversial nature of his movie.
"You know, I think the reason I don't get death threats -- I think the people who don't like me -- they take one look at me and say, 'He's not long for this world anyways. We don't have to do anything to him, one more drive through at the McDonald's, that will be the end of him,'" Moore quipped to reporters.
Moore, who plans to show his movie in Bush's home town of Crawford, Texas, on Wednesday, apparently believes his movie is so powerful that the Bush presidency is doomed because of it.
"It's all over but the voting," Moore said. "You gotta feel bad for George W. Bush on some level, don't you?" he asked. "How does he recover?" he added.
See Related Articles:
Michael Moore Backpedals on Key Premise of Documentary
'Guns, God, Gays' Losing Voting Appeal, Howard Dean Says
When Bush-Bashers Collide? Moore's Film at Odds with Clarke Remarks
Top Democrats Embrace, Distance Themselves From Michael Moore
E-mail a news tip to Marc Morano.
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Let's Roll... that's cool, you signed a year before the Let's Roll of Tood Beamer on 9/11. How'd you DOOD dat?
I like your attitude!
Tood Beamer ==> TODD Beamer, sorry
He said something true!
Mike, dude, we have jobs and families. We have to get up at 5 or 6.
Reminds me of the Massachusetts college professor who was quoted in absolute state of disbelief when McGovern lost to Nixon in '72. After all, all of his friends, co-workers, and associates voted for McGovern, and they HATED Nixon! He couldn't imagine where all those pro-Nixon voters came from in those other 49 states.
Yes. I watched along with my husband. Halfway through I turned to my husband, shook my head and said, "Moore is sick, he is mentally ill."
In greek the word "more" means fool.
"I got to tell you, I have traveled across this country quite a bit in the last year, it ain't a fifty-fifty country. People are angry, they want Bush out of office, they want to be able to send their kids to college, they want to be able to go to the doctor," Moore said.
Mr. Moore, that's because you are talking to sycophants who actually want to talk to you. Most Americans are used to seeing people like you behind a glass wall after they pay 25 cents per gander at the carnival.
APf
He also stole the Fahrenheit title from Ray Bradbury.</p>
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. Well Mikey did achieve the "wealthy" without that adage.
From which the English "moron" is derived
It even says more about the shallowness of O'Reilly.
What's wrong with THREE?
Bigot.
I refuse to get a lobotomy to understand stuff like this. Why do perverts need the "legal protection" of the state, if they are left alone?
One thing these nut cases never explain is why do deviants need the "protection" of a word, other than deprive normal people the use of it?
"American" means Mom and apple pie, not Bruce and Apple pie. "American" means we have an Electoral College, and no Amendment has changed that. "American" means defending the Republic against enemies foreign and domestic.
Are these people unAmerican? You bet your booties! I am not running for anything, so I can say it with total impunity.
Feel free to copy and distribute!
man im tired of this idiot. when are his 15 minutes up.
Three-o-sexuals are not making a political stink 10 times their actual size. So dummycrats could care less about them. But their day is coming.
I refuse to get a lobotomy to understand stuff like this. Why do perverts need the "legal protection" of the state, if they are left alone?
One thing these nut cases never explain is why to deviants need the "protection" of a word, other than deprive normal people the use of it?
"American" means Mom and apple pie, not Bruce and Apple pie. "American" means we have an Electoral College, and no Amendment has changed that. "American" means defending the Republic against enemies foreign and domestic.
Are these people unAmerican? You bet your booties! I am not running for anything, so I can say it with total impunity.
Michael Moore is a Fatriot
Credit to Joe Brower.
MM is a waste of oxygen.
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