Posted on 06/24/2004 8:01:40 AM PDT by Borges
FAHRENHEIT 9/11 / ***1/2
June 24, 2004
Lions Gate/IFC Films presents a documentary directed by Michael Moore. Narrated by Moore. Running time: 110 minutes. Rated R (some violent and disturbing images, and for language).
BY ROGER EBERT
Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" is less an expose of George W. Bush than a dramatization of what Moore sees as a failed and dangerous presidency. The charges in the film will not come as news to those who pay attention to politics, but Moore illustrates them with dramatic images and a relentless commentary track that essentially concludes Bush is incompetent, dishonest, failing in the war on terrorism, and has bad taste in friends.
Although Moore's narration ranges from outrage to sarcasm, the most devastating passage in the film speaks for itself. That's when Bush, who was reading My Pet Goat to a classroom of Florida children, is notified of the second attack on the World Trade Center, and yet lingers with the kids for almost seven minutes before finally leaving the room. His inexplicable paralysis wasn't underlined in news reports at the time, and only Moore thought to contact the teacher in that schoolroom -- who, as it turned out, had made her own video of the visit. The expression on Bush's face as he sits there is odd indeed.
Bush, here and elsewhere in the film, is characterized as a man who owes a lot to his friends, including those who helped bail him out of business ventures. Moore places particular emphasis on what he sees as a long-term friendship between the Bush family (including both presidents) and powerful Saudi Arabians. More than $1.4 billion in Saudi money has flowed into the coffers of Bush family enterprises, he says, and after 9/11 the White House helped expedite flights out of the country carrying, among others, members of the bin Laden family (which disowns its most famous member).
Moore examines the military records released by Bush to explain his disappearance from the Texas Air National Guard, and finds that the name of another pilot has been blacked out. This pilot, he learns, was Bush's close friend James R. Bath, who became Texas money manager for the billionaire bin Ladens. Another indication of the closeness of the Bushes and the Saudis: The law firm of James Baker, the secretary of State for Bush's father, was hired by the Saudis to defend them against a suit by a group of 9/11 victims and survivors, who charged that the Saudis had financed al-Qaida.
To Moore, this is more evidence that Bush has an unhealthy relationship with the Saudis, and that it may have influenced his decision to go to war against Iraq at least partially on their behalf. The war itself Moore considers unjustified (no WMDs, no Hussein-bin Laden link), and he talks with American soldiers, including amputees, who complain bitterly about Bush's proposed cuts of military salaries at the same time he was sending them into a war that they (at least, the ones Moore spoke to) hated.
Moore also shows American military personnel who are apparently enjoying the war; he has footage of soldiers who use torture techniques not in a prison but in the field, where they hood an Iraqi prisoner, call him "Ali Baba" and pose for videos while touching his genitals.
Moore brings a fresh impact to familiar material by the way he marshals his images. We are all familiar with the controversy over the 2000 election, which was settled by the U.S. Supreme Court. What I hadn't seen before was footage of the ratification of Bush's election by the U.S. Congress. An election can be debated at the request of one senator and one representative; 10 representatives rise to challenge it, but not a single senator. As Moore shows the challengers, one after another, we cannot help noting that they are eight black women, one Asian woman and one black man. They are all gaveled into silence by the chairman of the joint congressional session -- Vice President Al Gore. The urgency and futility of the scene reawakens old feelings for those who believe Bush is an illegitimate president.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" opens on a note not unlike Moore's earlier films, such as "Roger & Me" and "Bowling for Columbine." Moore, as narrator, brings humor and sarcasm to his comments, and occasionally appears onscreen in a gadfly role. It's vintage Moore, for example, when he brings along an unsuspecting Marine recruiter as he confronts congressmen, urging them to have their children enlist in the service. And he makes good use of candid footage, including an eerie video showing Bush practicing facial expressions before going live with his address to the nation about 9/11.
Apparently Bush and other members of his administration don't know what every TV reporter knows, that a satellite image can be live before they get the cue to start talking. That accounts for the quease-inducing footage of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz wetting his pocket comb in his mouth before slicking back his hair. When that doesn't do it, he spits in his hand and wipes it down. If his mother is alive, I hope for his sake she doesn't see this film.
Such scenes are typical of vintage Moore, catching his subjects off guard. But his film grows steadily darker, and Moore largely disappears from it, as he focuses on people such as Lila Lipscomb, from Moore's hometown of Flint, Mich.; she reads a letter from her son, written days before he was killed in Iraq. It urges his family to work for Bush's defeat.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" is a compelling, persuasive film, at odds with the White House effort to present Bush as a strong leader. He comes across as a shallow, inarticulate man, simplistic in speech and inauthentic in manner. If the film is not quite as electrifying as Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," that may be because Moore has toned down his usual exuberance and was sobered by attacks on the factual accuracy of elements of "Columbine"; playing with larger stakes, he is more cautious here, and we get an op-ed piece, not a stand-up routine. But he remains one of the most valuable figures on the political landscape, a populist rabble-rouser, humorous and effective; the outrage and incredulity in his film are an exhilarating response to Bush's determined repetition of the same stubborn sound bites.
My guess: After informing the President that America was under attack, Card probably said something like:
"We know there are a couple more airborne airliners that have been hijacked, so just sit tight while the Secret Service re-arranges your exit path to Air Force One, where we are already mobilizing your flying NCA or 'Airborne White House'. It will also take a few minutes to get the armed combat airCAP F-16s in place to protect you, our CIC, while we get you to a secure military site."
Inaction? Paralysis? Bull$#|+!!!
Seven minutes to put the nation on secured war footing -- especially with the President "out of pocket" and surrounded by vulnerable children is pretty impressive! And the fact that Bush maintained control while letting the system work is impressive management technique.
Neither Moore nor Ebert would recognize competence if it bit them on their fat @$$3$...!!!
I think Ebert's watched too many re-runs of Independence Day, and thinks Bush should have run from the school, jumped into an F-16 and flew off personally to intercept the nearest 767.
i wouldnt be suprised if they played it at the convention!! lol
honestly, i think the people that go and see this were never gonna vote for bush in the first place. foxnews has done a good job disputing some of the non-facts in it..and thier viewership is more than cnn and msnbc combined... that goes along way... if demoncrats want to align themselves with radicals, then so be it... this is just a rare week..with bill, monica, and michael in the headlines... its too rich... is this all they got? they rely on scandal for media coverage...thats speaks loudly.
At least he didn't pick his nose.
So the Democrats are now angry at Bush because he likes kids enough to hang out with them for seven minutes.
"Oh, please brer' Democrats, don't tell anyone that the president also likes puppies, mom, and apple pie!"
LOL! Very appropriate art indeed!
Of course, that fat scumbag Moore did NOT bother to contact (or maybe contacted and chose to ignore) the school PRINCIPAL in that classroom who said:
"I don't think anyone could have handled it better," Tose'-Rigell told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in a story published Wednesday. "What would it have served if he had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"
And of course the OTHER fat liberal scumbag, Ebert, doesn't bother with this little problem either.
By the way, "Borges", welcome to Free Republic.
Isn't it fun exposing the lies and hypocrisy of the scumbag Democrats?
It's almost too easy..
Excerpts:
Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" criticizes President Bush for listening to Sarasota second-graders read a story for nearly seven minutes after learning the nation was under attack on Sept. 11, 2001.
But Gwendolyn Tose'-Rigell, the principal at Emma E. Booker Elementary School, says Bush handled himself properly.
"I don't think anyone could have handled it better," Tose'-Rigell told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in a story published Wednesday. "What would it have served if he had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"
~snip~
She said the video doesn't convey all that was going on in the classroom, but Bush's presence had a calming effect and "helped us get through a very difficult day."
Tose'-Rigell said she plans to publish her account of the morning of Sept. 11 from pages she wrote in her journal following the attack. The principal said she didn't vote for Bush. "But that day I would have voted for him."
One of those congressman has said Moore shows him in the movie but doesn't show his answer.
Moore approaches and asked for his help in recruiting the children of Congress. The man's answer that was left out was that his nephew was going to Iraq (he doesn't have children).
I wonder if Moore makes approving mention of Ashcroft's son and nephew being over there or that a higher percentage of Congressional progeny are serving than compared to the nation as a whole...nevermind, I know the answer is 'NO'.
Stay tuned on the WMD issue (which has been changed by the left to mean he must have vast stockpiles to count).
As to bin Laden and Saddam? Even the 9/11 commission found a link.
ebert is a big fat lady
What was "settled" was that the Florida Supremes overstepped their bounds. It is they who tried to change the rules retroactively.
Count after count had been done, each and every one with George W. Bush the winner. How the man winning the most votes can be considered by some yahoos as "not the legitimate president" is a mystery only a liberal mind could conceive of.
It is one outrageous lie after another.
Pathetic and sick, but if it's your cup of tea, drink up!
That was the thought of those actually in the room, there at the time. See my post #70.
We know that. This is old news. As Chris Hitchens correctly points out, had President Bush up and run from the room instantly, then THAT would be what they would point to as proof he "knew" it "was on". Or they'd simply say he scared the kids and rattled easily and he did not demonstrate cool and calm under stress (which he did).
Please read my link and excerpts at post 70 for the thoughts of someone in the room at the time.
And the Bagcams.
We all watched reporters primp and rehearse beforehand. I assume they, like the administration, are aware the feed is there, but count on it not getting airtime over the actual teevee, (until someone like Moore decides to humiliate somebody like Wolfowitz or President Bush).
I ran out of words at 6:12 this morning. Sorry.
I can't to see Ebert's review of that.
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