Posted on 07/28/2004 11:04:37 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
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Wed Jul 28,12:54 PM ET
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Word that Moore was coming to Crawford, a hamlet of 705 people, had drawn a dismissive response from the White House but sparked anger and worry among some locals, including one who left his message in cow manure.
"To Michael Moore, from James Douglas, one pile of bullshit deserves another!!!" read a note atop a pile of bags labelled "Garden Basics cow manure."
The filmmaker had planned to travel to Crawford, bringing a copy of his movie at the request of local activists in the "Peace House," a humble headquarters for critics of the war in Iraq ( - ).
Police braced for protests and counter-protests that they expected would more than triple Crawford's population, and they welcomed news that Moore had aborted plans to visit.
That "makes it a whole lot easier," said Crawford police officer Ken Jones, who confirmed that organizers had called the authorities earlier in the day to tell them that their guest of honor would be a no-show.
"We're not hopeful at this point that he'll show up, but we're going ahead with the movie. That was the plan anyway," Skip Londos, one of the local activists who arranged the screening, told AFP by telephone.
Anti-Moore protests were still planned for the main intersection in Crawford, where several shops do a thriving business selling pro-Bush banners, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, pins, refrigerator magnets and other trinkets.
Asked about the filmmaker's visit, a resident emerging from the Coffee Station snack bar replied: "We don't need him here. We don't want him here. He should stay home. George Bush has been good to us."
The president was spending the week on his 1,600-acre (850-hectare) property just outside Crawford until Thursday, when he returns to Washington and shifts his campaign for a second term into high gear.
The White House had laughed off questions about whether Bush would take Moore up on his invitation to come see the film, which offers a blistering portrayal of the president's reaction to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent war in Iraq.
The movie has pulled in more than 100 million dollars, a blockbuster take by any standards but an especially surprising showing for a documentary.
Moore's unabashedly strident politics are a double-edged sword for Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry ( - ), who has been highly critical of Bush but is being measured in his attacks lest he alienate moderate voters.
The Massachusetts senator has said he was in no rush to see "Fahrenheit 911" and Moore is not among the celebrity heavyweights like actor Ben Affleck who have become regular faces on the campaign.
Although he has no official role, Moore is a prominent participant in the Democratic National Convention running through Thursday in Boston.
LOL!
The Kerry Campaigns decision to seat Michael Moore next to Jimmy Carter on the first night of this charade, will come back to haunt them.
Prominent position? LOL I'd say he's the unofficial leader of the Democratic party.
So he didn't show up? Chicken-sh#t...
Chill Wind, thy name is Cowardice...
I'd love for that fat ass to come to Porterville and deal with some true blue collar sob's ...
Can't wait to see those pics - ONE MILLION THANKS!
______________________________
"To Michael Moore, from James Douglas, one pile of bullshit deserves another!!!" read a note atop a pile of bags labelled "Garden Basics cow manure."
LOL!
That is great. Makes me proud to be from McLennan County.
His socialist propaganda movie is still scheduled to show in a public parking lot owned by the city of Crawford (not the property of the school).
Moore Blinked and chickened out
zlala,
Was the movie held at the High School Football Stadium in Crawford?
If so, one has to wonder if they should have been allowed to show it there. That thing is built with taxpayer money.
And this movie is not a non profit flick.
I wanted to be down there with the Pro Bush gang...but I had to fly with some folks into Oklahoma early this morning.
Anyway, thank for going down there and protecting my family's home county area.
Would Moore be personally, financially responsible for the increased police presence at the event if he showed up?
If so, it's understandable why he didn't show up: He's too cheap a bastid to pay for his protection.
Actually, he might share some of it....but Skip Londos and his group of loser hippies would have to pay up as well.
And something tells me they did not. The Mayor at the Crawford area has been playing some games.
Coward.
It's 1:00 a.m. and I just got home from Crawford. I had a wonderful time! I was a bit disappointed in the conservative turnout, though. We were WAAAAAAAY outnumbered by the Moore supporters. I was glad to see other representatives of FR, as well as Protest Warrior. There were also pro-Bushies who seemed to be unaffiliated with any group. There were lots of camera crews, radio personnel and newspaper reporters. I did my best to represent GWB (and us!) well. The anti-Bush crowd was pretty well-behaved for the most part, although they were noticeably ruder on their way out than on their way in. A small group of them didn't even watch the movie; they were just there to talk to us (in hopes of brainwashing us, I'm sure). They were okay, I just tried to stay up-wind of them! Some mentioned that they weren't entirely convinced by Moore and weren't exactly gung ho over Kerry. They were nice enough, but some of them really towed the flip-flopping party line.
Mostly, things were perfectly peaceful (the cops keeping those of us holding signs separate from the major festivities may have had something to do with it!). I made the mistake of parking at the "Peace House", so I was worried that my tires my be slashed when I got back to my car, but all was well. My friends and I were perfectly polite up until the end when any number of people made ugly comments to us on their way out. I think we were the very last Bushies there, so we got the brunt of their rudeness. Not to worry, folks, we got in our share of comments. Some dingbat girl shouted to us that maybe we should go to Iraq (to see how horrible Bush has made it, presumably). One of my friends shouted that her dad is there already (we ARE from Fort Hood, after all). The girl started to say something, then stopped and asked her buddy what my friend had said. Her friend repeated that my friend's dad is in Iraq. The girl didn't have any quick response to that one, so she just yelled, "I hope he makes it back safe!" in a rudish way. My friend yelled that she (this dingbat) had no military affiliation. I shouted that she didn't have any idea what she was talking about. They just kept walking the whole time during our little exchange. But of course, by the time those girls were out of our line of vision, there were plenty more people to shout at us. We held our own. I shouted that people "shouldn't believe everything you see. I thought you guys were smarter than that!" Some said they'd see us in November. I shouted that they'd better be sure to take their flip-flops into the voting booths with them (whatever that means! I was totally fired up by then). I made sure to compliment them on their "tolerant, liberal attitude" after some moron or other made a hateful comment.
The last person I spoke to was an AP reporter. Like I said, my friends and I were the last ones around, as far as I could tell, so we got any number of people interviewing us at the end. I wish other people had been able to stay longer, but I certainly understand about getting up for work in the morning. I have to, as well. One pro-Bush group came in from Louisiana, but they stayed an admirably long time. All in all, I'd say it was a good evening. It was my very first FReep and my first protest in general. Good stuff.
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