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| Fifth Column |
| Michael Moore says gets lots of Republican hugs |
| 2006-07-31 |
| TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (Reuters) - Michael Moore -- gadfly filmmaker, liberal activist and political lightning rod -- says he finds himself being hugged by a lot of Republicans these days. Don't get all excited, Michael. They're just expressing their gratitude that you're a member of the Democratic party is all. On the streets of Traverse City, where Moore is working on last-minute preparations for a bigger-and-better sequel to the film festival he launched last year in his home state, the Oscar-winning director says he is approached all the time by conservatives ready to make peace. "If you were to hang out with me here it won't be five or 10 minutes before you see a Republican hug me. That is almost as entertaining as some of the films," Moore said in an interview. Almost, Michael. But given that your films are not entertaining, that isn't saying much. Moore has not budged from the central claim of his 2004 documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- that the Bush administration misled the American public about the reasons for war in Iraq -- but he says that more people have come around to his view. "That's the shift that I'm seeing in the past year or so in the country, and as it relates to me," he said. There are pills that can help with those delusions, Michael. Some in solidly Republican northern Michigan and elsewhere now believe that they made a "colossal mistake" in initially supporting the war in Iraq, Moore said, and they have let him know it in chance encounters on the streets of Traverse City, a resort town where he has relocated from New York. Used to traveling with security and encountering a barrage of hostility, Moore said he finds people now more accepting, even to the point Republicans are spontaneously hugging him. Looks like you can do away with the security now. "Look up the definition of liberal. We hug trees. We hug each other. We hug people of the same sex and want to marry each other," Moore said. "It's the other side that we need to get to hold their arms out a little bit and coochey-coo." Keep talking Michael, and you're going to get more hugs from Republicans. The success of the second annual Traverse City Film Festival, which runs from Monday to Sunday, has also won over some of Moore's political foes -- or at least sidelined them. This year's slate features 68 films selected by Moore. Festival organizers expect over 75,000 to attend. That would mark a 50-percent gain over the inaugural event, which drew some of the controversy that has become the 52-year-old director's calling card. In 2005, critics attempted to upstage the Traverse City film festival with a parallel event nearby intended to hammer the message that Moore was out of touch with the mainstream. Moore said the effort failed to draw crowds and fizzled. AT WORK ON 'SICKO' Moore says he intends the festival to be "nonpartisan," even as it takes on charged topics with films like "The Road to Guantanamo." Moore calls that film about three British men jailed without charges in the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a look at "a disgraceful moment in our history we're still living through." Moore is mostly done shooting his own film "Sicko." The movie examines America's health care system and Moore describes it as "a comedy about 45 million people with no health care in the richest country on earth." The film is due out in 2007. How many people didn't have health care in 2000? For now, he seems pleased with the outbreak of relative goodwill toward him after a depressing period when he thought he might not be able to work again in Hollywood. Moore was booed and escorted from the Kodak Theater by security when he used his 2003 Oscar acceptance speech for documentary "Bowling for Columbine" to lash out at President George W. Bush. "I remember going back to my hotel room that night, where they had all the pundits on post-Oscar and they were all like, 'That's the end of Michael Moore. That's the last we'll see of him.' By the end of the night, I believed it," he said. It was one of Karl Rove's plots that saved you, you know. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #7 Moore thinks he's some sort of modern day svengalli or p.t. barnum. I tend to think he was separated from Momma Cass at birth. Where's a ham on rye when you need one. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-07-31 20:12 |
| #6 Actually, I'm more of a political maverick than most of those usually termed "right wing"--- I even voted for Anderson when he ran as an independent, for Clinton at least once, and in 2000 I honestly couldn't see much to choose between the two, so flipped a coin and voted for Gore--- but the thought of hugging Michael Moore makes me go all nauseous, and want to scour myself all over with about a quart of betadine. I demand independent documentary evidence of that fat B*****D being hugged by Republicans, including a notarized copy of their voting registration record, and picture ID. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2006-07-31 18:44 |
| #5 49 pan, ah, yes, I remember those days. (But I usually grew my nails during the summer and drove with two of 'em touching the steering wheel. ;) I know, not really an option for the men, or those who have manual transmissions.) |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-07-31 18:18 |
| #4 have your Sally Field moment if it makes you happy LOL!!! I was in Mesa two weeks ago doin 85 with my hands on fire. Thought of you, DB and your advise to wear oven mits. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-07-31 14:47 |
| #3 So he's a big deal in Michigan. Anybody returning his calls in Hollywood? Didn't think so. BTW, Mikey, I *think* they're hugging you out of gratitude for saving Bush's bacon in the 2004 election. But go ahead and have your Sally Field moment if it makes you happy. |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-07-31 12:00 |
| #2 Government Heathcare is a euphemism for treatment rationing funded by extortion. America has so far wisely avoided too much of this insanity. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2006-07-31 10:25 |
| #1 I'd hug you too, Michael. But I can't help wondering if those Michigan "Republicans" were named John, Bill, Sven or ya know... something else. |
| Posted by: Shush Sholuth7794 2006-07-31 10:14 |