This is a message posted on Michael Moorse website. He is the creator of Bowling for Columbine. I totally agree with his view.
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April 7, 2003

Dear friends,
It appears that the Bush administration will have succeeded in colonizing Iraq sometime in the next few days. This is a blunder of such magnitude – and we will pay for it for years to come. It was not worth the life of one single American kid in uniform, let alone the thousands of Iraqis who have died, and my condolences and prayers go out to all of them.

So, where are all those weapons of mass destruction that were the pretense for this war? Ha! There is so much to say about all this, but I will save it for later.

What I am most concerned about right now is that all of you – the majority of Americans who did not support this war in the first place -- not go silent or be intimidated by what will be touted as some great military victory. Now, more than ever, the voices of peace and truth must be heard. I have received a lot of mail from people who are feeling a profound sense of despair and believe that their voices have been drowned out by the drums and bombs of false patriotism. Some are afraid of retaliation at work or at school or in their neighborhoods because they have been vocal proponents of peace. They have been told over and over that it is not "appropriate" to protest once the country is at war, and that your only duty now is to "support the troops."

Can I share with you what it's been like for me since I used my time on the Oscar stage two weeks ago to speak out against Bush and this war? I hope that, in reading what I'm about to tell you, you'll feel a bit more emboldened to make your voice heard in whatever way or forum that is open to you.When "Bowling for Columbine" was announced as the Oscar winner for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards, the audience rose to its feet. It was a great moment, one that I will always cherish. They were standing and cheering for a film that says we Americans are a uniquely violent people, using our massive stash of guns to kill each other and to use them against many countries around the world. They were applauding a film that shows George W. Bush using fictitious fears to frighten the public into giving him whatever he wants. And they were honoring a film that states the following: The first Gulf War was an attempt to reinstall the dictator of Kuwait; Saddam Hussein was armed with weapons from the United States; and the American government is responsible for the deaths of a half-million children in Iraq over the past decade through its sanctions and bombing. That was the movie they were cheering, that was the movie they voted for, and so I decided that is what I should acknowledge in my speech.And, thus, I said the following from the Oscar stage:

"On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan (from Canada), I would like to thank the Academy for this award. I have invited the other Documentary nominees on stage with me. They are here in solidarity because we like non-fiction. We like non-fiction because we live in fictitious times. We live in a time where fictitious election results give us a fictitious president. We are now fighting a war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fictitious 'Orange Alerts,' we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you. And, whenever you've got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, you're time is up."

Halfway through my remarks, some in the audience started to cheer. That immediately set off a group of people in the balcony who started to boo. Then those supporting my remarks started to shout down the booers. The L.A. Times reported that the director of the show started screaming at the orchestra "Music! Music!" in order to cut me off, so the band dutifully struck up a tune and my time was up. (For more on why I said what I said, you can read the op-ed I wrote for the L.A. Times, plus other reaction from around the country at my website www.michaelmoore.com)
The next day -- and in the two weeks since -- the right-wing pundits and radio shock jocks have been calling for my head. So, has all this ruckus hurt me? Have they succeeded in "silencing" me? Well, take a look at my Oscar "backlash":-- On the day after I criticized Bush and the war at the Academy Awards, attendance at "Bowling for Columbine" in theaters around the country wentup110% (source: Daily Variety/BoxOfficeMojo.com). The following weekend, the box office gross was up a whopping 73% (Variety). It is now the longest-running consecutive commercial release in America, 26 weeks in a row and still thriving. The number of theaters showing the film since the Oscars has INCREASED, and it has now bested the previous box office record for a documentary by nearly 300%.-- Yesterday (April 6), "Stupid White Men" shot back to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. This is my book's 50th week on the list, 8 of them at number one, and this marks its fourth return to the top position, something that virtually never happens.-- In the week after the Oscars, my website was getting 10-20 million hits A DAY (one day we even got more hits than the White House!).

The mail has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive (and the hate mail has been hilarious!).-- In the two days following the Oscars, more people pre-ordered the video for "Bowling for Columbine" on Amazon.com than the video for the Oscar winner for Best Picture, "Chicago".-- In the past week, I have obtained funding for my next documentary, and I have been offered a slot back on television to do an updated version of "TV Nation"/ "The Awful Truth."

I tell you all of this because I want to counteract a message that is told to us all the time -- that, if you take a chance to speak out politically, you will live to regret it. It will hurt you in some way, usually financially. You could lose your job. Others may not hire you. You will lose friends. And on and on and on.

Take the Dixie Chicks. I'm sure you've all heard by now that, because their lead singer mentioned how she was ashamed that Bush was from her home state of Texas, their record sales have "plummeted" and country stations are boycotting their music. The truth is that their sales are NOT down. This week, after all the attacks, their album is still at #1 on the Billboard country charts and, according to Entertainment Weekly, on the pop charts during all the brouhaha, they ROSE from #6 to #4. In the New York Times, Frank Rich reports that he tried to find a ticket to ANY of the Dixie Chicks' upcoming concerts but he couldn't because they were all sold out. (To read Rich's column from yesterday's Times, "Bowling for Kennebunkport," go here: http://www.michaelmoore.com/articles/index.php? article=20030406-nytimes. He does a pretty good job of laying it all out and talks about my next film and the impact it could potentially have.) Their song, "Travelin' Soldier" (a beautiful anti-war ballad) was the most requested song on the Internet last week. They have not been hurt at all -- but that is not what the media would have you believe. Why is that? Because there is nothing more important now than to keep the voices of dissent -- and those who would dare to ask a question --SILENT. And what better way than to try and take a few well-known entertainers down with a pack of lies so that the average Joe or Jane gets the message loud and clear: "Wow, if they would do that to the Dixie Chicks or Michael Moore, what would they do to little ol' me?" In other words, shut the f--- up.

And that, my friends, is the real point of this film that I just got an Oscar for -- how those in charge use FEAR to manipulate the public into doing whatever they are told. Well, the good news -- if there can be any good news this week -- is that not only have neither I nor others been silenced, we have been joined by millions of Americans who think the same way we do. Don't let the false patriots intimidate you by setting the agenda or the terms of the debate. Don't be defeated by polls that show 70% of the public in favor of the war. Remember that these Americans being polled are the same Americans whose kids (or neighbor's kids) have been sent over to Iraq. They are scared for the troops and they are being cowed into supporting a war they did not want --and they want even less to see their friends, family, and neighbors come home dead. Everyone supports the troops returning home alive and all of us need to reach out and let their families know that.

Unfortunately, Bush and Co. are not through yet. This invasion and conquest will encourage them to do it again elsewhere. The real purpose of this war was to say to the rest of the world, "Don't Mess with Texas – If You Got What We Want, We're Coming to Get It!" This is not the time for the majority of us who believe in a peaceful America to be quiet. Make your voices heard. Despite what they have pulled off, it is still our country.

Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com

it gets better

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2935335.stm

Frankly, I couldn't care less what Michael Moore thinks.

As for the story about the boy....

It's heartbreaking for sure, but do you expect us to stand aside and let terrorist groups continue with their plots and schemes and allow them to bring that to our country? That is EXACTLY how they want you to think.

They want you to demonstrate against your government. They want to see you protesting in the streets. They want to USE YOU in their own propaganda machine so that they can continue the terrorist activities they are actively teaching their own children so THEY will grow up to follow in their footsteps.

Another generation of terrorists is waiting on the threshold.

Deb

Here is my reply to Michael MooreI am a young military wife whose husband is in the United States Army Infantry, and I was outraged to read what you said about people who have loved ones in the war feeling pressured to support the war only because their loved ones are in it. How do you know why I support the war? I'll tell you why.
First of all, I believe that Saddam Huisein has supported terrorism in the past, and that no American is safe while he is in power. Furthermore, the civilian casualties in Iraq are not the fault of the American military. There are the fault of the cowards who rule them, who put them in places where they want to keep their weapons safe.
Most importantly, I support the war because when I have children, I don't want them to ever have to worry about plane's flying into their offices, or their freedom being taken away by sadistic tyrants like Saddam Huisein.
I know many soldiers personally and I can tell you that the last thing they want to do is kill women, children and civilians. but what else can they do when a woman is running at them with a bomb strapped to her chest?
I am proud to be the wife of a man who is willing to give up his life for my freedom, my children's freedom and the freedom of people like you, who take liberty for granted.
Much blood was shed for your freedom of speech, sir. I think you should have a little more respect for those who have died and are dying at this very moment, so that you could be free.
Not one life was wasted in Iraq. Those soldiers bravely died to protect freedom, their families and their friends.
A very wise person once told me, "Life is not worth living unless you have something you are willing to die for"
A wise person also said "Freedom is never Free." Our countrie's freedom was not won or protected by angry film-,making. It was won with the lives of men and women much braver, with much more humanity, and who are a much greater influence on our land than you will ever be.
Which legacy would you rather leave?
"I wrote an angry film and bashed the president at the Oscars", or
"I laid down my life in defense of the freedom of the people I love"
You do not deserve the freedom our soldiers have given you

Moore rocks. the media made it out like he was booed at the oscars. in fact he was cheered. he is the only guy that makes any sense these days and I hope his voice is heard.

M. Moore SUCKS!

And for all the world, it sounded like BOOING to me.

The only reason we even know what he thinks is because he has something we don't.....ACCESS TO THE MEDIA!

You think that any one of us could stand up at a social (or whatever they call that) function like the Oscars and voice our opinion? NO! We are just peons and all the actors who are against the war take advantage of their celebrity status to spew their rhetoric on us.

NO THANKS!

Deb

Hey did you hear that the commercial for Lipton Tea that the Dixie Chicks made has apparently been "iced"!? Their goose is cooked!! By the way they sold out the concerts on their tour BEFORE Natalie opened her big mouth!

since when can't people speak up who are in a position to be heard. Im a minion that works in a hospital. am I going to be heard? NO not likely.

in fact, keep wishing to supress dissent, and you just might get what you want. bush's world is going to be just that, and one day you will be praying for someone to speak up.

that slob gets no gold star. he is just out for self publicity. i did see his movie though. wasnt too bad. he really crushes charton heston at the end of the flick. NRA president, he deserved it.

ptah

Mike Moore is probably the most sane person in the alternative media today. If you take the time to read his work and open your mind, it doesn't take long to be a big fan of his.

I agree, he is very much self serving his monetary ambitions, but I only count that toward 50% of what he does. The other half is from the heart.

MICHAEL MOORE ISNT HE CANADIAN??? MAYBE FRENCH CANADIAN????????????????

eerr excuse me but is'nt everyone in the u.s an immigrant chasing a dream carrot believing the hype gaining taxes on earth and hell when they die. correct me if im wrong foreign patriots,or are you cherokee?

I'm reading a lot of cherry picking in these replies & a hell of a lot of false patroitism. I think u are missing the facts, let alone the points!

FACT - the President is an arch pretender of a 'kingdom' he has no right ruling (yet u all seem to have forgotten that now there are terriorists to fight! A very convenient smokescreen) I agree with 'running with clouds' or whatever his/her name was - the US is not even our country! We stole that from the Native American Indians ... kinda reminiciscient of what going on today in Iraq - colonizing countries for bogus reasons & u all seem to be enjoying the ride. Why exactly did the president invade Afghanistan again - so which country's next on this blazing trail?

May I suggest Mr President that you turn the mirror on yourself & get your own house in order 1st.

pls don't let me get started on the problems we're facing at home.
FACT. Incidently in pakistan, afghan refugees are trying to seek medical help to treat bleeding organs etc. caused by the chemical (?)weapons we used in that war!

Hit me back...

micheal moore rocks!!