Subject: RE: BS: Fox News review of Fahrenheit 9/11
From:
GUEST
Date: 19 Jun 04 - 01:27 AM
More interesting tidbits about the Republican party's attempt to censor the film.
PRNewswire today reports that:
"Behind the effort to silence the film is the group Move America Forward, run by Howard Kaloogian, a former California state legislator and right wing operative who takes credit for stopping CBS from airing "The Reagans." However, it has been discovered that Move America Forward's website was owned by Russo Marsh & Rogers, a very well connected Republican consulting firm. When this fact was discovered, the registration of the website mysteriously changed hands over night."
Reuters reports that the predictably vicious backlash smear campaign by the Republican report is well underway with this story:
"A statement this week by Move America Forward claimed "Fahrenheit 9/11" was endorsed by the Lebanese-based organization Hezbollah, which the U.S. government has identified as a terrorist group.
The claim of Hezbollah backing was based on a gossip column item in London's The Guardian newspaper, which in turn cited a story printed in trade publication Screen International.
"It would be more appropriate to have this propaganda shown at Al Qaeda training camps rather than American movie theaters," said Morgan, a talk show host on San Francisco radio station KSFO AM and vice chair of Move America Forward."
However, it appears that Michael Moore will not entertain these fools, as the NY Times reports:
"So how will Moore's movie stand up under close examination?
After a year spent covering the U.S. commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, I was recently allowed to attend a Hollywood screening. Based on that single viewing, and after separating out what is clearly presented as Moore's opinion from what is stated as fact, it seems safe to say that central assertions of fact in "Fahrenheit 9/11" are supported by the public record...
The most valid criticisms of the film are likely to involve the artful way that Moore connects the facts, and whether he has left out others that might undermine his scalding attack. A great many statistics fly by in the movie - like assertions that 6 percent to 7 percent of America is owned by Saudi Arabians, and that Saudi companies have paid more than $1.4 billion to Bush family interests. Moore and his team say they have news reports and other evidence to back up the numbers, and that it will be posted on his site, www.michaelmoore.com, after the release of the documentary...
Moore is readying for a conservative counterattack, saying he has created a "war room" to offer an instant response to any assault on the film's credibility. He has retained Chris Lehane, a Democratic Party strategist known as a master of the black art of "oppo," or opposition research, used to discredit detractors. He also hired outside fact-checkers, led by a former general counsel of The New Yorker and a veteran member of that magazine's legendary fact-checking team, to vet the film. And he is threatening to go one step further, saying he has consulted with lawyers who can bring defamation suits against anyone who maligns the film or damages his reputation. "Any attempts to libel me will be met by force," Moore said. "The most important thing we have is truth on our side. If they persist in telling lies, knowingly telling a lie with malice, then I'll take them to court."
.
Joanne Doroshow, a public interest lawyer and filmmaker who shared in a 1993 Oscar for documentaries and who joined the fact-checking effort last month, said, "We have gone through every single word of this film - literally every word - and verified its accuracy." That said, Moore's fact-checkers said they did not view the film as straight reporting. "This is an Op-Ed piece, it's not a news report," said Dev Chatillon, the former general counsel for The New Yorker, adding, "The facts have to be right, yes, but this is an individual's view of current events. And I'm a very firm believer that it is within everybody's right to examine the actions of their government."
And finally, the San Francisco Chronicle reports:
"The California-based organization, called Move America Forward, is headed by former GOP Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian and aided by Melanie Morgan, a talk show host on KSFO 560 AM, both of whom had high-profile roles in support of last year's recall election of former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis."
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sj
