From The Niagara Falls Reporter
http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher170.html
'FAHRENHEIT 9/11' BOX OFFICE BONANZA
By Bill Gallagher
DETROIT --
The Bushites and war worshipers are squealing like stuck pigs, poked
in their corrupt entrails as the stench of their greed, arrogance and
duplicity fills the air.
Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" and the public's growing
appetite for the truth are causing the political bleeding and porcine
panic.
Vice President Cheney is so rattled about investigations into the
dirty dealings of Halliburton under his watch and the company's war
profiteering in Iraq that he spewed the F-word at a United States
senator on the floor of that normally dignified body.
Cheney said his outburst was "long overdue," ignoring his pledge in
the 2000 campaign that he and his sidekick would "restore a tone of
civility and decency to the debate in Washington."
I'm not offended by the profanity as much as I am by the disgusting
hypocrisy of this sanctimonious White House crowd, the Bible-thumpers
who sit in their prayer meetings and plot to unplug Howard Stern for
his foul mouth.
It's Stern's politics, not his profanity on the radio, that the Bush
faithful find offensive.
Cheney can't even come clean when caught cursing.
My grandfather Daniel Buckley knew the type.
He'd mutter in his thick (or "tick," as he'd say) Irish brogue, "The
man would lie when the truth would help."
Even though there were about 15 eyewitness when Cheney told Vermont
Sen. Patrick Leahy to "f--- yourself," the man only a skipping
heartbeat away from the president will only admit that he "probably"
said something like that.
That weaseling is typical Cheney-speak and he does it in matters small
and great.
Niagara Falls Reporter Editor in Chief Mike Hudson wrote a letter to
Crown Prince Abdullah on company stationery when the Saudi leader took
out a full-page ad in The New York Times and other papers expressing
regrets over the Sept. 11 attacks and trying to distance his regime
from the mass murders his citizens committed and financed.
Mike's a candid guy and he used the very same phrase Cheney did,
telling the prince what he thought of the belated apology.
But unlike Cheney, Hudson will sign his name to the profanities he
uses and he'll even send you a copy if you ask.
Whatever Cheney "probably" said, his "family values" wife, Lynne,
won't be washing his mouth out with soap.
Cheney admits that he "felt better after I had done it," a distinctly
liberal emotion.
How special, as the church lady would say.
Cheney's still reeling over the 9/11 Commission report that debunks
any collaboration between al-Qaeda and Iraq in the terrorist attacks.
The more adamant Cheney is, the more solemn he sounds.
And the more he looks over his glasses with that powerful scowl, the
more likely it is that he's not telling the truth.
CNBC's Gloria Borger was grilling Cheney over his unproven claim that
Sept. 11 ringleader and hijacker Mohammed Atta had a powwow with an
Iraqi intelligence operative in Prague.
Borger reminded Cheney that he had claimed the meeting that never
occurred was "pretty well confirmed."
"Never said that," Cheney bellowed.
Borger protested, "I think that ..."
"Absolutely not," Cheney interrupted.
I'm blessed, or perhaps cursed, with a pretty good memory.
When I heard Cheney's denial, I was sure he had said just that, no
probably about it.
Sure enough, the transcript from Cheney's Dec. 9, 2001 appearance on
NBC's "Meet The Press" confirms my recollection.
I'll report.
You decide.
Speaking of Atta, Cheney said flat-out, "It's pretty well confirmed
that he did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the
Iraqi intelligence service."
It's pretty well confirmed the vice president will dodge the truth,
but he generally appears cool and in control.
So what's got him in such a tizzy?
Imagine, if you will, an early-morning, hushed conversation in the
bedroom of Cheney's secret bunker.
"*****, you're sweating like a Wyoming mountain mule and cursing in
your sleep. What's wrong?"
"Never mind, Lynne. Forget it."
"Honey buns, I know you're under pressure, but the supremes just got
you off the hook and no one will ever know how you let Kenny-boy and
all those Enron guys decide national energy policy."
"Yeah, that's true. And remind me to send Tony Scalia some more Cuban
cigars and let's have them over for our next bunker barbecue."
"Sure, dear, but please stop sweating!"
"I can't. It's those damn Nigerians. How do I explain Halliburton paid
out $180 million in bribes to them when I was in charge and I didn't
know about it?"
"You'll think of something, dear."
"I wish I could, but the French want to make me testify and that damn
SEC is looking at our books."
"Don't worry, dear. Just tell them to go f--- themselves."
No chance the Cheneys will be showing "Fahrenheit 9/11" to the Scalias
when they drop by.
They don't mind the Bush-bashing and probably agree with some of it.
But there are far too many Halliburton moments in the film for polite
company and Tricky *****'s serial lying is apparent.
Michael Moore's cinematic polemic is riveting.
Its popularity, along with the continuing agony in Iraq, is creating a
perfect storm of summer controversy for the Bush administration and
it's not going to blow over.
The themes in the film will be familiar to regular readers of this
space -- the Bush entanglements with Saudi money, including the bin
Ladens, the phony case for war with Iraq, the death and suffering that
terrible struggle has brought and the media's despicable role in
selling the big lies.
My critics like to hurl what they consider insults at me.
My favorite is "you're worse than that Maureen Dowd" and one of the
most frequent is "I'll bet you like Michael Moore, too."
Yes, I do, and we've been friends for nearly 20 years.
I once told him, "Michael, I knew you when you were poor and obscure."
He responded, "Yeah, now I'm rich and obese."
People seem to love or hate Moore and his film has inspired an
incredible level of political passion and wrath.
A conservative group is now trying to get the Federal Election
Commission to stop promotions for the movie as the political
conventions approach.
We know Disney made a political decision not to distribute the film at
the expense of their shareholders.
Theater chains were pressured to stay away from it and it was given an
R rating -- unfairly, Moore argues.
We chatted last Friday, the day of the film's national debut.
Michael's read on his opposition comes down to an issue of tolerance.
"You see, the big difference between my side of the political fence
and the Republican side of the political fence is they believe that,
if they don't like something, they don't want you to see it. Our side,
we believe if we don't like something, we just don't go see it. That's
the big difference," Moore said.
He hopes his searing film will energize people, especially young
adults, and they'll vote in November.
Moore said the R rating was not merited and 16-year-olds who may soon
be asked to fight and die in Iraq should be able to see on the screen
what's really happening there.
The White House is in a frenzy, trying to discredit the film, but it's
not working.
It's not the words Moore speaks and the information he imparts that
are most disturbing.
It's the close-up shots of George W. that give me the creeps.
On the night he launched the war against Iraq, he's making silly
google eyes at the camera moments before making the announcement.
When he gets word of the terrorist attacks, he looks totally
befuddled, dazed, staring into space.
The nonverbal images send a powerful, disturbing message.
White House Communications Chief Dan Bartlett said the film was
"outrageously false" after it received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes
Film Festival, and last Friday he was on the morning TV show circuit
denouncing the film as "filled with lies."
Moore responded, "Typical White House response. Say the film is full
of lies but you haven't seen it. I mean, just how stupid are these
people. This is embarrassing. This is a good county and the people
leading our country should be the smartest -- the best and the
brightest. Thank him for his review, I guess, is what I should do, and
send him a Christmas card."
Bartlett admits he hasn't seen the film and won't.
____________________________________________________
Typical Bushie. Has an opinion about something he hasn't seen or read.
Harry
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