The Foundation Beyond Belief Just Got a Donation from…

“too left leaning” – those words dont make sense – especially since in the US they seem to mean “not far enough right of centre”

whereas the phrase “dangerously right wing” contains a redundancy.

Congrats on the donation.

My guess is that the publicity Moore just gave the foundation is worth more than the thousand dollars that were donated, appreciated as they are. Michael Moore has over half a million followers on facebook. That’s a lot of folks seeing that post with a convenient link to check out the organization, which is very cool.

ooo, I really don’t like that guy. On the other hand, I can’t currently afford to one-up him, else I definitely would. Heck, I’d give 1002 dollars if I had a steady job right now.

Thanks for the publicity dude.

Yep, I can’t stand the guy either, but I recognize that he’s a decent person who just did a very awesome thing.

This blog is just to high brow for me.  Missed a perfect opportunity for a Family Guy reference.

This blog is just to high brow for me.  Missed a perfect opportunity for a Family Guy reference.

What, pray tell my good chap, is this, “Family Guy?”

Cheerio!

What, pray tell my good chap, is this, “Family Guy?”

Cheerio!

I absolutely love Michael Moore, myself. Yes, he’s a propagandist, but I think he’s fundamentally honest. I don’t agree with every single thing he says or does, and I think Fahrenheit 911 went a bit too far in some areas, but go back and watch Roger and  Me, it really brilliantly shows the impacts of de-industrialization on Flint, Michigan and how it affects real people. 

And honestly, I don’t agree with every thing a lot of atheist say or do either. I have had my moments of disappointment with Dawkins, and on foreign policy I’m pretty diametrically opposed to Hitchens’ views, but I still find “The Selfish Gene” to be a fantastic way to get a good view of how evolution really works, and “God is not Great” to be a terrific argument against religion.

Heck, I even agree with and enjoy Bill Maher on occasion.

I absolutely love Michael Moore, myself. Yes, he’s a propagandist, but I think he’s fundamentally honest. I don’t agree with every single thing he says or does, and I think Fahrenheit 911 went a bit too far in some areas, but go back and watch Roger and  Me, it really brilliantly shows the impacts of de-industrialization on Flint, Michigan and how it affects real people. 

And honestly, I don’t agree with every thing a lot of atheist say or do either. I have had my moments of disappointment with Dawkins, and on foreign policy I’m pretty diametrically opposed to Hitchens’ views, but I still find “The Selfish Gene” to be a fantastic way to get a good view of how evolution really works, and “God is not Great” to be a terrific argument against religion.

Heck, I even agree with and enjoy Bill Maher on occasion.

+ 5.00 From the evolved atheist.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-evolved-Atheist/115838668458057

That tool has 910,000+ followers? Gah! When is his 15 minutes going to be up?

I suppose money’s money, but I really hate to see it coming form someone as fundamentally dishonest as Moore.  The man makes Bill O’Reilly look honest.

The one thing he has shown is that you can make a lot of money confirming other peoples opinions.

🙂

The University of Google is not proof. And every one of your examples are nothing more than snippets of the bigger picture.

And where is the proof of these alleged editing tricks to fake conversations. This is nothing more than conjecture on your part, and lazy research. Google and the Intern et….the lazyman’s method of investigation and research.

You still have provided no proof of this alleged dishonesty.

I have seen each of those movies and what you are pointing out is not proof. It is obvious you cannot grasp the concept of proof or how to validate a hypothesis and therein is the problem: conjecture and hearsay have somehow become the go-to “trump card” for the ignorant and misguided.

It is a sad reality we live in. Emotion trumps fact, and conjecture is valued as truth rather fact.

I truly feel our country (USA) is done. As a point of reference, I have been to Cuba and interviewed many people about the health care system, and have visited several doctors and hospitals there. In addition, I conduct investigations and interviews for my work on a regular basis, many times in locales not in this country. Google does not equal research beyond a superficial level.

Regarding showing only one side of an issue:  I had this thrown at me with Fahrenheit 9-11 by my supposedly genius* cousin who has never once shown a single sign of possessing even average intelligence.  He said “well, Moore only showed the liberal anti-war view and not the conservative pro-war view, it was just evil communist propaganda”.  I told him without missing a beat that the conservative Rethug pro-war view is the ONLY view that had been exposed over the years since 9-11 and to get “the other side” one has only to TURN ON A TELEVISION!!!!  Especially to Fox, an entire propaganda machine dedicated to lying to promote war, poverty, theocracy, and a whole mess of evils.

The supposed “genius”  didn’t have an answer to that one.

And I simply don’t consider that particular movie to be propaganda.  When you have about two hours to make a case against something that has permeated the mass media and been the only viewpoint available or allowable on TV for the last three to five years, why the hell would you allow part of your precious time to help make the case for that already omnipresent opposition?  It would be like a prosecuter having several hours to argue a case and show evidence and interview witnesses with the defense only having an hour to do the same, and somehow expecting the defense to allocate a half-hour of their already-less time to present the prosecution’s case in summary–for “fairness”.  Under those circumstances, I simply don’t see it as propaganda to only show the anti-war liberal position.  After years of listening to pro-war lies and violent vitriol against any anti-war people being spewed by everyone around me on and off TV, at work and outside of work  (except within my very liberal immediate family and on the IIDB–now the FRDB–to which I would go for a little sanity like a starving man desperate for even a crust of bread and, interestingly enough, it was the anti-war stance of many atheists that drew me into other logical criticisms and finally pushed me over the edge to full-blown atheism) it was incredibly refreshing to see something like my own perspective finally being shown in a public setting.  After so many years of having to bite my tongue out of fear of those pro-war fanatics, it was downright empowering to say the least.

And for that matter, why the hell does Moore get flak for “not presenting the case for the other side” when the entire media have a huge habit of only showing pro-war, pro-conservative, pro-republican, pro-religion, pro-right wing positions and usually don’t present the other side at all–or just mention the other side in a line or two that completely misrepresents what the other side actually thinks or wants?  Moore isn’t precisely the entirety of American journalism and tends to present the view that actually gets ignored or completely strawmanned in the vast majority of American journalism, so I simply don’t see why I should get that bent out about Michael Moore when the vast majority of American journalism has much more viewership, is more widely available, and caters only to the wishes of those who want us believing lies that will have us choosing against our own best interests so they can get even more obscenely wealthy and powerful at our expense.  I just can’t get all that worried about his supposed propaganda when I consider the force of what he opposes and how profitable it is to them for us all to focus on how dishonest and evil Michael Moore is.  I refuse to be distracted from the real problems.

I have not seen any of his other works, so I can’t really comment on anything else of his, so I wouldn’t necessarily have any particular opinion of Michael Moore other than “I don’t have a problem with him and generally have a positive view of him simply due to having seen Fahrenheit 9-11 at a time when I really needed to see such a thing simply to renew both my sanity and my hope for humanity.”  But I do tend to believe, from what I’ve seen, that there is indeed more truth in his “lies” than in his opponents’ “truths”.

And I have to agree with Gus Snarp below that being a showman isn’t necessarily a bad thing and that the non-crazy side could stand to have a few more over-the-top showmen and some showmanship.  Right now, it often seems like the insane conservative contingent has got the whole goddam Ringling Brothers Circus on their side while we’ve got what comes off as some “elite” (read: college-educated and therefore think they’re better than you) dry old men in tweed coats with leather elbow patches reading from a boring, dusty old science book or something.  And getting the average joe to shun a circus while listening to someone they feel is boring and who they believe thinks he’s better  than them…well, it’s kind of hard, to grossly understate the case.

* This is mostly a claim from his father, one of those incredibly obnoxious creatures who has to believe his kid is better at everything than everyone else even when he’s not, and shows exactly no happiness for or even interest in other people’s good fortune or other people’s kids talents or accomplishments.  The kind of parent who would give his kids, say, dance or guitar or singing lessons and then claim that they are “self-taught” to try and elevate his kid above all the rest.  And his dad’s not all that smart either.

I love Michael Moore. Now if he would do a documentary on the “most hated people in America” and feature clips from the Reason Rally and Rock Beyond Belief, that would be way cool!