Seattle PI: Moore film's local angle

Moore film's local angle:

"WASHINGTON -- Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore's new movie, 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' features one of Washington state's best-known rabble-rousers: Rep. Jim McDermott.

McDermott was interviewed at his office for the film and discusses the Patriot Act, the war on terror and the treatment of Iraq war veterans. Moore selected McDermott because of his background as a psychiatrist who worked with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, said Sarah Greenberg, a spokeswoman for Lions Gate Films, the movie's distributor.

He is one of several members of Congress who appear in the documentary, which opens nationwide on Friday, and he is shown prominently in the film's trailer. The film takes a critical view of the Bush administration's response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including enactment of the USA Patriot Act and waging war on Iraq.

Moore's pieces 'raise some uncomfortable issues, and I think it's important that people like that be in our society,' McDermott said. 'I like to help people who give people a balanced view of what is going on.'

McDermott, who has not seen the film, will be in Seattle Thursday to introduce a sold-out showing to benefit the ACLU of Washington state and Hate Free Zone Washington. "

By WYATT BUCHANAN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON BUREAU