TheStar.com - Moore warns of swing to the right

TheStar.com - Moore warns of swing to the right: "Firebrand filmmaker Michael Moore hopes his controversial new work Fahrenheit 9/11 will help stop Conservative Leader Stephen Harper from becoming Prime Minister, along with throwing U.S. President George W. Bush out of office.

Moore came to Toronto last night for the Canadian premiere of his Palme d'Or-winning film, which opens in theatres June 25 and which scorches the Bush administration for its handling of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed them.
And he brought with him a warning that if Canadians swing to the right by electing Harper on June 28, as polls suggest might happen, then dire consequences will follow.

'I can't believe that you guys would think about going in that direction, when we're trying to get out of that direction,' Moore told the Star, shortly before heading to the Varsity Cinemas to make a red-carpet arrival at the screening.

'I hope this doesn't happen. Bush is going to throw a party (after the Canadian election). He's going to be a happy man. (Harper) has a big pair of scissors in his hand. He wants to snip away at your social safety net. He'd like this to be the 51st State.'

Despite all that, Fahrenheit 9/11 is still expected to roll out on hundreds of screens in North America on June 25. That includes 55 in Canada, but the Canadian tally will rise to 140 within two weeks.

But Moore insists that Fahrenheit 9/11 and his vigorous promotional campaigns are meant simply to goad people into getting involved in politics and taking a stand on important issues. They're not a personal vendetta against George W. Bush.

"No, not at all. In fact, if anything, I am grateful to the Bush family. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be a filmmaker. Bush's first cousin, Kevin Rafferty, taught me how to make movies. He was a documentary filmmaker who made The Atomic Café. He shot most of Roger & Me for me ... So if it weren't for a member of the Bush family, I wouldn't have maybe gotten into this.

"I feel badly for George W. I don't think he ever wanted to be president.... He's a frat boy, ne'er-do-well living off daddy's largesse. I want to help him back to that life so he's happier.""

PETER HOWELL
MOVIE CRITIC

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