druu.net - Get Rid of Your Bush CD

druu.net - Get Rid of Your Bush: "'Get Rid of Your Bush' is humorous and intelligent hip-hop, thumpin' with sharp wit and head-bobbin' grooves. It's a big helping of political satire with more than one sprinkling of references to 'the hair down 'dere' all served up hot and steamy on a big ol' plate of funky beats.

Druu, a Southern California songwriter who has written for Grammy nominated recording artists, couldn't help but step in front of the mic to spit out some pointed political satire and sexy humor after enduring one too many manipulations and missteps from the brainiac who's been living in the White House for the past three years.

Starting with the thought that the man is named after a patch of pubic hair, "Get Rid of Your Bush" combines chunky beats, fistfuls of satire and opinion and a few little pubic references to create a hip-hop anthem for political change during the 2004 election season that is both fun and a call to action.

Included on the CD are the original single,the darker Weapons of Mass Destruction Remix and as a bonus, instrumental versions of both tracks for all you DJ's and MC's and anyone else who might want to shake their butt to the instrumental tracks. This is anti-Bush music all the way!"


CD Baby On Sale Now ($6.99)

BushMerch.com - John Kerry Button

BushMerch.com - Bush merchandiseJohn Kerry may have his flaws -- Oh, boy does he have flaws! But in comparison with George W. Bush -- well, there really is no comparison. The fact is, John Kerry is the Lesser Evil, and a vote for him guarantees only one thing: "We'll Go Backwards Less Fast!"


Cost: $1
Size: 1.75"

Soul Shine Magazine : Green Day's 'American Idiot' Hits Chart With Record Breaking Debut

Soul Shine Magazine : Green Day's 'American Idiot' Hits Chart With Record Breaking Debut: "The first single from the forthcoming CD by the band Green Day hits Canadian radio and the charts in record setting fashion. The single 'American Idiot' debuted at number four on the Nielson Radio Airplay Charts. 'American Idiot: is the highest debuting single in the history of the charts. The record breaking debut is quite an accomplishment for any band but especially for a non-Canadian band since Canadian radio limits airplay of artists outside of Canada.

'American Idiot' is the first single from the album 'Green Day Presents American Idiot'. The album - due out September 21 - is a politically charged punk opera. "


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Rolling Stone
Launch

RollingStone.com: On The Cover: Michael Moore's Patriot Act

RollingStone.com: "Back in the mid-eighties, a filmmaker named Kevin Rafferty decided he wanted to include footage from a Ku Klux Klan rally in his documentary about white supremacists. A colleague suggested Rafferty give Michael Moore a call. The editor of a progressive weekly newspaper in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, Moore regularly embarrassed neo-Nazis and other right-wingers on his local radio show, so he was able to set up a lunch date with the grand wizard of the Klan and secure an invitation to a weekend rally.

There would be Klan weddings, cross burnings, lectures. Even a barbecue! But when Rafferty's crew arrived from New York, they got cold feet. 'They didn't want to be on camera, because they thought the Klan guys might come after them,' Moore recalls today. 'So I said, 'I'll do it. I'm not afraid to be on camera.' '

As they say in the business, the kid was a natural. Early in the film, Moore tells a tan, attractive blonde wearing an SS armband, jackboots and a stylish blue neck scarf, 'You don't look like a typical Nazi.'

Flattered, the woman giggles sweetly.

'You could be on a Coppertone commercial,' Moore continues.

The woman beams. Then, though Moore has not asked, she says softly, 'I'm not just against Jewish people. It's also blacks.'"


Mr. America
Cover photo by Albert Watson


By MARK BINELLI
RollingStone

Northern Star Online | Theater shouldn't put freeze on 'Fahrenheit'

Northern Star Online | PerspectiveNorthern Star Online | PerspectiveWhile you were home this summer flipping burgers, painting houses and watching “Jerry Springer” (it’s OK - we all do), a quiet controversy rippled through the NIU community. Your friendly neighborhood multiplex - the GKC Market Square Cinemas - wouldn’t show the summer’s most controversial film. But don’t throw popcorn at the guy in the ticket booth the next time you’re there; this decision came from higher up.

I’m not here to be an apologist for Michael Moore or his movie “Fahrenheit 9/11.” He’s neither the monster his worst critics assert nor the angel his staunchest defenders insist. But this isn’t about Moore or his politics. It’s about a corporation deciding what you should and should not see. If Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity had made a movie, I’d hope that people could choose to view it (or, more likely, not to).

That’s not the way GKC Theatres President Beth Kerasotes sees things, however. While generously acknowledging Moore’s freedom to make the film, Kerasotes told the “Mining Journal,” a Michigan-based publication, that GKC was exercising its freedom not to show the film.

“During a time of war,” she said, “the American troops in Iraq need and deserve our undivided support.”

Huh?

I’ve seen the movie. It’s critical of many things, including the government, President George W. Bush and the media. And it shows American troops in many ways - some flattering and some not. But at no time does it not support them.

In fact, at the film’s end, Moore’s voice-over says of the troops: “They serve so that we don’t have to. They offer to give up their lives so that we can be free. It is, remarkably, their gift to us.”

Wow, way to not support the troops, Mr. Moore. Wouldn’t want that type of treacherous talk sinking morale.

After all, isn’t the freedom from someone controlling what we see as one of the liberties our troops are supposedly fighting for? "


Adam Kotlarczyk
Northern Star

sacbee.com -- Politics -- California protesters gear up for New York

sacbee.com -- Politics -- California protesters gear up for New YorkNew York City is a long haul from the Left Coast, but for hundreds of Californians dedicated to driving President Bush out of office, not showing up this weekend simply isn't an option.
Taking part in the marches and rallies pegged to the Republican National Convention are marquee names of the protest movement, such as Tom Hayden of Los Angeles; rank-and-file liberal activists from Oakland and San Francisco; and a few like Peggy Bean, a 57-year-old state worker from the Sacramento area prompted by her opposition to the war in Iraq.

Collectively, they say, they are hopeful their presence in New York will turn swing voters this fall and help America's tattered reputation overseas.

"There are intense expectations going into this," said Hayden, an icon of the left since the Democratic National Convention of 1968, when authorities accused him and other members of the so-called Chicago 7 of inciting riots in the midst of the anti-Vietnam War climate.

"The Republicans are trying to position themselves as defenders of law and order against anarchy, but it will be a hard sell," Hayden said. "Having caused a needless war and chaos abroad," he said of Bush, "some people will wonder if he's not beginning to stir disorder at home."

Bean's 26-year-old son, Jack, is accompanying her. "He's never been to a demonstration at all," she said. "But he saw 'Fahrenheit 9/11' and got really (angry) and said, 'I want to go, too!' "

Organizers of Sunday'santi-war march have told police to expect at least 250,000 participants. Meanwhile, members of at least one Republican organization say they will mix into the crowds of protesters to defend the president's policies."

Margaret Talev
The Sacramento Bee

MoveOn: BENNY BOOM's "Everyone" Ad

"'Everybody' is not an attack ad, it's an enlightenment piece. It's very important for kids to understand the serious condition of the country and the world right now. A lot of people in the inner cities just don't see the importance of voting because nothing changes, but there is power in numbers and in this election everybody needs to get out and do their part." -- Benny Boom




THE ISSUES BEHIND THIS AD: BLACK VOTE YOUTH VOTE
Ever since African-Americans attained the right to vote in this country those threatened by the idea have undermined their right to vote. Had it not been for the active suppression of the black vote in Florida in 2000, Al Gore would have won the presidency -- it's not a question.

Click Title To See

Media For Democracy 2004 | The Unofficial Media Guide to the 2004 RNC

Media For Democracy 2004 | The Unofficial Media Guide to the 2004 RNC: "MediaChannel.org and Media for Democracy present the 'Unofficial Media Guide' - a resource for journalists seeking a detour from the tightly scripted rhetoric at Madison Square Garden. The Media Guide lists hundreds of sources and experts available to reporters seeking to cover events occurring throughout New York's five boroughs. Inside these pages, you'll find:

- Dozens of New York experts, ready to talk on the record.
- Coordinates for the protest groups active citywide.
- The lowdown on political bloggers and alternative news outlets.
- The big media backstory.
- Ten New York ways to escape the spin
... and more!"


Download it Now!

New York Daily News - Lloyd Grove's Lowdown: GOP itchin' for a Mike fight

New York Daily News - Lloyd Grove's Lowdown: GOP itchin' for a Mike fight: "'Fahrenheit 9/11' director Michael Moore - a virulent enemy of President Bush - has been hired by USA Today to write four opinion columns during the Republican Convention.

Word is that party officials aren't happy that the pugnacious Moore - wearing the credentials of a legitimate journalist - will be the skunk at their garden party next week, traipsing around Madison Square Garden and maybe even causing trouble.

But get a load of what some of the delegates have to say:

Alabama delegate Terry Butts: 'I'm from South Alabama, and we're used to dealing with jackasses, and so I look forward to making his acquaintance. In Alabama, there are probably a few good ol' boys who would know how to put a good knot on his head.'"


Lloyd Grove is The Daily News' newest gossip columnist, from The Washington Post, where he wrote the widely read 'Reliable Source' column.

MoveOn PAC: Former Bush Voters Star in New $3 Million Ad Campaign;

To Air During Republican Convention in Key Battleground States

MoveOn PAC 30 Second Spots by Academy Award Winner Errol Morris Feature Stories of “Real People” ; Switching from Bush to Kerry

Additional $200K Buy on Fox News Channel

MoveOn PAC will air five new ads produced by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris during the Republican convention starting Tuesday on cable and network affiliates in nine states— Florida, Nevada, Iowa, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and West Virginia. All five pre-tested spots — "Reckless,” "Overseas,” "What About America,” "Where Are They,” and "Fishing”— will also run on Fox News in rotation starting Monday across the nation.

The thirty-second spots feature real people, not actors, who voted for George W. Bush in 2000, but who have been disappointed by the President’s performance in office and plan to vote for John Kerry in the 2004 November election.

Several additional “Real People” ads produced by Morris will be included in a full-page ad in the New York Times on Monday.

One ad features former U.S. Marine Sergeant Lee Buttrill who explains, “We were given these ideas that there were weapons of mass destruction...It was just a lie. That wasn't a proper use of American troops. It wasn't a proper use of my life, or my friends' lives, or the marines who I've seen die around me."

Other ads feature a commercial fisherman – and life-long Republican – speaking of the illness and pollution caused by environmental deregulation under Bush. Another stars a woman whose husband lost his job because of overseas outsourcing.

Last month, MoveOn PAC issued a “virtual casting call” asking members to share their stories for the ad campaign. Hundreds of Republicans, Democrats and Independents responded.

Film director Errol Morris interviewed the former Bush voters and created two-dozen ads with individuals telling stories of disaffection with the Bush presidency. More than 100,000 MoveOn PAC members helped choose Morris’s best cuts by viewing the ads and voting.

“This is different kind of political advertising. Not a prepared speech. Not a voice-over narrative, but rather people speaking one on one. Americans speaking to other Americans in their own words, expressing their beliefs and their hopes for the future,” said Morris, director of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Fog of War.

"These ads show that support for Bush, even in his traditional base, is unraveling," said Wes Boyd, MoveOn PAC president. “People are stepping forward to speak out against Bush and for John Kerry, and we're thankful that such a prominent filmmaker can bring those stories to the American public," Boyd added.

Hamsters For Kerry

Hamsters For Kerry: "You may be asking yourself, 'Why are hamsters organizing to support John Kerry?' That's a good question. This is the good answer.

At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Alexandra Kerry told a rapt audience the heroic story of her father and a hamster named Licorice. Here, in part, is what she said:

'It's great to be here tonight. It hasn't been easy to sift through years of memories about my father and find those few that might best tell you who John Kerry really is. Let me just begin with one July day when Vanessa and I were kids. It's a silly story, but it's true, and it's one of my favorite memories of my father. We were standing on a dock waiting for a boat to take us on a summer trip. Vanessa, the scientist, had packed all her animals including her favorite hamster. Our over-zealous golden retriever got tangled in his leash and knocked the hamster cage off the dock. We watched as Licorice, the unlucky hamster bubbled down to a watery doom. That might have been the end of the story. But my dad jumped in, grabbed an oar, fished the cage from the water, hunched over the soggy hamster and began to administer CPR. There were some reports of mouth-to-mouth, but, I admit that's probably a trick of memory. He was never quite right after that, but Licorice lived. Like I said, it may sound silly. We still laugh about it today. But, to us it was serious and that's what mattered to my father.' "



Play the Kerry for President Game

Michael Moore.com : It Takes Real Courage to Desert Your Post and Then Attack a Wounded Vet

Michael Moore.com : Mike's Message : Messages: "Dear Mr. Bush,
I know you and I have had our differences in the past, and I realize I am the one who started this whole mess about 'who did what' during Vietnam when I brought up that 'deserter' nonsense back in January. But I have to hand it to you on what you have uncovered about John Kerry and his record in Vietnam. Kerry has tried to pass himself off as a war hero, but thanks to you and your friends, we now know the truth.

First of all, thank you for pointing out to all of us that Mr. Kerry was never struck by a BULLET. It was only SHRAPNEL that entered his body! I did not know that! Hell, what's the big deal about a bunch of large, sharp, metal shards ripping open your flesh? That happens to all of us! In my opinion, if you want a purple heart, you'd better be hit with a bullet -- with your name on it!

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

P.S. George, I know you said you don't read the newspaper, but USA Today has given me credentials to the Republican convention to write a guest column each day next week (Tues.-Fri.). If you don't want to read it, you and I will be in the same building so maybe I could come by and read it to you? Lemme know..."

Marin Independent Journal - The mind behind the politics

Marin Independent Journal - Lifestyles: "SINGER/songwriter Michelle Shocked opens the new documentary, 'Bush's Brain,' with a song called 'How You Play the Game.'
According to this latest in a remarkable series of liberal documentaries, the game of politics as played by the Bush administration has never been dirtier.

'Bush's Brain' opens today in theaters across the country and begins a run at the Rafael Film Center on Sept. 17. Up until today, the DVD has been sold online at Bushsbrain.com.

The Rafael has been in the forefront of the political documentary phenomenon, having screened 'The Corporation,' 'The Hunting of the President' and 'Control Room.' It's currently showing 'Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear and the Selling of American Empire.'

It would have gladly kicked its impromptu doc fest off with Michael Moore's Bushbuster, 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' the spark that lit this fire, but couldn't get the rights. 'People were actually angry at us because they thought we didn't want to show it,' Richard Peterson, the Rafael's director of programming, said.

Peterson noted that 'Bush's Brain' has suddenly acquired an unexpected buzz since the swift boat controversy this week involving a veterans group making unsubstantiated charges about John Kerry's war record."


By Paul Liberatore
Marin Independent Journal

Who Cares About Kerry? It's Bush We Can't Stand, Say Vietnamese

Who Cares About Kerry? It's Bush We Can't Stand, Say Vietnamese: "HANOI, Aug 27 (AFP) - The question of whether presidential candidate John Kerry was a coward or a leader during the Vietnam War might be raging in the United States, but on the streets of Hanoi people hope for just one result from the American election -- the exit of George W. Bush.

'I've read a few things in the newspapers about the presidential campaign in the US but I don't care much. Bush is barbarous,' a 78-year-old retiree, who did not want to give his name, told AFP.

The mere mention of the former Texas oilman visibly rattles a souvenir saleswoman in central Hanoi but Kerry, who possibly killed Vietnamese nationals during his service in the war, seems not to matter.

'Bush is a crazy man,' she said. 'We hate him. Believe me, no one in Vietnam likes him.
'I don't know much about the presidential campaign in the US. But I will be very happy if Bush fails.'

Yet while the government has been silent on the US elections, in the pirated-DVD shops of Hanoi the anti-Bush polemic by outspoken filmmaker Michael Moore, "Fahrenheit 9/11", is readily available.

"I think the Vietnamese people are better than Americans in overcoming the wounds of war," said architect Pham Van Thang, 35.

The fact that politicians are arguing over what happened 30 years ago so they can be elected in November only adds to the impression among Vietnamese that they are indulging in scandal-mongering."


by Didier Lauras
Turkish Press

Infoshop News - Arundhati Roy: Life Comes Between a Firebrand and Her Fiction

Infoshop News - Arundhati Roy: Life Comes Between a Firebrand and Her Fiction: "The applause started at 7:40 p.m., when she was first introduced to the overflow crowd at the San Francisco Hilton. By the time Arundhati Roy finished an hour later -- by the time this novelist-activist-public intellectual completed her speech titled "Public Power in the Age of Empire" - - the audience had given her two standing ovations, 20 more rounds of applause and countless variations of more personal salutations like, "That's right!"

Roy says she doesn't want to be "iconized" by the public, but it's happening anyway. After readings and speeches, she's mobbed by people seeking her handshake, her signature in a book or a photograph to prove they got close to this firebrand from India. Firebrand may be an understatement. Last Monday at the Hilton, where she addressed the American Sociological Association, Roy generated some of her biggest responses when she urged the United States to immediately pull its troops from Iraq and "pay reparations" to Iraqis, criticized John Kerry and other Democrats ("How dare the Democrats not be anti-war!") and described President Bush's Cabinet as "thugs."

Two days later, at a KPFA fund-raiser in Berkeley, Roy energized the sold- out crowd within minutes of taking the stage by saying, "We have to strategize and take our struggle forward."

It's been seven years since Roy burst onto the international literary scene with "The God of Small Things," her semiautobiographical novel about a hard-luck family in southern India. Roy could have been content to stay within the confines of fiction -- and some critics say she should have -- but she was too restless for that. Her first big project: fighting dam building in India. Roy's celebrity helped generate media coverage of India's anti-dam movement, which objects to the way New Delhi's water projects have displaced millions of poor people. Roy has also opposed India's nuclear weapons capabilities and its embrace of capitalism -- issues that connected her with international human rights groups such as the World Social Forum.

Roy's name is now synonymous with other well-known activists and liberal figures, including Noam Chomsky (who calls Roy "a wonder"), Howard Zinn (another big fan) and Michael Moore. In fact, Roy has essentially given up her love of fiction for a full-time career as a social critic. She still writes prodigiously, but every one of her new books -- such as the just-released "An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire" -- is a critique of current affairs. It's hard to find another writer who made such a big splash with a first novel ("The God of Small Things" commanded a $1 million advance, won the Booker Prize and has been translated into more than 30 languages), then veered so quickly into activist nonfiction, but Roy's background gives clues to her transition."

by Jonathan Curiel
San Francisco Chronicle

Real Republican Values Ad

Moveon ad "Real Republican Values"?

WSJ.com - Meet the Bloggers, Part Two

WSJ.com - Meet the Bloggers, Part Two: "NEW YORK -- Republican Web loggers are getting ready for their shot at posting convention news and commentary, and they say they've learned from their left-leaning counterparts' experience five weeks earlier.

At Madison Square Garden, the official blogger group will number about 15, a tiny fraction of the estimated 15,000 journalists expected, and less than half the size of the accredited Boston blogger set. 'That's just the number we landed on,' said convention spokeswoman Alyssa McClenning. She wouldn't discuss how convention planners chose the group, but said the bloggers 'reflected a mix of ideologies.' Adding to the blend are some delegates and traditional journalists who also plan to blog from the convention.

In the accreditation process, Republican convention organizers invited particular bloggers, while the Democrats used applications. But the result is the same: a lot of home-team support. Most Boston bloggers were solidly in the John Kerry camp, while most New York bloggers plan to vote for President Bush. A handful of centrist bloggers are attending both.

The Wall Street Journal Online e-mailed questionnaires to bloggers accredited for the New York convention, asking about their political views, blogging style, approach to the convention and opinions on mainstream media coverage. Nearly all replied. Click on the bloggers' names to see their responses to the questionnaire and a link to their Web sites.

Some Republican convention bloggers also took shots at the Boston bloggers. Asked what they learned from Boston, some of the New York bloggers characterized the Boston coverage as self-absorbed and overly preoccupied with celebrity sightings. The Republican bloggers said they'd stay more focused on the issues and the convention itself -- a chance they'll get next week."

By CARL BIALIK and ELIZABETH WEINSTEIN
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE



A RSS fed community site for bloggers participating in the RNC, Aug 30-Sep 2

Local kindling keeps "Fahrenheit 9/11" burning - The Daily Vidette - E-Zone

Local kindling keeps "Fahrenheit 9/11" burning"Months after GKC Theaters - one of the nation's largest cinema chains - refused to screen Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" at any of its Illinois venues, the polemic documentary continues to turn up the heat between Bloomington-Normal's media elite.

"GKC believes in Michael Moore's freedom to make his movie," GKC Theaters president Beth Kerasotes, who oversees the chain's 250-plus venues, explained in a statement issued to the press.

"We trust that our customers will recognize and respect our own freedom of choice not to play it," Kerasotes' statement continued. "During a time of conflict, our troops need and deserve our undivided support."

Because the Castle Theater - Bloomington's independently owned, single-screen art house cinema - was contractually obligated to play "The Terminal" on "Fahrenheit 9/11's"debut weekend, Moore's movie eventually opened at the Normal Theater.

The venue shift was unprecedented - the Normal Theater is town-owned and shows classic films and second-run art movies. Before "Fahrenheit 9/11," the Normal Theater hadn't shown a first-run film since its renovation and reopening in 1993.

Loved and hated, Moore's film challenges the legitimacy of George W. Bush's election to the presidency and the administration's War on Terror.

Locals went to see "Fahrenheit 9/11" in droves. The Normal Theater had to triple the number of screenings in order to meet the movie-going demand.

One Normal Theater patron discovered a split-second edit connecting the highest-grossing documentary of all-time to Bloomington-Normal's biggest print media outlet.

In the blink of an eye, Moore's movie cuts to a shot of a newspaper article dated Dec. 19, 2001.

The headline states "Latest Florida recount shows Gore won election." The dateline attributes the article to The Pantagraph newspaper.

The moviegoer who saw the attribution contacted Pantagraph columnist Bill Flick. Flick called The Normal Theater and asked if they would slow down the movie footage and take a look at the questionable clip."


By Anthony Zoubek
The Daily Vidette - E-Zone

Transcript of full speech by Arundhati Roy in San Francisco, August 16: Tide? Or Ivory Snow?

Arundhati Roy: Public Power in the Age of EmpireI've been asked to speak about "Public Power in the Age of Empire." I'm not used to doing as I'm told, but by happy coincidence, it's exactly what I'd like to speak about tonight.

When language has been butchered and bled of meaning, how do we understand "public power"? When freedom means occupation, when democracy means neo-liberal capitalism, when reform means repression, when words like "empowerment" and "peacekeeping" make your blood run cold - why, then, "public power" could mean whatever you want it to mean. A biceps building machine, or a Community Power Shower. So, I'll just have to define "public power" as I go along, in my own self-serving sort of way.

The question is: is "democracy" still democratic?

Are democratic governments accountable to the people who elected them? And, critically, is the public in democratic countries responsible for the actions of its sarkar?

If you think about it, the logic that underlies the war on terrorism and the logic that underlies terrorism is exactly the same. Both make ordinary citizens pay for the actions of their government. Al-Qaeda made the people of the United States pay with their lives for the actions of their government in Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The U.S government has made the people of Afghanistan pay in their thousands for the actions of the Taliban and the people of Iraq pay in their hundreds of thousands for the actions of Saddam Hussein.

The crucial difference is that nobody really elected al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or Saddam Hussein. But the president of the United States was elected (well ... in a manner of speaking).

The prime ministers of Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom were elected. Could it then be argued that citizens of these countries are more responsible for the actions of their government than Iraqis are for the actions of Saddam Hussein or Afghans for the Taliban?

Whose God decides which is a "just war" and which isn't? George Bush senior once said: "I will never apologize for the United States. I don't care what the facts are." When the president of the most powerful country in the world doesn't need to care what the facts are, then we can at least be sure we have entered the Age of Empire.

So what does public power mean in the Age of Empire? Does it mean anything at all? Does it actually exist?


Click Title to read full transcript.

LA Times: Bush Campaign Lawyer Resigns

WASHINGTON — The senior legal advisor to President Bush's reelection campaign resigned today, citing the controversy stirred by his dual role of representing the president's political organization and the advice he gave to a group of veterans (Swift Boat Veterans for Truth) that has challenged Sen. John F. Kerry's military record.

The campaign's national counsel, Benjamin L. Ginsberg, said in a letter to Bush that while his advising the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth "was entirely within the boundaries of the law," he did not want the fact that he helped the group to "distract from the real issues upon which you and the country should be focusing."

Federal campaign law prohibits a candidate's campaign organization and independent groups supporting candidates from coordinating their activities. Kerry filed a formal complaint last week with the Federal Election Commission alleging that there had been illegal coordination in connection with the veterans' advertising.

The advertising effort appeared to set the Kerry campaign off its stride, forcing it to engage in a protracted defense of a war record on which it had been banking to build up the candidate's credentials as a potential commander in chief.

And the veterans group appeared to be scoring some points: While the Democrat's defense, slow to get off the ground, sought to answer the allegations point by point, his standing among veterans began to drop — 18 percentage points in a recent CBS News poll.


By James Gerstenzang,
Times Staff Writer

SI.com - Writers - Setting the record straight

SI.com: "ATHENS, Greece -- I had a feeling SI.com might ruffle some feathers in Washington with my story last week about Iraqi soccer players' displeasure with President Bush after he used the Iraqi Olympic team in his latest re-election campaign ad.

But I can't say I expected former Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) officials to publicly question the accuracy of the story, so let's set the record straight.

When asked about the SI.com piece on Monday's ESPN2 broadcast of Cold Pizza, former senior CPA official Don Eberly reiterated a quote from a Reuters interview of Mark Clark, a British consultant for the Iraqi Olympic Committee and himself a former CPA official.

Clark's statement, which was passed along by Eberly, was this: "It seems the story was engineered."

I don't know about you, but I take "engineered" to mean anything from "not on the level" (at best) to "fabricated" (at worst). Curious about Mark Clark's definition of the word, I called him on Monday."


Grant Wahl
Sports Illustrated

BBC NEWS: Iraqi footballers' fury at Bush

BBC NEWS: "Midfielder Salih Sadir said the team - which won its group stage in Greece - was angry it had been used in Mr Bush's re-election campaign ads.

One accused the US leader of committing "many crimes", and another said he would be fighting US troops if not for Athens.

Their comments were made in a US Sports Illustrated magazine interview.

Salih Sadir said he was angry at Mr Bush's campaign adverts showing pictures of the Afghan and Iraqi flags with the words: "At this Olympics there will be two more free nations - and two fewer terrorist regimes".

What is freedom when I go to the stadium and there are shootings on the road?

Coach Adnan Hamad
"Iraq as a team does not want Mr Bush to use us for the presidential campaign," said the Iraqi player.

"He can find another way to advertise himself."

He called for US troops to be withdrawn from Iraq. "We don't wish for the presence of the Americans in our country. We want them to go away.""

EURWEB: JANET NEWS: Blames Bush for prolonging nipplegate; sells Malibu crib.

JANET NEWS: Blames Bush for prolonging nipplegate: *"Do I vote? Yes, I do. Will I be voting for Bush? Hell, no!" Janet Jackson tells “Us Weekly.” The singer has thrown her nipple into the mass legion of artists who openly detest George Dubya. She told “Us Weekly” that the president jumped on her Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction as a way to get the nation’s attention away from the war in Iraq.
"I truly feel in my heart that the president wanted to take the focus off of him at that time, and I was the perfect vehicle to do so at that moment,” she told the magazine. “I mean, it's a bunch of bulls***. When you see Michael Moore's “Fahrenheit 9/11,” it just confirms it. I shouldn't have apologized. You don't apologize for an accident. It just makes you look guilty."

Michael Moore.com: In Battle for Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Suburbs Probably Hold the Key

Michael Moore.com WAYNE, Pa. - The ladies lunching on the veranda of the venerable Wayne Hotel here had nothing nice to say about Senator John Kerry , but that did not prevent them from saying it.

"He's a fraud," said Alida Haslett, 53, who works in a framing shop and lives in nearby Bryn Mawr. "I don't believe he's a war hero."

Her companions were equally sour on Mr. Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee.

"He's a Kennedy wannabe," said Carol Ogelsby, 50, who sells real estate.

"There's nothing like a wannabe," put in Betsy Grace, also 50, who works in architectural restoration.

Those women are crucial to President Bush's hopes for winning Pennsylvania. They voice no complaints about the economy, see the American presence in Iraq as positive and support the president's opposition to same-sex marriage, although they are mixed on his opposition to abortion rights.

In short, the women reflect the Republican values that have prevailed for generations along this stretch of long-settled affluent suburbs named for the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which began ferrying commuters westward from Philadelphia in the 1880's and where, Ms. Ogelsby said, the median price of a home runs $700,000 to $800,000.

But Mr. Bush cannot take too much comfort from the women. Even they expressed a sense of foreboding about his chances here in November. Ms. Grace conceded that she was at odds with her own family.

"They're not all Republicans," she said. "In fact, I'm probably one of the few. It's a little scary."

Ms. Ogelsby said that she had Republican friends "who are angry at Bush and went to see 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' and they all stood up and clapped at the end."

by Katherine Q. Seelye
New York Times

DTH Online - Local treats town to Fahrenheit 9/11

Local treats town to Fahrenheit 9/11 Two months after its nationwide release, Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" still remains a hot topic among Democrats and Republicans alike.

Thanks to the efforts of a lone Carrboro citizen, the Varsity Theatre on East Franklin Street will prolong the film's visibility by hosting two free public showings of Moore's left-leaning movie Thursday.

Bruce Stone, owner of the Varsity, said that the evening showings are going to be free to the public thanks to the effort of local Kent Kanoy.

"Thursday is the last day that we will be showing the movie, and Mr. Kanoy has offered to subsidize everyone's ticket for the 7 and 9 p.m. shows," Stone said.

Kanoy, a UNC alumnus of the class of 1974, said that he wanted to offer an incentive for the community to view "Fahrenheit 9/11."

"I saw the film and was very impressed and felt it was important enough for as many people to see it as possible," he said.

Kanoy said he was inspired by an article he read about a theater in Wisconsin that also had offered free showings of the movie to the public.

A longtime area resident, Kanoy said he is not normally involved in politics, but he felt that funding this event was something he wanted to do. "I'm just a private citizen contributing to the political process."


BY BECCA MOORE
ASSISTANT ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Guardian Unlimited: The beginning of history

Guardian Unlimited Fahrenheit 9/11 is astounding. Not so much as a film - although it is cunning and moving - but as an event. Most commentators try to dismiss the event and disparage the film. We will see why later.
The artists on the Cannes film festival jury apparently voted unanimously to award Michael Moore's film the Palme d'Or. Since then it has touched many millions across the world. In the US, its box-office takings for the first six weeks amounted to more than $100m, which is, astoundingly, about half of what Harry Potter made during a comparable period. Only the so-called opinion-makers in the media appear to have been put out by it.

The film, considered as a political act, may be a historical landmark. Yet to have a sense of this, a certain perspective for the future is required. Living only close-up to the latest news, as most opinion-makers do, reduces one's perspectives. The film is trying to make a small contribution towards the changing of world history. It is a work inspired by hope.

What makes it an event is the fact that it is an effective and independent intervention into immediate world politics. Today it is rare for an artist to succeed in making such an intervention, and in interrupting the prepared, prevaricating statements of politicians. Its immediate aim is to make it less likely that President Bush will be re-elected next November.


John Berger
The Guardian

American News: Fahrenheit 9/11 reviews all off-base

American NewsWhen I finally saw Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," I found that none of the reviews I read reflected what the film was actually about. The reviews, even the complimentary ones, were fence-post stupid. Commentaries on the film fell into two groups: the ones by people who did not see the movie before beginning their rants; and the ones who did see it and said that Moore manipulated the documentary evidence. The first group lives in la-la land. They are the ones who fervently believe in Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, along with the tooth fairy, because that is what they have been told, and that Armageddon will be the day the WMDs all go off at once, providing just retribution to us nonbelievers.

The second group I cannot explain, but is clearly the product of an educational system that programs brains by teaching to tests - as opposed to educating children - and hits the delete button when it encounters literary and interpretive brain cells. One commentator lamented that Moore seemed to have lost his sense of humor in this film. The audience I saw the film with did not think so. They found the film funny and laughed constantly. I admit that I saw the film at an art theater in Denver where the audience was not representative of the American public. One commentator said the film was like a Rush Limbaugh script with vivid graphics. The film was composed with wit. No one can ever accuse the school yard bullying and street-corner derision of Rush Limbaugh and his cohorts of wit.

The film is, in fact, a satiric cinematic essay that uses documentary materials to create penetrating ironies. Most of the reviewers said the purpose of the film is to bash George W. Bush. But the real point of the film is announced with the title and stated throughout. It is hard to miss. Its point is that the nation was so stupefied by 9/11 that it was put into a fevered state of anxiety, hence the title "Fahrenheit 9/11." In that state of anxiety, the nation allowed itself to be bullied and bamboozled into supporting the war on Iraq without questioning the facts or the reasoning that rushed us into a war. The film is about the mental state of a nation that falls into the kind of fearful submission that terrorist acts are designed to create."


David Newquist, Aberdeen, is an editorial board member for the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, active in the Brown County Democrats, and involved in regional history.

Yahoo Groups Arundhati Roy: Message Excerpt Aug. 19

Yahoo Groups Arundhati Roy A clear-minded, passionate dissenter, Ms. Roy certainly is. As
a "subject of the empire," she feels it's her right -- no, her obligation -- to speak out. Not truth to power, mind you. Power knows the truth, she asserts. It's the commoners, the people that need to be reached...in their hearts and minds. It's the people who,one would hope, need to understand what Power is doing to the world (and themselves), in their name.

She has a few words to say about Power and its arrogance.

On Mr. Bush and his counterpart, Mr. bin Laden:

"Osama bin Laden and George Bush are both terrorists. They are both building international networks that perpetrate terror and devastate people's life. Bush, with the Pentagon, the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank. Bin Laden with Al Qaeda.

The difference is that nobody elected bin Laden. Bush was elected (in a manner of speaking), so U.S. citizens are more responsible for his actions than Iraqis are for the actions of Saddam Hussein or Afghans are for the Taliban.

And yet hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans have been killed, either by economic sanctions or cruise missiles, and we're told that these deaths are the results of 'just wars.' If there is such a thing as a just war, who is to decide what is just and what is not? Whose God is going to decide that?" (p. 92)

Who? Niall Ferguson, the author of Empire, Christopher Hitchens, Tony Blair, Suzan Sontag, Michael Ignatieff, and the other guard dogs of the White Citadel, have made the case for just war and the civilizing benefits of empire.

ABCNEWS.com: New Documentaries Tackle Current Affairs

ABCNEWS.com: "Michael Moore hyped Fahrenheit 9/11 as if it were the culmination of a cresting wave, but he hardly has the field to himself this summer.

There's a growing number of nonfiction films on current affairs, which usually means politics in this election year. They're diverse enough to prove Moore's brand of muckraking isn't the only way to bid for attention.

Bush’s Brain

You might think Bush's Brain satirizes a president whose campaign never focuses on the number of books and newspapers he's read. Yet people with the last name Bush make only fleeting appearances in this movie, adapted by Joseph Mealey and Michael Paradies Shoob from the eponymous 2003 book by James C. Moore and Wayne Slater.

It's about the brain behind the brain: that of Karl Rove, the strategist who's been engineering Republican campaigns for decades. He was the first person hired for George H.W. Bush's national run in 1980, and has been guiding George W. Bush since his 1993 gubernatorial run.

Despite his fondness for working quietly behind the scenes, Rove is such a close adviser to Bush that some observers rank him with Vice President Dick Cheney in governmental power."


By David Sterritt

AP Wire: Scheduled "Fahrenheit 9/11" screening prompts hot debate

Scheduled "Fahrenheit 9/11" screening prompts hot debateMEADVILLE, Pa. - Rising temperatures have apparently canceled plans to screen the controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11" at a nonprofit community theater.

Michael Moore's assault on President Bush's handling of the Sept. 11 attacks was scheduled to be shown Sept. 4-5 at the Academy Theatre's annual film series. But the foundation that oversees the Meadville theater said it would postpone the screening until after the Nov. 2 election.

The committee that runs the film series objected to the delay, saying the movie would lose its impact and also is scheduled to be released on DVD Oct. 5. The panel decided to cancel the booking altogether, film series committee chairman Don Goldstein said.

The foundation usually doesn't get involved in film booking, but people started to complain about the movie being scheduled close to the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, foundation president Ted Watts said. Some also said the theater shouldn't show films with a political agenda, and donors even threatened to pull their funding if the theater showed the film, he said.

"We're caught in the middle," Watts said. "All I can say is I hope we survive it. This has really polarized our community and that's really unfortunate.""

A Book: An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire by Arundhati Roy

An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire : "Continuing where her earlier non-fiction books left off, Roy once again speaks around the world holding up a harsh light to leaders of economic and military might and power. One thing to note is Roy's wholistic view of resistance to injustice and progress by societies has evolved since her last writings. Many of her earlier speeches and essays stuck to a single issue- this book's speeches create links between economic power or powerlessness, racial or religious violence and the growing worldwide police state, and argues forcefully for a movement to stand up to these linked worldwide trends as a whole.

The speeches have the eloquence Roy's fans have always looked to her for. They also name names and provide numbers for those like me who like more than generalities. An all around great book. Just wish it was longer."

By S. L. Small
(Astoria, NY United States)

Arundhati Roy is a leading figure in the global peace and anti-corporate globalization movements, and her articles and speeches have appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers. In addition, Roy was awarded the Booker Prize, Great Britain's highest literary honor, for her novel "The God of Small Things."

NOTE: Last night, while flipping channels waiting for the Olympic Games to begin, I stopped on an extreme close-up of Arundhati Roy face. She was reading a speach at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco on C-Span2. What an amazing spirit! Roy has come to a lot of the same realizations has myself like Bush has got to go and it will take effort to put Team Kerry’s feet to the fire. But, her words had a great depth of wisdom behind them and were much more eloquent than mine. Sometimes channel surfing is a good thing.

DAM/AGE a Film about Arundhati Roy

DAM/AGE traces writer Arundhati Roy's bold and controversial campaign against the Narmada dam project in India, which will displace up to a million people. The author of The God of Small Things, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 1998, Roy has also published The Cost of Living, a book of two essays critical of India's massive dam and irrigation projects, as well as India's successful detonation of a nuclear bomb. In her most recent book Power Politics, Roy challenges the idea that only experts can speak out on such urgent matters as nuclear war, the privatization of India's power supply by Enron and issues like the Narmada dam project.

Michael Moore.com: How a Movie Can Move the Voting Public (Part 3)

Michael Moore.com“My name is Stephanie, I am 18 years old, and I live in the southern part of Mississippi. I just recently [saw] your film, ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ about a day ago. I'd have to tell you honestly, I was a fan of our president.

I was for the war in Iraq and I was very unaware of the deceitfulness of our president.

See, what got me the most, is I believed in the fact that our troops were there to protect us. That we were under a threat of Missiles and things.

I remember even when I was in school, writing a speech about the war and my reasons for why I am for the war.

To me, they were right and I was proud of it.

And I look now and I don’t even know why I believed these things.

For two years, I used to live over seas and on the base. I came to know many soldiers that came and went from time to time. My friends that I had then, as well, have all joined the military and gone to Iraq. They were most like family to me. And yet they are over there dying.

For the first few months, I read in the newspapers, or saw on TV many of the soldiers I knew, dead. And it really just hurts me so bad that they just were there for nothing, were killed for no reason.

Your film made me realize the truth about President Bush and all the things he has ‘done’ for our country in the last 4 years.

And it makes me angry to know that I was deceived.
And I just can’t believe it.
I was baffled and speechless as I sat in the theater and had this reality check to realize that everything I believed in was a lie.

Why the hell didn’t we all realize this to begin with?

I also, as a matter of fact, work in the theater here in my part of Mississippi. And I speak with a lot of the men and women as they pass by to see the film. You have given a very big contribution to the American people to make them see the truth.

More and more people realize this as they watch your film.

And I thank you very much for this.

I can’t tell you how much it means to me to see the truth behind the lies. So again, thank you.”

–S.C., Mississippi

CNN.com - C-Span meets 'Sims': New game lets you run your own campaign

C-Span meets 'Sims': New game lets you run your own campaign (CNN) -- Some people think that the only time politics is entertaining is when President Bartlet says something cheeky on "The West Wing." But real-life politics really can be fun, as long as you see it for what it has become: a game.

Modern politics is little more than a high-stakes competition in which two (sometimes three) combatants try to punch, counterpunch and outmaneuver their opponents, such as in the presidential election where the victor gets to stand on that Capitol Hill stage on Inauguration Day.

The politics-as-game mentality is what drives "The Political Machine," a new CD-ROM from Ubisoft and Stardock Entertainment.

The Political Machine" gives you the chance to run the presidential campaign of either a real-life political figure -- such as President Bush, John Kerry, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton -- or one you design yourself. You can choose your opponent, have the computer do it for you or go up against other politicos online.

With a virtual map of the United States as the field of play, you and your candidate crisscross the nation raising funds, making speeches, dealing with the media and launching and/or responding to negative attacks.

You can also employ political operatives such as "The Money Man" or the mudslinging "Scandal Monger." The object is to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency."


By Sid Lipsey
CNN Headline News

michaelmoore LJ: Political Machine Illustration

michaelmoore%3A Political Machine Illustration: "I made a picture of Michael Moore for the game the Political Machine using the Fahrenheit 9/11 poster as a guide. It didn't take too long, but I thought it turned out as good as the one I made of myself, so I decided to post it here. Enjoy!"



forlorn79

Democrats Abroad Japan Blog: Report from Aaron in Kansai

Democrats Abroad Japan Blog: "Just a short report about our Fahrenheit 9/11 opening night gathering in Osaka with a link to a Japan Times article at the bottom.

48 DAJK members and friends attended the opening of Fahrenheit 9/11 at the Garden Cinema theater in Umeda. Before and after the film we helped 5 people register to vote and gave out another 15 applications.

Kansai Television interviewed several people and 2 members were shown speaking on the 11:30 news. There was at least one person from the Japanese press, but I am not sure which paper. If anyone sees anything, please let me know.

As we were picking up our signs for voter registration, the theater manager asked if she could keep them and put them up. I quickly wrote the overseasvote2004.com address on the bottom of the signs. I am going to try to send her something a little better and perhaps see if other theaters in Kansai want to put up signs."


Submitted by lshannon
Sun, 2004/08/22 - 16:31.

The Japan Times Online: 'Fahrenheit 9/11' opens to big, enthusiastic crowds

The Japan Times Online: "OSAKA -- "Fahrenheit 9/11," American film director Michael Moore's savage attack on the policies of President George W. Bush, opened nationwide Saturday to long lines and enthusiastic crowds.

The film, which won the Best Picture award at this year's Cannes Film Festival, began playing nationwide at more than 160 cinemas after premiering in Tokyo last weekend.

In Osaka, crowds began lining up early Saturday morning for the first showing. At the Umeda Garden Cinema, the lines were long. Some of those who saw the film said afterward that they would likely see it again.

"After hearing everything about this film, good and bad, I'm glad it's finally here. I think this is a film that all Japanese need to see, because it shows just how much Bush has lied. It's a film I intend to see again," said Reiji Taniguchi, a student at an Osaka-area university, after standing in line since about 7 a.m.

In the U.S., "Fahrenheit 9/11" has made more than $115 million in sales since opening in late June. Earlier this month, Moore announced it would be available on DVD in October, just before the presidential election. Several people standing in lines outside theaters Saturday expressed hope that a Japanese version will be available soon afterward.

The film's opening here is being used by Democrats Abroad Japan as an opportunity to sign up Americans who have not yet registered to vote in the November election."

The Japan Times
By ERIC JOHNSTON
Staff writer

Mike's RNC Protest Resource Guide

According to Editor & Publisher, Michael will cover the Republican convention for USA Today.

BE SAFE, PEACEFUL, AND CALCULATED TO BE EFFECTIVE - Bring friends and family. Pack food and water. Be prepared:

• United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 800 local and national groups throughout the United States who have joined together to oppose our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building.
• PROTEST INFO CHARTER BUSES TO NYC OUTREACH MATERIALS
• The People's Guide to the Republican National Convention is the definitive guide to the public events surrounding the Republican National Convention in New York City. Everything a visitor or a New Yorker needs to navigate this summer’s biggest event.
  MAP CALENDAR LEGAL SUPPORT
• RNC Not Welcome is a group that consists of New Yorkers adamantly opposed to the Republican's selection of the city to celebrate rising unemployment, their gutting of social services, tax cuts for the mega-rich, unlawful detention of immigrants, and their unrelenting exploitation of the 9/11 victims while standing on their ashes.
  RESOURCES DIRECT ACTION HANDBOOK FLYERS AND GRAPHICS
• Counter Convention is dedicated to helping New York City's diverse social justice movement oppose the Republican National Committee's Presidential Nominating Convention.
  MAJOR EVENTS HOUSING RESOURCES POSTERS AND MATERIALS
• WBAI/Pacifica RNC coverage - Tune in for extensive coverage of the GOP Convention and protests.
• And lest we forget...