General Motors Bans Michael Moore From Detroit Premiere Of His Own Movie
General Motors Bans Michael Moore From Detroit Premiere Of His Own Movie
Michael Moore’s next documentary is “Capitalism: A Love Story,” a film which attacks the U.S. economic system as fundamentally unjust and declares, “Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil. You have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people and that something is democracy.”
Although the movie is not set to open nationwide until Oct. 2, Moore has been premiering a number of sneak preview screenings for Detroit residents in his home state of Michigan. But, as Michigan Live reports, Moore ran into problems when it turned out one of the theaters he rented for the screenings was owned by General Motors (GM) — which Moore famously skewered for its anti-worker policies in his 1989 film Roger & Me.
GM agreed to run the movie only if both Moore and the local press were locked out. Essentially, GM banned Moore from his own screening. A local Detroit news station interviewed Moore about the incident. He said GM should “get over” its grudge against him and be more accountable to citizens, especially in light of the billions of dollars the government has loaned it:
MOORE: General Motors said that I could not be on the premises doing any interviews or press. … I would get over it if I were them. … In the movie I actually try to attempt to see the new chairman to share my ideas about mass transit and other things that the General Motors factories could be building that would benefit about society. … We have 50 billion dollars of our money sitting over there. That is owned by us now. And the de facto CEO is President Barack Obama. I legally rented the four theaters to have my Detroit premiere, and yet somehow they’re able to ban me from my own premiere here? What country are we living in?
Watch it:
In addition to the over 1,000 theater opening Oct. 2, Moore plans to screen the film for free on Oct. 1 in some of the poorest parts of the country.
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Fascist Corporate Amerika is alive and well in ‘09
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm“Moore plans to screen the film for free on Oct. 1 in the some of the poorest parts of the country. ”
That is brilliant!!!!!
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:33 pmGM wanted to make sure that their propagandists could work the crowds unimpeaded by anyone with facts furing the screenings.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:33 pmMr. Moore, meet the Corporate Fascism you’ve spent your career trying to do something about.
GM – could you be more bitter, petty and resentful?
They deserve to have a wildcat strike thrown at them tomorrow.
If America Inc wants it all to themselves – let’em have it!
Let the executives get down on the floor and actually work for their money for a change.
Let that CEO pump his own septic tank, mow his own lawn, and clean up his own piss-spattered bathroom.
Real Americans need to work for themselves, not for a gilded overclass of vain and worthless parasites.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:37 pmMichael, Go dressed up as Osama Bin Laden and see if you can get in under a disguise. That would be a laugh. Bring the press too that way when they over react, you can catch this on film too.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:37 pmTaxpayers own 80% of GM, so because they have their knickers in a twist over a movie from ten years ago, Moore must be punished and the people not permitted to see the movie?
Juvenile retribution on the part of GM, who continues to display hubris and arrogance when it should be hanging its head in shame.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:40 pmSorry – typo — a movie from 20 years ago
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:41 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
***
i like mike moore.
**
he’s the anti-ayn.
*
don’t ask me how
to pronounce it.
:)
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:44 pmbutwhatabout all the damage, captain?
you like the bailouts?
you like the foreclosure wave?
you like lead-paint on your kids’ toys?
you like the tent-cities?
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:45 pm***
#8,
you must have myriad examples to
share with us to support your thesis.
. … ….
take your time.
the thread is open 24/7.
:|
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pmMichael Moore is one of my heroes.
The behavior by GM amply demonstrates the tone-deaf style of management which has brought it to the brink of disaster.
The corporations need to start hiring non-conservative easy-going cool folks that have the necessary credentials and background for those positions.
These businesses could actually improve due to decent customer relations managed by intelligent, non-greedy and progressive types.
The corporations hire far too many selfish, anal-retentive, angry brats who think that the world revolves around them, and they bring this combative and adversarial attitude to these corporations, causing them more loss of business as well as poor intra-company work dynamics.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
“Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil,”
I don’t believe this. Capitalism, being created and operated by humans, is inherently flawed. But so would any other economic system be also flawed. The solution is regulation through checks and balances. Capitalism’s greatest and unsurpassed strength is individual initiative and reward. Its weakness is unbridled greed. An equally strong democratic government with specific regulations that are enforced can and has served well as a counter-balance. The dismantling of this regulatory mechanism is the main problem.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:50 pmforceful replacement with democracy
Did I miss something… aren’t we already a democracy? How can we be forced into something we’re already supposed to have?
Ohhhhh, does this mean that backup finally admits that the Bush Years had replaced democracy with something akin to facism???
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:50 pmSmart move there, GM exec. What would be the worst thing that could happen if you didn’t ban him? Nobody would have even noticed that GM owned the theatres, and some liberals would gather to say not-nice things about corporations, which they’re going to do anyways. What’s the worst thing that is happening since you didn’t ban him? Your corporation comes off looking like petty dicks, Moore gains free advertising through the media, and all of the liberals have their worst fears about you confirmed.
Whoever is the boss of the person who made this decision should fire them immediately, as they’ve clearly got no business being employed in a job that involves making decisions.
.
backup says:
Michael Moore obviously has a different agenda, but the ‘evil’ rhetoric and the promotion of a forceful replacement with democracy for the good of the people; sounds like neocon rhetoric used to justify the Iraq War.
I agree that he does go often over the top with a lot of his rhetoric. But using the term “evil” to apply to those who actively seek to perpetuate actual moral evil (that humans should harm one another and avoid helping one another) is not inaccurate, provided you back it up with sufficient supporting evidence. The thing is, he does.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:51 pmGM is the poster boy for Reaping What You Sow. Leveraged for forty times what they were actually worth? Can you imagine borrowing that much money to balance your household checkbook?
I’m glad they did this. It sure as hell can’t help GM’s public image, especially since they declared bankruptcy and technically no longer exist. And it’s perfect PR for Michael Moore, one of the last sane and honest persons in American film.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:52 pmPatrioticLiberalChristian says:
“Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil,”
I don’t believe this. Capitalism, being created and operated by humans, is inherently flawed. But so would any other economic system be also flawed.
Yep. Arianna Huffington points out that Moore’s mistake here is assuming that what we actually have right now should be called “capitalism.” The early economists who defined the term would be completely aghast at what’s going on these days. Our present system is more accurately called “corporatism.”
But what the phrase there is getting at is that we would need a fundamental change to the way we do business, rather than just a few regulations here and there to try to keep it within bounds.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:55 pmI disagree with Michael Moore, but the disagreement is one of semantics rather than actual ideas.
I wish he’d have substituted ‘corporatism’ for capitalism. Saying capitalism is ‘evil’ is like saying the wind is evil. Capitalism doesn’t go away, even in police states like Soviet Russia and China.
But CORPORATISM is a vile legalism that has been ruining our country ever since the capitalists began to exploit its resources. I sure hope Michael Moore makes the distinction somewhere in his film.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:55 pmElBruce. I see the excesses of recent years. I respect Moore for bringing the issue up. I disagree that Capitalism should be eliminated.
I think there is a baby there somewhere, although the bath water got so dirty, it’s hard to tell.
It can be regulated to work better.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:56 pmWow, beat me to it…
I think MM just wants to get as un-complicated as possible a message as possible. It’s hard enough getting the average American to pay money to see his films, much less understand nuances of economics and law.
Hopefully there will be plenty of humor.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:57 pmDaddy-O. I agree with your corporatism point.
What’s been going on isn’t really capitalism. Corporations have been using their power and influence to prevent competition.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:58 pmPatrioticLiberalChristian sed:
“The solution is regulation through checks and balances.”
But…but…but…red tape is strangling our businesses, our free enterprise system! Regulations are in the way of profits and our way of life!
Blah, blah, blah…
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 pmraynman says:
Did I miss something… aren’t we already a democracy? How can we be forced into something we’re already supposed to have?
Depends on your definition of “Democracy”.
Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, for instance, claimed to be a Democracy because, hey, people voted in elections. On the other hand, right now most of the voters want a public option re: Health care, and lots of people in Congress don’t want to make it available to them. That’s not exactly “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that a Perfect Democracy is kind of an Utopia. It’s something to strive for, and I think it’s what Michael Moore’s movie is really about.
/FYI I’m voting backup up because I don’t think he’s trolling, so he’s safe…
… for now. *Evil maniacal laughter*
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:01 pmThanks, backup. It appears that most folks here agree with me, too.
Michael Moore makes films that a lot of people pay to see, but it’s hard to think of him as ‘popular’. Little mistakes like this are why he turns a lot of people off, even and especially progressive folks.
Still, I usually await his next movie eagerly.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pmEven you abuse your rights to use it. It was disengenuous for bush to use Islamic Theocracy and it is for you to do the same to make a point.
If bush had gone after “violent Islamic extremists” It would have been more honest. As it is, he has declared war on Islam and Muslims in general because he is evil.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pmI’ll watch the Moore movie. I get the idea that unregulated capitalism could lead to anarchy. But, capitalism is a powerful engine that has arguably serve the U.S. well in the past.
Regulation, not elimination, seems more rational.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:08 pmDo the morons at GM realize that if just 10 people refuse to buy one of thier cars, due to this stupidity on their part, that they’ve already lost the battle with that movie house rent?
And these a$$h0les owe the taxpayers 100,000 cars full of hundred dollar bills!
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:09 pmYou’d think GM would have learned long ago that they loose a lot more from this peevish action than they could ever gain.
And these are the folks we bailed out ?
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:12 pmNew shorthand entry:
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:15 pmYCMTSU (You can’t make this $#!+ up)
With the direction news headlines have been heading it is needed.
I’ve been to that theater twice. It’s old and a bit sad, kind of like GM. This might be the most people going there, ever. About two blocks from there after a movie there were scores lined up for a free meal, and they’re turning away press and a customer. And down by the casino one day glass just tained on the street.
Hey Michael, how about the Millender Center across the street, or the riverfront park areas? Sweet Lorraine’s was pretty good. Or Campus Martius.
Don’t they support an American businessman or the arts? Some renaissance.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:15 pmWe should just put GM out of everyone’s misery – every move they make is a case study on how not to run a business – from labor relations, to product performance and public relations.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:16 pmI wonder if Moore and the press will just set up shop across the street…I guess GM thought they could limit the embarrassment by limiting his access and media coverage – guess that cat’s out of the bag now as this story is sure to gain traction.
At what point did you jump to the conclusion that anyone, even Moore was for doing away with corporations?
The point is, are they here to serve us or are we here to serve them?
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:17 pmwouldn’t want too much “over the top rhetoric” slowing our decline into 3rd world status now, would we?
let’s just keep at it the way we have for the last 30-40 years instead – that ought to work perfectly.
see ya in the soup lines, fellas (if there are any).
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:19 pmWell, so that’s what Moore was doing, Mr. Tancredo, huh? Looks like he won’t be cutting you a big check.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:20 pmWay to go, GM PR department! Genius move!
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:21 pmFred. Moore apparently makes the point at the end of his movie. Not doing away with corporations, but capitalism:
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Michael is underlining the paradigm shift we’ve just experienced. It’s hard to believe this all changed only a few months ago.
Until then, all we heard for three decades is that capitalism equals democracy, the free market is the perfect system, and businessmen are the super-race. There wa sno need to regulate anything because merchants never cheat. Verily, life is an Ayn Rand novel.
I hardly have to point out that the people promulgating this brilliant philosophy happened to be Merchant types. Of course everything should be run according to business principles. What could be more logical?
Along with this idiocy came tons of anti-government rhetoric. This was the essence of the Republican Revolution. Government should be regarded with suspicion, because they’re always up to no good. Also, they get in the way of profits and keep triyng to spread the wealth around.
Government workers should definitely be regarded as second-class citizens. There’s nothing like regarding an entire sector of society with hatred and suspicion to foster a healthy, happy society.
The values pressed upon us were also the values you might expect in a world run by crazed merchant types. Human worth can best be measured by the ability to make money. Greed works. If you aren’t good at making money, or aren’t interested in making money, you die. The acquisition of wealth is the guide and the measure of all human activity. Who coyuld possibly question all this?
It’s hard to believe that, during the 1990s, you were condemned as a crackpot for suggesting the need for regulations or questioned the wisdom of more tax cuts for the rich. You had to genuflect when you said “free trade.”
It might have worked better if it had worked at all. Now we’ve learned that government is the only solution to the problems we created by treating government as the problem. Michael rules.
Sad About the Young
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:22 pmDespite GM’s warning against Moore coming to the screening at their theater, the filmmaker decided to attend anyway.
Have they never even heard of the guy? You’d think they would know by now. Having a corporation refuse him access to something is just like hanging a ham on a string in front of his face.
(I kid Michael Moore, I’m definitely going to see the movie as soon as I can)
.
backup says:
I think there is a baby there somewhere, although the bath water got so dirty, it’s hard to tell.
It can be regulated to work better.
Then you, me and Obama agree. I don’t think there’s a clear distinction to be made between “throwing out” a system and regulating it. How deep do the regulations go? How fundamental would they change things? One thing Obama has talked about since early in his campaign is how the existing regulations are mostly so old, dating back to the 1930’s, that it should no longer be a question of “more” or “less” regulation, but of modernizing the regulatory system from the bottom up. It’s even been pointed out that doing so would in many ways free the financial industry to be able to innovate in many ways they haven’t been able to before. That sounds a lot like “throwing out the old system” to me, for practical purposes, but it lacks the revolutionary “tear everything down” ring.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:24 pmI don’t usually do this, but I wrote something on this topic a while back:
Death to Capitalism.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:27 pmFred: [backup]At what point did you jump to the conclusion that anyone, even Moore was for doing away with corporations?
sorry fred, you’ve jumped to a conclusion yourself.
” I get the idea that unregulated capitalism could lead to anarchy. But, capitalism is a powerful engine that has arguably serve the U.S. well in the past. Regulation, not elimination, seems more rational.”
Regulation of capitalism, not the doing away of corporations
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:28 pmTake that teabaggers!
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:29 pmEvery country in the world has a business and investment sector competing with ours. I think one of the reasons we accept what Wall Street tells us is that they may be thugs, but they’re OUR thugs. Casino capitalism is the villain to me, whereas regular capitalism, people trying to improve their lot by working smart/hard, should be rewarded. It’s about balance and common sense. Moore has certainly done well by putting out a solid product, building his “brand” and his customer base. I hope this movie sparks dialog and change, but I refuse to instantly seek out a villain in this scenario. I know enough to realize the seduction that comes with higher levels of power and profit – it can turn the common wo/man into a common criminal if they’re not careful.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:30 pmWhat economic system build the USA from nothing 300 years ago into the greatest powerhouse in the history of man?
Capitalism
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:32 pmOk, maybe I’m thick this morning. How does capitalism work without companies?
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:33 pmThere’s some confusion over what capitalism actually means or is supposed to mean, and what it has come to mean.
using backups words:
“capitalism is a powerful engine that has arguably serve the U.S. well in the past.”
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:35 pmYeah that’s what all the ‘capitalists’ say, but what they really mean is that the less regulated ‘capitalism’ has been, the better it has served THEM, not the US.
Mr.Duke says:
What economic system build the USA from nothing 300 years ago into the greatest powerhouse in the history of man?
Slavery?
/Kidding, but not much.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:35 pmWhat economic sytem built Egypt from nothing into the greatest powerhouse in the history of man at the time?
Tyranny and war!
Same for England, Germany, etc.
Your statement is irrelivant.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:36 pmMr.Duke says: What economic system built the USA from nothing 300 years ago into the greatest debtor nation in the history of man?
Unregulated Capitalism
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:37 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Hi STORM
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:42 pmmuch like republicans with socialized medicine denying it to the rest of Americans, wouldn’t you say?
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:44 pmAnd Storm – you just suck.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:45 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
slapppy, michael attended. jokes on you.
duke, losers imply an even game. You rock as a cheater.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:49 pmRight on, Mike! Show the bastards who’s boss.
How about a remake of Roger and Me? Fritz and We?
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:50 pmPeople who work. Quit trying to attach bs to that basic truth.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm55 – whoosh!
time to fetch that ball again, Slap-o-diliac.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:52 pmthis dook character is more than funny…
..another self-made righty millionaire who trolls lefty blogs for kicks?
please. credulity is more scarce than you think, mr. dook.
reserve your colorful fictions for your righty friends.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:57 pmThat about covers the vast majority on this website. Me not included.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:57 pm–and you base this on what? I am none of the things you describe. Still I continue to be happy to have the government redirect some of my material success to those with less than I
I applaud you, Mr. Duke! Capitalism has given us EVERYTHING in this country – slavery, child labor, monopolies, sweat shops, hazardous working conditions just to name a few. Where would this country be without Capitalism.
/snark off
Actually, Mr. Duke you are correct that capitalism is the best economic system. What you are overlooking is the fact that it is not and never will be perfect. Capitalism requires a strong counter-weight (unions and government regulation as examples) to minimize its tendency to be overpowered by greed.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:57 pmMr.Duke says: Capitalism gives you the opportunity to go for your aspirations.
Like owning a home? Like having a regular job? Like being paid a decent wage? Like not having to rely on food stamps? Like being able afford the cost of health care?
Are you saying that the massive loss of home ownership, jobs, , 39 million on food stamps, bankruptcies from health care costs resulting from 8 years of Republican policies were the result of Bushes socialism? Are you calling Bush and the Republicans socialists?
Do explain, Mr Duke.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:58 pm***
#55,
by now your teeth are soft and chalky.
wouldn’t this be a good time to stop
and get help?
:|
“Hahahahahahahah”
:)
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:02 pmPLC. you’re right about this. It was regulation and unions that addressed the excesses of robber barons at turn of the 20th century. A similar effort is needed (and probably underway) to address the excesses of the recent past.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:04 pmOh, and Mr.Duke says: What economic system built the USA from nothing 300 years ago?
1709?
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:08 pmIn true capitalism, the government’s role is to prevent fraud from disrupting the free market. Those protective regulations been manipulated or removed, in the supposed interest of a competitive international market. We see now, with the obscene salaries and tax sheltered profits of our biggest industries, that a true “capitalist economy requires reasonable government regulations and accountability.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:09 pmIn corporatism, the government preserves private ownership and management, but guarantees the flow of material goods.
Government mandated corporate health insurance would seem to be a defining example of corporatism.
“Capitalism is an evil”?
Someones jumped the shark.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:15 pmCapitalism is destructive, polluting, exploitative, selfish, and cruel and must be replaced by an egalitarian system that is fair, productive, and non-polluting. Kudos to Mike Moore in producing this important film.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:16 pmbackup says:
[Capitalism requires a strong counter-weight (unions and government regulation as examples) to minimize its tendency to be overpowered by greed.]
PLC. you’re right about this. It was regulation and unions that addressed the excesses of robber barons at turn of the 20th century. A similar effort is needed (and probably underway) to address the excesses of the recent past.
Which was a result of the Republicans and conservatives and libertarians just as the Gilded Age and the Wall Street crash were the results of their conservative and libertarian philosophical and political forbears, you know, the “real Americans” who shit all over progressives and who undermine every attempt by liberals to fix the messes they always leave behind.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:16 pmFire is useful too but we don’t just go around setting everything on fire. You know, not regulate it?
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:18 pmJohn Jacob Astor literally built America,
out of felt and beaver bones.
And we should all be proud of that.(?)
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:19 pmHey, it could have been worse.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:20 pmThey could have forced him to drive to the screening in a GM Hummer.
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
What economic system build(sic) the USA from nothing 300 years ago
Mostly there was slavery, followed by two World Wars.
Economic “systems” had little to do with it.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:27 pm74 – then why couldn’t prove it at the box office??
the market has spoken, awrongk.
it says you’re wrong.
don’t flout the free market.
i’m sorry.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:43 pmwoops…
76 s/b:
why couldn’t Ben Stein prove it at the box office?
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:47 pmThe truther Moore is the Rush Limbaugh of the left.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:56 pmexcept for the fact thing. You can’t get away from that, no matter how you try.
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:02 pmQuestion. Do you think trolls wear gloves in public to hid the permanent Cheetoh stain or do they claim they are just working on their Boner tan, I piece at a time?
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:05 pmJust a thought, an appropriate punishment for any crime committed by Storm, force him/her to endure a Michael Moore film festival nonstop for a weekend.
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:15 pm(:-D)
“The capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people.”
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:36 pm– Abraham Lincoln
America didn’t start from nothing. It started from a vast treasure-trove of natural resources and arable land. From fur-trapping to tobacco, to gold-mining to cotton, America started from a vast amount of animal, vegetable and mineral resources–all we had to do is steal it from the Indians.
By accident of geography, there was no place on earth that had such a vast extent of unexploited resources–such vast wealth.
So it wasn’t from nothing.
But for all that, a blind pro-business philosophy after the Civil War led to financial panics in 1873, 1884, 1890, 1893 and 1907. massive failures, poverty and dislocation followed upon each. Finally, in 1929, another financial panic was turned by grotesquely bad Republican policies into a Great Depression.
The Republicans had three years to fix it, and they made it vastly worse. It took FDR realizing that the human misery of the working class had to be addressed. It saved not only America, but capitalism.
If the Republicans had stayed in power (not that it was likely) and relied on helpiing only businesses, what would have been the result? real famine and plague–and maybe revolution.
Do you really think that the working class, the immigrant classes of America would have pulled together to fight Hitler and Imperial Japan? Would they have gone overseas to fight an enemy for a government that refused to help them when they were starving?
FDR not only made it possible to get out of the Depression, he made it possible to win World War II. Without a sense of the government being there for the people, would the people have turned around and fought for the government.
We became a great nation when we became a nation, not of winners and losers, but of brothers and sisters. We became a great nation when everybody pulled together for the common good.
And after the war, the things that built us up were things like the GI Bill and liberal housing policies, the Interstate Hihwwy System and vast governmental support for science–paid for by a 90% top tax bracket. And it was a government program that put a man on the moon.
And with all that socialism, America grew by leaps and bounds. Because the Republicans of that era were smart enough to keep the socialistic programs of the first part of the century, while encouraging business, we develooped a sense that we were all in it together.
It was that combination of socialism and capitalism that brought us prosperity–and that Europe copied, one way or another.
By 199, that combination of freedom and support brought us to an apex. Technological advance, progress in ridding ourselves of the old bigotries, prosperity and a budget surplus.
And then the Republicans got in and smashed it to pieces.
Wingnuts take the position that everything good that happened in america has been due to free market capitalism and everything bad due to mutualist liberalism. It’s a stupid argument on the face of it, but that’s not enough to convince a lot of folks.
Whathas convinced them is 8 years of Right-wing Republican rule tht has lost us two wars, ruined our economy, destroyed our international reputation, and set us on a slide to national has-been status that might or might not be reversible.
The people have gotten a real good taste of life in a right-wing corporate capitalist America. Theycan contrast it with life in a hybrid capitalist/socialist democratic America in the Clinton years, and the difference is obvious.
Mene mene tekel uparshin, good buddy.
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:41 pmMr.Duke says:
Losers hate capitalism. Complainers hate capitalism. Lazy people hate capitalism. Those looking the government to provide for them from cradle to grave hate capitalism. Jealous people hate capitalism. Fools hate capitalism. Stupid people hate.
Lazy complaining losers? Stupid fools who take public services for granted? You just perfectly described the right-wing in America today.
.
5th Estate says:
Oh, and Mr.Duke says: What economic system built the USA from nothing 300 years ago?
1709?
Apparently, Mr. Duke advocates returning to a witch-burning-based economy.
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:49 pmWTF??? GM can ban people??? GM, the failed business, relying on bailouts, no one buys their product– that GM?? They call the shots on banning a movie maker from his own movie? Again– WTF??
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:50 pmJust one more reason – a BIG one- to never, ever buy a GM product. How stupid are they?
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:51 pmHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA What fact thing? The part where the US Government is hiding evidence on how they brought down the world trade center buildings?
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:54 pmStorm says: The truther Moore is the Rush Limbaugh of the left.
You are just another lying Repub. Moore deals in research & facts. Limbaugh deals in hate, lies, invention, & distortion. Moore interviews with real questions, allows people to speak, & sticks to truth. Limbaugh interupts, cuts off, screams over, bullies, lies, and pulls nearly all of his “opinions” out of his a**. He cares nothing– not a bit– for facts. He only wants to incite hatred, violence, & racism. And, of course, making huge amounts of money by pandering to the ignorant. His dishonest talking points prove that daily. He is totally anti-American & anti-Christian. But the sheep who repeat his lies don’t get it. Moore & Limbaugh have nothing in common, other than being overweight– and Limbaugh is way ahead in the weight domain.
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:58 pmSTORM says:
What fact thing? The part where the US Government is hiding evidence on how they brought down the world trade center building
You’re thinking of Loose Change, a movie directed by Dylan Avery. No such claim was made in Fahrenheit 9/11, the movie that Moore made on the subject. If you’re going to pick on liberal targets, the least you could do is try to tell them apart, thanks.
September 22nd, 2009 at 5:20 pmGM gets bailout money from the taxpayers and files bankruptcy. Why does this corporation still own a theater?
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:14 pmHe is a alarmist conspiracy theories very much like TP’s arch nemesis Glenn Beck. He is making money off of the perpetuated worldview of America that it is a failed project and an abiding danger to the planet. You cannot deny that unless you live in a vacuum. He is a televangelist for the left. He believes we have no real terrorist and that the only ones that exist are in the US government. Give me a break you have been duped again.
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:21 pmI know this idiot married to a nice progressive woman. He says “I voted for Obama and he’s taking my rights away.” So I ask him what rights is he taking away exactly?
After a little sputtering he says “the rights of the corporations.”
I told him he needs to go see this movie then we can talk.
What a moron.
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:52 pmMichael Moore is a pig.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 pmconservative guy is a pussy and will not respond. Scared as well as a pussy I suppose
STORM on the other hand is just a poser…
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:21 pmHe is a alarmist conspiracy theories
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September 22nd, 2009 at 7:23 pmThis doesn’t make any sense but if you are trying to say what I think you are is that anything like those ridiculous birthers and climate deniers?
General Motors–same old same old. Toyota!
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:33 pmSo GM is angry at Michael Moore?
Excuse me but WHICH COMPANY made electric cars that they leased in certain parts of the country and the people that got the cars LOVED THEM?
And what did this Same Company, when the leases were up, did not renew the lease – and instead sent these LOVED Electric Cars to the scrap yard to get crushed?
And now GM is angry at Michael? It’s time for GM to look in the mirror to see who they should be angry at – THEMSELVES!!!!
Check out the movie “Who Killed The Electric Car?”
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:49 pm“Fire is useful too but we don’t just go around setting everything on fire. You know, not regulate it?”
Well said Fred.
I’d compare a nations economy to a horse that knows the roads.
We the citizens of the country are in a wagon it’s hitched to.
The horse may think it knows what’s best and it may often be right but God help us all if we don’t regulate it at least some of the time.
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:33 pmSTORM says:
He is a alarmist conspiracy theories very much like TP’s arch nemesis Glenn Beck. He is making money off of the perpetuated worldview of America that it is a failed project and an abiding danger to the planet. You cannot deny that unless you live in a vacuum. He is a televangelist for the left. He believes we have no real terrorist and that the only ones that exist are in the US government. Give me a break you have been duped again.
You sure do talk a lot about what Moore has to say for someone who has never watched any of his documentaries, as has already been demonstrated in this thread. And you seem pretty eager to explain it all to someone who has seen all of them.
Here’s one thing most wingnuts don’t understand: watch his documentaries, and you realize he isn’t really that leftist at all. He’s just a regular old middle-America populist documenting the decline of the American dream. He’s an NRA member from a factory town who just started out trying to find why all of these fatcats were lying to his community. The answers have led him down the career path he’s still following to this day.
Once again, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Watching you try to debate politics is like watching a pratfall over and over again. It’s not just that you’re wrong, it’s that you’re so wrong, that everybody else in the discussion (including other conservatives) is simply embarrassed at you. You fail not only to score any political points, but to make them to begin with because you are continually uninformed on the basics of the matter. You’d think the least you could do would be to glance at a newspaper every once in a while. Or check your “facts” before you post; the whole Internet is right here at your fingertips. Use it.
At this point, you’d do your side a lot more service merely by not posting, instead of posting.
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:03 pmBuy a Chevy
Buy the best
Drive a mile
and walk the rest.
Fcuk GM. Their cars suck anyhow. Their cars are the worst pieces of junk on the planet. They can take their shitboxes and wipe their asses with them.
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:52 pmYour statement proves just how separated you are from reality. Good luck with your conspiracy theories and helping to make Michael Moore rich off of the evil capitalist system. You can no longer call out other alarmist conspiracy theorist (Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh ect.) because you are guilty of the same thing.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:56 amOn the one hand, Mike prematurely danced on GM’s grave when they declared bankruptcy. On the other hand, this whole thing came out as petty.
This could have been handled a lot better.
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:17 amMoore was trying to get some one-on-one time with then GM CEO Roger Smith. yüz germe
September 28th, 2009 at 11:32 amThank you for your sharing.!
September 29th, 2009 at 6:13 am