Fox News gives Moore's "F911" thumbs up -- "a tribute to patriotism"

[rawstory]

As seen on The Raw Story, http://www.rawstory.com

'Fahrenheit 9/11' Gets Standing Ovations

The crowd that gave Michael Moore's controversial "Fahrenheit 9/11" a standing ovation last night at the Ziegfeld Theatre premiere certainly didn't have to be encouraged at all to show their appreciation. From liberal radio host and writer Al Franken to actor/director Tim Robbins, Moore was in his element. But once "F9/11" gets to audiences beyond screenings, it won't be dependent on celebrities for approbation. It turns out to be a really brilliant piece of work, and a film that members of all political parties should see without fail.

As much as some might try to marginalize this film as a screed against President George Bush, "F9/11" — as we saw last night — is a tribute to patriotism, to the American sense of duty, and at the same time a indictment of stupidity and avarice. Readers of this column may recall that I had a lot of problems with Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," particularly where I thought he took gratuitous shots at helpless targets like Charlton Heston. "Columbine" too easily succeeded by shooting fish in a barrel, as they used to say. Not so with "F9/11," which instead relies on lots of film footage and actual interviews to make its case against the war in Iraq and tell the story of the intertwining histories of the Bush and Bin Laden families.

First, I know you want to know who came to the Ziegfeld, so here is just a partial list. Besides Franken and Robbins, Al Sharpton, Mike Myers, Tony Bennett, Glenn Close, Gretchen Mol (newly married over the weekend to director Todd Williams), Lori Singer, Tony Kushner, "Angela's Ashes" author Frank McCourt, Jill Krementz and Kurt Vonnegut, Lauren Bacall (chatting up a fully refurbished Lauren Hutton), Richard Gere, John McEnroe and Patti Smythe, former Carter cabinet member and ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Carson Daly, NBC's Jeff Zucker, a very pregnant Rory Kennedy, playwright Israel Horovitz, Macaulay Culkin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kyra Sedgwick, Linda Evangelista, Ed Bradley, Tom and Meredith Brokaw, director Barry Levinson, NBC anchor Brian Williams, Vernon Jordan, Eva Mendez, Sandra Bernhard and the always humorous Joy Behar.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,122678,00.html

[Fenris]

1. BizarroFOX News!

[ewagner]

2. That loud noise you just heard

was my jaw dropping!

[Misunderestimator]

22. are neo-cons heads exploding all around the country!

[ewagner]

28. Considering

that Michael Moore has been the devil-incarnate for RWers since Bowling for Columbine this has to cause cognitive dissonance at the very least...

[On the Road]

3. Woah! With "The Day Afer Tommorow"

I don't know what to think of Fox any more. Maybe Murdoch is hedging his bets.

[Just Me]

44. Maybe the neocons whizzed on Murdoch,...

:shrug:

This blows me away!!!!

[benburch]

4. Dear gods!

Stick a fork in *, he's done.

[Coventina]

5. Well, THAT was a surprise!

I'm stunned.

I had to actually read it for myself on Foxnews to believe it!

[donco6]

6. So was that last part . . .

. . . the beginning of a blacklist? I just don't trust those Faux News people. I keep looking for some sort of backhanded compliment.

[soleft]

7. I am printing this and putting it in my back back

And when my republican parents and sister start bad mouthing Moore I will out this review from their beloved Foxnews.

[donco6]

And they actually quoted this:

"On the other hand, there are more than enough moments that seemed to resonate with the huge Ziegfeld audience. The most indelible is President Bush's reaction to hearing on the morning of September 11, 2001, that the first plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. Bush was reading to a grade school class in Florida at that moment. Instead of jumping up and leaving, he instead sat in front of the class, with an unfortunate look of confusion, for nearly 11 minutes. Moore obtained the footage from a teacher at the school who videotaped the morning program. There Bush sits, with no access to his advisers, while New York is being viciously attacked. I guarantee you that no one who sees this film forgets this episode."

Whoa. Will someone get canned by Rupert?

[MrBenchley]

19. As somebody noted...

Even more to the point, nobody bothers to come and ask pResident Turd anything for those 11 minutes...Chief of Staff Andrew Card tells Chimpy about the second plane, then scurries away without waiting to hear if the drunk has anything to say worth hearing.

I hope these 11 minutes get played in full.....

[daleo]

33. The second plane!

For some reason, I thought it was the first. That just makes a bad situation that much worse.

[caledesi]

39. You and I both, bec that is the way they wanted you to interpret it

That it was the FIRST plane. Liars.

As an aside, I read on the Web where Ari F. was holding a sign outstide the classroom saying DON'T SAY ANYTHING. <bizarre>

[AndyTiedye]

49. That is what convinces me that it is MIHOP

They tell him that plane #2 has crashed into the WTC, and
no reaction at all, nada, zilch, as if everything is going according to plan.

If it were merely LIHOP, he would have at least gotten out of there fast
for his own safety AND that of the schoolchildren!

[Eloriel]

50. He's just a good delegator

He knew things were being "taken care of" in Washington.

/sarcasm

[ElementaryPenguin]

8. This is the WTF of the year!!

What next? A personal endorsement from Sean Hannity??

:wtf:
:crazy:
:shrug:

[LiberalBushFan]

9. Holy ...

CNN must have stolen Faux's niche...

[KittyWampus]

10. Mentioning Democrats Not Voting Against The War

without going into depth about how the Right and the Media labeled dissenters unpatriotic and traitors would be folly on Moore's part. Not enough time in this film. Maybe the next film.

"F9/11" isn't perfect, and of course, there are leaps of logic sometimes. One set piece is about African American congressmen and women voting against the war with Iraq and wondering why there are no Senators to support them. Indeed, those absent senators include John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Ted Kennedy, among others, which Moore does not elaborate upon. At no point are liberals or Democrats taken to task for not speaking out against the war, and I would have liked to have seen that."

.............................................................................................................................................................

Also, Reviewer makes the mistake of saying that Bush sat reading in the classroom for 11 minutes after the FIRST plane hit WTC. Truth is he already knew the first building had been hit and sat there after being informed the SECOND building was hit.

[TeeYiYi]

54. Thank you for confirming that . . .

. . . I thought that was the case. :thumbsup:

re: Also, Reviewer makes the mistake of saying that Bush sat reading in the classroom for 11 minutes after the FIRST plane hit WTC. Truth is he already knew the first building had been hit and sat there after being informed the SECOND building was hit.

TYY

[Mokito]

57. Didn't Bush claim to have SEEN the first plane crash...?

So what is it...were they telling him about the first plane there in that classroom or did he SEE IT HAPPEN on a television outside the classroom (how or why it got there is still a mystery to many)?

If it was the former...THEN WHY LIE ABOUT THE LATTER !?

[VolcanoJen]

58. Yes... Bush claims to have watched the first plane on television!

Of course, it wasn't until days, maybe even weeks later that anyone saw video of the first plane hitting the first tower; it was the video filmed by the French filmakers.

Bush claimed to have watched it on television, and then he claimed to have commented "What a lousy pilot," or something of that ilk.

Just more lies from the lying liars. It's getting hard to keep track.

[Mokito]

61. He indeed claimed to SEE the first plane crash

And from his own words (CNN-transcript) there can be no question about him mixing up the chronology of the attacks or something. He even says literally that Card came in to tell him A SECOND PLANE had hit the WTC.

From http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/04/se.04.html

QUESTION: One thing, Mr. President, is that you have no idea how much you've done for this country, and another thing is that how did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack?

BUSH: Well...

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you, Jordan (ph).

Well, Jordan (ph), you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my chief of staff, Andy Card -- actually I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. And I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on, and I use to fly myself, and I said, "There's one terrible pilot." And I said, "It must have been a horrible accident."

But I was whisked off there -- I didn't have much time to think about it, and I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my chief who was sitting over here walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower. America's under attack."

And Jordan (ph), I wasn't sure what to think at first. You know, I grew up in a period of time where the idea of America being under attack never entered my mind -- just like your daddy and mother's mind probably. And I started thinking hard in that very brief period of time about what it meant to be under attack. I knew that when I got all the facts that we were under attack, there would be hell to pay for attacking America.

(APPLAUSE)

[UpInArms]

63. the person (on the record) of telling

*co of the first plane is Deborah Loewer - the Chairman of the Situation Room (the office in charge of emergencies) and she was with *co in Florida at the Emma T. Booker Elementary School on 9/11.

She never traveled with him before or since to my knowledge.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/september11/



As Director of Communications Dan Bartlett points to news footage of the World Trade Center Towers burning, President George W. Bush gathers information about the attack at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla., Sept. 11, 2001. Also photographed are Director of White House Situation Room, National Security Council, Deborah Loewer (directly behind the President) and Senior Advisor Karl Rove (right).

and from here:

http://www.topplebush.com/article109_recpres.shtml

5. U.S. Navy Captain Deborah Loewer, the Director of the White House Situation Room, informed you of the first airliner hitting Tower One of the World Trade Center before you entered the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. Please explain the reason why you decided to continue with the scheduled classroom visit, fifteen minutes after learning the first hijacked airliner had hit the World Trade Center.

6. Is it normal procedure for the Director of the White House Situation Room to travel with you? If so, please cite any prior examples of when this occurred. If not normal procedure, please explain the circumstances that led to the Director of the White House Situation Room being asked to accompany you to Florida during the week of September 11th.

[Mokito]

64. She never traveled with him before or since to my knowledge.

If you're implying what I think you're implying, this is more ammo for the LIHOP/MIHOP-theory!

[UpInArms]

62. guess FAUX doesn't listen to their own programming

http://www.worldrevolution.org/article/808

April 16, 2003

U.S.: Cable's War Coverage Suggests a New 'Fox Effect' on Television
New York Times

It has been the Fox News Channel that has emerged as the most-watched source of cable news by far.

by Jim Rutenberg


The two commentators were gleeful as they skewered the news media and antiwar protesters in Hollywood.

"They are absolutely committing sedition, or treason," one commentator, Michael Savage, said of the protesters one recent night.

His colleague, Joe Scarborough, responded: "These leftist stooges for anti-American causes are always given a free pass. Isn't it time to make them stand up and be counted for their views?"

The conversation did not take place on A.M. radio, in an Internet chat room or even on the Fox News Channel. Rather, Mr. Savage, a longtime radio talk-show host, and Mr. Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, were speaking during prime time on MSNBC, the cable news network owned by Microsoft and General Electric and overseen by G.E.'s NBC News division.

MSNBC, which is ranked third among cable news channels, hired the two shortly before the war in Iraq, saying it sought better political balance in its programming. But others in the industry say the moves are the most visible sign of a phenomenon they call "the Fox effect."

This was supposed to be CNN's war, a chance for the network, which is owned by AOL Time Warner, to reassert its ratings lead using its international perspective and straightforward approach.

Instead, it has been the Fox News Channel, owned by the News Corporation, that has emerged as the most-watched source of cable news by far, with anchors and commentators who skewer the mainstream media, disparage the French and flay anybody else who questions President Bush's war effort.

[GR]

11. Error...Kennedy Voted Against Iraq Resolution...

And first plane had already hit by the time he got to the school...Condi met with him a minute before he went in...I want to know what she told him...

[VolcanoJen]

59. Condi wasn't in Florida... wasn't she in DC?

Maybe she phoned him, or maybe it's just another one of their increasingly ridiculous lies...?

[Rochambeau]

67. "I want to know what she told him..."

Something like :"It's done Mr.President, the second one is on his way." maybe?

[sniffa]

12. shouLd we get a screen shot?

this may be gone aLong with the writer soon.

[Kolesar]

13. Tomorrow's news: Network heads announce they are "reaching out" to GOP

We saw that before. Have a lookie at my sig line.

[redowl]

14. wow! a jaw dropper...

but good news. Maybe the many listening minions will consider seeing it. we can hope.

[Sabriel]

15. Where's Homeland Security when you need 'em?

FauxNews has been taken over by terrorists...ahhhhhhhh!
Sabriel

[shawn703]

16. Roger Friedman

Was the guy that got a lot of the "The Passion of The Christ" supporters up in arms for claiming the movie was only playing in theaters in areas that wouldn't meet a lot of resistance. This isn't the first time he printed something that might have irked the FNC leadership.

[absolutezero]

17. WTF?

like any good rat murdoch is jumping ship and heading for the democratic party. he knows dubya is toast and is more concerned about staying ahead in the ratings than keeping the hardcore repukes happy

[jokerman93]

18. So what can we learn from this bizarre FAUX response to F9/11?

Seems there's one thing we can count on in this corporate brave new world of ours: politics follows the bottom line of the marketplace. There may be a sea-change coming. The impact of Moore's F9/11 is obviously being calculated now by everyone who's income depends on the whims of the mass audience of consumers (formally referred to as voting citizens).

So by logical extension, if we frame positive activism as financially profitable in this country. If we demonstrate it's profitable for all of us to have a strong Constitution, progressive national ethos, affordable health care, conservation of resources and development of renewable energy sources etc., then the media will follow it, report it, comment on it, and cheer it all on.

The key to changing America now, obviously, is to frame positive Democratic, progressive activism as part of a "profitable" national ethos.

If Corporations have managed to create themselves legally as "persons", then it's time we train them to act in our interests.

[apnu]

21. Yes! Yes! Yes!

Good points all! I couldn't have said it better myself!

:toast:

[info being]

30. You are absolutely right.

Know the truth, and then create a positive alternative.

[sendero]

43. that is a ...

... slightly more elaborare version of my opinion of the media. They are not "right" and they are not "left" they are "pro profit".

In the early days of the war, the American unwashed wanted only to hear of our great triumph, and criticism of our righteous action would be bad for ratings.

But things change and this movie will be a watershed IMHO, proving you can get eyeballs talking about the malfeasance of the band of merry pranksters running the country.

Once that is well established, the entire media will turn on a dime - you watch - it will be like 1974 and you will not hear a positive word about the Bush* administration.

Because the American people are tired of hearing it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

45. Amoral, NON-psychotic greed...

...can be a force for good sometimes. If people REALLY start thinking clearly and rationally about THEIR OWN bottom line, destructive policies tend to be eschewed.

[Algomas]

56. Excellent post Jokerman!

[David Zephyr]

20. Because Fox News is Sister Division to Murdoch's 20th Century Fox

And Rupert Murdoch loves money more than he loves George Bush.

Within the U.S., the Fox Broadcast Network and 20th Century Fox generate a lot more money (lots) than his cable TV propaganda news division does.

Please keep in mind that more people watch Rather, Brokaw and Jennings than watch Fox news.

The execs at Fox already must have determined that this film is going to be a BIG HIT at the box office, as far as documentaries go, and have decided to at least appear complimentary to Moore's award winning film.

In any event, this is only very good news.

[Lorien]

23. Does anyone know of any right wingers

who actually plan on seeing this film? I doubt if even this review would get them into the theaters; they are all too terrified of having their "faith" in * shaken by truth.

[0rganism]

34. Perhaps this review is designed to keep them from protesting at theatres?

Maybe the Fauxians figure they can downplay the film to the wingers by giving it a positive review. It's obvious that having armies of freeper nutcases acting out in theatres will only add to the already considerable hype.

[goforit]

35. Yep, this is and will be the problem.

Some people who believed the Earth was flat took over
three hundred years to accept the truth.

Lets hope all those zombies have some courage to see the truth that
their beloved Bush will stab them in their back and send them
to their death beds if they are not careful.

Doesn't matter what party you represent........
He does it to everyone!!!

[0007]

51. Good point!

[geniph]

24. The sharks of the corporate-owned media smell blood in the water

and the feeding frenzy begins. Oh please, oh please...I think it's just about time they got their noses out of the neo-cons' butts and started turning on them.

[AndyTiedye]

25. Has foxnews.com been hacked?

That was my GF's reaction when she heard my expressions of astonishment.
Looks real though. If it were hacked, they would have fixed it by now.

[goforit]

36. Yah, it's still hard for me to believe.Is their something up their sleeve?

We will just have to see the next step!!!

[ropi]

26. stuff and nonsense

i am not surprised at faux's move...

...it's just fluff reporting done in order to hail how wonderful b* and company allow for dissenting viewpoints to be made...

[Cannikin]

27. And this just in from the Weather Channel...

Hell has frozen over....expect long delays.

[Reciprocity]

29. O'Reilly must be having a cow about this. n/t

[Tight_rope]

31. Damn...made me get coke all over my keyboard!

I don't know what to make of all the kind words. It's kinda scary. :shrug:

[plcdude]

65. coke?

o you mean cola

[Walt Starr]

32. Faux must know, Bushco has got to go!

I bet Faux has the inside scoop on the upcoming indictments and the GOP will play the "shocked and awed" faux contrition card in order to get a Giuliani/McCain ticket at a brokered convention in September in order to hold onto the GOP stranglehold.

[goforit]

37. How many times does your head have to hit a brick wall to see truth?

I guess one million times with those burbs on Faux!!!

[ewagner]

38. I dunno Waltstarr.......

something is definitely afoot here............now....lets see....where did I put that tinfoil? Better keep it handy I think.

[TeeYiYi]

55. Walt, you're a smart cookie . . .

. . . I've always said that.:thumbsup:

TYY

[caledesi]

40. And the Freepers are out in force. Think they are stunned.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1153683/posts

[ewagner]

46. Blasphemy from a freeper?

I got a kick out of this one..........

posted on 06/15/2004 1:34:44 AM PDT by DustyMoment (Repeal CFR NOW!!)
< Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies >

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: ambrose
What did they expect when they hired Greta and Geraldo? Greta's show should be called the Laci Peterson show. I don't even get Fox in my home, but everytime I see her on at my parent's that's all she is talking about. IMO, Fox is not very high quality--Shep, Greta, and Rita are probably good people, but I don't like the quality of their work. Way too tabloidish.
Used to really like O'Reilly but he doesn't impress me anymore. Occasionally he makes a good point but he's not that great of thinker. He tries to act like he's fair and balanced so when he criticizes the left he has to throw in a dig at Ashcroft for example. Hannity is a good person I'm sure, but he, like O'Reilly, is way too full of himself.

[VolcanoJen]

60. Here's a funny one... "There is no hope."

Bwaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

To: Carlo Gambino
If even Fox is now lapping up Moore's swill, what hope is there? And coming soon, the Bubba bookfest, which will exceed all previous levels of media madness. We might even be pining for some more Abu Ghraib bombshells just to relieve the pain of 24/7 Clinton saturation. I tell you, there is no hope.

10 posted on 06/15/2004 2:08:55 AM PDT by omniscient

[On the Road]

47. I Like This Comment:

"Why do you think they call it "TV Programming"? It's not the TV that they are programming......."

Truer than the poster will ever know. :smoke:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

48. This sentence from one of them takes the prize:

"Perhaps FNC is following the pattern that has been long established by the powerful - the longer one is in power and the more power one wields, the more leftward one turns."

BEST laugh of the day!

[Mixxster]

52. "I don't expect Fox News to be conservative. I just expect honesty."

Wow. Scary. How are people so easily manipulated?

[RamboLiberal]

41. I take this with a grain of salt

I figure some news writers for the Fox News web site may not share the ideology of the TV Faux news people. And the website is just the stepchild of the TV News. I bet you won't find any of the Faux TV talking heads saying very much nice about this movie.

[goclark]

42. Faux sees a sinking ship

Sounds to me that could be a BIG signal that * is going to have to go real soon. They see the writing on the wall and want to get another THUG in place before * takes them all for a Pony ride at Ranch Rehab.

Once you have seen the GOAT scenerio in living color -- anyone that still wants to believe that * was not asleep at the wheel is crazy.

[rocktivity]

53. Maybe Fox is beginning to realize

the grievious harm President Kerry could do to them through through his version of the FTC.

:headbang:
rocknation

[gauguin57]

66. grain of salt aside ...

Wow. I just got peed on by the pig flying over my head, and got hit on the back of the head by a snowball thrown by Satan.

Holy moly! It's the Seventh Sign!