For One Night, Utah LOVED Michael Moore!

[demwing]

Michael Moore rocked! The crowd rocked! We were positively psyched to hear Moore speak, and there were several standing ovations throughout the speech.

Only a very few (though very vocal) Bush supporters showed up, and then in such small numbers that their minority presense was actually a benefit to the show, giving Moore some sparring material without interrupting the event

Utah made me proud tonight. There are still some libs and progressives here, and we WILL be heard! Apart from a few young Bush Youth wannabees, the non lib crowd was polite and respectful. But make no mistake--tonight, at the Utah Vally State College, Utah progressives showed up in spades for a Michael Moore moment.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Moore revealed a few TV commercials he designed for the Bush administration (you read correctly!) mostly along the lines of Swift boat ads taken to a ridiculous extreme, the Billionaires For Bush showed up and handed out fake 9/11 Dollars, Moore rebuked Ralph Nader and his followers, saying "It's sad to see such a great American touch a burning match to his many accomplishments." The Naderites were not happy, but they represented a smaller audience than the Bushies. Not surprising, considering Utah is the MOST conservative state in the land. Kind of lays the "Bush supporters are attracted to Nader" myth to waste.

We also had a special guest speaker -Roseanne Barr (a native of Salt Lake City). I had no idea what her politics were, but she got off a few of the best lines of the evening when she said Bush hasd "Defecit Attention Disorder" and that in America under Bush, the world is our bitch, and we'll pop a cap in the ass of any country that doesn't act just the way we want! She fit in well with Moore's "Slacker Uprising" tour theme, and was as funny as I have ever seen her.

The only snags were in the very beginning, when an audience member made threatening gestures towards Moore and was ejected from the building, and when Moore mistakingly said that 11,000 Americans died in Iraq. The audience shouted back "1,100!" but Moore never corrected himself.

Oh well. Small prices to pay for free speech in Happy Vally!

Photos of the rally outside the event will come in a few days.

Stay tuned :)

[liberalmuse]

1. Thanks for the report!

It's kind of weird being in a crowd of that many liberals at once in this state, isn't it?

[LDS Jock]

2. Deseret News article on Moore

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595099811,00.html

[CAcyclist]

3. Check out this report:(edited to include the url!)

(sorry if its a repost)
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1022-21.htm

Published on Friday, October 22, 2004 by CommonDreams.org
Free Speech is Alive and Well in “The Happy Valley”
by Eileen McCabe-Olsen

On October 20, I had the opportunity to participate in an extraordinary event. I sat in a college gymnasium and listened to Michael Moore speak.
<snip>

n closing, Moore urged us to put aside our assumptions of Utah as a hopelessly red state, and to vote. He asked us to envision what it would be like to follow the election returns, incredulously watch the state of Utah turn blue, and feel the seismic effect across the country. As the crowd went wild, I pulled off my cap and waved it with giddy abandon.

So, today, I am walking on air. Mr. Moore, I tip my “Paint it Blue!” cap to you, and hope the afternoon’s experience was as much of a thrill for you as it was for thousands of Utah Liberals. Oh, I like the sound of that…