Stupid White Men / Michael Moore Review

[Mike S]

So I've heard an endless littany of "facts" quoted from this book lately..
Here's a review of the book and its "facts" by spinsanity..

http://www.spinsanity.org/columns/20020403.html

I'm wondering if the title has more to do with the people who read it and believed it.

Mike

[nate]

That's too bad that he got so much shit wrong. TV Nation was just about the funniest shit ever put on the air (IMHO).

Peace.

[booboo69]

I saw this guy on The Daily Show a while back, promoting the book. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about, but after reading that article (which I suspect has hintings of biases in it, despite what they may claim), I may have to read the book to see if he's just ranting.

[Nukegrrrl]

Michael Moore will be giving a lecture and doing a book signing at The Evergreen State College on April 22.

[Justin]

I'm going to be there. His new book sucks, I hear, but TV nation was The Greatest Television Show Ever.

[ZupanGOD]

He always rants, his book is for entertainment/comedy, him having not written a book of facts and balanced analysis was as expected becuase I've always noticed he's just a cynic how could anyone take him surious?

-Jason

[hoo]

"STUPID" STAYS AT #1 ON NY TIMES LIST
Michel Moore writes 4/15/02
Dear Friends,
I woke up in Tampa, Florida, yesterday, picked up the Sunday newspaper, and there it was: the New York Times today had declared that, for the fourth week in a row, "Stupid White Men" is the #1 book in the country.

I am out of explanations at this point as to how this thing has stayed atop on the Times bestseller list for a month. I've been informed that the book is now in its 19th printing. Also, it remains #1 in Canada, and it has gone to #1 this week in Britain and Ireland, according to the Sunday Times of London.

All this has occurred in spite of a virtual press blackout on the book. Or maybe because of it. The more the book is ignored by the media, the better it does. So, if you are a newspaper editor or a TV producer, PLEASE DO NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THIS BOOK! Just because more Americans are reading it than any other book in the country for the past month should NOT persuade you to ask crazy questions of yourselves like, "How can this be happening when the 'President' has the highest approval ratings ever?" Just concern yourselves with repeating your mantra of the past 7 months -- "America Loves Bush! America Loves Bush!" It's a comforting mantra, one that seems to bring you solace at a time of journalistic confusion. It's also simple and easy to repeat -- and it means that you don't have to go out and do the work you’re supposed to do (like rooting out the Enron-backed criminals in the White House or finding out what really happened before and after September 11th ).

The front page of the Tampa Tribune yesterday was all ablaze with the news about the convention of Florida's Democrats on Saturday in Orlando. There was a color photo of a smiling, waving Al Gore. Lieberman was there and so was Kerry and a host of other stars of the Democratic Party. About 2,500 Floridians were in attendance. But in Tampa that same night I was looking out from the stage at the Sun Dome at a crowd of nearly 7,000 Floridians who’d come to the "DEMOCRACY RISING" rally organized by Ralph Nader! Tampa has now produced the largest crowd of the book tour (I signed the 2000th book of the evening somewhere around 2am). This is 3 times the crowd that the Democrats got and, again, there is virtually no coverage.

But remember -- it NO LONGER MATTERS that most of the media ignores the real news. It no longer matters because much of the media has chosen to make itself irrelevant through its lazy reporting, sleazy presentation, its obedience to the corporate agenda, and all the blowhard pundits who scream out their useless opinions. A political shift has occurred in the country and the media has completely missed it. We have become a nation where the majority of citizens are very liberal and progressive on the issues. The majority of Americans now call themselves pro-environment, pro-choice, pro-labor, and anti-Big Business. 154 million out of the 200 million voters in this country did NOT cast a vote for George W. Bush.

That’s the America in which we now live. Liberal, progressive, and sick of the stupid white men who run the country.

Hey, here's something that you haven't seen on the Fox Nuisance Channel - there are now over 140 college campuses in the U.S. with an active student Green organization. The Green kids in Florida are everywhere and their numbers are among the largest. You wouldn't think so, not after the blame that was heaped on the Greens for causing Gore to "lose" Florida. But they’re building a mass movement, and the turnout I saw in Tampa was proof to me that there’s a ruckus afoot in America, and if it's rockin' in a place like central Florida, then it's happening just down the street from where you live.

The Democrats could have stopped this. They could have spent the past two years fighting to raise the minimum wage or to lower the amount of pollutants spewed into the air or to call for a Special Prosecutor to investigate Bush and Enron. But, no, they’ve spent their time trying to act like Republicans, thinking that's how they will win back the House this November. Note to Democrats: You will not win the House by being your usual weak, lame-o selves. The Greens will deny you the chance you have had to take charge. Until you get a clue, the Greens will thrive and grow. You want to avoid a repeat of 2000? Fight for the working people of this country! You want to stop the Greens? Act like a real Democrat!

Stand up for something! Do the math: A couple of thousand in Orlando come to see the stars of the Democratic Party, while, at the same exact moment, nearly three times that number is in Tampa to cheer on a progressive agenda -- which is greater? If the Democrats can't add 2+2, then they are doomed.

I should also mention that Tampa is the command headquarters for the war on Afghanistan. It's all done via remote control from the comfort of Florida's beautiful Gulf coast. How many civilians have we killed now? I believe the last number I read, it was more than the civilians who died on September 11th. Oh, I know the Bush boys over at Macdill Air Force Base have their rationalization as to why, in wartime, sometimes civilians have to die. The terrorists of 9-11 had their rationalizations, too. Everybody's got their rationalizations. Well, here's mine -- there is NO rationalization for the killing of other human beings except in the rare and extreme cases of true self-defense.

Thanks again to everyone for your support. I'll be in the Northwest later in the week. Hope to see many of you there.
Michael Moore / Author / Filmmaker / Detroit Tigers fan

[hoo]

this book is a real eye-opener as to what is really goin down in our country and in the whitehouse . just started reading it the other day, and its getting me soooo fucken pissed @ all the stupid ass shit that should have never happened __i.e bush getting into office, the 100s of thousands of african americans in florida who were denied the oppurtunity to vote__

this book does not suck

[Carley]

hey mike! why not just send him an email and tell him what you think? mmflint@aol.com

[HexRei]

what? and give him a chance to defend his literature? I THINK NOT!

[ZupanGOD]

Originally posted by hoo
this book is a real eye-opener as to what is really goin down in our country and in the whitehouse . just started reading it the other day, and its getting me soooo fucken pissed @ all the stupid ass shit that should have never happened __i.e bush getting into office, the 100s of thousands of african americans in florida who were denied the oppurtunity to vote__

this book does not suck

100's of blacks were denied? Hmm I suppose you missed the US Commision on Civil Rights investigation on the claims, but couldn't come up with one person to testify that they did. Maybe Moore is playing on the apathy of most Americans who didn't know that and find it easier to believe people like him and Jesse "Slogan" Jackson. <G> Ohh well .. facts don't matter anyways cause hey not having them still gets you on the #1 best seller list. <G>

-Jason

[MC Junglitachi Magic Wand]

154 million out of the 200 million voters in this country did NOT cast a vote for George W. Bush.

What was that about Michael Moore and bullshit statistics? As I recall, the popular vote for Democrats and Republicans (not counting Nader, etc) was something like a 48/52 split between Bush and Gore, although I could be wrong. The electoral votes were enough to push the election off to Bush, but extrapolating Michael Moore's figure, Bush only got 24.8% of the popular vote. Riiiiight. And I'm Claudia Schiffer.

What was it Mike was saying again?

Originally posted by Mike S
I'm wondering if the title has more to do with the people who read it and believed it.[/B]

[hoo]

Database [a firm with strong republican ties] were told to "cast as wide a net as possible to get rid of these voters. ... people with the same birth dates as known felons, or similar social security numbers; an 80 percent match of relevant information, the election office instructed, was sufficient for Database to add a voter to the ineligible list.

"Database did as they were told. And before long 173,000 registered voters in florida were permanently wiped off the voter rolls. In Miami-Dade, Florida's largest county, 66 percent of the voters who were removed were black. In Tampa's county, 54 percent of those who would be denied to vote on Nov 7, 2000, were black."


"george w bush would officially be credited with recieving 537 more votes than Al Gore in florida. it is safe to assume that the thousands of registered black and hispanic voters barred from the polls might have made the difference if they had been allowed to vote --and cost bush the election? without a doubt."

"A july 2001 investigation by the new york times showed that of the 2,490 overseas ballots that ended up being included in the certified election results, 680 were considered flawed and questionable. bush got the overseas vote by a ratio of 4 to 5. By that percentage, 544 of the votes that went to bush should have been thrown out. Got the math? Suddenly Bush's 'winning margin' of 537 votes is down to a chilly negative 7."

"Sadder still were the 154 million of us who had not voted for him. In a nation of 200 million voters, I would say we constitute a majority."

[HexRei]

The electoral votes were enough to push the election off to Bush, but extrapolating Michael Moore's figure, Bush only got 24.8% of the popular vote. Riiiiight. And I'm Claudia Schiffer.

Shut your cockhole and stay out of the big leagues, ignoramus. It's possible that Bush only got 24% because, besides Gore, there were MANY MANY other candidates that MANY MANY people cast their votes for- Buchanon, Nader, and others. However, the electoral system ensures that rather than each person getting their vote counted, their votes are just a recommendation of sorts to the electoral colleges. In theory, the college should be casting their vote for whoever the majority of their state wants, but their are several cases in US history where the electorals voted against the majority of their state's populace.
What this all means is that a state could vote 30% gore, 31% bush, 14% buchanon, 14% nader, 11% everyone else, and bush still gets that states' entire electoral vote pool. NOW do you see how bush could get only 24% of the popular vote and still be elected president?

Thank god we have the electorals to keep us from voting in somebody outside the bipartisan system!

[Justin]

Originally posted by MC Kokanee


What was that about Michael Moore and bullshit statistics? As I recall, the popular vote for Democrats and Republicans (not counting Nader, etc) was something like a 48/52 split between Bush and Gore, although I could be wrong. The electoral votes were enough to push the election off to Bush, but extrapolating Michael Moore's figure, Bush only got 24.8% of the popular vote. Riiiiight. And I'm Claudia Schiffer.

What was it Mike was saying again?



Only half of all rgeistered voters voted for prez, and of those, half voted for Bush. 24 percent or so.

[indywow-omega]

yah.. he was in salem on 4/20. it was right after the rally, which meant it was more potheads there than anything else... but hey, good times. i didnt get to stay since he was running late, but im sure it would have been great to listen hear him speal and pick on our society. ive got respect for him after the whole nike thing.. it needed to be brought out.

[bungle bliss]

Originally posted by Doc Mahem


Only half of all rgeistered voters voted for prez, and of those, half voted for Bush. 24 percent or so.

Thank you! Christ.

[ZupanGOD]

Originally posted by hoo
Database [a firm with strong republican ties] were told to "cast as wide a net as possible to get rid of these voters. ... people with the same birth dates as known felons, or similar social security numbers; an 80 percent match of relevant information, the election office instructed, was sufficient for Database to add a voter to the ineligible list.

"Database did as they were told. And before long 173,000 registered voters in florida were permanently wiped off the voter rolls. In Miami-Dade, Florida's largest county, 66 percent of the voters who were removed were black. In Tampa's county, 54 percent of those who would be denied to vote on Nov 7, 2000, were black."


"george w bush would officially be credited with recieving 537 more votes than Al Gore in florida. it is safe to assume that the thousands of registered black and hispanic voters barred from the polls might have made the difference if they had been allowed to vote --and cost bush the election? without a doubt."

"A july 2001 investigation by the new york times showed that of the 2,490 overseas ballots that ended up being included in the certified election results, 680 were considered flawed and questionable. bush got the overseas vote by a ratio of 4 to 5. By that percentage, 544 of the votes that went to bush should have been thrown out. Got the math? Suddenly Bush's 'winning margin' of 537 votes is down to a chilly negative 7."

"Sadder still were the 154 million of us who had not voted for him. In a nation of 200 million voters, I would say we constitute a majority."

Hell yeah!!

keep em commin.. I like this shit kinda makes me want to buy the book to read how distorted it is.

-Jason

[ZupanGOD]

Originally posted by HexRei


Shut your cockhole and stay out of the big leagues, ignoramus. It's possible that Bush only got 24% because, besides Gore, there were MANY MANY other candidates that MANY MANY people cast their votes for- Buchanon, Nader, and others. However, the electoral system ensures that rather than each person getting their vote counted, their votes are just a recommendation of sorts to the electoral colleges. In theory, the college should be casting their vote for whoever the majority of their state wants, but their are several cases in US history where the electorals voted against the majority of their state's populace.
What this all means is that a state could vote 30% gore, 31% bush, 14% buchanon, 14% nader, 11% everyone else, and bush still gets that states' entire electoral vote pool. NOW do you see how bush could get only 24% of the popular vote and still be elected president?

Thank god we have the electorals to keep us from voting in somebody outside the bipartisan system!

Are you surious?

-Jason

[HexRei]

Are you surious?


Was that Engrish?

[booboo69]

Originally posted by Doc Mahem
Only half of all rgeistered voters voted for prez, and of those, half voted for Bush. 24 percent or so.

Actually, shouldn't it be more along the lines of this:

Half the country is registered to vote. Half of the registered voters actually voted, and about half of those voters voted for bush. So by that count, only 1/8th of the country voted for Bush. :confused:
I agree that his statistics are a little shady, but what he's saying is right on.

[MC Junglitachi Magic Wand]

Originally posted by Doc Mahem
Only half of all rgeistered voters voted for prez, and of those, half voted for Bush. 24 percent or so.

Okay, so the statistic wasn't bullshit, it was just horribly distorted and skewed. The obvious implicit meaning of "154 million of 200 million voters didn't vote for Bush" is "three quarters of the population voted against Bush." Which is of course, not true - you can't count someone who didn't vote as having voted for someone (LoL).

So he just distorts everything as opposed to outright lying about it.

I still have no respect for the idiot.

Interesting demographic question: How many of those throngs of people who attend his rallies are undergraduate college students? Just curious.

I'm also impressed by the logic that says that since Green student organizations at colleges in Florida are steadily growing, "the America in which we now live" is "Liberal" and "progressive." The World Church of the Creator (who recently caused quite a ruckus just across the border in Sandpoint) has also been steadily growing in number, and, by Michael Moore's statistical inferences, "the America in which we now live" is probably racist and fascist. So why aren't acts of racial violence in the U.S. as common as suicide bombings in Israel? Hey, don't get mad at me, I'm just using his methods of statistical analysis...

[bungle bliss]

LOL! Hahahaha!

Thanks MC Budweiser. I needed a laugh. The comparison of the Green Party to the *tiny* World Church of the Creator was a riot. :D

Conservatives are scared. >8-D They're up in arms about Brock, Palast, and Moore being hugely successful.

The Green Party is not going to shrink. Look ahead to ten years from now. I don't see them eradicated or marginalized, I see them as a much larger party. Maybe we don't live in a liberal country (maybe we do), but we do live in a progressive one from my observation. Just because the media squelches us doesn't make us non-existent. :rolleyes: One thing is for sure- The majority of this country is not conservative. If they were, people would have turned out in droves to vote for Bush, because that's what conservatives do- vote. Where were they all hiding? On top of Gore getting half a million MORE votes than Bush, three million more people on top of that cast their vote for a very liberal Nader. Yeah, that equals out to....Bush being president. Hmm. That must mean the majority of the country wanted it that way! Uh huh....keep dreamin'.

[hoo]

this is from the first page of the book, ya know that part of a book where they are usually like, "this book is for my two beautiful nieces...blahblah"... instead the book starts off with:

It's amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency." --george W. bush, june 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime minister Goran Perrson, unaware that a live television camera was still rolling

average american spends 99 hours a year reading vs. 1,460 hours watching teevee

something like the three richest men in America, have more money that the 60 poorest nations combined

the full name of the book is: Stupid White Men... and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation


fuctup shit that bush has done, (so far):

Cut $39 million from federal spending on libraries
Cut $35 million in funding for advaned pediatric training for doctors
Cut funding for research into renewable endergy sources by 50 percent
Delayed rules that would reduce "acceptable" levels of arsenic in drinking water
Cut funding for research into cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks by 28 percent
Broken your campaign promise to invest $100 million per year on rain forest conservation
Reduced by 86 percent the Community Access Program, which coordinated care for people without health insurance among public hospitals, clinics, and other health care providers
Cut funding for the Girls and Boys Club of America programs in public housing by $60 million
Pulled out of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol agreement on global warming, ultimately signed by 178 other countries
Rejected an international accord to enforce the 1972 treaty banning germ warfare
Eliminated prescription contraceptive coverage to federal employees (though Viagra is still covered) wot?!!
Cut $700 million in funds for public housing repairs
Cut half a billion dollars from the Environmental Protection Agency's budget!!!
Abandoned your campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, a major contributor to global warming
Denied college financial aid to students convicted of misdemeanor drug charges (though convicted murderers are still eligible for financial aid)
Pushed through your tax cut, 43 percent of which goes to the wealthiest 1 percent of americans
Cut $15.7 million from programs dealing with child abuse and neglect
Proposed elimination of the "Reading Is Fundamental" program, which gives free books to poor children
Pushed for developement of "mini-nukes," a violation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Nominated civil rights opponent Terrence Boyle to a federal judgeship
Tried to reverse regulation protecting sixty million acres of national forest from logging and road building
Cancelled the 2004 deadline for auto makers to develop prototype high-mileage cars
Named john walters, an ardent oppenent of prison drug treatment programs, as drug czar
Proposed to ease the permit process for constructing refineries and nuclear and hydroelectric dams, including lowering environmental standards
Proposed the selling of oil and gas tracts in the Alaska Wildlife Preserve



just finished reading this book the other day. overall, its full of cynical humor and points out lots of hypocricies/messedupshit of our govt as well as other world events goin on right now. it kind of reads like a history text book at times, but i think it makes some valid points/arguments of how bush is totally fuckin up everything since he took office

check out this website: http://www.theyrule.net/

[hookerw/a penis]

I finished the book a couple days ago.

I personally really enjoy Moore's political commentary.

The book was amusing; at times insightful. A fun read.

Though some of his commentary is over the top...one is forced to question if it is skewed, etc. I respect the man for what he has done. He didn't graduate highschool, worked as a blue collar worker for several years, and is now internationally read.

Yay for dissidents...

[MC Junglitachi Magic Wand]

Bungle, you obviously have no taste in beer if you can confuse the fine, rich taste of Kokanee with - of all things - BUDWEISER.

However, I do agree with you that the Green Party will be larger in 10 years than it is now. When two parties become so corrupt and in bed with each other that they are hard to discern on the issues, political revolts take place. Look at Le Pen - he got the vote he did because of a perceived lack of honesty and forthcomingness from France's two ruling parties.

I see the same thing happening in the U.S. with the growth of the Green AND the Libertarian parties. I consider myself Libertarian and score in that bloc on every political quiz I have ever taken, so I too am very happy with this development.

Take, for example, Oregon. Oregon, like most states, is faced with a budget shortfall, which the democratic governor of the state proposed to fix with - SURPRISE SURPRISE - a tax increase. This would be a "sin tax" raising the taxes on Alcohol and Cigarettes to the abominably high rates Washingtonians already pay. The problem is most of the Republicans believe in legislating morality, and won't really stand up against taxes on stuff that you're "not supposed to do" anyway. So...

The Libertarians announced that any Republican who voted "yes" on the tax bill would have a Libertarian candidate run against them next election season in a targeted race with the platform based on taxes. The Libs might not win, but a platform based on taxes against a Republican who raissed them would at the very least be a spoiler for the Democratic candidate. The Repubs were overheard to exchange quite a few four-letter words, as they narrowly controlled the senate by 1 seat. In the end, the bill was defeated.

That's the kind of third-party influence that I love. Really the US is shaping up to be a four-party America - Dem, Repub, Green, and Lib. I don't agree with the greens on, well, anything (except drug legalisation), but I welcome the entry of non-Republicrat parties into the political Arena.

[bungle bliss]

This would be a "sin tax" raising the taxes on Alcohol and Cigarettes to the abominably high rates Washingtonians already pay.

Totally off topic, but I'll say it again....STOP BITCHING ABOUT HIGH TAXES ON YOUR BEER AND GIGARETTES PEOPLE!

At least those drugs of choice are legal....my drug of choice still costs me $230 for an OUNCE....how much cheaper do you think it would be if the government legalized and regulated it and sold it at my local 7-11? Not fuckin $230 an ounce, that's for sure. Even with high taxes.

Now, picture having to buy beer and cigs on the black market. The prices would go so high, you'd miss the good ole days when cartons were only $30-35.

So yeah, kwitcherbellyakin. :P

[MC Junglitachi Magic Wand]

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Just because the government is infringing on your right to enjoy your drug of choice doesn't make it okay for them to tax the hell out of other peoples'.