He would be a moderator’s nightmare. Apparently, he thinks he can say whatever he wants to whenever he wants to no matter who owns what. I’m sure we all remember his recent indignation over Linda Ronstadt being fired from a Las Vegas casino. At that time, he wrote a letter to Bill Timmins, President of the Aladdin Casino and Hotel, on behalf of idiots everywhere that said in part:
Now, according to the Associated Press, whose calls he did not return, he has informed the Washington Post that he is going to drag his nasty ass over to George Mason University to “show up in support of free speech and free expression” — this, of course, after they cancelled his appearance and told him they don’t want him there.
It’s a good thing he isn’t here among us, telling the mods to go to hell, and informing us all that the Constutition gives him the right to express himself in whatever way he pleases.
You’re letting your comtempt for, well, it seems everyone not you, get in your way of reading comprehension. The article never said he claimed a First Amendement Right to appear and speak at George Mason. What it says is that President Alan G. Merten bowed to pressure from a state legislature to squelch Moore’s talk in that venue. Whether that is prior restraint is another matter. But Moore’s intention to show up anyway is a demonstration against the action, nothing more, not an outrageous claim as you suggest.
You should stick to ontological arguments for God. There are enough of us who don’t understand the terms of that debate to hoodwink. When you talk about issues we do, you come off as nutters.
Well, it wasn’t the whole legislature, and they only have one. But I’m not interested in the AP’s spin of it. Moore had already established his belief that the First Amendment entitles him to be a boorish jackass. His crashing of George Mason merely confirms that he still doesn’t know any better.
So is there some law of the land that prevents him from being same? Boorish jackasses abound in theaters, restaurants and in the comfort of your own home. He doesn’t have a monopoly on the behavior and would find himself in similar company on this board, methinks.
Maybe so. 'Course, there’s no law of the land preventing boorish jackasses from holding up the First Amendment as license to shit all over the boards either, but I wouldn’t want to moderate one. Would you?
There are a few omissions, and many troubling aspects to this story.
First, I want to know if they had a contract with Moore. If they did, I want to know if they are now in breach.
More importantly, I do get that the idea of supporting partisanship with public money is troubling. That being said, I think that it is spineless that they caved in the way that they did and faithless that Moore wasn’t notified before they made the announcement.
Then don’t just see him. Interact with him. Call him out old-style, call him a fictional demagogue with a fictional opinion. Make him respond to you, and if he tells you to shut up invoke the First Amendment and claim he’s a jackbooted thug who owns multiple assault rifles and guns down helpless gophers. That’s right, say he goes GOPper-poppin’ and watch him react.
And, if you will, do a school newspaper reporter a favor and clue him in on what you’re going to be doing. Don’t be surprised if he arrives with a telephoto lens and a boom mike, or at least a good tape recorder and the best camera he can scrounge. This would be gold.
GMU grad student here: I am neither a Michael Moore fan nor a detractor, but I wonder how he plans to speak at the Patriot Center without any facilities support (lighting, heat, etc…heck, the doors might not even be unlocked!). :dubious: If he’d been scheduled to speak outside, or in some common area like the Johnson Center (student union), then sure, come anyway and protest all ya like. But how is he going to show up and speak in a building that probably won’t be open? Or might even get rebooked?
BTW, the only info I could find on Mason’s website was this tiny blurb:
The OP confuses me. Michael Moore was scheduled to speak and was “disinvited” because some pansy-assed Republicans whined about the truths he tells, so Moore is going to go there anyway and speak for free. And that’s a problem…why?
Ah, because you don’t like Michael Moore. Well, tough. Just because the pansy-assed Republicans didn’t want him there, doesn’t mean they speak for everyone at the University and city. Fascism hasn’t completely taken hold yet.
Btw, the Fahrenheit 9/11 DVD/video comes out Tuesday…yay!
Well, I’m a Democrat and I think he’s right. Democrats in office have let right-wingers/conservatives/Republicans walk all over them and fuck around with this country. It’s been downright disgusting to see. The most recent examples are the Yay votes for confirming a deeply, deeply disturbing asshole like Porter Goss as head of the CIA, and this (cut and pasted from something I sent my husband):
Um, just to remind you of what was actually in the OP, if he came here to Straight Dope, for free or otherwise, blustering about his rights to free speech and how the First Amendment “gives everyone here the right to say whatever they want to say”, it would be a problem for the mods. I suspect that perhaps something other than the OP might be the agent that is confusing you.
