# Michael Moore **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 21, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181 "2017-05-21T23:25:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/81 "2017-05-24T20:55:15Z")
> [@CHealy7](#): > > Say what you like; but I have no doubt that if HRC had tapped Sharpton (or Moore) for the VP slot, she would now occupy the Oval Office. Sharpton is famous for Tawana Brawley, Freddie’s Fashion Mart, and Crown Heights. How does that make him electable? The guy’s a race bater, he’s antisemitic, he’s homophobic, he doesn’t pay his taxes…how’s he going to energize the Democratic base or bring in votes? ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/82 "2017-05-24T21:15:06Z")
> [@CHealy7](#): > > Am I alone in thinking this man is in the catbird seat for the 2020 Democratic nomination? Well, he has a better chance than Roger Moore. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/83 "2017-05-24T21:59:02Z")
> [@CHealy7](#): > > Or he could inspire African-American voters in states like South Carolina and split the GOP firewall open. South Carolina WAS one of his better states when he ran for the Democratic nomination. he finished third at 10% on the strength of the African American vote. He got 19% of that demographic …compared to Kerry and Edwards getting 32% and 36%. South Carolina African-Americans weren’t particularly inspired by him. What’s changed? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/84 "2017-05-24T22:27:49Z")
> [@CHealy7](#): > > Enough already, people. Sharpton would sweep the blue states, edge the key battlegrounds and pick up red states across the land. I also believe that he is one of the few figures in political life with the ability to run a major corporation. I’m going to assume you’re trying to set us up for another bad pun. Sharpton comes across as a two-bit huckster. > [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I concur. I generally agree with his positions on the issues, but I find his movies (and brief television show) to be one-sided propaganda pieces filled with logical fallacies, rather than actual documentaries. They were somewhat entertaining in a rally the troops sort of way, but I always felt like I was being sold a bill of goods and didn’t like it. If I condemn those on Fox news who pretend to present unbiased facts but who are obviously manipulating their audience I can’t very well support those on the left using the same means even if I agree with the ends. I agree with this. I left his Columbine movie poking holes in his statistics left and right. If he could just restrain himself from the cherry-picking, his message would be much more solid. As it is, my eyes roll as soon as I hear his name, and I agree with a lot of his politics. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/85 "2017-05-24T22:30:42Z")
Well whatever the Right wants to do to make Michael Moore a boogie man, go for it. Because the man has no heft on the left. I don’t listen to him, I don’t recall seeing articles about him crossing my feed, he is not someone I’d even remotely think of to be counted on as a liberal thought leader. I’d wager that he is less popular on the left than Michelle Bachmann is on the right. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/86 "2017-05-24T22:52:23Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > . > > But that makes no sense since: a) nothing I post would be accepted by you as evidence that the audience was largely made up of people resistant to Moore’s message; and b) seeing it for yourself is the only thing that would convince you. > > If you want to know whether or not Moore is an effective communicator in the movie, you need to see the movie… Well I’m sure he’s a better communicator than you. Frankly, you are being silly. I would have no trouble believing Moore could get a bunch of angry blue collar workers agreeing with him - it’s his roots. I have trouble believing a bunch of people who support Trump would have gone to a movie theater to hear a lecture from super lefty Hollywood guy who was public about hating Trump. And I guess we’ll leave it there since there’s no goddamn way I’m watching a campaign film from the previous election. ---
**Author:** ![CHealy7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@CHealy7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CHealy7)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/87 "2017-05-24T23:25:38Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I’m going to assume you’re trying to set us up for another bad pun. Sharpton comes across as a two-bit huckster. I assure you, the “More than Moore” thing was completely unintentional. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/88 "2017-05-25T20:47:20Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Well I’m sure he’s a better communicator than you. Frankly, you are being silly. I would have no trouble believing Moore could get a bunch of angry blue collar workers agreeing with him - it’s his roots. I have trouble believing a bunch of people who support Trump would have gone to a movie theater to hear a lecture from super lefty Hollywood guy who was public about hating Trump. > > And I guess we’ll leave it there since there’s no goddamn way I’m watching a campaign film from the previous election. I see. Anyway, Wilmington (population around 12,500) does not afford its residents an infinite array of choices for their evening’s entertainment; I expect ‘going downtown to laugh at the liberal weirdo’ sounded like a better bet than yet another night parked in front of the tube. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/89 "2017-05-25T21:48:10Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I see. > > Anyway, Wilmington (population around 12,500) does not afford its residents an infinite array of choices for their evening’s entertainment; I expect ‘going downtown to laugh at the liberal weirdo’ sounded like a better bet than yet another night parked in front of the tube. FWIW, the Times and Roger Ebert didn’t quite describe it as a Pro-Trump crowd. NYT: > [@](#): > > Filmed over two nights early this month in Wilmington, Ohio, the movie captures a live stage performance by Mr. Moore in a town that leans heavily Trump (though that was not necessarily true of the audience he performed for) Ebert: > [@](#): > > One of the most appealing aspects of the film lies in watching the show’s audience. The medium-sized theater contains some who seem to be Moore fans (could it be that all of Clinton County’s liberals might fill only half the hall?) but others are clearly Trump folk. They’re the ones—virtually all middle-aged white men—who at first sit with stony stares, arms folded across their chests. So my impression is that it was a mixed bag and I would agree that he chose a town where Moore fans would be unlikely to fill the joint. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/90 "2017-05-25T22:27:05Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > FWIW, the Times and Roger Ebert didn’t quite describe it as a Pro-Trump crowd. > So my impression is that it was a mixed bag and I would agree that he chose a town where Moore fans would be unlikely to fill the joint. Quite a concession. Certainly he could have found an audience who’d agree with his every point right from minute one of the talk–but he didn’t. My main point in posting about this was to alert progressives-hoping-to-get-through-to-right-leaners to the techniques Moore uses in this film. What he says to get the pro-Trump part of the audience to unfold their arms could serve as a lesson to anyone hoping to reach conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/91 "2017-05-26T23:02:07Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > FWIW, the Times and Roger Ebert didn’t quite describe it as a Pro-Trump crowd. > NYT: > > Ebert: > > So my impression is that it was a mixed bag and I would agree that he chose a town where Moore fans would be unlikely to fill the joint. Ebert died in 2013. You mean Siskel? He died in 1999. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/92 "2017-05-26T23:09:17Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Ebert died in 2013. You mean Siskel? He died in 1999. Oh yeah I forgot about that. Whoever is writing reviews at his namesake site nowadays: > **[Michael Moore in TrumpLand movie review (2016) | Roger Ebert](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/michael-moore-in-trumpland-2016)** > > Though a skillfully managed bit of comedic agitprop that’s sure to please anyone who shares its political viewpoint, the hastily made standup concert film also doesn’t come close to equaling truly brilliant Moore political films. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/93 "2017-05-28T08:09:13Z")
> [@CHealy7](#): > > I assure you, the “More than Moore” thing was completely unintentional. 🆒 Too bad; you should have taken the credit. And then, frankly, quit while you were ahead. Relative to now, of course. At this point, you’re in little danger of being taken seriously. Might as well wave your class clown banner proudly. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/94 "2017-05-28T09:04:46Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Sharpton is famous for Tawana Brawley, Freddie’s Fashion Mart, and Crown Heights. How does that make him electable? The guy’s a race bater, he’s antisemitic, he’s homophobic, he doesn’t pay his taxes…how’s he going to energize the Democratic base or bring in votes? The Democratic party has literal millions of very smart people who will never run for President because they think they couldn’t possibly ever do the job. (So does the GOP, really.) But show me a madman who thinks he can, and is determined to try, and that madman can win over swing voters–yes, even though the party thinks he’s too stupid to know what he doesn’t know. The voters you need are swing voters. And they don’t typically respond well to the cautious and the sane. They prefer the fool who says that he can do the job easily over the person who sounds like he can’t do it. It’s that way in business, and it’s that way in elections too. It’s not just about confidence, but a willingness to stick your neck out and take chances. Al Sharpton may be madder than a bag of minks, but if he has the cocksureness to think he can do the job, and communicates that cocksureness, then he can actually win. We will never get a competent President. All we can do is get a madman who can win over swing voters with his arrogance, and is politically more on our side than the other madmen. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/95 "2017-05-28T20:50:15Z")
Cory Booker is a competent non-madman. Just saying… ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/96 "2017-05-28T23:45:31Z")
Then he will lose a Presidential race, unless he is able to convey the same level of confidence as an incompetent madman. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/97 "2017-05-28T23:46:27Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I know very little about Booker. I just skimmed his Wikipedia page. Guy lived in a troubled housing project while he was mayor of Newark. Holy cow. Also he’s a vegan. And he refuses to answer questions about his sexual orientation on principle. Seems like a cool dude. He has a documentary on Netflix called Street Fight about his first mayoral race (which he lost.) Really interesting stuff, and it’s how he first pinged my radar. Booker is the shit and I can’t wait for him to run. (FWIW I am super liberal and I wouldn’t vote for Michael Moore.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/98 "2017-05-29T01:45:30Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > He has a documentary on Netflix called Street Fight about his first mayoral race (which he lost.) Really interesting stuff, and it’s how he first pinged my radar. > > Booker is the shit and I can’t wait for him to run. > > (FWIW I am super liberal and I wouldn’t vote for Michael Moore.) Does it honestly not occur to you that someone who appeals so strongly to a “super liberal” is almost certain to lose the presidential race? Please, let’s not set up the Democrats to lose again. With the GOP in control of even one House in Congress, I want a Democrat in the White House. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/99 "2017-05-29T02:10:35Z")
Now, now, he’s had an ongoing bromance with Chris Cristie, has been accused of being a Wall Street, Big Pharma, big-business shill, and there was the 2013 piece in _The Atlantic_ called [Why do liberals hate Cory Booker?](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/08/why-do-liberals-hate-cory-booker/278992/) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181/100 "2017-05-29T02:39:03Z")
He’s imitation Obama. Well, not really, but that’s how a lot of people will see him. Not an actual imitation, just a substitute, like putting in pollock when the recipe called for crab. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/787181.md?page=6)