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Moore is Less
Rich Galen Wednesday September 1, 2004
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Notice: Some actual reporting went into this morning's Mullings. Regular readers know how hard I try to avoid such activities, but I actually visited with some of the players in this event.
The threshold question is: Where's the outrage?
Michael Moore, who was in the hall on Monday night gave Senator John McCain the international symbol for "Loser" by placing his index finger and thumb at right angles and holding his hand in front of his face.
Michael Moore calling John McCain a loser? Michael Moore who has never done anything more dangerous than an ambush interview of a Member of Congress calling a man who endured seven years in a Vietnamese prison camp a loser? Michael Moore - dedicated supporter of John Kerry calling John McCain - the man who was Kerry's first choice to be his Vice Presidential running-mate - a loser?
Where's the outrage?
Where's the outrage from the popular press which has provided John McCain's most unswerving support?
Where's the outrage from the anti-Bush Democrats who point to Senator McCain any time he and the Administration disagree?
Where's the outrage, for that matter, from the Republican leadership here in New York?
Michael Moore did not sneak into Madison Square Garden Monday night. He was escorted in by an editor of USA Today which has hired Moore to write about the Republican National Convention.
USA Today had a great idea: Hire a Conservative to write about the Democratic convention in Boston and hire a Liberal to write about the Republican convention here in New York.
The Gannett paper decided to hire Ann Coulter to write in Boston and Michael Moore to write in New York. One writer, having heard about this idea said, "This isn't journalism. It's casting."
In Boston, Ms. Coulter's first piece for USA Today was deemed to be too much diatribe and too little thoughtfulness so the editors asked for changes. Ms. Coulter, it is suggested, balked at changing her column and was dropped in favor of Jonah Goldberg who was hastily brought in for the Conservative-in-Boston view.
In any event, Mr. Moore decided he wanted to go into the hall Monday and USA Today unaccountably thought that would be a good idea.
A press scrum formed as soon as Moore began walking across the bridge which connects the press work space in a building on the west side of 8th Avenue to Madison Square Garden.
The security detail tried to keep things moving which, according to the Washington Post piece by Mark Leibovich and Paul Farhi, "set off grumbling in the mob, with several reporters asserting their sacred First Amendment right to chase a celebrity through the corridors of a sports arena."
By the time Moore made it to the press section of the hall, he had been separated from the USA Today editor (whose idea this was in the first place) and was surrounded by a large group of videographers and still photographers.
About the only person in Madison Square Garden who did not know that Moore was in the building was Senator John McCain who was taken by surprise at the reaction to a reference to Moore as "a disingenuous filmmaker" in what was supposed to have been a minor cheer line.
As the Republican crowd responded to Moore, Senator McCain repeated the line after which Moore held up his hand in the "Loser" sign.
Not to worry. I'm outraged enough for everyone.
On the Secret Decoder Ring Page today: A link to the Washington Post article, and more Mullfotos from the Big Apple.
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