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Michael Moore and Wolf Blitzer Butt Heads
I belong to that class of liberals who find themselves vaguely embarrassed to have Michael Moore on their side; sure, his tenacity is admirable, and no one can deny the role he's had in revolutionizing the once-dry documentary genre. But when he gets into one of his rants on national television -- no matter how well-justified -- I just want to cower under the covers.
In this clip from CNN's The Situation Room, Moore is infuriated by a piece critiquing some of his facts in Sicko and explodes, demanding that Blitzer apologize for misleading the American public with similar critiques of Fahrenheit 9/11. It's impressive to see Blitzer stand calmly in the face of Moore's tirade, telling Moore that "We wanted to interview you. That's what we do on television," before regaining control of the conversation with specific and interesting questions.
Moore's ranting about CNN's biases is unfocused and rambling, and he definitely doesn't end the interview with any sort of dignity. However, when the interview concludes with Lou Dobbs smirking, "He's more of a left-wing promoter than Hugo Chavez," it's hard not to see his point.
He was right to be infuriated by the slanted opening piece which managed to both paint him as a liar and avoid any meaningful discussion the issue at hand. And he was right to take Blitzer to task for the prior interview's slant -- this is not the kind of thing you pretend doesn't matter.
I'll take Moore's righteous (and I don't use that word pejoratively) bomb-throwing over the usual TV liberal's respectful but meaningless banter anyday.
Mikes movie is truthful. Rather than start with a counter piece (why do they always feel the need to do these), it would have been better had Wolf let Mike talk about the movie and have him expand on things that could have been added. I hate counter pieces simply designed to search for differences or omissions. They could have just as easily done one on the major points he gets right in the film and then discuss those in more detail.
Dan Murphy
