Rating: 
Summary: This Red Diaper Baby is One Smart College Dropout
Review: Michael Moore, the author of Dude Where is My Country (henbceforth Dude), has been called a red diaper baby and a college dropout. Because he is thought fat, some say that he knows as much about economics as he does about weight control.First, Dude is substantive yet simple. The world is full of educated people whose opinions differ. Having Esquire or PHD after one's name is merely a bona fide, tis not an argument. Support, not titles ought count as argument. If Mike merely gave the opinions of his opponents and offered that as argument, the way Laura Ingraham Esquire does in her book Shut Up, then he would be as vapid as she. But he does not. Second, anyone who read the book would know that Mike has dropped 50 pounds. So, Mike obviously knows something about weight loss, and the book shows he knows something about economics. Still, I was a little uncomfortable with the first chapter. The rumor about Osama's failing health, was off putting for me. I know Mike's point, but why speculate when what is really important is the relationship between the Bush family and Bin Laden family. Why were the Bin Ladens wisked out of the country after 911? Why weren't they interrogatted by the FBI? Arguments that Osama was a black sheep do not hold up under scrutiny. Even if he was a black sheep, why'd we let the fam go? Amd why has information concerning the Saudi's role in the 911 tragedies been classified by the Bush administration? The chapter on lies is magnificent. Mike deconstructs the many lies of this administration, not by merely stating the administrations lie, then ridiculing the position ala Laura
Ingraham, the attorney, and moving on to the next fib. Instead, Mike spends pages on each, giving copious evidence in support of his opinion and always to build a case using real American values and logic. Also, it is funny! OK, the Bushies are an easy target, but still... He asks Americans to have a little empathy for those in other countries. And he suggests some things we might do to be a little more popular in the world. I think it was Bismarck who said that "war is an extension of politics by other means." If the goal of war is to create a new consensus and ultimately make friends, you have to wonder why the neocons goal seems to be alienating as many nations as possible. Mike shows that the "Coalition of the Willing" is a canard. A stolid brotherhood of 39 nations as the right brags? Or a contingent 90% American? He shows that on most issues, Americans hold liberal positions.
He does not just say it, but he presents convincing evidence in the forming of polling data to support that assertion. The problem is that conservatives, and you have to give them credit, have done an amazing job of making anyone left of Rush Limbaugh seem no different than a communist. Conservatives have coopted symbolism but have neglected substance. I think Mike says that is where we will ultimately win, take back America. I especially enjoyed his evidence on health care. Read the book. It is convincing. Anyone who thinks America has the best health care system in the world is in serious need of education on the subject. Mike can give you a primer. Gore Vidal once said that the United States was the only democracy on earth where citizens consistently voted against their own self interest. Mike's answer is similar to Studs Terkel's in his book Working. Read both books. The chapter about "your conservative brother-in-law" was a delight. We all have them in our lives--mine is really a close personal friend. Mike tells us how to talk to them. The conversation involves their self interest and our admitting the many good points of conservatism. He trots out a bunch of clunker stupid ideas we liberals reflexively defend. Stuff we
ought have jettisoned long ago. The one thing I think he misses is that conservatism to these folks is more a religion than a political position. The ideology is beautiful; it just does not work. But Mike is what he is. His hat, his dishevled appearance, communicate that he is a simple, brave man. The answer is simple, but the work is hard. And, again, Mike is dressed for hard work. He means to tell you the problem, in the simplest language he knows. This year the Greens can forget it, so can other exotic fringe groups that siphon votes from the left. We all have to get behind a candidate that can beat George W Bush. Four more years of Dubya could seriously hurt this country. That is Mike's message. We all must work to take America back.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Enlightening
Review: I read through this book in two days. I have admired Mr. Moore since he had the courage to speak the truth at the 2002 Oscar ceremony. There were many facts that I was not aware of, I learned, laughed and sometimes sat in disbelief. The only reason this book is not getting 5 stars is because it is slightly one-sided. I am sure Bill O'reilly and Sean Hannity have the same problems in their books, but I would not waste the money to read something by them. I just wish Mr. Moore, would have said some of the good things Bush did. There are not many, and I believe the man should be removed from office as soon as possible, but there has to be something good that he has done, then I again, I could be wrong because I am not aware of anything.
Rating:
Summary: Michael Moore is not only FUN but INFORMATIVE
Review: Michael Moore is one of the privileged few who has the ability to share his views with the public. I'm grateful that I benefit from this privilege as it seems that our government and media are intent on silencing the liberal views I want to hear. I enjoy the humor Mr. Moore infuses into his writing and appreciate the research he puts into them. Thanks for another great book, Mr. Moore
Rating: 
Summary: Total Garbage
Review: What a vile, disgusting, ridiculous book! Not only is it horribly written, it is childish, trite and completely based on "zero" facts, much like the false documentary he made on Columbine. When they take his academy award off of him, they also need to take any writing implements along with it. He projects negativity, hopelessness and stupidity. Why any one would read such absurdity is beyond me. He is so obsessed with being "a liberal" that he will go to any lengths to discredit the Bush Administration, even lieing. He loses his objectivity and his common sense often twisting and turning events and facts at will. This book is a total joke and the only way it has made it on the best sellers list is because the likes of Barbara Streisand bought thousands of copies to boost sales. I'll guarantee you, he doesn't speak for us "non-Hollywood" folks.
My recommendation for this book...don't buy it My recommendation if you did buy it....mail it back.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant!
Review: Immidiately after it's publication, Moore's new book is a # 1 NYTimes best-seller. (Ahead of Bill O'Reilly... how cool is that!) Go, Mike!
Rating:
Summary: Dude, Why am I so Afraid
Review: This book is about two things 1) Fear
2) Taking control of this country The first part of the book is all about fear (1-117) Michael explains to us how he and his liberal friend were paralyzed with fear after 9/11. They lived in constant fear of other attacks, they were nervous and lost. He writes that; all of us were also in this fear, unfortunately Mr. Moore seems to surround himself with liberals, a group that paradoxically has used fear for over a century to control the masses, it now seems that one of the their strongest weapons has turned against them. I feel sorry for the like of Moore and his minions, but if you listen long and hard enough, you can hear their faint and distant cries for help. It's clear they suffer from a unique pathology that is slowly driving them insane. They are, at their core, very, VERY afraid. They are afraid because ultimately, they are ignorant. They are ignorant of much of the world that exists outside their own. This basic ignorance leads to their overwhelming and permanent state of fear. The fear quickly paralyzes them and they become consumed with placating all supposed adversaries. They are too afraid or to selfish to placate their supposed adversaries themselves so instead they wan the government to do it. As a side note how many conservatives lived in fear after the attacks? Very few, if any and the reason is simple conservative live in the real world, they travel they read, they don't have their heads stuck in the sand. They know that terrorism, as sad as it is, is a way of life for many people throughout the world. When a bomb goes off in another country the citizens don't quiver in fear like Moore, they pick up with their lives. Once Michael Moore has you scared to death he then asks this question "When are we going to get this country and its economy in our hands" (149) To fully understand what he means we must first look at some of the highlights in this book and think whether you want this person telling you what to say, what you can eat, and what you can think. He tries to persuade us that George Bush was linking the 9/11 attack to Osama Bin Laden and provides 9 direct quotes to support this false charge. Not one quote ever mentions Osama's name or implies what Moore is saying. (54-55) Michael admits that Bill Clinton destroyed our military - bad thing. (73) Then complains that George Bush is trying to rebuild it - also a bad thing. (102) Double Fear - fear of being weak and fear of being strong. Michael thinks that 6-7 thousand civilians killed is worst than 2-3 million killed. (75) He did say earlier in the book that most Americans are uneducated; maybe he is proving this point. Or better yet, maybe he just thinks the earth is over populated? He thinks that nuclear plants can blow up like nuclear weapons. (92) FEAR. Thinks TATP, a type of plastic explosive, is detonated by lighting it on fire. (99) Duh, you need a detonator Mikey. Michael is upset that we DID NOT detain more people after 9/11. (20-21) Then he is upset that we detained people after 9/11 (108) I'm so confused. Makes a blanket statement that all rich people are probable terrorist and should be investigated. (116-117) He said it, I didn't! Saddem Hussein was a democratically elected leader. (120) Stop laughing it's there in BOLD print. Doesn't understand that Islam's goal is to exterminate the Jews. (121) Read the Koran and don't be AFRAID to tell the truth Michael. Wants the United States to give free water and health care to the whole world to help make them friendly with us. (122) This is part of the fear complex and placating potential adversaries. Wants to dictate to other countries the rules they should live by. (123-124) He's showing his true socialistic colors now. Wants to destroy all of our weapons of mass destruction because everybody else will of course follow suit. (125) Stupid is as stupid does. Wants to bomb people on the color of their skin. (126) Did I get your attention he wrote it, but it was meant as a joke. Wants to ban certain forms of speech in schools and in public (133-134) I guess MM gets to decide what we are allowed to say and think, whatever he FEARS is off limits. Is upset that people can make money on life insurance when somebody dies. (146) Most of the time the money is used to pay of taxes so your beloved government doesn't seize the family farm or your mom's house. Even worse the whole chapter is that Moore is upset that people make money period. Wants a company to purchase items for people who DO NOT work for them. (147) Was upset that the government didn't help Enron (152) Hey Michael, I thought the government shouldn't bail out businesses you said that in Stupid White Men. Is upset that people who paid ZERO taxes didn't get any tax refund back. (162) Actually if you look at it another way Michael, they got 100% of what they paid back. Tries to prove that this is a very very liberal country this is just one sample of his 'mainstream' statistics: 56% say labor unions are good --- drum roll please --- according to a poll taken by the AFL-CIO of ITS union members. (174) Yup NO BIAS THERE. Broad brushes all conservatives as being Racists and war mongers (186) wanting legally accepted date rape (184) and worst of all loving this country (186) If you live in fear and agree with the above statements then you will love this book otherwise.........
Rating:
Summary: Giving liberals a bad name.
Review: I will read this book as soon as I get one for free. I will never give this man another cent. I am a liberal and I detest the way he makes us all look like crazy conspiracy theorists. His information is mostly hearsay. If you are buying this book so you can quote it and pretend to be smart, do yourself a favor and buy some Chomsky instead.
Moore is an amazing film editor; a hero of mine in that regards. He is also a total freakin' idiot. You can tell he knows what he's going to think long before he does any research. The sooner fools like him loose recognition, the sooner we will see more liberals elected.
Rating:
Summary: Dude, you're a loser!
Review: I'd have to say that anyone who tries to parady off the flop movie Dude, Where's My Car has to be one of the most unoriginal morons ever conceived. I'm not even going to waste another moment of my time reviewing this trash because I know that I'm too good for it. As for the other people who reviewed this, some are right, some are way wrong. To put it quite frankly, all the people who review these things need to step up and stop being such cowardous dolts and say who they are.
Rating:
Summary: Moore's dangerous ideas
Review: First off, I must state that I am a history and international affairs buff, and I spend a lot of time to acquire objective POVs on issues: I listen to conservative talk radio AND Radio Pacifica, read the WSJ and the NYT; National Review AND (less and less) The Nation. Hell, I LIVE in Berkeley. I was, however, born and educated in a Soviet Bloc country where you knew you couldn't trust mass media or even your teachers, so you had to actively search for answers, read between the lines etc. While I do not like what Moore stands for, I did try to watch "Bowling" and read his books. I can never finish because his obvious radical agenda [the animated history of the US sequence in "Bowling" is the best proof that he has a grade-school level understanding of history. Does this guy even READ?]. But I do try, so no one can accuse me that I talk about his books without having read them. That's what a lot of left-wingers do: just see those one-sentence, one-star reviews for Coulter, OReilly, Robert Spencer, etc. So I went to the bookstore and flipped through "Dude." The title seemed to be more appropriate for his adolescent views than the simply offensive "Stupid White Men" (hey, can you imagine the reactions to a book called "Lazy _____ Men" [insert your own race/nationality]?). The cover itself speaks to his views. You do not have to be a Harvard symbologist to interpret Bush's face superimposed over the famous fallen statue of Saddam as suggestive of similarities between the two men, and the need to topple this "illegitimate, stolen-election" government. The idiocy of this does not even deserve any serious comment. Then you open this volume, and immediately you see: "Taking advantage of our grief, and our fear that "it" may happen again, an appointed president uses the dead of 9/11 as a convenient cover, a justification, for permanently altering our American way of life." And I already feel discouraged - and angry. Why does he think nothing has happened in the US since 9/11? (except, that is, Muslims shooting Israel-bound passengers at LAX and random bystanders in Maryland - whose motivations are to this day complete mysteries to CNN, ABC, CBS etc. commentators - but I digress.) Does this intellectual titan think that militant America-haters forgot? Decided to give us a break? Didn't want hurt people any more? Found Jesus? Didn't feel like it? Ran out of ideas? I would bet my money that "it" has not happened again only because of this administration's decisive, speedy and powerful response. Does Moore have better ideas how to handle the threat? Did he, for that matter, offer ANY answers/solutions in "Roger" and "Bowling"? It seems that his consistent solution is to overthrow the "system" - good ol' Marxist worldview. After just a couple of pages it is painfully obvious that further reading would be a total waste of time. So if you like Moore, or find him amusing, I guess that's fine. Just do not claim that you're a moderate or that he is a serious commentator. Final thought: he should really spend some time in a socialist or Islamic paradise - I'd like to hear his story then, about disenfrenchised workers, freedoms, unemployment, violence. "Bowling for Pyongyang?" "Ahmed and Me?"
Rating:
Summary: Dude, Where's my refund!
Review: Wow,....not since I looked into a dumpster did I find a more vile load of garbage...okay,....Al Frankens book was just as much trash.. It seems that the real liars try to make themselves believeable by calling everyone else liars, Michael Moore, whom I'm ashamed to say is from Michigan..( kinda like the liberal heroes Dixie Chicks Huh??) should have titled the book,.Dude, where's my intellegence. A good read for Fiction....just don't take any of it seriously. A good book for your Conservative hating, socialist, communist, loving Liberal Friend.
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