Dude, Where's My Country?

Rating:
Summary: Humor in Well-Documented Observations about the President
Review: If you don't know who Michael Moore is, you are missing a treat. He has an uncanny knack for knocking the stuffing out of pompous statements, actions and cover-ups with well-aimed common sense.

Dude, Where's My Country? will delight liberals, feminists, conservationists, opponents of President Bush, fans of Oprah, civil liberties advocates and those who belong to unions. At the same time, it will infuriate and enrage social conservatives, those who oppose abortion, some religious leaders and right-wing commentators on television.

So many ratings for this book will simply reflect one's personal stand on the various political and social agendas.

Regardless of where you stand, the well-documented questions of the book come together in a way that anyone would benefit from thinking about. The documentation comes in public materials that you can read for yourself. I was struck that the New York Times had an editorial that was very similar to this book on the subject of Iraq yesterday. I wondered why these questions aren't asked more often . . . and why the president hasn't really answered them.

The main weakness of the book is that Mr. Moore cannot resist taking his humor a little too personally in his attacks. I graded down what was otherwise a very thoughtful book one star for this flaw.

The main perspectives of the book are as follows:

1. 9/ll was an attack by mostly middle class Saudi Arabians funded by a multimillionaire Saudi Arabian. Why don't we focus on the source of the problem . . . rather than creating general hysteria about terrorists?

2. Your chances of being hurt by a terrorist in the United States are much less than your chance of getting any serious illness that concerns you. If you bought insurance against this threat, it would cost you almost nothing . . . because you don't have very much risk.

3. The War on Terror is being used for political purposes to advance President Bush's power and re-election.

4. The Bushes are in bed with the Saudis and the oil company interests, and the Iraq war was really about looking after those interests.

5. The United States brings many these problems on itself and should clean up its act (such as our former support for Saddam Hussein against Iran).

6. People support tax cuts for the rich because they think they might become rich. The odds are against that.

7. The average American is socially progressive and fiscally conservative. The Republicans represent a small minority of Americans and are kept in power by wealthy interests.

8. People should seek to dislodge Mr. Bush from the presidency in this election before he starts more wars, spends more money, makes rich people even richer, eliminates more civil liberties, and harms the environment even more.

I was amused that in Mr. Moore's search for someone to replace President Bush, he didn't think of Senator Kerry as a possible alternative. It would be fun to read an update of this book that takes a similar look at Senator Kerry's past positions and actions.

As Mr. Moore points out in the book, presidents do tend to lie to citizens. When I was done, I wasn't sure whether Mr. Bush does this more often than other presidents . . . or simply isn't as good at it. But, the book does make you wonder whose side Mr. Bush is on.

As I finished the book, I began to think how much fun it would be if political debates on television featured such well-documented questions and criticisms . . . rather than the bland "rah-rah" we normally get from journalists in the form of questions designed to make the interviewee look good.

Rating:
Summary: Question Authority
Review: The fact that so many reviewers are being accused of bashing this book just because Michael Moore is a muckracker makes it all that more attractive to me. Anyone who has followed Moore's carrer knows that he's about as politically incorrect as it gets. This book is no exception. However, for those of us who question authority, we need a mouthpiece like Moore to go where no man has gone before, to ask the hard questions and to press for answers. Some may not appreciate where Moore's sarcasm ends and the truth begins...that's a function of being familiar with his style. However, no one with an open mind can deny that he makes a lot of sense!!!

Moore calls it like he sees it using his signature, in-your-face style of challenging those with whom he disagrees. I like that. His critics claim he's an uncooth loose cannon but check his facts (and there are volumes of footnotes at the end of this book, substantiating his claims) and it's not hard to see that his detractors are frustrated by the fact that Moore has chutzpa. He asks the questions that no one right of center wants to answer!!! For that reason alone, I recommend this book. Moore's as much of a patriot as I've seen. He knows the system is broken and he is again making suggestions to begin fixing it. Isn't that what this country is supposed to be all about--citizens engaged in change????

As with all of Moore's work, be prepared to think, to question and to take action when you're through. If you don't, you've missed the point.

Rating:
Summary: Dude, Where's My Country?
Review: Dude, Where's My Country? You ate it you fat pig.

Rating:
Summary: Dude, Where is It?!
Review: Absolutely AMAZING. I don't know what's wrong with half these people, but definitely buy this book! It completely changed my outlook on 9/11 and the evil Bush Administration. Do you know WHY we're really on war with Iraq (this is one of the many issues covered in the book)?
1. No, there were NO Iraqis on the planes on 9/11.
2. No, Saddam and Osama DO NOT like each other or are in cahoots. (Moore comments that they did meet each other ONCE but it turned out to be like a great episode of Blind Date - they both HATED each other).
3. No, Saddam does NOT have connection with al Qaeda.
4. No, Iraq does NOT have any "weapons of mass destruction," not unless you count the stuff we gave them (i.e. Bacillus Athhracis, Clotridium Botulinum, Histoplasma Capsulatum, Brucella Melitensis, and Clostridium Prefringens. He explains what they are in the book. We also gave them computers and a whole mess of other stuff that totalled to 1.5 BILLION dollars).

Moore investigates everything to the fullest and we, as American citizens, should KNOW everything there is to this awful story. This story where Bush devises plans and more plans to help out his Bin Laden friends and his rich friends with providing them access to FLY out of the country just days after 9/11 when NO ONE ELSE COULD FLY, tax breaks, and much more. READ IT.

Rating:
Summary: Recommended for the ignorant liberal...
Review: Not recommended for the informed liberal (unless you're just looking for a laugh, because this is a funny book). I'm not using the word ignorant in a negative way. According to recent Gallup polls, like 25% of Democrats agree with the war in Iraq and more than 25% of the Democratic candidates support the war on Iraq. That means that there's a lot of ignorant liberals out there and they should definitely read this book. Those on the left that have been paying attention need not read it. Don't get me wrong, I love Michael Moore, but the best part of this book to me is the cover.

Mike is a better filmmaker than a writer. He likes making movies better and has pretty much admitted that he only continues to write books because they do so well. His books usually read like one of those mass emails you'd get from "your conservative brother in law". It's like one big giant rant that often leaves out a whole lot of obvious facts that would strengthen his argument. Ok, maybe he's marketing to the low-brow masses and trying to be the liberal Limbaugh. I guess that's Ok as long as he's getting the right message out.

Anyway, I found the book to be pretty entertaining and had a few good laughs, but it's not as funny as his first book. Everything Mike says is true and I agree (for the most part) with his political stance. However, if you've been keeping up with current events and you already know about the presidents/republicans/media's lies then you really don't need to read this book. It's all just a humorous rehashing of current events.

If you want to be a more informed, educated liberal that has an understanding of history and politics (and you should), you should read some Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky. Reading books by these authors will give you a better understanding of the "whys" and "hows" in regard to recent events. Reading Zinn will help you better understand the government, power, wealth, and history. Chomsky can help you better understand politics and the media.

As for Michael Moore, you should read/watch: Downsize This, Roger and Me, The Big One, and Bowling for Columbine.

Rating:
Summary: Just another hypocrite!
Review: Uhmm, excuse me, "tomas" but did you actually read the book? I don't really see any indication in your "book review" that you actually reviewed a book. Sounds like you pretty much just spouted a lot of platitudes from your heroes Sean and Rush.

Had you read the book you would have found it to be decidedly biased in its research (hence the 4 instead of a 5 in my rating), with its primary value being Mr. Moore's passion to see the world become a better place. That's his worldview, it biases everything he writes, admittedly. However, at least he has someone more than himself at heart. That's how he sees the US as missing out on important opportunities to show the world that we care about more than ourselves. But such a message is always missed by extreme righties who seem more concerned about dying with a lot of money in their 401k than leaving the world better than they found it.

Soft? Yeah, maybe. But at least Mr. Moore is passionate enough to write more than just "book reviews."

Rating:
Summary: Michael Moore for President
Review: Everyone in America should read (or listen to) this book!! AWESOME!!! That's all I have to say!

Rating:
Summary: Straight Up Book
Review: This is a straight up book. Does Michael Moore tell the truth about some political issues everyone may not agree on. Darn straight. Does he does he take himself too seriously while doing it? Not at all. Moore is trying to spark controversy and he does a good job. To spark controversy you have to take a firm stand on something controversial. He's taking a ultra-extreme political stance because it will spark you to either agree or disagree. He wants you to feel passion one way or the other. It's the same formula Rikki Lee Travolta used writing "My Fractured Life" which is one of the best books ever on show biz. Moore has now written the equivalent for the political world by following the same formula. I recommend you read it.

Rating:
Summary: An idiots bible
Review: A fitting book for the dumb and blind.

Rating:
Summary: did you proved your point Michael?
Review: ...... you have (proven)that you are a stupid (and perhaps white) man.....