Dude, Where's My Country?

Rating:
Summary: Where's Fat Mike's Country?
Review: It's south of the UK, north of Spain and southwest of Germany. That stated, there's really no need to read a book of lies by a lying liar who tells them.

And if you're busy looking at a map to figure out which nation I'm referring to, you've already proved my point.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of time and space
Review: Dude Where's My Country should be called Dude, Where's My Life which is something Michael Moore doesn't seem to have much of these days. I am a moderate meaning I am in the middle. Michael Moore blaming Bush for the ills of this country shows how sad and strange Michael is. I think G.W. is the best Republican president we had since Reagan back in the day IMHO. My opinion is we have not had a good Democrat President since Franklin Roosevelt. I just find Michael Moore's work appaling. Bowling for Columbine was a tiring film which he blames guns for the massacre when in fact I blame the parents and the assailants themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Well-researched, important book to read
Review: While it wouldn't take a lot to convince anti-Bush Americans to read this book, I would strongly recommend those who support Bush to check this book out. I had no idea of the Bush-bin Laden family connection, and a whole lot of other information about Mr. Bush that everyone must know! This is an excellent introduction to Moore's upcoming film!

Rating:
Summary: Dude, It's not your country. It's our country.
Review: Dude,
Just because you were the second set director of Raiders of the Lost Ark doesn't make you opinion better than anyone else's.

Rating:
Summary: As long as you have an open mind
Review: I think Michael Moore is dangerous. A sort of left wing Rush Limbaugh. He uses manipulation and tends to lie or embellish a little to make a point, therefore giving conservatives, who tend to be hateful enough, a good reason to pull out the tired stereotypical "lefties are loonies" references. If you read this book with an open mind, he does make some good points. Unfortunately they are overshadowed and lost amid a lot of his b.s. It's not productive (as some previous reviewers seem to believe) to point out weight and looks, etc. None of that has anything to do with the writing. And the writing is fine. Just don't buy into all of it because not all of it is true, and with Moore, it is sometimes hard to distinguish.

Rating:
Summary: They're right . . .
Review: . . . the true believers. I'll tell you what they're right about at the end.

The greatest revelation, celebrated wherever the faithful put digit to keyboard, comes to us as follows:

"Might it have been possible that at least one of the bin Ladens would have possibly known something? Or maybe just one of them could have been 'convinced' to help track Osama down? Nope ... while thousands were stranded and could not fly, if you could prove you were a close relative of the biggest mass murderer in US history, you got a free trip to gay Paree!"

Sadly, you didn't. According to the author's own source: "Once the FAA permitted overseas flights, the jet flew to Europe." It wasn't a government freebie and it didn't take off until commercial flying resumed. Which leaves the bottom line: Mr Moore thinks the government should have done something. Maybe it should. Maybe the bin Ladens should have been sent to Guantanamo Bay. But that's a matter of opinion, not fact. In the old days liberals respected this little distinction; it was less confusing.

Now I'm going to commit heresy. Many of his facts are like this: they strangely evaporate on closer inspection (take a look at www. spinsanity.org - there's Bush-baiting too). He himself, backed into a corner over 'Columbine', has said that a humorist doesn't need to be factually accurate. Yet people undoubtedly take him seriously. A genius - fantastic - a new Voltaire! What is going on here? The trick seems to be to tell people what they want to hear, hammer it home with a ton of innuendo, and if you can persuade them they're being independent-minded so much the better. This may be showbiz but it isn't liberalism in any sense that Adlai Stevenson would have recognized. To be liberal you don't need to let your brains fall out. In fact you shouldn't. Personally I find it embarrassing, but a surprising number of readers think it's marvelous.

There are those who think the civilized world is under attack from Dark Age Islamo-fascism. Mr Moore knows the truth, and the fans chant after him:

"THERE ... IS ... NO ... TERRORIST ... THREAT!"

- or if there is, it was got up by the Bush junta, the big corporations, the right-wing media, plain and fancy 'them'; anybody, in fact, except terrorists. One serial reviewer tells us that CNN was responsible. Whoever it was, they fooled the not-so-right-wing BBC and many others into taking it seriously. Maybe Kenya, New York, Bali and Madrid swung it. But back to the oracle:

"Even in the tragic year 2001, your chance as an American of dying in an act of terrorism in this country was 1 in 100,000. You had a greater chance of dying from the flu or pneumonia ... from taking your own life ... from being a homicide victim, or riding in a car."

Let me point out the logic of this. Each year about 4 million Americans die. Only a tiny fraction of them are killed by the Cosa Nostra. This organization is not crazy. Why then does the US waste resources fighting organized crime? How - to borrow a clincher from the book - do you combat an abstract noun? If you can't answer that, as we are given to understand Mr Moore can't, stop now and hit the Not Helpful button.

I could go on but I don't want to comment on domestic American issues, except to say that you're the richest nation the world has ever seen and your new Voltaire is bitching about the wrong kind of tax cuts. We should be so downtrodden. It's possible there's a grain of wheat in all this chaff - I wouldn't entirely rule it out - but if it's wheat you're after, go to genuine dirt-farmers like Woodward and Hersh. Okay, this is the funny pages and we're sophisticated people, no harm done. It's the ones who think it's 'fantastic' that bother me. They're right about that; but look the word up.

Rating:
Summary: Dude, What A Book!!
Review: This man is fantastic. He just shows and tells things the way they are. He doesn't PUSH anything down your throat, but gives you an objective view on issues through his honesty.
A great read, you'll finish this one in hours, due to how interesting it is.
Buy it, as well as his other book and documenteries.

Rating:
Summary: Nurturing America or Dude Where's my Clipper?
Review: If our nation had a gardner, it would be Michael Moore. He prunes the Bushes and Shrubs and seldom hedges on his commentary. He prunes the forest of disinformation with perspicacity and wit while while planting a few seeds of change.

The first few chapters of this book alone are worth the purchase price. The research and detail are worthy of an academic researcher. This book is timely and necessary to the health of the nation and, perhaps, the world.

I admit to being a fan of Michael Moore's books and movies. However, I delight in finding errors in polemical works such as his. I have found very few and all were insignificant.

I recommend this book to anyone who is in anguish over the paucity of factual, timely, and proportional reporting in the commercial so called "fair and balanced" press.

Rating:
Summary: Michael Moore: the voice of reason and common sense
Review: I am a liberal Democrat. I adore the Kennedys and loathe the Bushes. I believe in reproductive rights, affirmative action, education reform, despise Fox news, a huge fan of Al Franken, and I totally support same-sex marriage (not "civil unions"--MARRIAGE). This book from Michael Moore is a dream come true. He's bright and articulate and always tells it like it is. There isn't a hateful bone in his body. You must buy this book. It will only make you smarter.

Rating:
Summary: Completely Biased
Review: It is very frustrating for me to hear people speak of Michael Moore as an authentic and objective producer of documentary films and books. I have never heard anyone more unobjective, biased, and so afraid writing any truth that is contrary to his opinion or the opinions of the Democratic party. It is obvious he is trying to self-promote himself as a player in the Democratic party. What is sad is that so many people take his word without question.