I watched Fahrenheit 451 on Tubi and my big takeaway was being reminded that George W. Bush was just as stupid and devious as Donald Trump.
I just can't join in to this annual orgy of "comemmoration" because it's bogus. One of the better blogs on Substack is Foreign Exchanges, and Derek Davison posted an excellent piece I highly recommend. Here is a small excerpt:
"So we’ve spent 18 years and counting lashing out at perceived enemies both at home and abroad, and the toll has been, to say the least, appalling. Our thirst for vengeance has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people over the past 18 years, multiple times the number who were killed in the 9/11 attacks. Do we care? I believe some of us do, but I suspect most of us don’t. Certainly the people who performatively take to social media every year on the anniversary of 9/11 to recount Where They Were and How They Felt on that day (you know who they are) believe that nothing that’s happened since 9/11 could possibly be as horrifying as what they experienced. Which means that, on some level, they believe the lives we’ve taken around the world since then were hundreds of times less valuable, less worthy, than the lives we lost at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."
Of course, we've been manipulated into that old fear and outrage again in these past several weeks, and it culminated into the usual self pity and "why, why, why" that politicians and the media feed and use to justify our never getting past being pissed off and getting to an understanding of the part we've been playing all over the world, of supporting corrupt autocrats with horrific human rights violations, of siding unquestioningly with Israel, of scheming to take control of oil and money all over the world. We're going to do it again unless we change our ways.
Thanks for the brilliance that you continue to send to me and that I pass along to my grandchildren!
Michael, I fear for your life. You are a very dangerous man to many who despise the truth...please continue to do what you do, take care of yourself and let others watch out for your safety and help your message get out into the world.
If you can think of anything (In addition to my financial support) that a heathy, enthusiastic, passionate 84 year old bubbie can do, don't hesitate to contact me!
Thanks for sharing this. Your tone in this piece brings me back to more accurate memories of the time. Seeing Bush's smirking face in Fahrenheit 9/11 reminded me who he really is, not the guy that was "at least not as bad as Trump". Yes, I remember now.
I attended the 1972 Olympics in Munich, not as a competitor, but as the guest of a German who I had met and been pen pals with throughout high school. I had been a competitive springboard diver and swimmer so the idea of attending the Olympics in any capacity was a dream come true. We stayed at my friend’s brother’s apartment in Munich that was essentially across the street from the Olympic Village. We awoke one morning to the site of heavily armed soldiers and tanks in the streets. Did East Germany invade? Were we suddenly in the midst of a war zone? Scary stuff. We spent the day listening to the radio with my friend translating for me. At dusk, we watched the helicopters take off for the airport. We could clearly see all the athletes, blindfolded with hands cuffed behind their backs, looking truly terrified. The terrorists sat across from them, stone faced, guns pointed at the athletes. It’s an image permanently seared into every cell of my brain. My first thought was “They’re all dead.” My second thought was “There but for the grace of God go I.” We were listening to a German reporter live from the airport when all hell broke loose. No translation was needed for the sound of gunfire and screaming.
Years later my ex-husband and I bought our wedding rings in the World Trade Center. I worked just a couple blocks away and used to walk over to the WTC on my lunch hour to buy same day tickets for Broadway shows at a greatly reduced price. Every morning on my way to work the first thing I saw coming up out of the subway were the twin towers, eventually coming to inspire me with their soaring elegance the same way that Pike’s Peak used to elevate my spirit when I lived in its shadow.
All these experiences are greatly personal to me, and yet, I have somehow managed to never buy into the BS pooped out to us by our nation’s most ardent warmongers. Terrorism sucks, no doubt about it, but our nation has unfortunately been more perpetrator than victim.
An eye for an eye just leaves the whole world blind.
Thank you Michael for this Fahrenheit 911 movie night on Friday. However, it made me feel physically ill as it progressed. I watched the "elites" shaking hands, making deals, laughing it up across the globe (USA to Saudi Arabia) and it started to dawn on me that 911 could have been "in the works" for awhile. It sure didn't take long for Congress to pass the Patriot Act!!!
The people in the "seats of power" would be my first choice of Persons of Interest in any investigation of 911 and the subsequent 20- year shake-up of American Democracy. While it might be natural for everyday humans to seek dominance over others it takes an extraordinarily depraved human to be willing to sacrifice the life and liberty of thousands of people, at once to stay on top. Anybody else feeling sick?
Thank you for replaying Fahrenheit 9/11. It was chilling to watch and it was good to be reminded about all the things I had learned from it 20 years ago that the intervening time has made me forget. I’ve been enjoying being a member of your Substack. How can young people get more involved in the work that you are doing? Do you have internships?
Thank you Michael as I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 again last evening, it reminded me how much I loathe the Bush dynasty. I have ranted for years, as have you, that the Saudis were those responsible and why were we invading and killing innocent people who had nothing to do with that horrible disaster and the loss of lives here. Please continue to report truth, as there is so little to be found in the news reports today. Stay safe!
It always feel right to mourn the loss of life, whether accidental, intentional or for any other reason. What doesn't feel right is not to honor all of those who our country has labeled as collateral damage, when revenging our own losses.
Michael, I watched your magnificent movie for the umpteenth time from South Africa. It was around 3am when it started, and after it ended, I watched your wonderful guests. You are heaven sent, and bloody brave. I love and admire so much about the States, but have to admit, the greed, willful ignorance and lies by the Right is making us all a bit crazy at the moment. We lived through the Apartheid years here, and so much of the Nationalistic fervor takes me back to a terrible past. Unfortunately many of our own Right Wing LOVE what’s happening in America. Will we never learn? Anyway, Michael, there’s you, and there’s me and there are countless others who choose humanity, and reject the lies, greed and utter selfishness. We cannot give up. With gratitude and enormous respect,
Michael you’re like that scene from the Wizard of Oz when the curtain is pulled back and the banality of the wizard is revealed; I can’t help but think that the techniques of deception which are used on us are so easily forgotten unless we go back to review what happens during these momentous periods of history; I couldn’t help but think of the similarities of the techniques that George W. Bush used and say Donald Trump used. I think it’s important that we review events and I think your films and your writings or an important part of that review process. And by the way what’s so bad about peace and love?
Thank you for sharing your work. You answered my question about the musical direction without my asking. I am amazed at people who can take music and weave their own ideas into the published works of other musicians. I’m interested to see how Endeavour on PBS will be scored this season. Their long time musical director,Barrington Phelong has died. I remember watching an episode with a friend in Midland. During the opening credits they made use of Un Bel Di from Puccini’s Butterfly. I turned to her and said…..”murder mystery with a suicide” ? She said “how do you know that”? “It’s in the music”. Your attention to the details are spot on but it takes more than one viewing to catch everything. I look forward to what comes next.
Thank you, thank you, Michael for sharing. One of my friends lost her husband in the second tower. I live in Colorado, so we spent hours on the phone after the horror and shock. She has never recovered emotionally.
Your reflections help all of us old enough to remember just how horrifically that day began and for those not yet born or too young to be aware it will serve as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of our world. Anything can happen and does many times because of the greed and arrogance of people in our country as well as others. Your interview on ABC tied together so well the fact that we still have not learned the lessons of peace. Until we bring our military home from those 800 posts in other countries, stop funding the military more than we do the services and people in the USA and vote the warmongers out of office, we are complicit in the bloodshed here and abroad. Thanks, Michael. You are a jewel that just keeps shining!
I watched Fahrenheit 451 on Tubi and my big takeaway was being reminded that George W. Bush was just as stupid and devious as Donald Trump.
I just can't join in to this annual orgy of "comemmoration" because it's bogus. One of the better blogs on Substack is Foreign Exchanges, and Derek Davison posted an excellent piece I highly recommend. Here is a small excerpt:
"So we’ve spent 18 years and counting lashing out at perceived enemies both at home and abroad, and the toll has been, to say the least, appalling. Our thirst for vengeance has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people over the past 18 years, multiple times the number who were killed in the 9/11 attacks. Do we care? I believe some of us do, but I suspect most of us don’t. Certainly the people who performatively take to social media every year on the anniversary of 9/11 to recount Where They Were and How They Felt on that day (you know who they are) believe that nothing that’s happened since 9/11 could possibly be as horrifying as what they experienced. Which means that, on some level, they believe the lives we’ve taken around the world since then were hundreds of times less valuable, less worthy, than the lives we lost at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."
Of course, we've been manipulated into that old fear and outrage again in these past several weeks, and it culminated into the usual self pity and "why, why, why" that politicians and the media feed and use to justify our never getting past being pissed off and getting to an understanding of the part we've been playing all over the world, of supporting corrupt autocrats with horrific human rights violations, of siding unquestioningly with Israel, of scheming to take control of oil and money all over the world. We're going to do it again unless we change our ways.
Mr Moore, Your humanity and refusal to give up, are a commendable and humbling example to us all … Thank you.
Thank you for reminding the world of the truth of that day. You are the real truth teller of our times!
Susan Borodemos
Thanks for the brilliance that you continue to send to me and that I pass along to my grandchildren!
Michael, I fear for your life. You are a very dangerous man to many who despise the truth...please continue to do what you do, take care of yourself and let others watch out for your safety and help your message get out into the world.
If you can think of anything (In addition to my financial support) that a heathy, enthusiastic, passionate 84 year old bubbie can do, don't hesitate to contact me!
Barbara Sarah....... barbarasarah18@gmail.com
Thanks for sharing this. Your tone in this piece brings me back to more accurate memories of the time. Seeing Bush's smirking face in Fahrenheit 9/11 reminded me who he really is, not the guy that was "at least not as bad as Trump". Yes, I remember now.
I attended the 1972 Olympics in Munich, not as a competitor, but as the guest of a German who I had met and been pen pals with throughout high school. I had been a competitive springboard diver and swimmer so the idea of attending the Olympics in any capacity was a dream come true. We stayed at my friend’s brother’s apartment in Munich that was essentially across the street from the Olympic Village. We awoke one morning to the site of heavily armed soldiers and tanks in the streets. Did East Germany invade? Were we suddenly in the midst of a war zone? Scary stuff. We spent the day listening to the radio with my friend translating for me. At dusk, we watched the helicopters take off for the airport. We could clearly see all the athletes, blindfolded with hands cuffed behind their backs, looking truly terrified. The terrorists sat across from them, stone faced, guns pointed at the athletes. It’s an image permanently seared into every cell of my brain. My first thought was “They’re all dead.” My second thought was “There but for the grace of God go I.” We were listening to a German reporter live from the airport when all hell broke loose. No translation was needed for the sound of gunfire and screaming.
Years later my ex-husband and I bought our wedding rings in the World Trade Center. I worked just a couple blocks away and used to walk over to the WTC on my lunch hour to buy same day tickets for Broadway shows at a greatly reduced price. Every morning on my way to work the first thing I saw coming up out of the subway were the twin towers, eventually coming to inspire me with their soaring elegance the same way that Pike’s Peak used to elevate my spirit when I lived in its shadow.
All these experiences are greatly personal to me, and yet, I have somehow managed to never buy into the BS pooped out to us by our nation’s most ardent warmongers. Terrorism sucks, no doubt about it, but our nation has unfortunately been more perpetrator than victim.
An eye for an eye just leaves the whole world blind.
Thank you Michael for this Fahrenheit 911 movie night on Friday. However, it made me feel physically ill as it progressed. I watched the "elites" shaking hands, making deals, laughing it up across the globe (USA to Saudi Arabia) and it started to dawn on me that 911 could have been "in the works" for awhile. It sure didn't take long for Congress to pass the Patriot Act!!!
The people in the "seats of power" would be my first choice of Persons of Interest in any investigation of 911 and the subsequent 20- year shake-up of American Democracy. While it might be natural for everyday humans to seek dominance over others it takes an extraordinarily depraved human to be willing to sacrifice the life and liberty of thousands of people, at once to stay on top. Anybody else feeling sick?
Thank you for replaying Fahrenheit 9/11. It was chilling to watch and it was good to be reminded about all the things I had learned from it 20 years ago that the intervening time has made me forget. I’ve been enjoying being a member of your Substack. How can young people get more involved in the work that you are doing? Do you have internships?
Thank you Michael as I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 again last evening, it reminded me how much I loathe the Bush dynasty. I have ranted for years, as have you, that the Saudis were those responsible and why were we invading and killing innocent people who had nothing to do with that horrible disaster and the loss of lives here. Please continue to report truth, as there is so little to be found in the news reports today. Stay safe!
It always feel right to mourn the loss of life, whether accidental, intentional or for any other reason. What doesn't feel right is not to honor all of those who our country has labeled as collateral damage, when revenging our own losses.
Michael, I watched your magnificent movie for the umpteenth time from South Africa. It was around 3am when it started, and after it ended, I watched your wonderful guests. You are heaven sent, and bloody brave. I love and admire so much about the States, but have to admit, the greed, willful ignorance and lies by the Right is making us all a bit crazy at the moment. We lived through the Apartheid years here, and so much of the Nationalistic fervor takes me back to a terrible past. Unfortunately many of our own Right Wing LOVE what’s happening in America. Will we never learn? Anyway, Michael, there’s you, and there’s me and there are countless others who choose humanity, and reject the lies, greed and utter selfishness. We cannot give up. With gratitude and enormous respect,
Annie Macmillan
Michael you’re like that scene from the Wizard of Oz when the curtain is pulled back and the banality of the wizard is revealed; I can’t help but think that the techniques of deception which are used on us are so easily forgotten unless we go back to review what happens during these momentous periods of history; I couldn’t help but think of the similarities of the techniques that George W. Bush used and say Donald Trump used. I think it’s important that we review events and I think your films and your writings or an important part of that review process. And by the way what’s so bad about peace and love?
Hello Michael Moore:
Your movie and these phrases of George Orwell complement each other:
- "The War is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous."
- "War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it."
the war in Irak was a tragic excuse for profits.
The US needs to focus on the real problems at home and stop invading poor countries.
Thank you Michael for the work you do.
Thank you for sharing your work. You answered my question about the musical direction without my asking. I am amazed at people who can take music and weave their own ideas into the published works of other musicians. I’m interested to see how Endeavour on PBS will be scored this season. Their long time musical director,Barrington Phelong has died. I remember watching an episode with a friend in Midland. During the opening credits they made use of Un Bel Di from Puccini’s Butterfly. I turned to her and said…..”murder mystery with a suicide” ? She said “how do you know that”? “It’s in the music”. Your attention to the details are spot on but it takes more than one viewing to catch everything. I look forward to what comes next.
Thank you, thank you, Michael for sharing. One of my friends lost her husband in the second tower. I live in Colorado, so we spent hours on the phone after the horror and shock. She has never recovered emotionally.
Your reflections help all of us old enough to remember just how horrifically that day began and for those not yet born or too young to be aware it will serve as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of our world. Anything can happen and does many times because of the greed and arrogance of people in our country as well as others. Your interview on ABC tied together so well the fact that we still have not learned the lessons of peace. Until we bring our military home from those 800 posts in other countries, stop funding the military more than we do the services and people in the USA and vote the warmongers out of office, we are complicit in the bloodshed here and abroad. Thanks, Michael. You are a jewel that just keeps shining!