Ed Koch: Shame on Michael Moore for comparing Middle Eastern fascists to freedom’s Minutemen

Ed Koch, the Democratic former mayor of New York City, takes “Fahrenheit 9-11” director Michael Moore to task for using unfair accusations and unfounded conspiracy theories to weaken the United States in its war with totalitarians.

Koch says, considering Moore’s sympathy toward genocidal fascists and suicidal fanatics, Moore probably would have denounced America’s participation in World War II.

Koch notes that, in an interview with a Japanese reporter, Moore said, “The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘The Enemy.’ They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow — and they will win.”

So that’s Moore’s vision: Fascism is liberty. The liberators are oppressors. Ansar al-Islam is the Minutemen. The Iraqis liked their fascism. They could fly kites under Saddam. The Americans have ruined everything.

Michael Moore champions the ideology of repression. Shame on him.

Frank Warner

SEE ALSO: Hitchens: Michael Moore’s ‘Fahrenheit 9-11’ relies on the big lie.

SEE ALSO: In Michael Moore's face: Bill O’Reilly forgets WMDs weren’t only justification for Iraq’s liberation.

SEE ALSO: In Bill O’Reilly’s face: Michael Moore falsely argues that popular uprisings can end totalitarianism.

SEE ALSO: Like a fascist, Michael Moore asks Bill O’Reilly: ‘You would sacrifice your child to secure Fallujah?’.

Comments

[jj]

I've always liked Ed Koch and I agree with what he says here. But I will tell you that Michael Moore was pretty likeable on his recent TV interview, and convincing too (was it 60 minutes?).

It seemed to me that he did admit to being a polemicist rather than a documentarian. He seems to feel that the ends justify the means. He thinks the underlying truth in a situation can be elicited through theme simplification, like rewriting a novel into a screenplay. Things get shaded and turned around in time, but only to better represent the "Truth". He sees himself as a stand-in for the working class schmo who can't understand why things happen they way they do. So he doesn't really want you to get picky about the details, since he's basically just asking questions that the schmo would like to ask.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it. He's got the magic though, whatever it is.

[Jarel]

I have always liked Ed Koch, although there are many who don't. I have always respected his opinions and views, and I would sway his way a majority of the time. However, I saw the Farenheit 911 movie, and it was extremely convincing. The most convincing feature of it is that he didn't use an actor to portray President Bush. He used actual footage of the President of our nation, and his conduct is really unbecoming of someone in his position. George Bush is a war-monger. He is on a serious power-trip, and he is hell-bent on policing the world. If he serves another 4 years as President, our country will be in an alarming state. Guiliani's speech seems to try to convince us that we need a "war president" in office, but that is a fallacy. We have domestic problems that need to be fixed before we can focus primarily on fixing everything internationally.

[jj]

If somebody filmed your life and used actual footage of you, I'll bet they could make you look like a saint or a psychopath, depending on their choice of footage. Context is very important. The President is the one of the most filmed and photographed people in the world. He also speaks almost continuously. You could wrap his words and images to say almost anything you like.

The war is one of the few good things Bush has done, but it has primary importance to me. And Ed Koch is right on target about that too. John Kerry is going to have to persuade the Ed Kochs of the country if he wants to be elected.

[g stomberg]

'the war is one of the good things bush has done'? wow, good for who? bush destroyed this country and lost millions of jobs and we live under constant terror alerts. good for who? lockheed martin?

[jj]

The war with Iraq was inevitable. Containment was a joke. Bush did the right thing by going in early before Saddam could regain his power base. Bush has certainly screwed up the average person in this country with his tax cuts for the wealthy, his energy policies, his environmental policies and his limp support for free trade.

Maybe Bush could have done a better job with the post-war environment than he did. I'm not sure. I personally believe that, no matter how he bellows about it today, Gore would have done basically the same things at every step along the way. Clinton has already said that he would have. The difference is that Gore wouldn't have been afraid to finance it properly and the economy would be in better shape.

I'm not sure, however, whether Kerry would have done the necessary things. He seems to see everything through the lens of Vietnam, and I suspect he would see Iraq as a war of choice, which it is not.

[g stomberg]

do you know how they elect the new pope? the priest who molested the least amount of children gets to be pope, or, bush declares himself the pope and refuses to count the cardinals votes.

[jj mollo]

I'm sorry you haven't got a job yet Stomberg. Have you considered working for Lockheed-Martin? Haliburton is also hiring. Can you speak Arabic?