Never one to shy away from controversy or the hot-button issues of the day, Michael Moore has jumped into fundraising for the mosque/Muslim community center to be built two blocks away from Ground Zero -- an issue inflaming passions and protests on opposite ends of the globe, mainly in the Middle East and at the proposed site in New York.
The news of Michael's fundraising efforts first appeared in my inbox, followed by his piece on HuffPost. In typical Moore style, he lays out the history of collusion by liberals and the so-called liberal media in promoting the WMD fabrication, along with the aid of Dems in the Senate, including "liberals" Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and John Kerry. It's news to me that Michael considers Hillary and Chuck liberals, when nothing could be further from the truth.
He goes on to rightfully mention those early voices sounding the alarm that the fix was in: Seymour Hersh, Tim Robbins, Jeanine Garofalo, Mr. Moore himself, as well as Phil Donahue, who lost his TV show over his strong anti-war positions. And then there was Colin Powell at the UN, talking about WMD's and scaring the stuffing out of all of us, with the liberal media aiding and abetting the hoax, at the top of the list the New York Times. Of course, liberals weren't the only ones trumpeting the march to war.
Michael has raised $60,000 online from his supporters for the mosque, at the same time suggesting our president download Fahrenheit 9/11 from the studio that made a half-billion dollars on the film -- at least the prez could view the film for free.
I am going to suggest that what is actually needed at that very sensitive location near Ground Zero is an interfaith community center that would bring together all religions in a place where learning, talking, healing and playing together could take place. Imagine lectures from religious leaders representing all of the faiths, sharing a historical perspective on their religions with question and answer sessions -- healthy dialogue instead of inflammatory rhetoric and ignorant diatribes. Special focus could be made on youth outreach to enlighten our young people at the age when attitudes and prejudices are ingrained. A real community center, to open minds and hearts and foster understanding and tolerance for those differences that makes up our American fabric -- imagine what a win-win that could be for our president.
Michael, while doing important, good works, misses no opportunity to promote himself, yet occasionally he misses the mark in his documentaries or when he appears on TV promoting his films. In Sicko, for example, at the film's end, Michael is seen walking up the steps to the Capitol carrying a basket of laundry. That made no sense and still sticks in my craw -- a pointless foray out to left field when he should have ended the film with a bold, declarative statement like, "There is only one solution to our health care crisis, and that is the passage of H.R. 676, the bill for IMPROVED MEDICARE FOR ALL, delivered by a single payer."
He did not take that clearly, obvious high road, but ended with a cutesy, irrelevant piece of "film making" that only served to anger many of his liberal base of followers, including me.