(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Michael Moore claims that it is the "case" that is at the center, and not himself, but also on "Dude, Where's My Country" Moore has chosen to decorate the book cover with a picture of himself. In the English version we can see a smiling Moore with clenched fists facing a slightly anxious George W. Bush. The American edition also features Moore's smiling face on the front, this time with a chain over his back that pulls down a Saddam Hussein – like statue of George W. Bush.
His new book "Dude, Where's My Country" was released in the US and UK this week. The British newspaper The Guardian has brought longer excerpts from the book, and for those who should be in doubt – the witch hunt against George W. Bush continues.
The success story of Moore
Excerpts from The Guardian print this week show that Catholic, activist and comedian Michael Moore still masters the art of exaggeration. The book kicks in east and west, but the writing position is securely anchored on the rabid left. How it will be received is still uncertain, because Moore's position in the US and Europe after the giant success "Stupid White Men" is not as it once was. Moore can claim outsider status as much as he wants, but "Stupid White Men" was the United States 'best-selling non-fiction book in 2002, and the United States' second best-selling book after JK Rowling's "Harry Potter". As a result, dollar millionaire Michael Moore is today America's favorite dissident. He is "Chomsky for children", as one sarcastic critic put it.
In the US he is often regarded as a hysterically funny satirist, but in Europe he is just as often taken for being a serious documentary maker, as was produced in the UK last year when "Stupid White Men" was named book of the year.
Moore himself does a lot to play on both strings. If we are to believe the French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville, this is a long American tradition. In the early 1800th century, he wrote an entire chapter entitled "Why American Writers and Speakers Are Often So Bombastic." Moore's fiercest book opponent in the US at the moment is Ann Coulter. Her book is called "Treason and Slander" and is, among other things, a defense for the communist hunt in the 1950s.
Who did it?
In advance, Moore has received a lot of attention because he proclaimed that the book would prove that George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden were better friends than they both have expressed. The chapter is reproduced by The Guardian.
Moore reveals little that has not come to light before, namely that the bin Laden family had financial interests in the United States and Texas – a place where the Bush clan also had financial interests. On the other hand, Moore doubts that Osama bin Laden was behind the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, because bin Laden was in a cave in Afghanistan at the time. On the other hand, the attack could very well have been controlled and organized by the Saudi authorities. "Why are you so concerned about protecting the Saudis when you should be protecting us?" asks Michael Moore.
But – to make the confusion complete: Osama bin Laden should not be called a terrorist because he is first and foremost a multi-billionaire. Therefore, US authorities should call for multi-billionaires after 11/XNUMX, not Arab terrorists – even though the attack was carried out by the Saudi authorities.
Oprah for President
In another chapter, "Face it, you'll never be rich," he equally asks Americans to give up the American dream – the opportunity to climb from poverty to wealth – because modern American companies do not allow the average American to do so anyway. (with the exception of Moore himself?). In a third chapter, Moore gives advice on how to convert Republicans in the family. The first piece of advice is: “Admit that the left has made a mistake. Oh, it's tough ”.
Then he comes up with other pieces of advice on what kind of concessions to make to his Republican brother-in-law, such as "Nixon was more liberal than the last five presidents", before arguing why environmental measures, the trade union movement and clean water and air will not lead to increased taxes, but on the contrary give the Republican more money in his wallet.
While this probably belongs in the category "humor", Michael Moore is according to himself far more serious when he proposes talk show star and book club queen Oprah Winfey as presidential candidate for next year's election. She is, after all, "one of us who has somehow made it" (the American dream, again).
Michael Moore is undoubtedly funny when he is dead serious.
