Month: March 2003

Michael Moore booed as he slams Iraq war at Oscars

Famed US documentary maker Michael Moore used his win of an Oscar to launch a violent attack on US President George W. Bush and war in Iraq amid loud boos from the audience.

“We live in fictitious times,” he said when picking up the award for best documentary for his anti-gun film “Bowling for Columbine.”

“We live in a time with fictitious election results that elect fictitious presidents. We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons.

“We are against this war Mr Bush. Shame on you. Shame on you!,” he said to loud boos from an audience of 3,500 including most of Hollywood’s top stars.

Actually, he was initially cheered with his protest and then the boos began, but it seemed half and half, really. Oh well, if you didn’t expect this you obviously don’t know who Michael Moore is.

1441 MORE: Michael Moore criticizes U.S. war in Iraq in Oscar speech

A standing ovation and a handful of jeers from Hollywood’s elite greeted filmmaker Michael Moore when he criticized President Bush and the U.S.-led war in Iraq during his acceptance speech Sunday after winning the documentary feature Oscar for “Bowling for Columbine.”

“We live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man who’s sending us to war for fictitious reasons, whether it’s the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts,” Moore said.

Applause gave way to some boos, as the orchestra began to play the filmmaker off the stage.

“We are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame on you,” Moore shouted, surrounded onstage by his fellow nominees in a show of solidarity.

“It was so sweet backstage, the teamsters are helping Michael Moore into the trunk of his limo,” host Steve Martin joked later.

Here’s his acceptance speech.

My, people are jumping to conclusions. A Muslum American soldier is being held and questioned in yesterday’s attack on officers of the 101st Airborne. Some folks are already saying this is part of a larger plot. Nevermind that CNN reported that the man was said to have been reprimanded for insubordination recently. Military criminal investigators said the suspect was recently reprimanded for insubordination and was told he would stay behind when his unit left camp for Iraq, Time reporter Jim Lacey said. That certainly didn’t play a role.

Look, war is hell, people, and sometimes soldiers snap. I would be surprized if this was anything more than just a soldier under a hell of a lot of stress and pressure snapping and taking it out on his officers. The same officers who told him he would not be going into battle. Can you imagine being sent to the Gulf for months, training, working, sweating, laboring only to be told that you will be left behind? Hell, imagine being in the 101st Airborne Division and told that! SNAP!

I’m not even going to address the bigotry behind some comments.