Moore says stand up to Bush
By Lateefa Morehouse, The Oracle
Using his humor and sarcasm to convey messages on a subject that is everything but humorous, Michael Moore said his goal is to get American people to vote President George W. Bush out of office.
Moore's visit to the USF Sun Dome on Sunday was part of his 60-city swing-state tour. Calling it his "Slacker Uprising Tour," Moore was making an effort to get millions of traditional non-voters to vote on Nov. 2. Moore's goal is to see that over 56 percent of eligible voters participate in this election, which has not happened since 1968.
"We should all be in church today. That's where we'll need to be if we get four more years of Bush," Moore said.
Even though he does not think Kerry is the best candidate for office, he urges people to vote for Kerry just to get Bush out of office.
Moore said Ralph Nader, the Reform Party nominee, is the only candidate that is right on the issues. Although Moore supports him, he said Nader "is a diversion and should not run."
"His own party does not want him to run. The people's stakes are too high," he said.
Admitting that he is a good friend of Nader, Moore said, "It feels good to vote for Nader, but we have to put our feelings aside for the greater good."
Nader is struggling to get on the presidential candidate ballot in states across the nation. In 2000, when he ran as the Green Party nominee, Nader took thousands of Florida votes, causing many to say he cost Democratic nominee Al Gore the election.
In attempts to get Bush out of office, the Green Party and many others do not want him to run for fear he may take votes away from Kerry.
When Moore spotted two girls holding Nader posters leaving, he yelled "Don't go. Find a seat." The girls were hesitant to stay when Moore said, "Stay, we're all in this together," stopping the girls from leaving the building. "Don't disown him; just join us in removing George W. Bush."
During his speech, laced with jokes about Bush and Republicans, he mainly touched on points conveying why people who normally don't vote should. Moore explained that women, the young and the disenfranchised do not vote. He said these groups of people make up the 50 percent of eligible voters who don't vote.
"I know a lot of young people don't vote, that's why we're here," Moore said. The number one concern for college students if Bush is re-elected, Moore said, is the potential implementation of a military draft.
Moore also said that college students should beware of Bush because his administration will cut financial aid.
"Money for college loans and assistance has been cut back and de-funded by the federal government," he said. "College loans are a form of indentured servitude," which is another reason why Moore said it is urgent for young people to vote Bush out of office.
Earlier this year, Moore sparked controversy in his hotly debated political film Fahrenheit 9/11. The documentary attacked Bush's response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Iraq. The documentary has been an unprecedented event in American popular culture. In the first three weeks of its showing it grossed $100 million. Although it seems to have polarized viewers in different directions, it may be a potential factor in the presidential race.
In response to the controversy surrounding the validity of the documentary, Moore will be releasing the Official Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader. It will present extensive documentation backing up all the facts in the film, Bush and Iraq; viewers' letters to Moore; and photographs and cartoon editorials inspired by the documentary. The screenplay lays out the entire film and singles out all of the controversial claims made in the film's narration. It pairs them with annotated source material, including excerpts that show exactly where he got his information.
Moore said his voting advocacy and attack on Bush are his way of "preaching to a choir," the choir being those 50 percent who don't vote.
"Its like I'm preaching to the choir, a choir that is asleep, and I'm trying to wake them up."