Moorelies.com is retired, and I don’t intend for this space to inherit its subject matter. That said, in checking Instapundit today, I noticed my old mark, Michael Moore, is in trouble again:
A double-amputee Iraq-war vet is suing Michael Moore for $85 million, claiming the portly peacenik recycled an old interview and used it out of context to make him appear anti-war in “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, who strongly supports America’s invasion of Iraq, said he never agreed to be in the 2004 movie, which trashes President Bush.
Geez, just when you think a movie could not be more discredited, along comes one of the people who appeared in it to slam the preverbial door even further. Of course, this isn’t the first time Sgt. Damon has complained about the shameful way he was treated by Moore. In the documentary FahrenHYPE 9/11 (disclosure: which I appear in, briefly), Damon first stated that he was taken completely out of context in Moore’s film. So while these aren’t new claims, they do come after over a year of apparent but unsuccessful efforts by Damon to get Moore to admit his wrongs.
One of the little known facts about Moore’s films- one that he would prefer be kept under wraps- is that he does not personally collect all of the footage that ultimately appear in his films. Far from it; in fact- some is gathered by producers, but even more is culled from vast stock video libraries and editied as it is seen fit by Moore. In Sgt. Damon’s case, Moore obtained the rights to some footage from the NBC News archives, cut it down to fit his argument, and stuck it in. The act can only be described as a lazy, cheap, and thoroughly dishonest attempt to pull one over on viewers. Can you imagine being so afraid of your own positions that you would go to such lengths to advance them?
This isn’t the first time Moore has been sued, for that matter. As Dave Hardy and I wrote in our book, Moore was successfully sued by a former friend who won over $4 million dollars from the filmmaker in a 1993 judgement. The lawsuit stemmed from Moore’s 1986 film Roger & Me, and can you guess what it revolved around? That’s right! The friend successfully sued Moore for taking his words out of context and using them against him on film.
Of course, the fact that this time around the treachery involves a solider injured in battle just makes it all the more disgusting.
UPDATE: Dave Hardy has more.
Is it possible for your site to remain up as a reference point? It was a great source and it’s a shame to lose it.