Michael Moore rips the rich and praises a 'hero' librarian

By Linda Grace-Kobas

Michael Moore came to Ithaca April 3 riding high on his status as a best-selling author and populist hero. And he seemed to conquer the town, speaking before some 1,500 people at the State Theatre downtown and then to a packed-solid audience of 900 in Statler Auditorium.

Author/filmmaker Michael Moore discusses President George W. Bush during his appearance at the State Theatre, April 3. He followed that with a similar show and a book-signing at Statler Auditorium. Thomas Hoebbel

Still scruffy after all his success, he regaled the Cornell crowd with the tale of his struggle to have his recent book, Stupid White Men, released by its publisher, and used its extraordinary success -- it's been No. 1 on The New York Times' nonfiction best-seller list for weeks -- as proof that Americans are hungry for his brand of leftist politics.

He wrote the book, he said, because "I've been pretty pissed off by the election and everything that's happened since then." The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks delayed its release. As weeks and then months went by, he engaged in an ongoing debate with his publisher over whether the book would be released, unless he "toned down" his dissent and changed the title and content. When his alternate title -- Bring Me the Head of Antonin Scalia -- and refusal to change his commentary were not acceptable to the publisher, he was told the book would be pulped.

The book finally was released for sale, he said, because of the efforts of an unlikely hero -- a librarian who went to one of his speeches, during which he described his plight. She posted a message in an Internet librarian chat room, from which it was forwarded on to librarian listservs, and soon Moore's story became a widely publicized First Amendment issue. The publisher caved. And was rewarded for it. Stupid White Men is now in its 15th printing and "selling at a faster pace than Harry Potter," Moore said, adding, "Thank God for the Internet, this egalitarian device that lets us speak to each other without the filters. Our problem now is to get the Internet into the hands of people who have no money."

Moore's message resonated with the audience, which applauded remarks like:

• "[Bush] is not the president. ... If you just count the ballots, Gore wins."

• "A lot of people who go to this school will go on as adults to screw the working people of America. That's the function of a place like this."

• "The rich made off like bandits in the '90s. ... There is no recession. ... This is about a 10-year period that was the largest boom in American history. Now there's a dip. ... [Corporations and the rich] are trying to protect the gluttonous wealth they accumulated in the '90s. ... These bastards have no respect. They use the dead [of Sept. 11] to lie to Americans."

• "Ask any [Canadian] if they'd trade their health plan for your shitty HMO card. ... We look like idiots to the rest of the world."

• "On issues, Americans are very liberal, but they don't vote for Democrats because they know Democrats don't have the courage of their convictions. The Democrats are wimps."

• "I admire the right wingers ... they don't waver from what they believe in ... they wake up at the crack of dawn figuring out how to screw the poor."

Moore urged the audience to get involved in the political process and fight for change. "All great changes occurred because a few people decided to do something," he said. "[My] book would not have been published had it not been for some unknown librarian willing to raise a ruckus."

He described a contentious strike in his hometown of Flint, Mich., in 1936, which helped launch the labor movement. "The middle class was invented just 60 years ago by your grandparents. They stood up for themselves, and were willing to take a risk. ... Then we all got lazy ... and they started to take it away from us," he said.

After Moore's presentation, which included showing clips from his new movie that takes aim at America's gun culture, some audience members made critical remarks about his $10,000 speaking fee. Moore heatedly rebutted the criticism, saying he gave money to causes he believed in, and that the rich were angry because "I'm moving into your neighborhood."

Graduate student Janis Whitlock said of Moore's presentation, "He really says it like it is -- a little crude and simplistic sometimes, but his message is important and I'm glad he's out there for the left. The fact that his book is selling so well is important."

Moore's appearance at Cornell was sponsored by the Student Association Finance Commission, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell Organization for Labor Action and a number of other campus organizations and units.