For the well informed-- was there anything in F9/11 you didn't know about?

[theoceansnerves]

i think the only thing i really didn't know about going into it was the relationship between unocal and the puppet we installed in afghanistan, and i also didn't really know what a sham that whole "war" really was.

awesome film, btw.

[Systematic Chaos]

1. I didn't know about the black caucus

Nor did I know about all of the connections between * and the Saudis. I was aware of a lot of that but it really hit home just how much they've got their noses up each others' asses when I saw that part of the film.

[mzmolly]

45. Remember these were the Democrats who stood up! Don't ever

let anyone tell you *there is no difference* again.

I still get pissed off at the Senate for not supporting them! :grr:

[armymom]

2. Help us consolidate some reviews, please!

I'm new to this site, but have been a "fixture" over on the Kerry and Clark blogs. I posted here earlier today after my husband & I had seen the movie, but it seems like all of the threads here are scattered. Over at the Clark blog, we have a topic where many dems are posting reviews of F/911. Please come post your reviews of the movie and read what many of us have said about the movie - if you don't have a Clark login, you can still post - please put your blog name from DU on your post so we recognize you. We are posting reviews at http://armymom.forclark.com/story/2004/6/25/171113/799 and suspect that MM will be seeing them, as he too was a Clarkie! Please pass this info along so we Dems can unite in support of our soldiers and in opposition to Bush and his assinine war!

Thank you! Armymom, a veteran and mom of 1st Cav soldier currently in Baghdad.

FWIW, my review of the movie is:
As many of you know, my husband and I are both Army veterans - and our oldest son, David, is an infantry soldier with the 1st Cav in Baghdad. Photos from Iraq online at http://tinyurl.com/2qalg

We just got home from seeing Farenheit 9/11, and it was an emotionally draining experience for us. It was a very well-done movie. Some of the Saudi-Bush stuff was a bit over the top, I thought, and there were some gory scenes of both civilian and military casualties, as well as a few vignettes that did not portay soldiers in a good light, but in toto, I felt like the movie was favorable to soldiers and their families. I wish that Moore hadn't included a few soldiers reveling in killing Iraqis and speaking in a dehumanizing way, but there were so many scenes and interviews with soldiers that depict things that our son has described to us, as well as many similar sentiments about the mission at present.

We went to a 130 p.m. showing in the Huntersville/Lake Norman, NC, area, which is fairly Republican. Not only was the theatre nearly sold out, there was an amazing cross-section of viewers - teens, middle aged, many elderly (a surprise to me), African Americans, grunge kids, college kids, you name it. There was much applause, laughter, and a few shouts at Bush throguhout the movie. At the end of the movie, a lady stood up and announced that she was handing out voter registration cards - and there were many takers, most of whom were young and/or African American.

There were several segments of the movie where we both covered or closed our eyes because it was hard not to imagine our son in place of the injured or dead soldiers depicted. It is for that very reason that I think everyone should see this film, because so many people don't have a clue what is really occurring in Iraq on a daily basis and how abandoned and betrayed many of our soldiers feel.

I know that our son will likely see this movie in Iraq this weekend, as pirated DVD's are available as soon as movies appear in theatres here. Ironically, we are apprehensive about David seeing it because of the political buffoonery it shows and the further demoralization that seeing the portayal of the Bush Administration in this light could cause.

We give the movie 4 thumbs up. Everyone should see this movie so that they can see the reality of the occupation of Iraq.

[Eloriel]

7. Re demoralization

I dunno -- the truth can be pretty liberating too, can't it?

In any case, welcome to DU!

[Geo55]

10. Thankyou....

May your son return to your warm embrace soon.

[mzmolly]

46. This should have it's own thread, thank you for sharing your story.

And thanks to you and your family for your service to our country. I am so sorry about the way in which your family and others have been used/abused by this administration. :hug:

[armymom]

3. Help us consolidate reviews in one place, please!

I'm new to this site, but have been a "fixture" over on the Kerry and Clark blogs. I posted here earlier today after my husband & I had seen the movie, but it seems like all of the threads here are scattered. Over at the Clark blog, we have a topic where many dems are posting reviews of F/911. Please come post your reviews of the movie and read what many of us have said about the movie - if you don't have a Clark login, you can still post - please put your blog name from DU on your post so we recognize you. We are posting reviews at http://armymom.forclark.com/story/2004/6/25/171113/799 and suspect that MM will be seeing them, as he too was a Clarkie! Please pass this info along so we Dems can unite in support of our soldiers and in opposition to Bush and his assinine war!

Thank you! Armymom, a veteran and mom of 1st Cav soldier currently in Baghdad.

FWIW, my review of the movie is:
As many of you know, my husband and I are both Army veterans - and our oldest son, David, is an infantry soldier with the 1st Cav in Baghdad. Photos from Iraq online at http://tinyurl.com/2qalg

We just got home from seeing Farenheit 9/11, and it was an emotionally draining experience for us. It was a very well-done movie. Some of the Saudi-Bush stuff was a bit over the top, I thought, and there were some gory scenes of both civilian and military casualties, as well as a few vignettes that did not portay soldiers in a good light, but in toto, I felt like the movie was favorable to soldiers and their families. I wish that Moore hadn't included a few soldiers reveling in killing Iraqis and speaking in a dehumanizing way, but there were so many scenes and interviews with soldiers that depict things that our son has described to us, as well as many similar sentiments about the mission at present.

We went to a 130 p.m. showing in the Huntersville/Lake Norman, NC, area, which is fairly Republican. Not only was the theatre nearly sold out, there was an amazing cross-section of viewers - teens, middle aged, many elderly (a surprise to me), African Americans, grunge kids, college kids, you name it. There was much applause, laughter, and a few shouts at Bush throguhout the movie. At the end of the movie, a lady stood up and announced that she was handing out voter registration cards - and there were many takers, most of whom were young and/or African American.

There were several segments of the movie where we both covered or closed our eyes because it was hard not to imagine our son in place of the injured or dead soldiers depicted. It is for that very reason that I think everyone should see this film, because so many people don't have a clue what is really occurring in Iraq on a daily basis and how abandoned and betrayed many of our soldiers feel.

I know that our son will likely see this movie in Iraq this weekend, as pirated DVD's are available as soon as movies appear in theatres here. Ironically, we are apprehensive about David seeing it because of the political buffoonery it shows and the further demoralization that seeing the portayal of the Bush Administration in this light could cause.

We give the movie 4 thumbs up. Everyone should see this movie so that they can see the reality of the occupation of Iraq.

[FloridaPat]

4. I didn't know about the Black caucus either. Knew about most

of the rest of the stuff. Didn't know the Saudi's owned so much of the country. The fact about how few soldiers we had in Afghanistan I found out from Pravda. Sad isn't it?

[tridim]

5. I didn't know that he had to go in thought the back door

at the inauguration and I didn't know there were that many protesters there. I think I was in denial after SCOTUS told the voters to go fuck themselves in 2000. Did the media ever show that at the time?

[xxqqqzme]

9. the black caucus thing was

breakin' my heart. U could feel the tension in the theatre. What was the backroom deal that kept all those dem voices silenced? What was promised? what was delivered? And one of those 'missing' senators is gonna B the Democratic nominee?

I had NO idea there were that many protestors - that knocked me out. Did anyone ever see numbers 4 them? It seemed like a multitude. I had no idea so many were out in the streets that day.

[no name no slogan]

18. That was gutwrenching

I can't believe that NONE of our Senators had the balls to stand up to the Repukes. NOT A ONE. Where was Wellstone? Where was Boxer? Where was Feingold?

I didn't expect much out of Daschle (as he's useless anything but bootlicking Republicans), but I was very disappointed that no progressive Senators stepped to the plate on this.

:(

[Eric J in MN]

20. right. I probably heard something about that at the time, but

right. I probably heard something about that at the time, but I didn't realize that that the Congressional Black Caucus was held up by lack of support from even one Senator.

[Carolina]

25. No, the media conspired to hide the truth

from the outset. On Bush's 'installation' day, I talked to my sister who was there and she told me that she was amazed at how many people turned out in the cold rain to protest and how wonderful it all was.

NONE of it, however, was ever shown on TV! And from then on wherever Bush went, the first amendment zones were erected to keep protestors out of site and out of mind.

[tridim]

27. I thought so

It's hard to imagine that lots of this crazy stuff happened BDU (Before DU). I know I wasn't nearly as well informed in 2000 as I am today.

The lack of protest coverage at the Bush coronation is a big deal because it's been assumed in the past (even on DU) that hardly anyone got mad after the SCOTUS decision in 2000. It gets brought up in nearly every thread about how we'll react if BBV happens in 04.

[Skittles]

31. there was one paragraph in the NYT

one paragraph out of a huge, long inauguration article. They conspired from the start.

[Skittles]

32. xx

xx

[Neecy]

6. same here

I also didn't know about the Unocal puppet in Afghanistan, and I also didn't know just who 'protects' the Saudi embassy in DC. To me, that was one of the more shocking parts of the film.

[monchie]

8. I also didn't know about the Afghan leader's Unocal connection...

...but the fact that blew my mind was that we only sent 11,000 troops to Afghanistan in the first place, less of a force than NYPD.

[Hekate]

11. Not one single solitary US Senator stepped up to support the Black Caucus

I felt nauseated. If I knew about it before I must have suppressed it because it is just so shameful. Watching Al Gore -- he must have felt like he was presiding over his own hanging.

The audience applauded Maxine Waters (this is California). I recognized Patsy Mink of Hawaii who I used to vote for (Japanese American; she's since passed away). Anyhow, there's a sense that we know these people even if we're not in their district because so many of them spend their public lives working for the betterment of humanity. And here they were trying to get the Senate to do the right thing by the people of the United States, and just being shut out.

It was probably in some small article in the newspaper, but I don't think I ever saw the footage before tonight. The great numbers of protesters in Washington DC for the Inauguration -- I didn't know that either. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Hekate

[in_cog_ni_to]

24. Our audience applauded Maxine Waters too

and a HUGE applause at the end of the film. It was great!

[Stephanie]

12. I felt like I knew almost all of it already

I didn't know that Bush's Harken lawyer wound up as Saudi ambassador. I didn't know about the lack of state troopers in Oregon although I wasn't surprised. But all of the BushCO history I knew - nothing was a surprise and nothing was new, which is why I THANK Michael Moore for putting what is common knowledge, on the internet, into the mainstream via the movie house. THANK YOU Michael Moore! It was just awesome!

[Eric J in MN]

15. Right, I didn't know about the Harken/Sauid ambassador thing, either nt

nt

[Eric J in MN]

13. The Hamid Karzaio connection to Unocol, and also more about

The Hamid Karzaio connection to Unocol, and also more about James Bath.

I'd seen the name James Bath before, but hadn't seen him presented as a go-between for George W. and the Saudis.

[Stephanie]

22. You must have taken a day off from DU. More about James Bath:

Where in the World is James R. Bath?

[bpilgrim]

14. no

thank gore he 'invented' the internet ;->

and he left a LOT out on 911 like ANTHRAX, WTC7, SOP, but eh, he only had 2 hours :evilgrin:

psst... pass the word :bounce:

peace

[tridim]

26. It'd be killer if he did a director's cut for the DVD

but there's probably not enough time before October.

[Sweetpea]

16. I didn't know that Wolfowitz had unmanageable hair.

[Stephanie]

23. So disgusting.

Is there anything else you really need to know about the man?

[Nevernose]

28. The only thing worse than his spit-comb

Was when his aide then slicked back Wolfie's hair for him, using his bare hands.

How'd you like to have THAT guy's job? Poor bastard deserves a medal or something...

[ShaneGR]

17. I didn't know about the blacked out part of Bush's Military record

I knew a part had been blacked out, but I didn't know it was a name and I didn't know that person was a friend of Bush's AND had business connections to the Bin Laden family.

Seriously, what are the odds that two men, friends, would be suspended for not showing up to a medical checkup, and be so friggin powerful with such dirty connections?

[DoveTurnedHawk]

21. I Didn't Know That Either

I think I knew about everything else.

DTH

[in_cog_ni_to]

19. I didn't know

that the African American Representatives had gone before the Senate with their statements. They only needed ONE F***ING SENATOR to sign their statements on the disenfranchisement of the African American voters who were purged from the rolls. NOT ONE F***ing Senator had the balls to sign on to help them. :grr: MAN, that pisses me off! I knew the Reps had tried to get help with the purged voters but, I didn't know the facts as Moore presented them. SHAMEFUL!!!! SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on the Senate!!!!

The movie was just awesome!

on edit...I also didn't know that the ENTIRE STATE OF OREGON HAS ONLY 7 POLICE OFFICERS and ONLY ONE!!!!!! TO PATROL THE BORDER! I knew Homeland Security was grossly underfunded but, my G-D! ONE police officer for the entire Oregon border???? Unbelievable. :grr:

[Wink]

29. Saw 9/11 tonight ++++great++++

Took my wife and boy was she impressed that everything I've been telling her about the Bushinistas was in the movie. I recommended it to my neighbors and all the friends I could telephone. Moore is fucking great (even though he screwed us with his endorsement of Nader).

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

30. I had never seen the CSPAN coverage of the

representatives trying to get a senator to sign off after the "election" stuff. That was incredibly horribly sad.

[TrogL]

33. A few things

• Britney Spears support for war (and chewing gum)
  
• I thought it was just a few Bin Ladens not over a hundred were flown out on Sept 13th
  

[cmf]

34. Like the others I had no clue about the Congressional Black Caucus

I felt sick when I saw it. This film made me hate Bush even more than I did, but at the same time, I feel really pessimistic about the future with Kerry as president. He was one of the chicken senators who didn't stand up for what was right.

[Nay]

35. Does anyone know WHY not even one senator would sign the

CBC paper? Do we have a clue as to what happened with that? I bet you could make a whole movie about just that scene. Did the Dem senators cut a deal? Were they threatened in some horrible way? What the hell happened? And was the same type of threat directed at Gore, making him decide not to get pushy about counting votes in Florida?

There is so much more to this story. Can someone point me to some info to start unraveling this?

[OKNancy]

36. Hunt for bugs

all the serious stuff I already knew. For some reason the biggest laugh I got was the part where it shows Bush on vacation in Crawford and he talks about what he does....and says dig and hunt for bugs. I'd never seen that clip. He looked and sounded so dopey. It was funny to me.

[anarchy1999]

37. No. Sorry.

Wait, I was truly not aware of the opposition and the number of people protesting the Supreme Court decision installing Bush. That segment was very upsetting to me. I think that I knew it happened, but at that moment in time I was truly in a a state of "shock and awe" saying out loud, oh no, this isn't really happening.

I'm still thinking it all through, I want to go see it again. But I think the opening and the theft in 2000 or the selection, how ever you choose to word it, that piece in the film hurt me the most.

What is that song....

Bye, Bye Miss American Pie....?

[bklyncowgirl]

38. It pulled alot of things I'd forgotten about or hadn't heard together

The Congressional Black Caucus--and the fainthearted Democratic Senators.

Protests in the streets at the inauguration.

Unical and the Afgan pipeline

The Bush administration's rather cozy relationship with the Taliban

This was a great job. Sometimes you have to see it to really understand it.

[TruthIsAll]

39. I knew it all - cause I got my news at DU

TIA

[Senior citizen]

40. I didn't know Iraq was such a vibrant country

before we invaded. The scenes of pre-war Iraq really tore me up.

I didn't know about the protest of the Bush inaugural--that must have been blacked out of the "liberal" media.

I didn't know about Bath.

I didn't know about the Secret Service protection for the Saudis, that they owned 7% of this country, or that if they pulled their money out of our banks our economy would totally collapse.

I didn't know the extent to which Bush had gone to avoid capturing Osama Bin Laden.

But I'm fairly new to DU, so I guess that's why I'm so ignorant. I did know about the CBC protest of the Florida vote because I'd watched it on C-Span when it happened. And I knew about most of the rest of the stuff in the film. I knew enough to print out some 911visibility.org flyers to take with me and pass out to other film-goers. And I knew enough to stand by the people with signs when the security guards tried to move them. I knew enough to switch my voter registration from Green to Democrat, and to contribute more than I could really afford to give to the Kerry campaign. So I'm not TOTALLY ignorant. Thanks to DU I knew enough to buy my advance ticket to F9/11 online before they sold out, and I know enough to keep trying to find out what else I don't know yet. I'm sure there's more.

[Stephanie]

41. Kisses!

Great post!

:yourock:

[LTR]

42. I'm going to see it tomorrow

But I've seen the trailers for it, and I was mortified when I heard John Asscroft singing. I knew he sang, but I didn't know he was so creepy.

Most unsettling thing I ever saw.

[Renew Deal]

43. Taliban in Texas.

I forgot about that one. That's stunning. "You must be real trouble for your husband."

[mainer]

44. For the record -- Patsy Mink is not African American!

A lot of you may think that only African American Congressmen/women protested in that first scene. But one of the women protesting was Patsy Mink from Hawaii. An Asian woman!