Something I put together about Moore, good email to send out

According to the New York Times, Moore's agent says embattled Disney chief Michael Eisner feared the documentary could endanger the company's tax breaks in Florida, where Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor.


When I call America a fascist nation, I’m not kidding one bit, nor am I exaggerating. When corporations control government and the media, we find ourselves further away from anything resembling freedom and democracy. Fascism is, essentially, the union of state and corporate power. Blocking Moore’s film is not the only censorship happening these days. The White House does not want you to see our soldiers coming back in caskets, Sinclair Broadcast Group prevented you from viewing a segment on Nighline honoring the fallen troops last week, and this week staffers at a US based Iraq newspaper have left because American overseers had threatened their future editorial independence.

This is not a liberal VS conservative issue (this is what they want you to believe), this is about our constitutional rights. I urge you to call Disney at the numbers below, that is, if you care.

-Mike


Disney Forbidding Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush
The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax division from distributing a new documentary by Michael Moore that harshly criticizes President Bush, executives at both Disney and Miramax said Tuesday.
The executives said that Disney had forbidden Miramax to distribute the film, "Fahrenheit 911," which links Mr. Bush and prominent Saudis - including the family of Osama bin Laden - and criticizes Mr. Bush's actions before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Mr. Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel, said that Michael D. Eisner, Disney's chief executive, asked him last spring to pull out of the deal with Miramax. Mr. Emanuel said Mr. Eisner expressed particular concern that it would anger Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures there.

"Michael Eisner asked me not to sell this movie to Harvey Weinstein; that doesn't mean I listened to him," Mr. Emanuel said. "He definitely indicated there were tax incentives he was getting for the Disney corporation and that's why he didn't want me to sell it to Miramax. He didn't want a Disney company involved."

"It's not in the interest of any major corporation to be dragged into a highly charged partisan political battle," this executive said.
Mr. Moore, who will present the film at the Cannes film festival this month, criticized Disney's decision in an interview on Tuesday, saying, "At some point the question has to be asked, `Should this be happening in a free and open society where the monied interests essentially call the shots regarding the information that the public is allowed to see?' "

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/national/05DISN.html?ex=1084334400&en=89983012bdce5ec0&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE


Response from Moore:
Friends,

I would have hoped by now that I would be able to put my work out to the public without having to experience the profound censorship obstacles I often seem to encounter.
Yesterday I was told that Disney, the studio that owns Miramax, has officially decided to prohibit our producer, Miramax, from distributing my new film, "Fahrenheit 911." The reason? According to today's (May 5) New York Times, it might "endanger" millions of dollars of tax breaks Disney receives from the state of Florida because the film will "anger" the Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. The story is on page one of the Times (Disney Forbidding Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush).

The whole story behind this (and other attempts) to kill our movie will be told in more detail as the days and weeks go on. For nearly a year, this struggle has been a lesson in just how difficult it is in this country to create a piece of art that might upset those in charge (well, OK, sorry -- it WILL upset them...big time. Did I mention it's a comedy?). All I can say is, thank God for Harvey Weinstein and Miramax who have stood by me during the entire production of this movie.

There is much more to tell, but right now I am in the lab working on the print to take to the Cannes Film Festival next week (we have been chosen as one of the 18 films in competition). I will tell you this: Some people may be afraid of this movie because of what it will show. But there's nothing they can do about it now because it's done, it's awesome, and if I have anything to say about it, you'll see it this summer -- because, after all, it is a free country.

Yours,

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com


TAKE ACTION
Disney Decides What You Should See
In yet another case of corporate media censorship, executives at Disney have decided not to distribute filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary entitled, "Fahrenheit 911".  Moore's new film is highly critical of the financial ties between the Bush family and the Saudi royal family as well as the action taken by the government in secretly evacuating relatives of Osama bin Laden out of the country immediately after the attacks on September 11.

Published reports indicate that although the movie is ready for release, Miramax studios have been told by parent company Disney that it has decided to ban distribution of the film.

Why?  According to one Disney executive, "It's not in the interest of any major corporation to be dragged into a highly charged partisan political battle".

Last week, it was Sinclair Broadcasting gagging Ted Koppel, by pre-empting Nightline's tribute to the Iraq war dead on its ABC affiliates, claiming that the program was partisan.  Now Disney bans distribution of a politically charged film.  Are we going further and further down the road where corporations determine all that people should see?

The more that media is concentrated in the hands of a few huge corporate owners, the more likely we'll see this type of corporate censorship.  One of the bedrocks of democracy is the freedom to express all ideas, no matter how controversial.  When ideas are suppressed, our freedoms are diluted.  Think of how outraged we'd be if the local library cleared its shelves of all controversial books.

Is Michael Moore's film good, bad, or indifferent?  Will it offend some people?  Probably.  But how will the public ever know?  How can the public decide the merits when a handful of corporate executives decide for us?

Tell Disney what you think about this latest move to blindfold you.
Contact the Walt Disney Company at:
(818) 560-1000.
Tell them you would like the office of Chief Executive Michael Eisner.

Also call:

Robert Iger
Chief Operating Officer
The Walt Disney Company
Phone: (818) 560-1000

Louis Meisinger
Executive Vice President
The Walt Disney Company
Phone: (818) 560-1000

If the line is busy, call a Disney store near you. The salespeople aren't responsible for this decision, but ask them to pass your concerns on to the manager. To find the Disney store nearest you, click here http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=498&AD3=32940&sPaMw=e .

Or Write a Letter to the Editor of Your Local Paper:
http://causenet.commoncause.org/afr/dbq/media/

Finally, if you own any Disney stock, call:

Wendy Webb, Investor Relations
The Walt Disney Company
Phone: (818) 560-5758


More Censorship:
Staffers quit at U.S.-backed Iraq paper
Many of the editors and reporters at al-Sabah newspaper, a U.S.-funded publication that occupation officials have called a model for journalism in the Middle East, walked out this week and said Tuesday that they would launch their own paper. American overseers had threatened their future editorial independence, they alleged.

"We thought that the Americans were here to create a free media," Ismael Zayer, who had been editor-in-chief, said in an interview. "Instead, we were being suffocated."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4901254/

This will backfire on them. Like Sinclair Broadcasting, they will come out of it looking like fools.

All this publicity will ensure that the film wins an award at Cannes, which it was likely to do anyway. Now the film will be HUGE!

Fuck the fascists! They are pissed because they can see their dreams of world domination slipping away, as chimpy fucks up everything he touches.

Heh, heh!

has the right to bestow or withdraw favors based upon his personal whim? Where are the people of Florida? Do they approve of his usurping this privilege? It is not only Disney that is crossing the line on this issue, it is also the BFEE. Make some noise, Floridians!