Oh, sorry — my mistake; it’s actually called Stupid White Men. Funny how an author who wrote a book Stupid Black Men (not as an ironic title) would be rightly reviled, while when he writes Stupid White Men, we hear barely a peep? In any case, the author’s documentary also apparently includes fiction mixed in with the fact. (Warning: I have not personally checked the assertions on that page, but I’ve found David Hardy, and others who have made similar claims, to be quite trustworthy; here’s a similar page on Stupid White Men.) And the author has also apparently slammed the very military campaign that is one of the key items on the presidential candidate’s resume. Slate reports on this third item:
[Wesley] Clark embraced [Michael] Moore’s support, calling the best-selling author a “fantastic leader.” In the press release, Clark’s campaign lauded — in the first line no less — the “Academy Award winning director,” whom the general himself described as an “enormous talent.” For his part, Moore promised to do everything he could to help get Clark elected.
Moore hasn’t always been so taken with Clark, at least if his Oscar-winning film Bowling for Columbine is to be taken at face value. Indeed, the documentary repeatedly slams the shining moment in Clark’s career: stopping Serb aggression in Kosovo, the highlight of his tenure as NATO supreme allied commander. In fact, Moore suggests that the bombing tactics employed by NATO—and thus Clark—were in part to blame for the massacre at Columbine.
An intriguing theory, to say the least. Moore starts the case against Clark in the opening monologue of the film. “It was the morning of April 20th, 1999,” our narrator intones. “And it was pretty much like any other morning in America. The farmer did his chores. The milkman made his deliveries. The president bombed another country whose name we couldn’t pronounce.”
Actually, as any Clark supporter will tell you, the general can pronounce “former Yugoslavia” quite well. It’s no secret Clark’s role in the conflict is one his campaign stresses. On Clark’s official Web site, author David Halberstam is quoted on Kosovo: “On the military side, the dominant figure had been Wes Clark.”
Back in America, Moore finishes off the narration: “And out in Littleton, Colorado, two boys went bowling at 6 in the morning.”
Thirty minutes later, Moore trots out exhibit B. For this, the director turns to primary-source documents: news footage from April 20, 1999. A montage begins: We see TV clips of helicopters, bomb targeting systems, and structural damage. “Largest one day bombing by U.S. in Kosovo War,” reads the subtitle.
Cue voice of heavily accented reporter: “22 NATO missiles fell on the village of [inaudible name] … deadly cargo was dropped on the residential part of the village.”
Cut to Bill Clinton: “We’re striking hard at Serbia’s machinery of repression while making a deliberate effort to minimize harm to innocent people.”
Cue reporter’s voice, more carnage: “On the hit list were [a] local hospital and primary school.”
Another subtitle reads: “One hour later.”
Back to Clinton: “We all know there’s been a terrible shooting at a high school in Littleton, Colorado. …”
The connection is clear—the Columbine shooting coincided with the Kosovo bombing, violent acts that happened on the same date. One was committed at the hands of two disturbed teenagers, the other on the orders of Wesley Clark. . . .
Moore anticipated criticism of his pick. In his endorsement letter, he headed off attacks from readers who might be inclined to e-mail comments like “Mike! He voted for Reagan! He bombed Kosovo.” Moore assures them that Clark is now staunchly “anti-war.” (Forget the 30-year Army veteran’s authorship of Winning Modern War and Waging Modern War.)
Read the Slate piece for more on Bowling for Columbine — though the article is limited to the view-about-Kosovo question, and doesn’t address the factual criticisms of Bowling, or the little Stupid White Men matter.
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