Random Michael Moore Deceits [#28]

Peter Damon [from Fahrenheit 9/11]

Moore does not stop to let us judge his distorted claims, but rather brings back Rep. McDermott to say, “They say they’re not gonna leave any veteran behind, but they’re leaving all kinds of veterans behind,” without explaining what he has in mind. Rather than explain, Moore cuts to a scene at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, to give the impression that the veterans there have been “left behind.” He shows soldiers saying that not enough attention has been paid to the injured by the public and the press—which certainly seems a valid point—and he shows an interview with a soldier who has lost parts of both arms speaking about his therapy and recuperation. This interview, as it turns out, was done by NBC and aired on an NBC News program. Moore reused the footage without asking the consent of the soldier being shown, Army reservist Peter Damon. Damon and his wife were surprised to learn that the footage appeared in the film, and a family friend told a Boston newspaper, “I was shocked. I would have expected if Peter was in the movie that someone would have at least talked to him about it, which I thought was kind of unfair. … I think for Michael Moore to portray Peter in there without any knowledge is terrible” (http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2004/07/15/news/news/news02.txt). Moore then shows several other recovering injured soldiers, including one who says he used to be a Republican but now, “I’m gonna definitely do my best to insure that the Democrats win control.” Moore offers no context for these soldiers’ remarks, and no further evidence that the injured have been “forgotten.” Counter-evidence, of course, abounds. (Moore might, for instance, have told this story: http://www.techcentralstation.com/071504C.html, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/images/20040414-7_a5bu9736-677v

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Major Gregory Stone and Reservist Peter Damon

Exploitation and Invasion of Privacy

The family of U.S. Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone was shocked to learn that video footage of the major's Arlington National Cemetery burial was included by Michael Moore in his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Maj. Stone was killed in March 2003 by a grenade that officials said was thrown into his tent by Sgt. Hasan K. Akbar, who is on trial for murder.
"It's been a big shock, and we are not very happy about it, to say the least," Kandi Gallagher, Maj. Stone's aunt and family spokeswoman, tells Washington Times reporter Audrey Hudson.
"We are furious that Greg was in that casket and cannot defend himself, and my sister, Greg's mother, is just beside herself," Miss Gallagher said. "She is furious. She called him a 'maggot that eats off the dead.'"
The movie, described by critics as political propaganda during an election year, shows video footage of the funeral and Maj. Stone's fiancee, Tammie Eslinger, kissing her hand and placing it on his coffin.
The family does not know how Mr. Moore obtained the video, and Miss Gallagher said they did not give permission and are considering legal recourse.
She described her nephew as a "totally conservative Republican" and said he would have found the film to be "putrid."
"I'm sure he would have some choice words for Michael Moore," she said. "Michael Moore would have a hard time asking our family for a glass of water if he were thirsty."

John McCaslin, "Inside the Beltway," Washington Times, July 13, 2004. Sgt. Stone was killed by an American Muslim soldier, who threw a grenade in his tent while he was sleeping.

Fahrenheit shows an interview in Walter Reed Army Medical Center with Massachusetts National Guardsman Peter Damon. Damon lost parts of both his arms in Iraq, and is learning how to use prosthetic arms. The footage comes from an interview Damon granted to NBC Nightly News. Damon's wife says that he never granted Moore permission to use the footage, was never asked, and strongly objects to being used in the film. As of July 15, it is not clear whether Moore's usage of the footage was illegal. But it hardly seems ethical for a film-maker who dedicates his film to the soldiers in Iraq to put a double-amputee veteran into the film without even bothering to ask for permission. Damon complained, "The whole movie makes soldiers look like a bunch of idiots...I'm not a child. We sent ourselves over there...It was all our own doing. I don't appreciate him calling us children...."I agree with the President 100%. A lot of the guys down at Walter Reed feel the same way.""

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