Propaganda?

Agreed. I see a few people on these boards just label it propaganda and leave it at that. It does not go nearly as far as it could on bashing the current administration. Yeah it claims they lied to get us into the Iraq war (which they did, they have all the video clips you need within the movie to prove that) but it does not address how poorly our plans for securing the region were and still are. Cheney is a war profiteer as are several other members of the administration and I do not think it is propaganda to explore how they operate. They have several conservative commentators in the film who refute the harshest issues such as Cheneys contract deals.

I think of propaganda when i watch the FOX News Network, which has conservative commentators reporting opinion and not facts. They offer no rebuttal almost all the time (Oreilys talking points for example). When they do bring on people who argue against their case they are usually limp wristed pansies who could not argue themselves out of a plastic bag, so of course the domineering pundits have their way with them and 90% of the time come out on top, looking better and winning the argument.

If you don't think this movie is leftist propaganda, you just weren't paying attention.

Everybody has a right to their opinion - that is one of the things that makes this country great. But the people who put together this documentary do not think this country is great - they think that the USA and our corporations are the root of all evil in the world. They drill it over and over and over and over again, while throwing in a few short comments by some more conservative commentators and government officials to try and show "balance". Please.

If you like Michael Moore and that ilk, you will like this film. If you are a moderate to conservative American that thinks capitalism is a good thing, this movie will get your dander up.

Why is it that those who brand this movie as leftist propaganda never have anything intelligent to say? Seriously. It's ridiculously obvious that these people do not think for themselves. They probably just copy and paste their whole "This is propaganda" rant on every documentary that does not put American foreign policies in a favorable light.

You people need to put down your flags because it's seriously covering your eyes. For once trying thinking as a citizen of Earth and not just as a citizen of the United States. Step outside of your patriotic bubble and look at the actions of your government as a neutral observer. This documentary isn't meant to convince you of one thing or another. It simply shows you 30% (maybe less) of the military conflicts the US has been in since post WWII. Are you that idiotic to think these are respectable actions of a great nation? That all of these conflicts are justified (and serving American interests isn't complete justification). Your negligence is how evil people get away with evil things. How else do you think governments of a democratic nation get away with heinous actions? Their citizens are too busy being "patriotic" while neglecting their democratic duty in keeping their representatives honest. It's reasons why true patriots like Daniel Ellsberg gets no recognition, even though he revealed what little regard the government had for it's own people and solders. This is America people.

Governments not giving a *beep* about it's citizens or soldiers is nothing new so when you hear about it on a documentary don't close your eyes, plug your ears and scream "leftist propaganda".

I couldn't agree more. I'm especially wondering how people can argue that this is liberal propaganda when the film has such a high opinion of (Republican) Eisenhower.

I just want my kids back!

More like Leftist agitprop than just simple propaganda......unwatchable

Lots of people talking about Michale Moore like he made this film, what a bunch of mindwashed idiot conservatives.

He is not anti consumerism, he is simply against the awful actions certain corporations carry out againt their own workers. You have to admit, consumerism and corporations are not perfect, and Moore makes though provoking, to the point documentaries about the flaws in the system.

Anyone against Michale Moore is a brainless automotan. Go and actually see his movies before you post. If you have seen them all and think he is some kind of propaganda czar, you are beyond redemption.

Most people who label this film and others like it as propaganda are in denial and refuse to do the research. We have been told how great America is and how our military has been fighting for our freedoms. The reality is exposed by this film that every war after the revolution were fought for monetary reasons and gain of the elites. The war of 1812 could be an exception, however, that war was fought over several other things other than trade restrictions, which came to be the main reason. As a result of this the Americans declared war on Britain. I recently read an article on the War of 1812. The article's content is supported by many other writings.Our patriotism has been exploited by the world's elites! This should in no way desecrate the service of the men who fought.

I urge people to read the writings of Smedley Butler's, the highest decorated Marine,War is a Racket!

Here is the opening of that article and a wikipedia entry follows;

The Hard Truth About the War of 1812

With the 200 year anniversary of the War of 1812 only 6 years off, it is time for America to face up to its shame. We have been denying it for years, even Nicholas Plagman in his article War of 1812: A Humorous Look at US History (Part 5): Return of the Brits, fails to make mention of the fact. And that fact is that we, the almighty and all powerful United States of America, lost a war to Canada.

For those of us living in the 21st century, it is hard to see the draw that the early Americans had towards Canada. We see it for what it is: a bleak, depressing, horrible frozen wasteland, completely unsuitable for life. Imagine Buffalo times infinity.

But in those early years of our nation, Canada was seen as a land of milk, honey and beaver pelts. And if there was one thing Americans needed, it was more land. And while the west was just barely beginning to be settled, the United States was looking for land wherever they could get it.

Our first attempts to invade Canada came during the American Revolution, during the battle that you never learned about in history class, the Battle of Quebec. A rather poor attempt by the Revolutionaries to take Quebec, it has been quietly forgotten in most American history texts. One would have thought we would have learned our lesson, but Americans have never been particularly strong in history.


From Wikipedia;

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire.[nb 2] The Americans declared war in 1812 for a number of reasons, including trade restrictions, impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of American Indian tribes against American expansion, and the humiliation of American honor. Until 1814, the British Empire adopted a defensive strategy, repelling multiple American invasions of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. However, the Americans won control of Lake Erie in 1813, seized parts of western Ontario, and destroyed the power of Britain's Indian allies both in Canada and in the Southwest. With the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, the British adopted a more aggressive strategy, sending in large combat armies. British victory at the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 allowed the British to capture and burn Washington, D.C. American victories in September 1814 and January 1815 repulsed British invasions of New York and New Orleans.

> It practically proclaims Eisenhower (republican) a prophet and demonizes Truman (democrat), saying he dropped the atomic bombs to show off.

If you believe the latter part about Truman then you are an ignorant twit with no valid opinion from the get-go.

And if this film states that, then, yes, it is anti-American propaganda at best.

The true fact of the dropping of The Bomb on Japan is that, more likely than not, it has led to the survival of mankind. By creating graphic images of what this weapon was fully capable of in its nascent form -- much less the more powerful form it became within less than a decade -- it scared the bejezus out of The Rich And Powerful who do, in many cases, make the decision to Go To War -- the ones on both sides.

In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, Harlan Ellison noted that the atomic bomb has a unique history -- other than that single solitary usage @ Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it, unlike any other weapon in the history of mankind, has not been used again in war for (then) fifty (now sixty-five) years. Because, as a simple fact, for the first time since kings stopped leading their armies into battle, the Decision to Go To War threatened those who made that decision just as thoroughly as those who prosecuted the war. So the Rich and Powerful had as much, or even more, to lose than the common man.

Absent these very grave images of the power of this weapon, a foolish aristocracy on BOTH sides (and yes, even America has one) might easily have believed in the notion of a winnable atomic war.

Instead, no one did, with the result of zero uses of the weapon for (now) more than sixty-five years, and little chance of such usage outside the hands of rogue terrorists and/or insane nations like those driven by fanatical Islam.

The fact is that the use of the weapon saved lives -- Directly, in that both Japanese and American lives, millions of them, lost to either a blockade or an invasion were averted -- and also led to a Free Japan, rather than a segmented East/West one like besmirched Europe for forty years, as Russian assistance wasn't needed to force the surrender... And indirectly, for the reasons described above.

The reasons for using the weapon were many and widespread in their basis. The reasons for not doing so were few and based far more in modern notions of "Can't We All Just Live Together?"