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6 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, July 7,2004 THEY SAID IT Thomas Jefferson: “Whenever a CONTACT li S man has cast a longing eye on offices, a E-mail us at gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu rottenness begins in his conduct. ” Movie. Review M ore from Moore FAHRENHEIT 9/11 Four out of five stars BY MEGAN TREACY THE GAMECOCK Michael Moore has the ability to elicit strong reactions from both sides of an issue, as well as people’s opinion of Moore himself. That’s what inevitably makes him a great documentary filmmaker, and “Fahrenheit 9/11” showcases his ca pability with the camera. While his previous films have re volved around examining one great question but never answering it, like his search for why America has so many gun-related deaths each year in “Bowling for Columbine,” “Fahrenheit 9/11” is Moore’s vehi cle to deliver his answer to some questions: Why did 9/11 happen? Why did we go to war with Iraq? The answer according to Moore is the incompetence of one man: President George W. Bush. The movie begins with the 2000 election and Moore breaking down all the connections Bush had in Florida that led to his eventual inauguration, right down to the person who called in Bush’s Florida win to Fox News. Moore goes on to show how the president was on vacation 42 percent of the time during his first few months in office and how he contin ued to read to a classroom instead of taking immediate action after being informed of the attacks on Sept. 11. The movie begins to heat up when Moore examines the history of polit ical and business ties the Bush fami ly shares with wealthy Saudis, in cluding the bin Laden family. Moore introduces the fact that Saudi Arabian companies and independent investors have trillions of dollars in vested in America and the removal of those funds could literally collapse the American economy. This all leads to the notion that Bush would do any thing to protect those ties and funds, including arranging the removal of all members of the bin Laden family from the United States'after Sept. 11 to protect them from the impending attention they would receive. Moore produces documents, inter views and photos that anyone could find on their own, but the arrange ment of them all together backed by Moore’s caustic narration is what makes this film so powerful. Many of the more humorous clips are famil iar to anyone who watches “The Daily Show,” but some, like the graphic im ages of wounded soldiers and civil ians in Iraq, are more than what the media has provided. The most powerful point of this film, and when Moore is at his best at making his point, is his discussions with fellow Flint, Mich., native Lila Lipscombe. Lipscombe encouraged her children to enter the military for its ability to provide an education and opportunities she couldn’t give them. Her daughter served in the Persian Gulf War and returned safely, and her son is stationed in Iraq when Moore first introduces her. After her son is killed, she changes her opinion of the ongoing war and its necessity. Weaknesses in the overall flow of ♦ 9/11, SEE PAGE 8 PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Michael Moore’s new documentary has stirred up controversy. GOIX: TO CALIFORNIA ifc FIRST IN A FOUR-PART SERIES I drove to California by myself May 12. Rather than bore you with a bloated, sap py carcass of a column rid dled with soul searching sentiment, I’ll bore you with several columns STEVEN h VANHAREN 0 j course of Second-year mechanical several engineering weeks. It’ll student be for you, the reader, what driving through Arkansas was like for me - flat, nondescript and staunchly liberal. Just kidding. I’m very de scriptive. This trip was tantamount to breathing; I had to do it or 1 would keel over in self doubt. I put myself in near permanent debt to my par ems - a ueui mai i Knew my summer Gamecock salary would barely dent - to do some head-scratching ■ and get to California jgl and back before moths ||| nested in my wallet. i|?| Yeah, it was ” about soul search ing. When in a difficult life phase, cheeseballs like me either drive across the country or join some swanky cult. Unfortunately for me, some stretches of road than a cultist s cookbook. I set out on a Wednesday morning and barreled up to Asheville by 8 a.m. The al lure of 1-40 was hopelessly ro mantic: a single road going from North Carolina to California, cutting a straight line across the country. My first-day motto was “Little Rock or bust,” followed close ly by, “Hitchhikers taste best when fricasseed on an over heated engine block.” I came to find out that Tennessee is the Florida pan handle of the landlocked U.S.: It stretches forever. I had seen the state before, so much of the day was spent between talk radio and The Gin Blossoms. I made an interest ing stop-off in Memphis, perched on the banks of the Mississippi. But with the guerrilla warfare I was wag ing on the open road, I could n’t linger too long. I snapped SUIUB [JUULU& Ul EjIVIS anu | B.B. King statues at the vis I itor’s center and crossed tne Dnage into Arkansas blasting old-timey get-aw ay i music. The entire two , hour drive to Little Rock was ji doused with % rain, but the new scenery perked my attention af i ter 10 dan ■ gerous hours of were more BBBB scarfing trail PHOTO BY STEVEN VAN HAREN/ ...... . monotonous the gamecock ♦ GOIN , SEE PAGE 8