I understand conservatives’ anger toward Michael Moore, but I think they took a right turn at “reasonable level of enmity” and are headed straight for Looneyville.
They’ve threatened movie theaters, they’ve organized boycotts, they’ve threatened Moore directly, they’ve whined incessantly, and now they’re hoping to use the power of the federal government to limit the public from even hearing about Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
Michael Moore may be prevented from advertising his controversial new movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” on television or radio after July 30 if the Federal Election Commission (FEC) today accepts the legal advice of its general counsel.
At the same time, a Republican-allied 527 soft-money group is preparing to file a complaint against Moore’s film with the FEC for violating campaign-finance law.
I think it’s safe to say Moore has gotten their attention.
A provision of McCain-Feingold describes corporate-funded ads as those that identify a candidate by his or her “name, nickname, photograph or drawing” or make it “otherwise apparent through an unambiguous reference.” For the FEC’s general counsel, this means Moore would have to pull ads for his movie within 60 days of the general election.
Since the FEC considers the Republican presidential convention scheduled to begin Aug. 30 a national political primary in which Bush is a candidate, Moore and other politically oriented filmmakers could not air any ad mentioning Bush after July 30.
[…]
After the convention, ads for political films that mention Bush or any other federal candidate would be subject to the restrictions on all corporate communications within 60 days of the Nov. 2 general election.
It’s also worth noting that this doesn’t only affect Moore.
The FEC ruling may also affect promotion of a slew of other upcoming political documentaries and films, such as “Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War,” which opens in August, “The Corporation,” about democratic institutions being subsumed by the corporate agenda, or “Silver City,” a recently finished film by John Sayles that criticizes the Bush administration.
Another film, “The Hunting of the President,” which investigates whether Bill Clinton was the victim of a vast conspiracy, could be subject to regulations if it mentions Bush or members of Congress in its ads.
Be afraid.