Can you say 'hip - o - crit'?

The real Michael Moore Working-class hero image is carefully scripted
Posted: November 5, 20051:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Michael Moore's success as a filmmaker and "working-class hero" is part of a carefully crafted image that bears little connection with reality, finds author Peter Schweizer in his new book "Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy."

Don't be fooled by the scraggly beard, the baggy jeans, the plaid shirts and the baseball caps, explains Schweizer.

Don't be fooled by his claim to be from the working-class town of Flint, Mich., he writes.
Don't be fooled by his various claims to have made no more than $19,000 a year, $15,000 a year or $12,000 a year before his first hit, "Roger & Me," the author says.

In fact, Moore didn't even grow up in Flint, but rather nearby Davison. His father was not the working stiff struggling to make ends meet that he portrays, but a General Motors employee who worked from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. and played golf every afternoon at a private country club and who had four weeks of paid vacation and retired comfortably at the age of 53.

Before "Roger & Me" hit it big in 1989, Moore had already received an advance from a New York publisher for $50,000, another $50,000 from Mother Jones magazine upon termination as an editor and a $20,000 grant from Ralph Nader. After "Roger & Me," he became fabulously wealthy by nearly any standard.

When Moore flew to London to be interviewed by the BBC or to promote a film, he flew the Concorde and stayed at the Ritz. But, according to the book, he would also keep a room at a cheap hotel down the street where he would meet with journalists to maintain his image as a "man of humble circumstances."

His 10-acre, waterfront home today is on Michigan's Torch Lake, one of the three most beautiful lakes in the world, according to National Geographic. He was accused by authorities of despoiling a wetland – just like many of the greedy, robber-baron land-grabbers he criticizes – when he tried to expand his private beach.

Moore also owns a penthouse in New York City. That was his official residence until 2003 when he switched to Michigan. That coincided with the success of "Bowling for Columbine," which brought him millions in profits – profits that would have been taxed at a rate of 7.7 percent in New York, as opposed to 3.9 percent in Michigan, saving him hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Schweizer reports that Moore, like Rosie O'Donnell, detests guns in the hands of ordinary Americans but surrounds himself with armed guards when he is out in public.

One of the secrets to Moore's success, writes Schweizer, is his virulent anti-Americanism, which has wide appeal abroad. Moore, for instance, has sold twice as many books in Germany alone as he has sold in the U.S.

"Moore's books and films sell well overseas because anti-Americanism is a popular idiom," writes Schweizer. "Says Andrian Kreye of Munich, Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 'German readers feel safe regurgitating anti-Americanism so long as it's an American who says it first.'"
Schweizer reveals in "Do As I Say (Not As I Do)" that Moore owns tens of thousands of shares of stock despite claiming he owns none. Most surprisingly of all, however, is the revelation that among those stocks are substantial shares of the much maligned Halliburton.

Moore is just one of the targets of "Do As I Say (Not As I Do)." Others include:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who proclaims her support for unions, yet the luxury resort, the vineyard and the restaurants she partly owns are strictly non-union. While she advocates tough new laws enforcing environmental regulations on the private sector, the exclusive country club she partly owns failed to comply with existing environmental regulations for the past eight years – including a failure to protect endangered species.

Noam Chomsky has made a reputation for calling America a police state and branding the Pentagon "the most hideous institution on earth," yet his entire academic career, writes Schweizer, has been subsidized by the U.S. military.

Barbra Streisand is another proponent of environmentalism, yet she drives an SUV, lives in a mansion and has a $22,000 annual water bill. In the past, she has driven to appointments in Beverly Hills in a motor home because of her aversion to using public bathrooms.

Ralph Nader plays the role of the citizen avenger – the populist uninterested in wealth and materialism, pretending to live in a modest apartment. In fact, he lives in fancy homes registered in the names of his siblings.