Imam Rauf’s Useful Idiot: Michael Moore

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the head of the project to construct a mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero, has a new fundraiser: Michael Moore. The anti-American filmmaker has rallied his acolytes to support Park51, as the project is called, and has already raised over $50,000 for it. Given Moore’s history, his decision to support an imam with suspicious ties and beliefs is not surprising.

“I am opposed to the building of the ‘mosque’ two blocks from Ground Zero. I want it built on Ground Zero,” Moore wrote on his website, arguing that it would showcase America’s freedoms and help Muslims take Islam back from the extremists. He also demeaned those who oppose Park51, also called the Cordoba Initiative, saying, “fascists are extremely skilled at whipping up fear and hate and getting the working class to blame ‘the other’ for their troubles.”

Moore is a natural ally of Rauf. It has recently cometo light that one of Rauf’s partners is a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. Although Moore has not stated publicly that the attack was an “inside job,” he does insinuate that the U.S. is purposely letting Osama bin Laden roam free. “I think our government knows where he is and I don’t think we’re going to be capturing him or killing him any time soon,” said Moore in 2003.

Moore also shares Rauf’s strong opposition to Israel. He tried to stop his film, Fahrenheit 9/11, from coming to Israel, and he was honored by the Muslim Public Affairs Council in 2003, an organization tied to the Muslim Brotherhood. In his book, Stupid White Men, Moore suggested that Congress should issue a 30-day deadline for Israel to cease military operations after which, all aid would be cut off. He even proposed that a Palestinian state receive twice as much aid as Israel.

Moore has dismissed the well-documented ties between Imam Rauf and radical Islam, describing him as “the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet.” Jamie Glazov, the author of United in Hate: The Left’s Romance with Tyranny and Terror, says that this behavior should be expected of Moore. “To admit Rauf’s radicalism is to admit the existence of pernicious enemies,” Glazov affirms. “It concedes that there are societies, cultures, and systems that are much more unjust than ours. This is an untenable step for leftists like Moore to take, because it means acknowledging that there is something superior about our civilization that’s worth saving and defending.”

Indeed, Michael Moore has consistently expressed his disdain for the United States, going so far as to praise those violently fighting his own country. He even downplays terrorism, stating, “There is no terrorist threat.” He has also endorsed Iraqi insurgents and extremists fighting U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.

“The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘The Enemy.’ They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow—and they will win,” Moore wrote in 2004.

In Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore showed footage of U.S. soldiers mistreating Iraqi prisoners and glorifying violence, portraying them in the worst possible light to the whole world. More recently, he praised the soldier who was arrested for leaking tens of thousands of classified documents. Moore pledged to give him $5,000 towards his legal expenses and called him “courageous and patriotic.”

Moore’s opposition to the U.S. extends to Americans in general, who he has said are “possibly the dumbest people on the planet.” He is particularly active in fighting the American capitalist system, saying, “Capitalism is a sin. This is an evil system.” His latest documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story, tries to make the case that the capitalist system should be replaced.

The filmmaker believes that capitalism causes the government to launch wars on behalf of evil corporations. He degraded the U.S. in 2008, saying it is “a nation that was founded on genocide and then built on the backs of slaves.”

“The notion that his own society is evil and unjust is the bedrock of Moore’s vision. And the paradise he dreams of building must be built on the ashes of this society once it is destroyed,” Glazov said.

Moore does seem to react with glee to American misfortunes. His website currently hosts an article titled, One and a Half Cheers for American Decline, and, as mentioned, he roots for the defeat of the U.S. military. He views the recession as vindication of his worldview and a step towards the revolutionary changes he is working for.

“I think, really, what we’re seeing here right now with them, with the banks, we’re seeing the end of capitalism—the end of capitalism as we know it. And I say good riddance. It hasn’t helped the people or the planet,” he said in November 2008.

Moore has also explicitly endorsed the overthrow of the entire U.S. system of governance. In Dude, Where’s My Country?, he wrote, “These bastards who run our country are a bunch of conniving, thieving, smug pricks who need to be brought down and removed and replaced with a whole new system that we control.”

With this sort of anti-Americanism, it is understandable why Fidel Castro would broadcast Fahrenheit 9/11 on state television and reference one of Michael Moore’s books, and why Hezbollah would approach a distributor of the film with an offer of help.

When you hate America’s history, economy, society, people, military, and all of its policies, there is nothing left to love. Imam Rauf and his partners should be embarrassed that Michael Moore is supporting them, and citizens questioning the morality of the Park51 project can add Moore to the list of extremists linked to it.

See more from this Author
See more on this Topic