'Slacker' tour plays fairgrounds
Michael Moore brings out 10,000 friends, 200 critics
By Lisa Petrillo
and Michael Burge
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
October 13, 2004
SEAN HAFFEY / Union-Tribune
Michael Moore works his audience.
DEL MAR – A crowd of 10,000 sang "America The Beautiful" last night along with filmmaker Michael Moore and folk-singing icon Joan Baez.
And so, Moore brought his Slacker Uprising Tour to town, attracting 10 times the audience he would have had if he had not been banned from Cal State San Marcos.
"Because of the Republican repressive attitude of the (university) administration toward free speech, we're here with 10,000," he said at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Outside, about 200 demonstrators gathered at Via de la Valle and Jimmy Durante Boulevard, holding signs criticizing the award-winning filmmaker and supporting President Bush.
Motorists honked, most in apparent support but some to express their displeasure. Some proffered a one-finger salute.
The protest was peaceful but boisterous, and sheriff's deputies walked along the line to make sure no one blocked the street and walkways. One person was arrested.
Since the Cal State San Marcos student government raised $45,000 on its own to sponsor his appearance off campus, Moore announced that he would donate all proceeds to a special "hellraiser" scholarship at the university. He said $5,000 would go to whichever student defied the administration most successfully.
"I hope this encourages students in the future to do the true American thing and stand up for what they believe in," Moore said. "America will not thrive if its universities become places of fear instead of places of courage."
Last month, president Karen Haynes of Cal State San Marcos revoked Moore's invitation to speak at the campus. She said the university is prohibited from spending state funds on partisan political activity. Moore, also a best-selling author, made the anti-Bush documentary film "Fahrenheit 9/11."
He said he was spending more than a half-million dollars on his 60-campus Slacker tour that is trying to get America's youth into the voting booth. Fewer than 35 percent of college-aged youths voted in the 2000 election. Moore brought on special guests Baez, who called Moore a true folk hero, along with musician Tom Morello, formerly of the rock group Rage Against the Machine.
Moore read letters of support he had received from U.S. troops in Iraq, which he collected in a recent book, "Will They Ever Trust Us Again?" And he featured some of the gimmicks that have made him famous, such as offering some of the young slackers in the audience clean underwear and Ramen noodles if they promised to vote for the first time.
Cal State San Marcos junior Malynda November said it wasn't Moore but the Iraq war that turned her against President Bush. Though she didn't take any Fruit of the Looms, she said she planned to vote this election. "It's dire if I don't vote. I'm a disgrace if I don't."
A partisan crowd cheered wildly during the sold-out two-hour show, including El Camino High School senior Hailey Snow, who wore a pink T-shirt with the message, "Michael's hot."
"He's my hero," she said. "He's one of the few people who can stand up to Bush, and what he says goes around the world."
Nick Bonomi, a junior at Cal State San Marcos and an officer in the campus' College Republicans, helped organize the protest outside the fairgrounds. He wore a Bush mask and waved to motorists.
He said he was upset that the student government dedicated so many resources to promoting and selling tickets for Moore's appearance.
"What I was concerned with was when you bring in a polarizing speaker, you need to match it with a conservative speaker," said Bonomi, 20.
He said he wore the mask to show his admiration for the president. "He's a role model for me," he said.
Stephen Puetz, a senior at Cal State San Marcos and the statewide co-chairman of College Republicans, said he was gratified at the turnout. He said Moore wasn't the only person exercising his First-Amendment rights.
"Liberals don't have the patent on protest or freedom of speech" he said. "Conservatives can be out here, too, and shouldn't be silent and should be able to voice their (opinions)."
As the time for Moore's speech approached, the number of vehicles passing the protesters swelled, prompting verbal interchanges between the two groups.
Some held "Kerry-Edwards" signs and "Veterans for Kerry" placards, which prompted a shout of "Shame on you!" from the crowd.
"We're letting people express themselves but trying to keep the two groups from getting violent," sheriff's Sgt. M.D. McClain said.
One person was arrested for trespassing when some cars were blocked and for interfering with an officer, said sheriff's spokesman Chris Saunders.
Not everyone carrying a sign was a demonstrator. Shahrokh Nejad held a sign reading, "I need tickets."
He said he could resell them for $100 a pop, a hefty profit over the $10 face value.
Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20041013-9999-7m13moore.html
Michael Moore brings out 10,000 friends, 200 critics
By Lisa Petrillo
and Michael Burge
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
October 13, 2004
SEAN HAFFEY / Union-Tribune
Michael Moore works his audience.
DEL MAR – A crowd of 10,000 sang "America The Beautiful" last night along with filmmaker Michael Moore and folk-singing icon Joan Baez.
And so, Moore brought his Slacker Uprising Tour to town, attracting 10 times the audience he would have had if he had not been banned from Cal State San Marcos.
"Because of the Republican repressive attitude of the (university) administration toward free speech, we're here with 10,000," he said at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Outside, about 200 demonstrators gathered at Via de la Valle and Jimmy Durante Boulevard, holding signs criticizing the award-winning filmmaker and supporting President Bush.
Motorists honked, most in apparent support but some to express their displeasure. Some proffered a one-finger salute.
The protest was peaceful but boisterous, and sheriff's deputies walked along the line to make sure no one blocked the street and walkways. One person was arrested.
Since the Cal State San Marcos student government raised $45,000 on its own to sponsor his appearance off campus, Moore announced that he would donate all proceeds to a special "hellraiser" scholarship at the university. He said $5,000 would go to whichever student defied the administration most successfully.
"I hope this encourages students in the future to do the true American thing and stand up for what they believe in," Moore said. "America will not thrive if its universities become places of fear instead of places of courage."
Last month, president Karen Haynes of Cal State San Marcos revoked Moore's invitation to speak at the campus. She said the university is prohibited from spending state funds on partisan political activity. Moore, also a best-selling author, made the anti-Bush documentary film "Fahrenheit 9/11."
He said he was spending more than a half-million dollars on his 60-campus Slacker tour that is trying to get America's youth into the voting booth. Fewer than 35 percent of college-aged youths voted in the 2000 election. Moore brought on special guests Baez, who called Moore a true folk hero, along with musician Tom Morello, formerly of the rock group Rage Against the Machine.
Moore read letters of support he had received from U.S. troops in Iraq, which he collected in a recent book, "Will They Ever Trust Us Again?" And he featured some of the gimmicks that have made him famous, such as offering some of the young slackers in the audience clean underwear and Ramen noodles if they promised to vote for the first time.
Cal State San Marcos junior Malynda November said it wasn't Moore but the Iraq war that turned her against President Bush. Though she didn't take any Fruit of the Looms, she said she planned to vote this election. "It's dire if I don't vote. I'm a disgrace if I don't."
A partisan crowd cheered wildly during the sold-out two-hour show, including El Camino High School senior Hailey Snow, who wore a pink T-shirt with the message, "Michael's hot."
"He's my hero," she said. "He's one of the few people who can stand up to Bush, and what he says goes around the world."
Nick Bonomi, a junior at Cal State San Marcos and an officer in the campus' College Republicans, helped organize the protest outside the fairgrounds. He wore a Bush mask and waved to motorists.
He said he was upset that the student government dedicated so many resources to promoting and selling tickets for Moore's appearance.
"What I was concerned with was when you bring in a polarizing speaker, you need to match it with a conservative speaker," said Bonomi, 20.
He said he wore the mask to show his admiration for the president. "He's a role model for me," he said.
Stephen Puetz, a senior at Cal State San Marcos and the statewide co-chairman of College Republicans, said he was gratified at the turnout. He said Moore wasn't the only person exercising his First-Amendment rights.
"Liberals don't have the patent on protest or freedom of speech" he said. "Conservatives can be out here, too, and shouldn't be silent and should be able to voice their (opinions)."
As the time for Moore's speech approached, the number of vehicles passing the protesters swelled, prompting verbal interchanges between the two groups.
Some held "Kerry-Edwards" signs and "Veterans for Kerry" placards, which prompted a shout of "Shame on you!" from the crowd.
"We're letting people express themselves but trying to keep the two groups from getting violent," sheriff's Sgt. M.D. McClain said.
One person was arrested for trespassing when some cars were blocked and for interfering with an officer, said sheriff's spokesman Chris Saunders.
Not everyone carrying a sign was a demonstrator. Shahrokh Nejad held a sign reading, "I need tickets."
He said he could resell them for $100 a pop, a hefty profit over the $10 face value.
Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20041013-9999-7m13moore.html
