Michael Moore reminds me of another gluttonous left-winger. In his heyday, the contempt for Gore Vidal spanned the ideological divide. Sure, people like William F. Buckley disliked him. But so did Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, Bobby Kennedy, and even Vidal's own mother.

Joining Senate Democrat Leader Tom Daschle in the Michael-Moore-is-a-liar camp is The Who's Pete Townshend, who is mad enough to smash a guitar over the filmmaker's head.

"When first approached I knew nothing about the content of his film Fahrenheit 9/11," Townshend writes regarding Moore's desire to use the song "Won't Get Fooled Again" over the film's closing credits. "I had not really been convinced by Bowling for Columbine and had been worried about its accuracy. Once I had an idea what the film was about, I was 90% certain my song was not right for them."

Townshend refused, and Moore has since claimed the rock great wouldn't permit the use of Who's Next's closing number for ideological reasons. Townshend denies this, saying the real reason he didn't grant Moore use of the song is that he doesn't believe Moore has a high regard for truth. As the film closes with President Bush stumbling over the phrase "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," Townshend's song would have been a better fit than the song used: Neil Young's "Keep on Rockin in the Free World."

"I greatly resent being bullied and slurred by him in interviews just because he did not get what he wanted from me," Townshend notes. "It seems to me that this aspect of his nature is not unlike that of the powerful and wilful man at the centre of his new documentary."

Drudge ran a link to this story about Moore as well. It seems he doesn't even ask permission to use footage of a soldier's funeral, what a complete sleazeball.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/johnmccaslin/jm20040713.shtml