Dude, Where's My Country?

October 6, 2003
Flush from the success of Stupid White Men
and an Academy Award for best documentary, Moore continues his rhetorical assault on the Bush administration. The book shares much with Al Franken's Lies
besides liberal sentiment and satirical tone; not only do both authors rely on the hoary device of having God tell them He doesn't support the president, but they each claim to pack their carry-on luggage with baseballs to bean would-be hijackers. But where Franken attacks individual conservatives, Moore focuses on issues. His first chapter is a series of unsettlingly specific questions (based on rigorously footnoted facts) about the political and financial ties among Bush, the Saudi Arabian government and Osama bin Laden's family, though he leaps from the facts to speculation when he wonders whether the September 11 attacks might have been hatched within the Saudi military. Other chapters attack the public's susceptibility to what he casts as the fear-mongering tactics the administration has used to justify foreign military interventions and, he says, the erosion of domestic civil liberties, and he lays plans for a Democratic victory in 2004: in addition to a half-serious nomination of Oprah, he offers a prescient, reasoned and highly favorable evaluation of Wesley Clark as a candidate. Moore's arguments work best when delivered mostly straight, since he isn't always as funny as he seems to think he is. Straightforward propositions leavened with humor, like a guide to talking to conservative relatives, work fine, while efforts at flat-out farce ring hollow. But expect liberals to once again eagerly support one of their most prominent spokesmen by checking this out at the cash register.

March 1, 2004
Although it's curious that Moore (Stupid White Men
) chose not to narrate his latest indictment of the conservative right, Morin does an admirable job of conveying Moore's ideas and subtle (and not-so-subtle) wit. At first, Morin's performance seems well-meaning yet stiff, much like the child voices of the Charlie Brown TV specials—very clear but with the unnatural cadence that comes from reading a script. As time goes by, however, he grows more relaxed with the material. By the final disk, it's obvious why Morin was chosen for the job. Between Moore's text and Morin's loosened-up delivery, listeners can almost imagine that they are hearing Moore's own voice. In any case, Moore's message is clear: he believes America is being hoodwinked by George W. Bush. Bush's goal, he says, is to use our fear of terrorism to push through his own agenda, as well as the agendas of his rich friends and supporters. Moore makes provocative connections between the Bushes and the Bin Ladens and even the Bushes and the Taliban, but the one drawback of this audiobook is the lack of references. While the book form of Dude
is heavily footnoted, Moore points listeners to his Web site for his sources, where finding specific information can be difficult. Simultaneous release with the Warner hardcover (Forecasts, Oct. 6, 2003).