Forgive Us Our Spins: Michael Moore and the Future of the Left

Michael Moore is America’s most visible left winger a man whose inflammatory documentaries and muckraking books have led the charge against corporate greed, the war in Iraq, and the Bush administration. Yet some on the left have all but blamed Moore’s sarcastic humor and in-your-face agitprop style for the defeat of the Democrats in 2004. In this balanced appraisal, Jesse Larner examines Moore’s career in the context of the larger fight against conservative domination of our political and media institutions. Larner looks at how Moore’s films and books have influenced the left’s agenda, at the controversies over his presentation of facts, and at the ways in which his tactics could help or hurt the chances of the Democratic Party in the next election cycle. Jesse Larner (New York, NY) is a writer whose work has been featured on NPR and the Nation.