#William greider obituary full#
#William greider obituary series#

The second half of the premiere episode is something of an improvement, in part because this time Moore turns his camera on something the media havenвЂ™t already talked to death. WeвЂ™re left feeling that the Starr circus is already so bizarre and absurd that MooreвЂ™s none-too-subtle efforts at satire pale by comparison. There are undeniably funny moments, such as MooreвЂ™s close encounter with a sputtering Bob Barr, but ultimately, Moore has nothing to say about Starr and his dubious investigation that hasnвЂ™t already been said a million times by Democratic Party spinmeisters. Neither the astonished politicos nor the many civilian bystanders caught on camera know quite what to make of this costume drama, and really, neither do we.

#William greider obituary full#

Then the Puritans descend in full costume on the halls of Congress, confronting everyone from Henry Hyde to James Carville. In episode one, Moore leads a gaggle of folks dressed as 17th-century Puritans to Ken StarrвЂ™s house toвЂ“you guessed itвЂ“show the prosecutor a more affordable way to conduct a witch-hunt. Now Moore is back with more of the same in The Awful Truth.

#William greider obituary series#

The extremely successful film (it was the highest grossing non-concert documentary ever) led to a MooreвЂ™s first television show, TV Nation, a short-lived satirical series that turned comic stunts and symbolic confrontations with corporate evildoers into a weekly boob-tube event, first on NBC, then on FOX. He began his unorthodox filmmaking career with the guerrilla documentary Roger & Me, the story of his relentless efforts to confront General Motors chairman Roger Smith with the grim fact that GMвЂ™s plant closures had wreaked social devastation on MooreвЂ™s hometown of Flint, Mich. Moore is someone you probably know pretty well by now. on the Bravo Network, closes the decade down with a whimper. If GreiderвЂ™s book opened the вЂ™90s with a bang, then Michael MooreвЂ™s new half-hour satirical political television show, The Awful Truth, which premieres April 11 at 6 p.m. Partly to blame for this state of affairs, he argued, were apparently populist organizations such as unions and activist groups, which are increasingly obsessed with stunts, symbolic protests, and media coverage instead of thoughtful strategy and real organizing. GreiderвЂ™s thesis was simple: Big corporations exercise growing control over the nationвЂ™s media, government, and major political parties, leaving our vaunted democratic system well on the way to being deader than the proverbial doornail. ONCE UPON A TIME, not so very long ago, a fellow named William Greider wrote a ferocious little book called Who Will Tell the People: The Betrayal of American Democracy. Michael MooreвЂ™s вЂThe Awful TruthвЂ™ hits the airwaves with predictable fare