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Fahrenheit
9-11 censored in PA Republican voter stronghold?
by
Tom Flocco PHILADELPHIA
-- June 26, 2004 8:30 pm -- Tom Flocco.com --
Michael Moore’s controversial new movie Fahrenheit 9-11 was
completely blacked out in densely Republican vote-heavy Delaware county
and faced near total censorship in the fifth largest U.S.
market--Philadelphia and its Delaware Valley suburbs--as the film opened
yesterday on just 12 screens out of 377 total ( 3 % ) in 43
Philadelphia area theaters. The
film is appearing on only 4 screens out of 197 ( 2 % ) in the heavily
Republican voter strongholds of suburban The
Regal Entertainment Group maintains a strong movie theater presence in
the suburban marketplace surrounding Given
Regal's opening the film on only 4 % of its available screens in the
top-5 Philly market, questions may be raised as to whether Regal’s
money links to the president might have something to do with the
controlled exposure of a movie potentially capable of drawing a busy
Pennsylvania citizenry back into the thick of war issues and 9/11
negligence. Moreover,
similar statistics have not been released at present to ascertain
whether there is a similar limitation of Republican exposure to the Local
Alternative
news website WhatReallyHappened.com
(WRH) researched the background of a group launching a campaign to deter
theater owners from showing Fahrenheit 9/11. It was reported that some
theater owners have received death threats. WRH
recently reported that the WHOIS internet indentification database for
Move America Forward’s website was changed to conceal their links to
the Russo, Marsh & Rogers PR firm. An
internet search revealed that Texas corporate buyout firms
Hicks-Muse-Tate & Furst and Kohlberg-Kravis-Roberts joined together
to take control over Regal Entertainment Group. According
to Lewis, Tom Hicks urged the University of Texas (UT) to move part of
its $13 Billion endowment into riskier investments. And in 1995, the
Texas Senate confirmed Tom Hicks as a UT regent when George W. was
elected As
UTIMCO’s first chairman, Hicks began to dole out lucrative contracts
to private investment firms to manage portions of the endowment; and
many of these firms had ties to both Hicks and George W. Bush. For
example, Kohlberg-Kravis-Roberts joined the Hicks-Muse buyout firm in a
$1.5 billion dollar takeover of Regal Cinemas, thus establishing the
close presidential fund-raiser and movie chain links which may be
affecting the controlled exposure of Hicks
and UTIMCO public endowment money has also been doled out to Maverick
Capital Fund, run by Bush presidential "pioneer" Charles Wyly
and his brother Sam, who also gave $210,000 to the Bush gubernatorial
campaign; but also the Carlyle Group, where George H. W. Bush and
leading members of his former presidential administration hold major
equity stakes. Hicks
and UTIMCO public money also funded the Bass Brothers Enterprises where
Robert and Lee Bass family interests funneled $215,000 to Bush while
also helping to finance a drilling contract in Bahrain won by Harken
Energy just prior to the first Gulf War. The
weekend Philadelphia Inquirer movie guide reveals why this writer had to
drive some 13 miles north of the city of The
lack of screenings regarding a much anticipated movie in a huge
market raises questions as to whether the GOP has successfully
suppressed the extent of the film’s exposure and influence upon
Republican voters that the party is depending upon for a heavy turn-out
this Fall. An
assistant manager at the Regal Edgemont Square-10 in Ruth
Cole of "Mr.
Flocco, I am hoping you can help me research a troubling issue. Like so
many, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Michael Moore's new
film, "Fahrenheit 9/11." "I
was disappointed to see that no movie theaters in my area [Delaware
County] are showing the movie; however, I couldn't help but notice that
many theaters outside the region and smaller theaters such as the
Clear-view Bala Theater in Bala Cynwyd, the Ambler Theater [both in
Montgomery County] and the Ritz East in Philadelphia are showing the
film," said Cole. "In
fact, every local theater showing "Fahrenheit 9/11" happens to
be outside of Delaware County," she said, adding, "has the
Republican party successfully kept Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 out
of Delaware county theaters?" "Apparently
Loew's theater complex at Universal Studios is the only one in the
central Florida area showing Moore’s film," adding, "there
were people driving a three-hour round trip from Merritt Island and Lake
Mary, Florida," indicating a probable lack of screenings in
the Sunshine State. Schneider
also told us she "talked to a person whose stepdaughter saw
Fahrenheit 9/11 yesterday morning at 10:00 a.m. in the conservative town
of Mesa, Arizona," adding that the woman "was amazed at
the crowds and long lines of people who actually took time off from work
to see the film," possibly indicative of another paucity of screens
in the far West. While
That's
how powerful Fahrenheit 9/11 comes across on the big screen.
People were chattering and giggling at the sometimes hilarious scenes;
however, emotions changed during the second half of the film as its
tenor became quite serious and at times upsetting and unsettling. TOTALS
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