Kerry has a long face. At the time of writing Bush leads in the polls by 10 per cent. Despite everything. If only the volatile, human Howard Dean hadnโ€™t scared the Democrats into playing safe. Mooreโ€™s documentary mostly doesnโ€™t, but if it canโ€™t swing the election, history might deem it a failure, a rebel yell forgotten at daybreak. We live in interesting times, which sucks.

Considering all the Vietnam literature/cinema, Moore isnโ€™t doing anything new. Heโ€™s doing necessary protest for the 21st century. He manipulates our emotions brilliantly, and is certainly a force for good. We must forgive his smugness and egomaniacal swaggering. Weโ€™ll forgive everyone else for forgetting that Spike Lee did a better hatchet job on the Florida election fiasco in his short in โ€œTen Minutes Olderโ€.

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Mooreโ€™s cheap shots at Bush (which dilute the expensive, earned shots) are funny, sure. The golf moment. That bewildered gaze. The question of what he was doing when he didnโ€™t know what he was doing (when informed of 9/11). Those eyes flitting like flies in a glass jar. The possibility that he brought it onโ€ฆnot himself, but on the poor kids he gladly sent off to be disembowelled in the name of his dadโ€™s war. The way he claims credit for hitting the wrong target every time. Moore is his own hero as well as ours, but thatโ€™s OK. He bullies a bully.

Sometimes, thatโ€™s, what it takes. But this time itโ€™s going to take much more than Moore. Next time, Hillary, step to the plate.