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GUEST: Jesse Larner, author of “Forgive Us Our Spins: Michael Moore and the Future of the Left”

Michael Moore, award winning film maker of Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 was ubiquitous during the 2004 elections. He was visible on TV, at rallies and at both parties’ conventions to blast the Iraq war and campaign against President Bush. But two years later with the Democrats winning both houses of Congress for the first time in 12 years, largely because of dissatisfaction with Bush and the Iraq war, Moore is all but invisible. Is it because Democrats did not want Michael Moore’s brash and populist criticism of Bush to impact their elections? In July 2004 when Moore turned up at the Democratic National Convention, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, the DNC Chair, said Moore didn’t fit the “positive” tone the Democrats wanted to project. “I think he represents an anti-Bush message that we don’t like” said Richardson.

“Forgive Us Our Spins: Michael Moore and the Future of the Left” is a new book by Jesse Larner about what impact Moore and his work will have on progressive America. According to journalist George Monbiot, “Well written, witty, and wise, Jesse Larner’s book goes well beyond its brief: it helps us understand where the left has been going for the last few years, and where it might end up.”