George Mason University on Thursday canceled plans to have "Fahrenheit 9/11" director Michael Moore speak on campus five days before the presidential election.
The decision came after a Republican state legislator wrote a letter to university president Alan G. Merten protesting the Fairfax, Va., school’s plans to pay the filmmaker $35,000 to speak on Oct. 28.
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"We just felt it wasn’t the most appropriate use of [public] funds, so we decided the best thing to do was cancel," school spokesman Daniel Walsch said.
George Mason didn’t notify Moore before making the decision public, Walsch said.
A message left seeking comment from Moore wasn’t immediately returned to The Associated Press, but he told The Washington Post he plans to come and speak anyway.
"I’m going to show up in support of free speech and free expression," he said. (source)
Well if Michael Moore cares so much for "Free Speech" he should stop charging $35,000 dollars and up for his speeches.
Invite Michael Moore to speak – get thrown out of office. Add insult to injury, the activist filmmaker never comes to your Orem college – and you pay him $40,000 anyway.
Sound implausible?
Not at Utah Valley State College, where an increasingly popular recall petition could do just that: dump Moore and the student leaders who invited him.
"We’ve never had anything like that," UVSC spokesman Derek Hall said Thursday. But "if there’s enough outcry by the student body, an election like this could happen."
As it stands, though, the "Fahrenheit 9/11" director will speak Oct. 20. Moore’s conservative counterpoint, Sean Hannity, is booked for Oct. 11. And to ensure that "balance," Republican gubernatorial candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. has offered his father’s jet to bring Hannity to Utah.
Jim Bassi, the UVSC student body president locked in the cross hairs, worries a recall could prompt Moore to sue. By contract, the school still would have to pay the $40,000 speaking fee. (source)
What they don’t mention is that the $40,000 speaking fee is almost the whole budget for the year for speakers. They also don’t mention that Sean Hannity is speaking for free.
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He spoke at UF a couple of weeks ago. Several editorials in the campus and local papers have aske for a speaker to balance Moore before the election. Doubt it’ll happen.
Weird…
“A parishioner, who asked that his name not be used, said yesterday that Findlay and another visiting priest, identified as “Father John,” had said the 5:30 p.m. Saturday Mass on Sept. 18 without incident, and afterward “Father Christopher” had introduced himself to members of the choir as a graduate with a degree in music from a university in Los Angeles. He added that one of the choir members said Findlay reeked of alcohol during the encounter.”
Sorry…my comment above is obviously on the wrong article…