>What distinguishes Michael Moore's conspiracy theories about oil
>(especially the UNOCAL angle), the Saudi Connection, Big Tobacco,
>etc. from the sort that you would normally be the first to hold in
>contempt?
I don't like the pipeline angle. The Saudi connection is *not* conspiratorial - Unger refreshingly and explicitly makes the opposite point that the Bush-Saudi relation is not a conspiracy, but a money-making venture.
He's not perfect. He's soemtimes sloppy with facts, and his analyses aren't always coherent. But I basically don't care. He's got an amazing talent for making entertaining, radical agitprop that has considerable aesthetic and dramatic complexity. I'd rather learn from him than complain much.
Doug
PS: Maybe the finest moment in The Corporation is when Michael Moore notes that it's been said that the capitalist will sell you the rope used to hang him, and adds that he wants to be that rope. That's pretty strong stuff, and not the mark of a Kerry apologist.