By Josh Grossberg
Michigan's Republican Party has sent letters to district attorneys in four counties asking them to bring bribery charges against the controversial filmmaker, claiming he tried to get college students to vote by offering them clean underwear and ramen noodles.
"Michael Moore is offering things of value in order to get people to vote illegally," Michigan Republican Party spokesman Chris Paolino told E! Online.
Last month, Moore launched what he's dubbed The Slacker Uprising Tour, a nationwide trek in which he's issued a "red alert call to slackers everywhere" to get up off their butts and get to the polls with the goal of setting a modern-day turnout record come Nov. 2.
The 60-city jaunt, which has been drawing audiences up to 12,000 strong, has recently taken the Flint, Michigan native back to his home state where he's spoken at Michigan State University, Central Michigan University and University of Michigan-Dearborn.
To help energize his audiences, made up mostly of first-time and nonvoters, Moore has been handing out gag gifts, usually 12-packs of Hanes briefs and ramen instant noodles, to students at each tour stop in an effort to get them to cast their vote.
Apparently, state conservatives weren't laughing however.
"You need to make a stand on the small things lest Michael Moore starts something bigger," added Paolino. "It's the same thing as offering people cigarettes or booze to get them to vote."
Per Michigan law, attempting to lure people to vote by offering a monetary reward is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500 and/or 90 days in jail.
Besides giving Moore's underwear free publicity, the Michigan GOP claims its response is designed to uphold the serious aims of the election.
"I think we're demonstrating that he's making a joke of the election and we're attempting to stand up for the integrity of the process," said Paolino, then added, "I would hope that the prosecuting attorneys have more respect for the law than Michael Moore does."
County prosecutors did not return phone calls or refused to comment. However, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III told the Lansing State Journal that his office often fields such complaints, but usually they aren't egregious enough to warrant prosecution.
"It seems like every election season someone wants me to file a complaint against a political opponent for some silly reason," Dunnings said.
College kids weren't taking it too seriously either.
"It was something that was all in fun--he gave out underwear and ramen noodles, for God's sake," MSU student Sydney Hawkins told the paper. "He didn't make anyone register--it was just part of the comedy."
Moore's presence on other campuses has stirred protest, particularly among young Republicans who insist public funds should not be used to bring him to their school. Such arguments led George Mason University in Virginia, to cancel his Oct. 28 appearance. Also drawing some grumbling is his $15,000-plus speaking fee, prompting student groups to debate who's going to pay for it.
Moore could not be reached for comment.
But the lefty firebrand couldn't swear off the underwear fuss without turning up the heat on his critics in a letter to his fanbase on his official Website.
"The Republican Party, yesterday, filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutors in each of the counties where I spoke last week in Michigan," Moore wrote in a satirical post. "My crime? Clean underwear for anyone who will vote in the upcoming election."
After recounting the dirty tricks he claims Republicans have used against him, including lobbying theater owners not to show his controversial anti-Bush polemic Fahrenheit 9/11 and filing complaints with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) to block commercials for the film from being aired, the documentarian stated that they're now trying to lock his "sorry ass" up.
"My friends, they will not catch me," Moore added. "Though I may be on the run, and I may never be able to return home to my beloved Michigan, I make this solemn vow to you and yours: The slackers of America shall not be denied their noodles, they will proudly wear their clean underwear as free Americans, and they will vote Bush out of office come November 2nd (though they will not show up to the polls until well after noon)!"
In time for his pre-election swing, the writer-director is distributing a few more goodies to the undecided. On Tuesday, Moore releases Fahrenheit on DVD. The video version contains an additional 90 minutes of extras, including updates on Abu Ghraib prison, interviews with Iraqis, and added footage of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) and President Bush (news - web sites).
Moore also issued on Tuesday a companion book to the DVD titled The Official Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader that expands on the issues raised in the film, as well as Will They Ever Trust Us Again?, a tome including damning letters from U.S. soldiers in Iraq (news - web sites).
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===== "I'm not too worried by hegemony / I know the cadre will look after me" - Magazine, "Model Worker," 1978