AUSTIN, Texas – Filmmaker Michael Moore, who slammed President Bush and the U.S.-led war in Iraq during his Oscar acceptance speech, continued his criticism before a university crowd in Bush's home state.
The documentary maker said Monday night that the president's approval ratings are high because the American people rally around their leader after a tragedy, and Bush "is the one occupying the federal land at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."
But Moore said the United States is at war with Iraq because of the former Texas governor's need to keep the public's eye off his domestic failures as president.
"It's not about the weapons of mass destruction; it's about the weapons of mass distraction," he told 4,400 students and guests at the University of Texas.
Pulling his Oscar from a bag, Moore passed the gold statue around the audience, joking, "What are the chances I'm going to get that thing back?"
Moore won his first Oscar last month for Bowling for Columbine. He received a standing ovation when he won and a mixture of cheers and boos with his fiery criticism of Bush — a speech he said he hadn't prepared.
Moore told the Austin American-Statesman before his lecture that 90 percent of the response he's gotten has been positive and that he hasn't received any threats.
"Should I be getting death threats?" he said, jokingly. "It is pretty risky of me to be coming to Texas, don't you think?"
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