You critique his lack of thesis, but it seems to me he was simply attempting to address the insane prominence of gun violence in America and the possible causes. The way he correlates violence by the American citizen with the brutal violence carried out through US foreign policy was a very good point (though I personally wish he would have elaborated on it more). It is true that Americans are pumped full of fear by the media, and perhaps the response to this fear is reflected by gun violence. Moore points to our government … what do they do when they perceive a threat, they reach out to destroy that threat, regardless of whether there was indeed an actual threat or not (the recent Iraq operation being a paradigm of this phenomenon).

I applaud Moore for making this film, not because making a leftist argument is an end in itself, but because it’s a rare occasion in American cinema where a film has provoked many Americans to question and explore the role that media, government, foreign policy, economics and consumerism play in societal violence. Moore poses a lot of poignant questions without ramming an answer down the viewers throat. You attack him for lack of thesis, yet insists the documentary is agenda-ridden and manipulative.

"You fasten all the triggers,
For the others to fire,
Then you sit back and watch,
As the death count gets higher"-Bob Dylan

"Maybe you'll be president,
But know right from wrong,
Or in the flood,
You'll build an Ark,
And sail us to the moon"-Thom Yorke

"I'm in heaven trying to figure out which stack they're going to stuff us atheists into,
When Peter and his monkey laugh and i laugh with them,
I'm not sure what at,
They point and say we'll keep you in the back polishing halos, baking manna and gas"-Modest Mouse