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Except for one segment. I would guess that most everyone would agree the least impeachable scene of the movie would be the Lila Lipscomb segment. How could anyone find a single criticism of that one genuinely human moment of the movie? Well, the segment has never really sat well with me, but due to the sensitive nature of the subject, everyone has found it difficult to examine for fear of coming off as heartless, yet I was curious about the life of Lila’s son. We didn’t learn very much about Sgt Michael Pederson from the movie.

It’s been well documented that Moore manipulated the story line by editing the scenes to look like they met before her son, Sgt. Pederson was killed in battle. Whether or not Moore did this intentionally is not the point right now - what is important is the effect it had on the movie as a whole. It added to the desired effect of the film about how the death of a son in battle transforms a person.

However, it is crucial to remember that the upbeat, strong, patriotic Lila scenes were filmed after her son was killed. This reality is lost on Carrie Rickey, of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who wrote this about the scene:

“we share her conversion experience from flag-waving, yellow-ribbon-tying soldier’s mom into a woman who finds solidarity with protesters in front of the White House.”

Read it here Rickey criticizes the rest of the film , except for this scene, which many call “the emotional center” of the film.

The Guardian UK interview mirrors Ms. Rickey’s sentiments in its interview.

The power of Lipscomb’s story lies in the sharpness of the U-turn she made and her eloquence in speaking about it.

That distortion, added with the absence of any more than just a passing detail about Sgt. Pederson left me with more questions than answers. For those of you like me who are wondering, Sgt. Michael Pederson was a loving father, a 7 year veteran of the Army who had just re-upped for another 7. He loved to work on cars and had a great sense of humor. He was a patriot, he was a hero. He was loved by his friends and his family and he will be missed by all of us.

To learn these details and more about the life of Sgt Michael Pederson, I began by Googling his name. Nearly every article was actually dedicated to Lila rather than to him. As a veteran myself, it stung me that one of our national heroes was being overshadowed by his mother. This man gave his life in service to his country,yet she is the one that illicits 11,500 Google hits. Her son, our national hero, only 906. I think that speaks volumes to the distorted perspective contained in this entire subject. Sgt. Michael Pedersen should be the one with 11,500 Google hits.

I also learned from my research that Lila is now on the lecture and magazine interview circuit. She’s been handed the gift of relevance and fame from Michael Moore and she’s trying to make the most of her 15 minutes. Now, please understand that I do not in any way wish to blame her for taking advantage of her newfound ‘gift’. She is a grieving mother who has admittedly found an outlet. Good for her, but......

Now that she has her soapbox, she’s taken to subscribing to every conspiracy theory ever concocted and waxing endlessly to anyone who will listen.

For example,

- She has said that we the people, were told that Osama Bin Laden was holed up in Iraq:

“I walked out of my bedroom and we have a long hallway upstairs and he was standing there and he said he would have to go to Kuwait and then to Baghdad. And he said he didn’t support the war, that he didn’t know why he had to go over there. We talked about fear. I was petrified, because in my mind I was thinking that’s where Bin Laden is, because that’s what we’d been told.”

- This was taken from an interview by Emma Brockes from The Guardian U.K. entitled: “The lie that killed my son.” (Yes, that’s the real title) Read it here

-She told a crowd at a rally that she was now on a mission from God:

Lipscomb told the crowd that her son, Sgt. Michael Pedersen, was killed in Iraq and that God had called her to “wake America up.

”Read it here

- She has spoken about how she was the motivation for the film:

“Michael Moore said he’d already been around America interviewing all different types of people [for the film]. It was the most incredible experience; he was sitting in our living room and all of a sudden, during the talking and sharing, a tear fell from his eye. His producer said afterwards, ‘Michael found it, he found it, he found what the movie was going to be about!’”

- She has spoken again and again of how the President is personally responsible for taking her son:

My son is dead and I can’t erase that fact. If it was a stage, then President Bush needs to give me back my son.”

- She has discussed how going to college prevents one from having to join the military:

“Yes, I do support my military, yes I still support young people wanting to make the decision to go into the United States Military, because yes, I still believe that the military is an awesome opportunity for young people. I just want it across the board. I want the rich to send their child next to my child. Just because I could not pay for my child to go to college, it’s not a reason for my child to be dead.

I’m sure at some point, Michael must have mentioned the fact that he served under the command of Officers, perhaps she’s unaware that all of these officers are college grads.

- She has talked about how this war is really about making money:

“People make money on wars. It’s a sad thing. I’m starting to believe that that’s what this war is all about. In my home town, which is one home town across America, there are so many hungry babies.

Read it here

- She has expounded on the hardships with which her daughter has dealt, including dealing with the Agent Orange that the US deployed in the desert (to de-foliate the trees?)

Being in the movie has completely changed my life. But the best thing of all is that it’s brought my family back to me. See, because when people grieve, you grieve in different ways. Not only did we lose our oldest son, but we were beginning to lose our oldest daughter. She began suffering traumatically from survivor guilt because she knows that her little brother used to tell her, if I can do it, so can I. She was in Guam during desert storm, by God’s grace, pregnant with my oldest granddaughter. She didn’t have to go over there but she dealt with the Agent Orange and soldiers coming and going, so this last year has been very traumatic for my family.

Read it here

- And yes, she has even attempted to place herself on par with the Mother of God:

“Two weeks before it came out, I had had one of those moments when I fell to the floor in grief mourning my son, and asked God why he took my child. Then he took me to see The Passion of the Christ. I saw the movie through the eyes of Mary, as I was someone who had just lost my child.”

-She says she knows this because she claims that God speaks directly to her.

On leaving the cinema, she collapsed. “As I fell over I heard the Lord say that ‘I am a God of passion and I need your passion.’ So when people say, ‘She’s so angry’, I think they don’t have a clear understanding of the difference between anger and passion.

- Now, armed with her anger, er,passion over the death of her son, she’s planning to move onto other more pressing issues:

“Once the aftermath of Fahrenheit 9/11 dies down, I would love to do a survey to see what we actually manufacture in the US. Do we even make our own underwear any more?”

Read it here

- Recently she spoke to a crowd after a screening of F911 where she made the claims that Bush stole the presidency and she’s praying for his defeat. During the question/answer session, Lipscomb told the crowd God always speaks to her. She said she’s convinced we’re in the end times, and it has nothing to do with George Bush.

Now, as I said before, I don’t begrudge Mrs. Lipscomb for feeling the pain of loss. Hell, I never met her son and I feel the pain of the loss. What is disturbing to me is that this former “conservative Democrat” has undergone a transformation. Lila Lipscomb hasn’t simply turned into a former patriot who decided to question her government. No… Lila Lipscomb has turned into a zealot who has decided to parrot any and every conspiracy theory ever floated by Michael Moore (and then some). She has gone on record claiming that President Bush is personally responsible for killing her son.  I wonder how crushed she might be if, in the next few months, a big ‘ol cache of WMD’s is dug out of the sand in Iraq. Perhaps she might feel ashamed at her harsh words about the President, maybe even a little devastated. I wonder if Moore will show up at her door again, camera in hand as she breaks down in tears, and once again deny her the hug she so desperately needs. I somehow doubt it.

Indeed Lila has gone through a transformation. Certainly the experience of burying your child would do that to nearly anyone. I appreciate it, it’s a human response we can all understand. What continues to disturb me is the transformation she’s gone through now that she has become a celebrity. It’s as if the decent, honest, sensible person Moore introduced us to in the film no longer exists. That may end up being the biggest travesty of all. I guess there will always be incidental victims when someone tries to meddle with the American psyche using tricks and lies.

Hey Mr. Moore, we want our Lila back. 

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