Happy Birthday to Little Willy!

Michael Moore on On the Record with Bob Costas:

Bob: I think you would be more convincing if some of the tone of what you did was "yeah, BUT…" instead of "NO! BUT…" To concede that which common sense tells us is true and then to ask us to look at it from another angle is worthy. To say everything that common sense tells you is true…is false — everything you've been told is false, and here's the truth…
Michael: Who do you think I should be trying to convince? I've already…like…I don't have to quote these statistics for you again! I'm the biggest selling author in America! I've got the biggest selling…uh…watched documentary of all time! I've got 20 million hits a day on my website! How many more people do I need to convince? [anxious laughter]

Unlike many people, I don't particularly hate Michael Moore — I was a fan of TV Nation — but dude, check your ego. Bob has a point here. One of the basic tenets of forensics is the consideration of and concession to potential counterarguments. Failure to do so weakens a case. No argument is infallible. Moreover, you cannot justify the righteousness of your position by popularity. Just because I watch your movie or visit your website doesn't mean I necessarily agree with anything you say. Curiosity and boredom are factors to consider.

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