Michael Moore Helps His Biggest Nemesis

SickoI know we’ve been doing a lot of Michael Moore coverage this week, but again, his movie is about to premiere at Cannes (this JUST IN: First Reaction: Michael Moore’s Sicko is “brilliant and uplifting”). A lot of people have negative feelings for the political documentary filmmaker. I thought I’d share this story I found in the NY Daily News.

Fans and detractors of Moore know the most popular anti-Michael Moore website on the internet is a site called MooreWatch. The website’s tagline is “Watching Moore’s Every Move”. Webmaster Jim Kenefick recently wrote about the difficulty he was having paying his wife’s medical bills. His conservative readership guided him to a cheaper heath plan but that wasn’t enough.

“After I posted about finding the plan and what the cost was, someone emailed me and asked if an ‘anonymous’ benefactor could offer to pay my first year’s premiums. $12,000. I was skeptical of course, but since I’m not an idiot, I accepted,” wrote Kenefick. “$12,000 was like manna from heaven at that time. As you all may remember, I was being bled dry by the scumbag that used to host the server on which this site resides. My business was almost dead, my wife was very, very ill and I was racking up a few little health problems of my own. That money made it possible for us to begin to turn our lives around.”

But who and where did the check come from?

“When the check arrived, I was overly cautious. I tracked the company that issued the check, the bank it was drawn on…I found a hotline you could call to check the status of drafts issued by this third-party company, and the number on the check (actually more like a money order) checked out. I even went so far as to see where the branches of the issuing bank might be physically located, and there are like five of them within walking distance of Moore’s home and office in New York City.”

The NY Daily News has confirmed that the check was indeed from Kenefick’s nemesis, Michael Moore. A man that Kenefick had attacked for years on end.

“I knew he was using me,” Kenefick now writes on his blog in an effort to beat Moore to the punch. “I knew he would try to turn this to his advantage some day. That day may be upon us. I was just warned by someone in the know that Moore is about to drop the hammer on me.”

Well guess what, Moore isn’t commenting on the matter. And I hope it stays that way. I tend to believe that Mike is a good guy, who has helped a lot of people with his films. Does he have an agenda? Who doesn’t. Kenefick certainly does:

“If it was you, Mikey…your $12,000 doesn’t buy my silence. It won’t buy my affection, nor will I shy away from talking about whatever may or may not be in your new film. I’ll still be the same guy, expressing my opinion and trying his best to research facts you tend to skip over or ignore. All you bought for your money - if it was yours - was the peace of mind of knowing you actually helped someone who needed it.”

Talk about being ungrateful. Talk about turning a nice gesture into a media opp for yourself and your agenda.

First Reaction: Michael Moore’s Sicko is “brilliant and uplifting”

  • Nick
    That's pretty cold of Kenefick..
  • "Ungrateful?" "Cold?"

    What's this man supposed to say? He makes money on documenting the fact that often times Moore pointedly portrays events in such a way to mislead his audience. Whether you're a fan of Moore or not, that's the truth. He feels called to help people become aware of that and makes money off of it. Can't blame a guy for that.

    If he graciously says "thank you" his site's visitors will probably think he's getting soft on Moore and he'll get less hits and lose money. In order to maintain the integrity of his site he has to come out publicly and say this.

    He may be a jerk; or he may be very grateful and a good businessman who knows that publicly expressing his thanks will compromise his living situation...and since he needed money from Moore, he obviously doesn't have the luxury of throwing money out the window.
  • mrlope333
    ur fool of shit
    moores movies are guiness
    at the end of every movie he helps someone that was hurt by the thing he was protesting

    i have a profile on addictinggames.com
  • See the real Cuba and ask Moore to address real footage.
    Cuban Luis Moro tears apart Michael Moore using real footage from Cuban Hospital. See footage at youtube channel EveryThingCUBA or LuisMoroNews.BlogSpot-com.
  • Blah blah blah...play Age of Conan when it comes out, thanks.
  • bertrand
    "All you bought for your money...was the peace of mind of knowing you actually helped someone who needed it.” In the confusing world of he said/she saids, I hope this was misquoted. If it wasn't I am more fucking confused than ever before.
  • Showtime101
    There is no healthcare in the USA. Even if you look back at the WWII vets there wasn't any real healthcare. It's a joke and Michael Moore is correct.
  • Andrea
    I completely disagree. I think he could have shown some gratefulness without coming across as a jerk. It is possible to thank a man without thanking his beliefs. The fact that Moore did it anonymously and this guy went through so much trouble to track his anonymous benefactor down may have been because he wanted to thank him, or because he "just wanted to know". This may be exaggerating, but imagine his horror when he discovered that his helper was none other than the guy that he makes a living discrediting. Perhaps it was too much to hope for, "Thanks."
  • Good Karma
    This is really sad for Jim. He couldn't accept that someone anonymously attempted to help him and had to figure out if it was Michael Moore so that he could attack him. Just accept that someone has bestowed a blessing on you and quit being an ass. Don't cry about your situation then attack the people that help you, whoever it was. Be grateful and gracious. Show some class. His own hatred will consume him.
  • DD
    If he's afraid of compromising his integrity, just tear up the check. Either cash the check and sya thanks or else tear up the check. By the way, he can say thanks and still comment on MM.
  • mike
    Honestly I think jim should just keep doing what hes doing.
    if it was moor that donated the money, I dont think moor would expect to do anything lest that what he has in the past.
    sometimes Its good to have a "nemisis" and i think michal moor knows this.
  • I guess there are three things he could have done:
    1) Not track the check. If the benefactor wants to remain anonymous, then why track him? Respect his wish;
    2) Send an email just saying "thank you" or just shut up about it and pretend he didn't know who the benefactor was
    3) Make post on his website about how Michael Moore actually helped him. thank him, and then continue as usual with his webiste and his views.

    But some people are just stupid...
  • Well I think Micheal Moore knows that people like Jim Kenefick helps promote him.
    Every "Hero of the people" needs somebody trying to take hime down. Micheal Moore is making
    sure that his "Biggest Enemy" will still be around so he can still have someone to fight agianst him.
  • Matt
    So, Eric N., basically you're saying that this guy might have just been ACTING like a jerk, rather than actually being one, and the reason is because all of his readers ARE jerks and they would rather see his wife dead than accept basic civility towards Michael Moore? Man, I knew the right wing didn't care about _other_ groups, but who knew they hated their own wives too?
  • 3451545
    What if it were the opposite, I believe even Michael Moore would have a millionth fraction of a heart to say thanks. This guy is a sore loser who thinks about nothing other than beating his opponent, he doesn't even deserve to have a wife in the first place. Stupid.
  • Intel Needs AMD
    Microsoft Needs Apple
    Michael Moore Needs...?
  • Ben
    $12,000 is probably a lot cheaper than trying to buy the same amount of publicity on the open market. Moore's act can easily be viewed as compassionate or as good business, but it takes an extra effort of will to construct a situation whereby he can use it as some kind of leverage against the guy. How could he do that and not have it backfire on him? The simplest explanation that fits the facts is usually correct.

    On the other hand, if the guy's wife died the website could go down and there goes a lot of attention being paid to him... that's not good for any public figure. Or put it still another way - who wouldn't want a nice central location where all the people who hate you can be found?
  • Scottt
    How about: I want to thank you on a personal matter for helping me and mine
    blah blah blah... Because I am as convinced of my beliefs as you are of your, I
    will neither change the tenor or content of my website or my beliefs that you
    misinform a broader audience.blah blah blah

    Have a heart!
  • Esther N
    The donation had been, at the time Kenefick exposed it, anonymous. To
    expose it and then rant about his integrity, is the work of an utter shit.
  • I like Scott's idea. I think that would have been a better way to go.

    Otherwise, I find this thread disheartening. I proposed a thought experiment to see if it was possible to empathize with this guy, and very few people care enough about the guy as a human being to even try to put themselves in his shoes.

    Instead, we all just said, "He's a right-wing crackpot. What a jerk." No wonder this country is so polarized. No one's willing to even attempt to assume that someone who thinks or acts differently them themselves has good motives. Why bother being open-minded when you can be mean? I guess being mean is more fun and easier.

    Oh well. With a new Michael Moore movie coming out, you guys will have plenty of fodder to complain about and demonize others with. Have fun!
  • piltdown
    If this damned pathetic loser wants to keep badmouthing the person who probably saved his wifes life, he should give the money back.

    What a prick.
  • Vector
    The fact is that no one has asked for a thank you or to even be noticed for the gift. Mr. Kenefick could have returned the money if it were to come from a person that wasn't on his "Approved" list.
    I may have turned his life around, but it will not change who he is. let me ask a question, was your life in need of a change and was it due to who you are? I may have too much pride, but I wouldn't take money from someone on my shit list, especially if it was a life changing event. Kenefick can say what ever he wants about Mike, and he may talk as much smak as he feels necessary. The truth will always be that he wouldn't be where he is right this moment if it were not for the thoughtful act of someone who cares about people in general. The sad thing here is that I bet Mike would help him again if he needed it and Kenefick would take yet another handout from someone he hates. I dont think Mike used you Jim, it was clearly the other way around.
  • Obbop
    Ne thinks that Moore is butting up against the brainwashing implanted within the
    American people via a propaganda system designed to preserve a status quo
    that assists the elite class and corporate Amerika.

    The mass media and the federal government continuously spits upon America's
    working poor...observe the allowing MILLIONS of illegals to waltz in, competing
    with the working poor for jobs and housing.

    It IS class warfare in the USA, despite all the propaganda dumped upon the
    citizenry.
  • Luke Daly
    this guy who's wife is ill, what a complete ASS! First off, if moore wanted to use the cash donation against him, why not submit it using his name instead of hiding, this moore watch guy also makes a living off moore, so basically he is a leech and suckling off moore movies, he needs to get his head checked and get a real job. Its like them americans complaining about the iraqi war yet earn a living off their anti war blogs (no war = no blogs = no jobs). They are the people who are retarded in america.

    I think the guy should take a long hard look at his life and thank moore for the kind contribution and at the end of the day if he doesn't like his films dont watch them. Simple as that really.

    Also I wish his wife gets well and he gets ill. Harsh I know but the hate this guy shows to Moore I feel he should experience what it is like for someone in the world to hate him that much.
  • FOSCO
    I have had dealings with this JIM K before. Let me assure everybody that he is a grade-A loser. He is also from my home state of CT and I apologize for that.

    He used to have a right-wing podcast that would make your ears bleed.
  • Paul Spenceley
    I think what was said earlier about thanking a man and not his beliefs is a completely valid point. I can't
    imagine being bitter over the fact my wife was healed but this BASTARD I know paid for it. The guy's ego
    is through the roof. And if the website was doing badly before, then sweet lord will it be in trouble now.

    Gotta love the right wingers eh..?

    Loser.
  • vtrue
    Michael Moore has been proven right again and again with his films. i lived right next to ground zero and his film was very healing for me. i could see the site from my window and was displaced for over 8 months. i had to endure the lies the news media were telling. mm is a story teller, not in the liar story way, but in the old tradition of telling a story, based on real events from a personal perspective.
    everything in his movies is true and he stands for something.
  • Jack Frost
    Well, that was rather poorly handled, I must say.

    The ONLY way it's acceptable for him to use this as a media opp for himself, is if he hadn't cashed the check.
    That's the funny thing about principles, they only mean something if you stick to them when it's inconvenient.

    If he's better off now, he simply should have sent Moore a check for $12,000 and a personal thank you note. Going public like this, and using it as an opportunity to bash Moore, is dispicable. Has anyone seen Moore talk about this in public? No. This cock did, and in the process has lost all credibility.
  • JS
    I believe the term for this is "don't look a gift horse in the mouth".
  • LHBaker
    Why does everyone assume that Michael Moore has any alterior motive other than to say that we're all in this together? Moore's whole stance is that healthcare is ridiculously expensive. The difference here is that Moore doesn't take this ass's attacks pesonally, while Kenefick shows himself to be little more than an obsessed paranoid freak. In short, Kenefick does what he does out of hate, and Moore is just being nice.

    Maybe Kenefick ought to just let go. He appears to value his hatred for Moore more than his or his own wife's health. What a total jerk.
  • Greg W
    Let me get this straight.

    It's the HMO that is killing him, it's the webserver that's bleeding him, and Michael Moore is a jerk trying to anonymously help this guy out? At least he has the honestyy to acknowledge Moore's help. He can criticize Mike's positions whithut attacking the motives or person behind the movie. Just as Moore can criticize his attacks. There is nothing wrong with civil debate. Maybe it's not all these outside things attacking this guy. Maybe there is a point to some of Mike's movies after all.
  • Keith
    Kenefick's response to this is disgusting. If he was truly concerned that Moore would use the donation against him in the future, she should have discarded the check. That is, of course, unless his wife's health is more important to him than maintaining his right to be indignant about every move Moore makes.

    I'm no Moore fanboy, I trust little of what he says, but if you genuinely believe he is going to use this situation as ammo in the future, you decide if taking the money is worth giving him that chance or not. If yes, cash the check and weather the storm. If not, burn it and hope that the many people who read your site and rail against Moore with you, stick around to help once the two minutes hate is over.
  • Kurt
    Ironically, the way that Kenefick went about this whole thing seems to be turning into a
    self-fulfilling prophecy. He was so afraid that Moore was going to use it against him,
    it drove him to speak out vividly against any potential move Moore could make. Since it
    seems from what I've read that Moore really wanted to be anonymous, the pre-emptive
    strike backfired, and now people think Kenefick is more of a loser than ever, which seems
    to me to be what he was trying to avoid in the first place.

    My wife has been sick for awhile, and its very stressful- sometimes leads you to do things
    you wouldn't do if you sat and thought rationally about it for awhile.

    Life is stranger than fiction already- it doesn't need to be provoked.
  • Ted
    No wonder his wife is sick with all that anger, hate and vitriol in close proximity.

    He's killing her.
  • Mowen
    Not surprising. The republican party was home to former segregationalists very recently. It was also home to many biased against gays. Most racists love Bush and probably vote republican. Republicans are for the most part are thinly veiled racist and sexist bastards.
  • eggzakt
    Hate is a poison.

    It must be difficult for Jim Kenefick to have two things in his head at the same time. His reaction is symptomatic of what he does for a living. He can't take anything at face value and must investigate everything and find the faults with it. We need people like Kenefick and Moore to help us see the world around us and force dialog between us in a busy world.

    The problem is when it gets personal and you can't leave work at work. Not many of us would take the time to investigate an anonymous check. I wouldn't even know how. Sure I'd be curious, but the priority would be my wife. Mr. Kenefick seems to have placed his debate with Mr. Moore before his wife. He took the check, and I'm sure it helped. But due to his personality, he now has to deal with the knowledge that he is living in a cage of hate. Hate is always fear. Hate is cheap and hollow and irresponsible. Now Kenefick has another thing to fear: perhaps he is wrong about a few things.

    Imagine investing so much time and effort into the research and tracking and the interviews and the gossip only to find that he's a human after all? How embarrassing!

    Why is it so hard for people to disagree and still be friends? Why can't we just all get along? Oh yeah, to answer my own question: if we all got along, there wouldn't be nearly as much art and money to be made.
  • Eric N. @ 5:46 put in a nutshell one of the big problems with the way we fail to relate to people from the other side these days:

    "No one’s willing to even attempt to assume that someone who thinks or acts differently them themselves has good motives."

    Although I generally agree with Moore politically, I see validity in the criticism of him as a fairly cunning manipulator. I think he is not above tricking people a little to make his point sometimes.

    Kenefick feels this very strongly. He was afraid that Moore would eventually use his act of kindness and Kenefick's acceptance of it to prove some kind of point at Kenefick's expense. I, for one, don't know if Kenefick's fear is justified, since I'm not privvy to Moore's secret plans, but I will say that Kenefick's gambit seems strategically reasonable: do the research, take the money, but be tansparent about it all so Moore's putative plans are dashed. We could wish that Kenefick weren't such a paranoid douchebag and that he had made his point with humor and civility, but the man is who he is, right? We're not going to reform him by calling him an asshole, so maybe we should stop taking things to the personal level right away.
  • Mantra
    Kenefick claims that Moore would use the donation "against him some day". The true irony is that Kenefick self-inflict exactly that kind of damage himself by his own acts and reactions. A further irony is that he's probably not smart enough to realize what he did to himself!

    One could argue that Moore might have expected Kenefick to self-inflict a wound like this - it's in the character of people with overly simplistic world-views to be so easily induced. But the fact that Moore made the gift anonymously and has been making 'Sicko', which exposes the pervasiveness of exactly the kind of situation Kenefick was in, leads me to believe it was an honest gift.

    What would have been a completely anonymous and seemingly random act of kindness was turned into situation that, if helping anyone, could only help his nemesis, and, if hurting anyone, could only hurt himself. The ancient Greeks had the concepts of hubris, hamartia and tragic downfall. Proof of the relevance of the classics - what was happening 3000 years ago is still happening daily today.
  • sub
    what an idiot. he got the check send by an anonymous and he should be grateful for it there was no need for him to check who the actual sender was. he could have posted a nice thank you to that anonymous sender and be done with it. by coming public with this moore won more respect from me and iam sure form several others than this clown will ever get.

    i would have done the same thing if i ever had a nemesis and wouldve serious problems. at the end of the day we are all humans with or without different agendas.

    ps: i hope his wife gets better soon.
  • Tim
    I doubt Michael Moore was hoping for the guys silence or anything idiotic like that.
    I think it's great he sent the money. Go Moore!
  • a guy
    wow what an ingrate. he should taste the bitterness of harsh world.
  • csi
    The highest form of charity is giving a gift to a specific needy person anonymously. Moore acted with great integrity. As for Kenefick, I agree with "eggzakt" that he can't entertain two conflicting notions at once. Certainly Moore is a propogandist - I say this having studied several of his films in sociology courses in college. But Kenefick must really think Moore is subhuman, to launch preemptive attack on him like that. Oh, well, we're not going to change K's paranoia, and we're not going to change Moore's politics. I just hope the health and insurance issues subside and K has a chance to feel some gratitude about that. As for Moore, I respect him more as a person even though I'm still wary of his movie manipulations.
  • random shmoe
    What an idiot. If I was in the same predicament, I would still say thank you.
    $12,000 is a lot of money. Go Moore, this time. :P
  • csi
    Too bad I can't spell propagandist.
  • Why would moore give this retard money? Kenefick deserves to be kicked in the balls and I hope his wife dies.
  • dennis
    Controversy is always good for films. The worst thing that could happen to Michael Moore would be to slowly drift away from public eye.

    Michael Moore is not stupid, he knows that by keeping his nemesis alive and kicking, the continued controversy will translate into higher box office receipts for his next film. (and current films as well
  • jon quate
    Maybe Moore didn't have any motive except he thought, I have the money this guys doesn't, why not help him out. It could be as simple as that. Some people just really have compassion for others.
  • anonymous donor
    Ben: "The simplest explanation that fits the facts is usually correct."

    Somebody was just trying to be nice to someone else?
  • ted
    The 'healthcare' industry is anything but! The U.S. is #1 in costs and depending on the report 32 to 61st in the quality of care. I know from experience! For over three years I have been trying to get help for headache pain the affects hearing, balance, vision, cognitive ability and HORRIBLE pain. Spent thousands, saw half a dozen doctors, lost my job, insurance, had to declare bankruptcy and have been living with relatives for two years. Dr replies from "Its stress related- there's nothing we can do" to "There's nothing we can do for inner ear pain" to "get over it", "live with it". The only tests done were CT scan, Thyroid and liver tests and a Lyme didease test- all after asking and asking for tests (I had to badger them). At this point I am just waiting to commit suicide when the pain pushes me over the the edge. When you go from happy, healthy $65K/year to constant chronic debilitating pain and the 'healthcare' industry tells you to f**k off it makes you want to kill and torture doctors. The christian part of me prevents that BUT since suicide is the only way to relieve the pain so I will go that way. Read the new JAMA report that says Dr's cause 1 in four deaths!!
  • Good Karma
    It's not proven that Michael Moore made the contribution. Someone with a vendetta assumes that Michael Moore made the donation. Moore probably lives in an upscale neighborhood with plenty of other millionaires. It's just as likely that one of them has right wing leanings and could have sent the donations. I'll bet Moore's office is not in the ghetto either. This is NYC, one of the highest population densities in the world so It could have been anyone. This incident only points to the mental illness that is consuming a right wing hate vendor.
blog comments powered by Disqus