Let me be precise: my point about Moore was not specific to this particular incident. From my reading of this one, Miramax agreed to funding but made no promise of distribution, and Moore knew that. I'm not claiming that he did this all intentionally as a publicity stunt, although that wouldn't be out of character for him. My point was more general: given the man's past patterns of being very loose with the truth, there's no reason to accept anything he says at face value. Ever.

For those who haven't followed the controversy over whether Bowling at Columbine should have been considered documentary or fiction, a good place to start is David Hardy's very thorough page. If you prefer something about Moore's more recent book, try Spinsanity. I should also note that there are times I agree with Moore, but nothing serves a good cause less than the sorts of intellectually dishonest and ethically challenged things Moore does to make his points. He's welcome, of course, to make whatever books and movies he wants, but no one should ever treat them as nonfiction. He's a damn fine saleman, but a really morally questionable human being.