Filmmaker and antiwar activist Michael Moore unleashed his own version of shock and awe Sunday night when he used his Oscar acceptance speech to criticize Bush and the war.

His words cheered many, outraged some and left others asking:

• Doesn’t everyone support the president and the war?
• Why doesn’t he support our troops?
• Did he forget about Sept. 11?
• How could he think of politicizing the Academy Awards?

To answer the last question, examine the inherent fallacy in the first three:

Question 1: No, everyone doesn’t support the president or his war. Despite media claims that Bush’s support has surged since he declared war, the protests just keep growing. In Kansas City alone, the weekly peace rally at JC Nichols Fountain grew by more than 300 people the Sunday after war began. (That number does not include the handful of pro-war demonstrators who professed their support for the troops.)

Question 2: Moore does support our troops, as do many of the people who protest war. In fact, many protesters are veterans themselves or have family in the Gulf, which is exactly why they want to bring our troops home – alive. The family of Kendall Waters-Bey, a soldier who died last week, openly criticized the war that took their brother and son; will anyone question their support for the troops?

Question 3: No, antiwar protesters have not forgotten Sept. 11, but we have done our homework. That’s why we know that it was primarily Saudi nationals, and not Iraqis, whom we should hold responsible for our national tragedy. Protesters also realize that war against a country crippled by 12 years of sanctions can only strengthen anti-U.S. sentiment in the Mid East and increase the likelihood of another Sept. 11-like attack on U.S. soil.

The question isn’t why did Moore bring politics to the Academy Awards, but how could he pass up a chance to address a national audience about our country’s dangerous path toward unattainable pax Americana?

Moore taking a stand does not shock those of us who protest week after week. But we are awed that he would risk his security and livelihood to publicly say what so many of us believe: that fictional election results have given us a fictional president who has dragged us into war for fictional reasons.