TUESDAY

Like your local village crank, filmmaker (Roger & Me), television celebrity (TV Nation), and muckraker general Michael Moore knows the answers to all the world’s problems, and he’s more than willing to share them with you—at great length. Smug and sanctimonious, Moore’s the kind of self-righteous blowhard who, should you find yourself trapped next to him at a party, will make you wish you had a cyanide pill secreted away in a false molar. But you’ve got to hand it to liberalism’s execrable answer to the despicable Rush Limbaugh: In his new book, Stupid White Men…and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!, Moore doesn’t content himself with preaching to the converted (although he does lots of that). No, Moore tries his hand at clearing up the world’s messes by himself. He includes an incredibly condescending letter to Yasser Arafat, urging the Palestinian leader to try nonviolence (come on, Yasser—it’s that simple!), a missive to George W. recommending that he be a man and resign the presidency, and lots of “Listen up, Dumbo” advice to white America, white men, all men, Democrats, Republicans, the airline industry, the stock market, folks who own Mercedeses, and the millions of other people who will never be as smart or as moral as Moore. In short, Stupid White Men is a smirking collection of intellectually lazy potshots at obvious (if deserving) targets, and if Moore were really concerned about working people, he wouldn’t be trying to relieve them of $24.95 of their hard-earned dollars in exchange for this book. Ask Moore if he uses union film crews when he appears at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, at Olsson’s Books & Records, 2111 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Free. (703) 525-4227. (Michael Little)