There was no 2003 Michael Moore moment when the director was practically booed off stage for criticizing President Bush and the Iraq invasion. Actually, this year, there was no mention of politics of any kind, except when the First Lady bizarrely showed up surrounded by military service personnel in dress uniform. She declared of the Best Picture nominees, “They reminded us that we can overcome any obstacle if we dig deep enough and fight hard enough and find the courage within ourselves.” Of course, the nominees included Zero Dark Thirty and Argo, two propaganda films widely criticized for manipulating true events, and in the case of the former, outright lying by suggesting torture led to the capture of Osama bin Laden. Having the First Lady—and by extension, the White House—present an award to a pool that included propaganda films was, at best, creepy. (Allison Kilkenny) More here.