On this day in 2004 the controversial documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11 began its nationwide theatrical run in the US. The film's director and narrator, Michael Moore, used the occasion to attack the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for refusing to nominate his previous film, Bowling for Columbine, for an Oscar in the Best Documentary category.

On this day in 2004, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences issued a press release defending its decision not to nominate Bowling for Columbine for a Best Documentary Oscar, citing questions that had been raised about Bowling's accuracy since the film's original theatrical release. At least two Academy members, speaking on condition of anonymity, had told the Los Angeles Times they'd noticed disquieting signs of a clip featuring actor and then-National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston having been doctored to suit Moore's political agenda rather than reflect the truth.

On this day in 2004 American conservative political commentator Ann Coulter weighed in on the Fahrenheit 9/11 controversy with a scathing indictment of Michael Moore titled 'Moore-onic'.

On this day in 2004 Ann Coulter spoke at an anti-Michael Moore rally in Charleston, South Carolina. With the Fourth of July holiday just around the corner, Coulter told her audience in her closing remarks: "It's time to declare our independence from biased America-hating left wing film directors!"

On this day in 2004 the Washington Post published a special Independence Day op-ed commentary by former CBS News correspondent-turned-author and social critic Bernard Goldberg that sharply criticized the inaccuracies in Fahrenheit 9/11. Titled Moore Of The Same Old Stuff, the article painted a highly unflattering picture of Michael Moore as a hardcore leftist who hated America.

On this day in 2004 Ann Coulter used her online political column to challenge Michael Moore to a 1-on-1 debate about the truthfulness (or lack thereof) of his films Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine.

Echoing Coulter's debate challenge, radio talk show host and sister conservative Laura Ingraham started a petition drive whose aim was to compel Moore to answer point-by-point the charges of distortion, inaccuracy and outright lying that had been levelled at him by his critics.

On this day in 2004, radio host Rush Limbaugh joined Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham in pushing for Michael Moore to answer the charges of fabrication and distortion that had been made against Moore's documentaries Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine.

On this day in 2004 Michael Moore dismissed Ann Coulter's challenge for a one-on-one debate about the accuracy of his film Bowling For Columbine, saying it was beneath his dignity to argue with who he called "a shrew with a rag mop where her hair should be".

On this day in 2004 Ann Coulter retaliated for Moore's comments of the previous day with a column titled "Moore Lies & Hate".

On this day in 2004 veteran documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles published an open letter in the New York Times in which he urged Michael Moore to address the charges which had been raised against him in regard to Bowling For Columbine.

On this day in 2004 a leading website critical of Michael Moore started posting an online petition calling for Moore to be permanently disqualified for Oscar consideration in any category.

The site's webmaster cited Moore's questionable ethics as the main reason why the disqualification should be imposed.

On this day in 2004 the website calling for Michael Moore to be permanently disqualified from Oscar contention registered its 300,000th hit.                                              

On this day in 2004 Laura Ingraham's petition received its two millionth signature.

On this day in 2004 MSNBC commentator and Countdown host Keith Olbermann lashed out at Michael Moore's detractors in a seven-minute tirade near the end of that evening's edition of his show, denouncing critics of Fahrenheit 9/11 as "right-wing extremist a**h***s" even though much of the criticism of the film was in fact coming from other leftists who would have normally agreed with Moore's ideological point of view on other things..

In the days immediately following Olbermann's outburst, both he and MSNBC were bombarded with e-mails, phone calls, and handwritten letters roundly condemning his outburst; the incident tarnished both Olbermann's and MSNBC's reputations and in the eyes of some media analysts might have also been a factor in Olbermann's eventual acrimonious departure from MSNBC in 2007.