Michael Moore calls snipers 'cowards' and Twitter conservatives go bonkers

Filmmaker Michael Moore expressed his opinion on Twitter about Clint Eastwood's war film, 'American Sniper' --based on the life of the late Chris Kyle -- calling snipers "cowards" and setting off a storm of criticism over his tweet.

American Sniper opened to huge box office numbers this weekend, with a January record $90 million in its first weekend.

While comments about the film on Twitter have been contentious, Moore's tweet has garnered the most criticism and attention.

Moore wrote, "My uncle killed by sniper in WW2. We were taught snipers were cowards. Will shoot u in the back. Snipers aren't heroes. And invaders r worse."

Driven by conservative outrage aggregator Twitchy, many rushed to attack Moore, calling him names, questioning his patriotism, while making the usual comments about his weight.

While some tweets were brief, -- calling Moore "idiot" or "moron," or worse  -- others used the full  140-character Twitter limit to call out Moore.

Chris Tsotsoros wrote, "@MMFlint You're a moron. Plain and simple. U should be ashamed. U should be, but aren't. But u should be. God help us, we'll you."

Small market conservative radio host Dana Loesch commented on both Moore's wealth and weight, writing, "Easy to say from your frillion dollar lake front house, tons of fun. Why don't you go over there, show them how it's done @MMFlint ?"

Townhall editor and Fox contributor Katie Pavlich insisted that Kyle served as a sniper in the Middle East to protect Moore's 1st Amendment rights, writing , "Chris Kyle was a sniper so you could spew vile, untrue, pathetic words like that @MMFlint. You're welcome. You should be saying THANK YOU."

Colton Jagger simply tweeted, "tell that to Chris Kyle bitch."

Alex Freeman took a slightly more reasoned approach, writing, "Michael Moore's tweet is just plain offensive to our servicemen. Chris Kyle risked his life for his country- nothing cowardly about that."

While another, Jay Caruso, compared Kyle to Alvin York, the sniper who was the most decorated U.S. soldier in World War I and was  portrayed in Howard Hawks' 1941 film Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper. Caruso wrote, "According to @MMFlint, Alvin York was a “coward.”

Other went directly for the "Michael Moore is fat" jokes with Breitbart writer Katie McHugh slamming both Moore and actor Seth Rogen -- who was also taking flack for comparing American Sniper to the movie "that's showing in the third act of Inglorious Basterds" -- for their weight, while pointing out that Sniper star Bradley Cooper had to be in excellent shape to portray Kyle in the film.

McHugh wrote, "It’s unlikely that either Moore or Rogen, both of whom of grossly overweight, are familiar with the grueling regimen Cooper endured in order to respectfully represent the deceased Chris Kyle. It’s equally unlikely that either of them would have volunteered anything to make a sacrifice on behalf of veterans."

A sampling of tweets, including Moore's, below: