Moore provides only propaganda in '9/11'

For those of you who are about to see “Fahrenheit 9/11” on campus this weekend, I am drafting an addendum. I saw it twice in the theater and actually read both of Michael Moore’s books, so to imply that I am some whacked-out conservative swinging blindly would be wholly incorrect. I am a whacked-out conservative who knows what he is talking about. In the following article, I will clearly debunk the arguments of Moore and prevent his propagandist message from influencing you. He fails to tell the whole story, presents only one side of an issue and, ultimately, grossly misinforms his audience. “Fahrenheit 9/11,” belonging in the fabricated, Orwellian hell of “1984” or the bygone, oppressive Soviet Union, is nothing more than propaganda and fosters an ignorant, sheep-minded electorate. First, the implication that Fox News cost former Vice President Al Gore the election by selecting President George W. Bush is simply asinine. Fox News made its decision about Florida in the middle of the night when all polls had closed and a solid decision was not yet established. What he fails to mention, though, is that CBS said Florida had closed their polls – and was carried by Gore – an hour before the heavily Republican panhandle of Florida actually closed the doors to their voting places. As a result, assuming that polls were closed and their state was going in favor of Gore, many Republicans obviously stayed home. Democratic strategist Bob Beckel admits a net loss of 8,000 votes for Bush because of CBS’s incompetence. More objective estimates put the lost Bush votes into the tens of thousands. For every vote that Moore says that Gore allegedly lost to “disenfranchised” inner city voters or to mere incompetence in completing a ballot, CBS can tally a vote lost for Bush. Second, he plays the part of the good liberal boy and makes the connection between Republican policy makers and Big Business. However, endemic wealth is evident in all politicians, Republican or Democrat. Out of the 11 richest senators from this past Congress, eight were Democrats. In fact, putting together the money obtained through Sen. John Kerry’s marriage to bad girl Teresa Heinz with the profits made from Sen. John Edwards’ courtroom antics, the Democratic ticket is eight times as wealthy as the much-maligned Republican in this election. Mentioning Vice President Dick Cheney’s connection to Halliburton whenever he can, Moore often mentions conflicts of interest between those who profiteer off of business while making policy. Think of the phrase “conflict of interest” next time Democratic playboy and former malpractice lawyer John Edwards argues why there should be no tort reform or malpractice suit caps. Third, he makes the contention that the Bush administration mishandled Osama bin Laden’s Saudi family members and other Saudis by flying them out of the country. The 9/11 commission makes short work of this next Moore lie. First, in terms of the implication that they were airlifted before our airspace reopened, the Commission “found no evidence that any flights of Saudi nationals, domestic or international, took place before the reopening of national airspace on the morning of September 13, 2001.” Second, in terms of the allegedly non-existent questioning by the FBI – “the FBI interviewed all persons of interest on these flights prior to their departures … Our own independent review of the Saudi nationals [i.e., bin Laden’s family] involved confirms that no one with known links to terrorism departed on these flights.” There goes that conspiracy theory.These are indeed facts that I have given to deride Michael Moore’s narrow-minded propaganda. Although what I have said will probably not affect whether or not people will see this movie, I impart you with this warning in favor of the truth, hoping that this narrow-minded, backwards misinformed campaign will be used for entertainment purposes only and not influence the democratic process. Scott can be reached at tscott@campustimes.org.