At the suggestion of StrongRad, here goes...
Someone who's gone now wrote:
I know this is offtopic, but I feel compelled to defend Michael Moore. Sure, he does sometimes exaggerate things to an eye-rolling, obnoxious extent and can take things out of context in a similar way, but I've yet to hear any of the basic facts against Bush in Fahrenehit 9/11, for instance, convincingly refuted as false.
This is for everyone on the forum who has been living in a cave since this movie came out. Fahrenheit 9-11 is anything BUT factual, as anyone who bothers to do a little fact-checking will understand.
For example, from
this source:
Quote:
We are introduced to Iraq, "a sovereign nation." (In fact, Iraq's "sovereignty" was heavily qualified by international sanctions, however questionable, which reflected its noncompliance with important U.N. resolutions.) In this peaceable kingdom, according to Moore's flabbergasting choice of film shots, children are flying little kites, shoppers are smiling in the sunshine, and the gentle rhythms of life are undisturbed. Then—wham! From the night sky come the terror weapons of American imperialism. Watching the clips Moore uses, and recalling them well, I can recognize various Saddam palaces and military and police centers getting the treatment. But these sites are not identified as such. In fact, I don't think Al Jazeera would, on a bad day, have transmitted anything so utterly propagandistic.
You do know who Al Jazeera is, don't you?
This site lists "59 deceits in Fahrenheit 9-11".
Dave Kopel wrote:
"Moore thus creates the false impression that the networks withdrew their claim about Gore winning Florida when they heard that Fox said that Bush won Florida."
"How did Bush win Florida? 'Second, make sure the chairman of your campaign is also the vote count woman.' Actually Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris (who was Bush's Florida co-chair, not "the chairman") was not the 'vote count woman.' Vote counting in Florida is performed by the election commissioners in each of Florida's counties. The Florida Secretary of State merely certifies the reported vote. The office does not count votes."
"Castigating the allegedly lazy President, Moore says, 'Or perhaps he just should have read the security briefing that was given to him on August 6, 2001 that said that Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America by hijacking airplanes.'
Moore supplies no evidence for his assertion that President Bush did not read the August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Brief. Moore’s assertion appears to be a complete fabrication."
"You mock the 'coalition of the willing' by only showing the tiny countries that have voiced support. But you leave out England, Spain, Italy and Poland. Why?
Moore: 'This film exists as a counterbalance to what you see on cable news about the coalition. I’m trying to counter the Orwellian nature of the Big Lie, as if when you hear that term, the ‘coalition,’ that the whole world is behind us.'"
"Moore mocks Attorney General John Ashcroft by pointing out that Ashcroft once lost a Senate race in Missouri to a man who had died three weeks earlier. "Voters preferred the dead guy," Moore says, delivering one of the film’s biggest laugh lines.
It’s a cheap shot. When voters in Missouri cast their ballots for the dead man, Mel Carnahan, they knew they were really voting for Carnahan’s very much alive widow, Jean. The Democratic governor of Missouri had vowed to appoint Jean to the job if Mel won."
"Moore wraps up the 'vacation' segment: 'It was a summer to remember. And when it was over, he left Texas for his second favorite place.' The movie then shows Bush in Florida. Actually, he went back to Washington, where he gave a speech on August 31."
And from
here:
Quote:
At the end of F911 Michael Moore quotes Condoleeza Rice as saying, “Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11.” As usual, just like he did with the Charlton Heston speech in BFC, Mike plays fast and loose with the truth through the world of editing.
Pretty damning stuff, isn’t it? But that was the truncated, Michael Moore version. Now for the full, unexpurgated quote:
“Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. It’s not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11, but, if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that lead people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York.”
Well that’s a different quote, Mike. So why the editing?
I'm not saying that Moore doesn't make some valid points. I'm not saying President Bush is infalliable and has never told a lie. I'm not saying I'm sold about the US being in Iraq.
What I am saying is that Michael Moore is an entertainer. He exists to sell DVDs and get paid to bash on the president. Even those on the left won't defend him, except for those who are radically opposed to everything the current administration does.
Bottom line: Moore lied in Farehnheit 9-11. Also Bowling For Columbine, but I'll let you figure out what was horribly innacurate in that one.
If anyone feels like disputing these points or anything I've said here, please feel free.