So now that you've seen some of the issues Michael Moore twisted that happened more recently, let's look back at what he has to say about President Bush's election back in 2000.
"Fox News Election 2000 Hocus-Pocus"
Less than 2 minutes into the movie Moore unabashedly wanders off the journalistic reservation with bizarre theories about Election 2000. Moore states with an ominous tone: "It was Election Night 2000 and everything was going as planned."
Over the next three minutes Moore strings together a half-dozen unrelated facts, reconstructs timelines, ignores fundamental facts, sprinkles in a blatant misstatement and, viola! We have the ingredients for an Election Night conspiracy!
Moore also strings together quick clips by Tom Brokaw (NBC News), Dan Rather (CBS News), Peter Jennings (ABC News), and CNN all declaring Al Gore the winner. He continues with, "Then, something called the Fox News Channel came out in favor of the other guy. All of the sudden the other networks said, 'Hey, if Fox said it, it must be true!'
Next we see Tom Brokaw saying, 'All of us networks made a mistake a projected Florida in the Al Gore column. It was our mistake.' Moore created the impression that the networks recanted as soon as they heard Fox call Florida for Bush."
Misleads: "Let's stop right there. FRIST, it was CBS at 10:00pm that night that first withdrew from the assertion that Al Gore would win Florida. In fact, the networks that called Florida for Gore did so early- even before the polls closed in the panhandle. Moore fails to tell you that even Fox called FL for Gore before the polls closed.
At 10:00 pm that night it was CBS (Not Fox) that retracted its call for Gore to win. In fact Fox did not give the win to Bush until 2:00 am. Within 20 minutes, all major networks had also given Bush the victory. Why the close timing? Because the major networks all used the same source for their data- "Voter News Service"- not because of some hocus-pocus by Fox news."
That's Michael Moore's technique. String together snippets of truth, change the timing sequence, ignore any facts that don't support your agenda, add a dose of ominous music and a commentary to go with it.
Next, "The Vote-Countin' Woman"
Fox News is just the beginning of the supposed Election Night shenanigans. Moore implies many more reasons why Florida and the election went wrongly to Bush. (Moore's misleads are in uppercase, followed by the facts):
MAKE SURE THE CHAIRMAN OF YOUR CAMPAIGN IS ALSO THE VOTE COUNTIN' WOMAN...
Katherine Harris was the Secretary of State in FL. Her job was to certify the vote counts. At no time did Katherine Harris count the votes. Nor was she the Bush Campaign Chairman- she was the Bush Campaign Co-Chair for FL.
AND THAT HER STATE HAS HIRED A COMPANY THAT IS GOING TO KNOCK VOTERS OFF THE ROLLS WHO ARE NOT GOING TO VOTE FOR YOU. YOU CAN USUALLY TELL THEM BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN.
Moore refers to a company called "Data Base Technologies" that was hired to remove conviced felons from voter rolls. Their process has serious flaws. As a result, at least 20 counties ignored their purged lists and allowed thousands of convicted felons to vote who shouldn't have been able to. Statistically, the large majority of felons voted Democrat, so in fact, this error helped Gore- not Bush.
Furthermore, it is a blatant lie to imply that race was involved in the process!
MOORE IMPLIES THAT NUMEROUS STUDIES SHOWED RECOUNTS WOULD HAVE GIVEN THE ELECTION TO GORE. HE SHOWS A CNN INTERVIEW WITH JEFFREY TOOBIN WHO STATES THAT GORE WOULD WIN IN ANY SCENERIO.
In fact, a six-month study by the Washington Post, CNN, and the New York Times (hardly conservative news oragnizations) determined that in all scenerios pursued by Al Gore, Bush would've won had the Supreme Court not stepped in.
That President Bush somehow "stole" the election is practically an Article of Faith for liberals in the 21st Century. Moore begins here becasue every other supposedly deceptive deed by President Bush has it's roots in some "Election Night slight-of-hand". But Moore fails to make a case that stands up to the FACTS. It just isn't true. In fact, it could be argued that Al Gore made ever effort to turn the election. Gore only gave up the recount when it was clear he wasn't going to win. It's a bitter pill that liberals simply refuse to swallow: they will not admit that Bush won the 2000 Election, and this fuels everything they are doing in this election cycle."
INAUGURATION DAY HATRED
Moore states Inauguration Day brought an unprecedented protest of the new President- his limo was pelted with eggs. It may seem like a minor point to place in a documentary, but it serves to further confirm that President Bush "stole the Election" and people knew it.
Misleads: "A single errant protester threw one egg at the limo. CNN reported that President Nixon had faced similar protests in both '69 and '73. Moore points out the number of protesters, but fails to mention they were confined to a single block and were vastly outnumbered by supporters."
BUSH'S FAILED LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Moore states, "For the next eight monts, it didn't get any better for George W. Bush. He couldn't get his judges appointed, he had trouble getting his legislation passed, and he lost Republican control of the Senate." Again, all this is to confirm that Bush is what some liberals call the "Commander in Thief" for stealing the election.
Misleads: "President Bush's agenda was not stymied. In the first 8 months, four judges were confirmed according to the Dept of Justice. More importantly, during his first 8 months, Bush got major legislation passed including two of the most important items of his Administration: one of the largest tax cuts in history and the "No Child Left Behind" legislation. "
I'm just telling it like it is.
