Think Again: Michael Moore, Cause for War? - Center for American Progress

Think Again: Michael Moore, Cause for War? - Center for American Progress: "The media, apparently, have finally decided to take a stand for truth in reporting. Their target? Alleged America-hater Michael Moore and his apparently epoch-making 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' His film turns out to be of such critical importance to the Fate of the Republic that journalists have spared no trite observation in parsing every shot of the film for accuracy. Some do not even bother doing that much, dismissing the film regardless of the level of truth it contains. As Gwen Ifill, managing editor of 'Washington Week' told NBC's Tim Russert the June 27 edition of 'Meet the Press,' 'You know, I look at this movie as a journalist, and as a journalist I have this affection for facts and accuracy. And even though there are facts in this movie, on whole it's not accurate.'

I fill goes on to equate Moore with President Bush, claiming, 'The president, according to Democrats, did that with 9/11. He said, 'Well, there was terrorism on 9/11. There's terrorism in Afghanistan. And we know that Saddam Hussein consorted with terrorists, and you make the conclusion.' Michael Moore is doing the same thing. He's saying, 'Well, look at the president and the Saudis. They were all friendly.'' It would be a more effective critique, to put it mildly, if Ifill could come up with a single factual claim that Moore did not support. But even so, it's quite a leap. After all, how many people are likely to die for Moore's misportrayals?"

Eric Alterman
Think Again