"Fahrenheit 9/11" review

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Directed by Michael Moore
Writing credits Michael Moore

George W. Bush.... Himself (archive footage)
James Baker III.... Himself - Former Secretary of State (archive footage)
Richard Gephardt.... Himself - Congressman (archive footage)
Tom Daschle.... Himself - Senator (archive footage)
Al Gore.... Himself - U.S. Vice President and Senate President (archive footage)
Condoleezza Rice.... Herself - National Security Advisor (archive footage)
Donald Rumsfeld.... Himself (archive footage)
Saddam Hussein.... Himself (archive footage)

There is one inescapable truth to be gleaned from "Fahrenheit 9/11" and it's this: Michael Moore despises George W. Bush. This documentary was created with only one purpose in mind and that is to derail any chance Bush has of being reelected. If Bush does win in November, this documentary will be a failure. If Bush loses, I wonder how much credit Moore will give himself for Bush's defeat. He would probably deserve a little credit.

If Michael Moore can't score front row seats to the Democratic National Convention then no one can. "Fahrenheit 9/11" is about George W. Bush and why Moore thinks he's a dangerously incompetent buffoon. It chronicles his life of privilege and excess. It explores every possible connection that he has to the Saudi government and wonders if Bush and co. have more interest in keeping the Saudi's happy, (making sure the Bin Laden family got on a plane for Saudi Arabia, etc.) than in keeping America safe. As you may surmise, Moore has made up his mind and decides to attack Bush with all of the film-making power at his disposal.

So Michael Moore declares jihad against Bush. Is there anything to it? Yes. There are two points that validate Moore's film. Moore makes the argument that the Iraq war was completely unnecessary and Bush made a fatal error in starting it. He may turn out to be right. As I write this comment, Iraq is completely on fire. There is no letup in the amount of attacks. If one were able to see the future of Iraq, what would you see? All I see is more chaos and destruction for years to come. Was it worth it? Sure, Saddam Hussein was knocked out. So now what? What will Iraq look like in November when Bush is pushing for four more years? Will the Shiites, Sunnis, Wahabis, Kurds, Turkmens, al-Qaeda and the U.S. all be holding hands singing GIVE PEACE A CHANCE? Not likely.

The second point that gives "Fahrenheit 9/11" some weight is the fact that Osama Bin Laden is still at large. This is the single greatest failure of Bush's presidency. Bush likes to write Bin Laden off as a marginalized figure who can't do much from the tribal lands of Pakistan or wherever that dirtbag is hiding. That is what the government said when he was hanging out in Afghanistan in the 1990's. The fact is that one man can and does make a difference. Killing Osama Bin Laden should be the first thing on the agenda. Osama has got to go. So where's Osama? Who knows? My guess is somewhere on the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. You would probably need 100,000 troops to invade those tribal lands to put Bin Laden's head on a stick. Bin Laden is worth the effort. Does Bush really care about finding him? I don't know.

The sad truth about 9/11, the Iraq war, and the fruitless search for Bin Laden is that we'll never know the real truth. Unless you're sitting in the halls of power in Washington or planning massive attacks with Bin Laden, you will never know what goes on in the real world. All normal people know, (like me), is what the government and the media tells us. We base our opinions on incomplete facts. "Fahrenheit 9/11" is not THE TRUTH. It is Moore's opinion of George W. Bush and that opinion is mighty low. It is a timely documentary that should be seen by all voters. Moore is trying to get voters to run Bush out of office. Will he succeed? Time will tell. At the end of the movie, Moore lets Bush do the talking for him: "There's a saying in Texas, Fool me once....shame on you. Fool me twice....well you're not going to fool me twice."

SCORE: 3.5 out of 4 George W.Bushes