59 Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11

Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11

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Some of these so-called "deceits" are rather innocuous errors. Others, though are clear and scrupulously annotated examples of Moore's gross distortions of documented facts.

I have heard it said that by discrediting Moore, one is merely offering an alternative version of the truth -- as if truth, since it cannot be known with certainty, has versions. The implication is that because Moore is partisan, as are those who debunk his film, then the relevant facts no longer matter -- that it has all become a partisan game.

But truth exists. One cannot doubt that truth exists and that it can be apprehended. The problem is only that we as humans are imperfect judges of truth. To use an analogy, no chemical product is 100% pure, owing to impurities in the raw materials. But it would be incorrect to say that chemicals cannot be refined into states of increasing purity -- or that such purity cannot be accurately measured. Likewise, I think one can measure truthfulness (or lack of it) with some degree of error. We know that a single controlled chemical process cannot have completely distinct results -- could not produce hydrochloric acid one day and soda pop the next. Likewise, a methodical, iterative investigation that gathers and verifies evidence cannot point to fact one day and fantasy the next.

What Dave Kopel enumerates are facts that contradict Moore with greater allegiance to documented history than Moore has ever shown. Some of these facts are evidenced by videotape of the events, others by numerous independent sources. At some point,in the mind of an objective person, the sheer weight of Moore's documented misstatements must impeach the credibility of his conclusions, wouldn't you say? It stops being a gray area, a matter of interpretation one way or the other.

At some point, even one disposed to believe Moore's story because one agrees with his partisan point of view, must conclude however reluctantly that his film doesn't succeed in proving what he hoped to prove (namely, that Bush has failed as a leader with respect to the events of 9/11). That conclusion may be valid, but one must look elsewhere for a more reliable proof.