Text 540, 270 rader
Skriven 2004-08-03 10:49:47 av John Hull (1:379/1.99)
Ärende: 59 Deceits - Pt 3
=========================
   ----- 59deceits-p3.txt begins -----

Florida Purge of Convicted Felons from Voter Rolls
Deceit 4
 
According to Fahrenheit, Bush cronies hired Data Base Technologies to purge
Florida voters who might vote for Gore, and these potential voters were purged
from the voting rolls on the basis of race. ("Second, make sure the chairman of
your campaign is also the vote count woman. And that her state has hired a
company that's gonna knock voters off the rolls who aren't likely to vote for
you. You can usually tell 'em by the color of their skin.") As explained by the
Palm Beach Post, Moore's suggestion is extremely incomplete, and on at least
one fact, plainly false.
 
The 1998 mayoral election in Miami was a fiasco which was declared void by
Florida courts, because--in violation of Florida law--convicted felons had been
allowed to vote. The Florida legislature ordered the executive branch to purge
felons from the voting rolls before the next election. Following instructions
from Florida officials, Data Base Technologies (DBT) aggressively attempted to
identify all convicted felons who were illegally registered to vote in Florida.
 
There were two major problems with the purge. First, several states allow
felons to vote once they have completed their sentences. Some of these
ex-felons moved to Florida and were, according to a court decision, eligible to
vote. Florida improperly purged these immigrant felons. 
 
Second, the comprehensive effort to identify all convicted felons led to a
large number of false positives, in which persons with, for example, the same
name as a convicted felon, were improperly purged. Purged voters were, in most
cases, notified months before the election and given an opportunity to appeal,
but the necessity to file an appeal was in itself a barrier which probably
discouraged some legitimate, non-felon citizens from voting. According to the
Palm Beach Post, at
least 1,100 people were improperly purged. 
 
The overbreadth of the purge was well-known in Florida before the election. As
a result, election officials in 20 of Florida's counties ignored the purge list
entirely. In these counties, convicted felons were allowed to vote. Also
according to the Post, thousands of felons were improperly allowed to vote in
the 20 non-purging counties. Analysis by Abigail Thernstrom and Russell G.
Redenbaugh, dissenting from a report by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission,
suggests that about 5,600
felons voted illegally in Florida. (The Thernstrom/Redenbaugh dissent explains
why little credit should be given to the majority report, which was produced by
flagrantly ignoring data.)
 
When allowed to vote, felons vote approximately 69 percent Democratic,
according to a study in the American Sociological Review. Therefore, if the
thousands of felons in the non-purging 20 counties had not been illegally
allowed to vote, it is likely that Bush's statewide margin would have been
substantially larger. 
 
Regardless, Moore's suggestion that the purge was conducted on the basis of
race was indisputably false. As the Palm Beach Post details, all the evidence
shows that Data Base Technologies did not use race as a basis for the purge.
Indeed, DBT's refusal to take note of a registered voter's race was one of the
reasons for the many cases of mistaken identity.

     DBT's computers had matched these people with felons, though in dozens of
cases they did not share the same name, birthdate, gender or race...[A] review
of state records, internal e-mails of DBT employees and testimony before the
civil rights commission and an elections task force showed no evidence that
minorities were specifically targeted. Records show that DBT told the state it
would not use race as a criterion to identify felons. The list itself bears
that out: More than 1,000 voters were matched with felons though they were of
different races.

The appeals record supports the Palm Beach Post's findings. Based on the
numbers of successful appeals, blacks were less likely to have been improperly
placed on the purge list: of the blacks who were purged, 5.1 percent
successfully appealed. Of Hispanics purged, 8.7 percent successfully appealed.
Of whites purged, 9.9 percent successfully appealed. John R. Lott, Jr.,
"Nonvoted Ballots and Discrimination in Florida," Journal of Legal Studies,
vol. 32 (Jan. 2003), p. 209. Of course it is theoretically possible that the
appeals officials discriminated against blacks, or that improperly purged
blacks were not as likely to appeal as were people of other races. But no one
has offered any evidence to support such possibilities.
 
[Moore response: Cites various articles about the felon purge. Offers no
evidence to support the claim that voters were targeted on the basis of race.]
 
Bush Presidency before September 11
Deceit 5
 
The movie lauds an anti-Bush riot that took place in Washington, D.C., on the
day of Bush’s inauguration. He claims that protestors "pelted Bush's limo with
eggs." Actually, it was just one egg, according to the BBC. According to Moore,
"No President had ever witnessed such a thing on his inauguration day. "
According to CNN, Richard Nixon faced comparable protests in 1969 and 1973.
According to USA Today, the anti-Bush organizers claimed that they expected
20,000 protesters to show up, whereas the anti-Nixon protest in 1973 drew
60,000 people. (USA Today, Jan. 20, 2001).
 
Moore says, "The plan to have Bush get out of the limo for the traditional walk
to the White House was scrapped. But according to the BBC, "Mr. Bush delighted
his supporters by getting out of his limousine and walked the last block of the
parade, holding hands with his wife Laura."
 
Moore continues: "And for the next eight months 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. His
approval ratings in the polls began to sink."
 
Part of this is true. Once Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican
party, Democrats controlled the Senate, and stalled the confirmation of some of
the judges whom Bush had nominated for the federal courts. 
 
Congress did enact the top item on Bush’s agenda: a large tax cut. During the
summer, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives easily passed many
of Bush’s other agenda items, including the bill whose numbering reflected the
President’s top priority: H.R. 1, the Bush "No Child Left Behind" education
bill. The fate of the Bush bills in the Democratic-controlled Senate, as of
August 2001, was uncertain. The Senate later did pass No Child Left Behind, but
some other Bush proposals did not pass.
 
Moore says that Bush's "approval ratings in the polls began to sink." This is
not entirely accurate, although I haven't counted this issue as a "deceit."
From January 2001 to September 2001, Bush's approval ratings in almost all
polls fluctuated pretty narrowly in a 50-59% range. Moore accurately cites a
Christian Science Monitor poll with 45 percent approval for Bush on September
5, 2001, but the low result here is an outlier compared to the overall poll
trend. What really changed for Bush, pollwise, was not that his approval
ratings were sinking, but that his disapproval ratings had risen. The national
polls showed that the approve/disapprove gap for Bush was much larger in
January 2001 than in the late summer of 2001. So Moore is correct that Bush's
polls numbers had deteriorated, although Moore's phrasing is not correct.
 
"He was already beginning to look like a lame duck President." Maybe in Moore's
imagination. No serious political commentator made such a claim in 2001.
 
Bush is quoted as saying, "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier,
there's no question about it." What Moore fails to note, though, is that the
quote, from July 26, 2001, is a facetious joke, like Moore's claim in Dude,
Where's my Country? that he did not have sex until age 32. 
 
Another Bush joke is presented as an obvious joke, although important context
is missing. Near the end of the movie, Bush speaks to a tuxedoed audience. He
says, "I call you the haves and the have-mores. Some call you the elite; I call
you my base." The joke follows several segments in which Bush is accused of
having started the Iraq war in order to enrich business. As far the movie
audience can tell, Bush is speaking to some unknown group of rich people. The
speech actually comes
from the October 19, 2000, Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. The 2000
event was the 55th annual dinner, which raises money for Catholic hospital
charities in New York City. Candidates Bush and Gore were the co-guests of
honor at the event, where speakers traditionally make fun of themselves.
 
Gore joked, "The Al Smith Dinner represents a hallowed and important tradition,
which I actually did invent." Lampooning his promise to put Social Security in
a "lock box," Gore promised that he would put "Medicare in a walk-in closet,"
put NASA funding in a "hermetically sealed Ziploc bag" and would "always keep
lettuce in the crisper." Mary Ann Poust, "Presidential hopefuls Gore and Bush
mix humor and politics at Al Smith Dinner," Catholic New York, Oct. 26, 2000.
So although Fahrenheit presents the joke as epitomizing Bush's selfishness, the
joke really was part of Bush helping to raise $1.6 million for medical care for
the poor. Although many a truth is said in jest, Bush's joke was no more
revealing than was Gore's claim to have founded the dinner in 1946, two years
before he was born.
 
[Moore response: Cites articles predicting that Bush would have trouble with
Congress on Arctic drilling, campaign finance, and faith-based charity. Cites a
California poll in which Bush's disapproval rating equaled his approval rating.
Cites a couple of additional polls, selecting Bush's worst results. No response
on the distortion of the Alfred E. Smith Dinner.]
 
Bush Vacations
Deceits 6-7
 
Fahrenheit 9/11 states, "In his first eight months in office before September
11th, George W. Bush was on vacation, according to the Washington Post,
forty-two percent of the time." 

     Shortly before 9/11, the Post calculated that Bush had spent 42 percent of
his presidency at vacation spots or en route, including all or part of 54 days
at his ranch. That calculation, however, includes weekends, which Moore failed
to mention. 

Tom McNamee, "Just the facts on ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ Chicago Sun-Times, June 28,
2004. See also: Mike Allen, "White House On the Range. Bush Retreats to Ranch
for ‘Working Vacation’," Washington Post, August 7, 2001 (Many of those days
are weekends, and the Camp David stays have included working visits with
foreign leaders.) 
 
Reader Scott Marquardt looked into a random week of Bush's August 2001
"vacation." Using public documents from www.whitehouse.gov, here is what he
found:

     Monday, August 20
     Spoke concerning the budget while visiting a high school in Independence,
Missouri.
     Spoke at the annual Veteran's of Foreign Wars convention in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. 
     Signed six bills into law. 
     Announced his nominees for Chief Financial Officer of the Department of
Agriculture, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management, member
of the Federal Housing Finance Board, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disabled
Employment Policy, U.S. Representative to the General Assembly of the U.N., and
Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development for
the Bureau of Humanitarian Response. 
     Spoke with workers at the Harley Davidson factory. 
     Dined with Kansas Governor Bill Graves, discussing politics.
      
     Tuesday, August 21
     Took press questions at a Target store in Kansas City, Missouri.
     Spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien on the matter of free
trade and tariffs on Canadian lumber. 
      
     Wednesday, August 22
     Met with Karen Hughes, Condi Rice, and Josh Bolten, and other staff (more
than one meeting).
     Conferenced with Mexico's president for about 20 minutes on the phone.
They discussed Argentina's economy and the International Monetary fund's role
in bringing sustainability to the region. They also talked about immigration
and Fox's planned trip to Washington.
     Communicated with Margaret LaMontagne, who was heading up a series of
immigration policy meetings.
     Released the Mid-Session Review, a summary of the economic outlook for the
next decade, as well as of the contemporary economy and budget. 
     Announced nomination and appointment intentions for Ambassador to Vietnam,
two for the Commission on Fine Arts, six to serve on the Commission on the
Future of the United States Aerospace Industry, three for the Advisory
Committee to the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation, one to the Board of
Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and one to the National
Endowments for the Arts. 
     Issued a Presidential Determination ordering a military drawdown for
Tunisia.
     Issued a statement regarding the retirement of Jesse Helms.

     Thursday, August 23
     Briefly spoke with the press.
     Visited Crawford Elementary School, fielded questions from students. 

     Friday, August 24
     Officials arrived from Washington at 10:00 AM. Shortly thereafter, at a
press conference, Bush announced that General Richard B. Myers will be the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and General Pete Pac will serve as Vice Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs. He also announced 14 other appointments, and his
intentions for the budget. At 11:30 AM these officials, as well as National
Security Council experts, the Secretary of Defense, and others, met with Bush
to continue the strategic review process for military transformation (previous
meetings have been held at the Pentagon and the White House). The meeting ended
at 5:15. 
     Met with Andy Card and Karen Hughes, talking about communications issues.
     Issued a proclamation honoring Women's Equality Day.

     Saturday, August 25
     Awoke at 5:45 AM, read daily briefs.
     Had an hour-long CIA and national security briefing at 7:45
     Gave his weekly radio address on the topic of The Budget.

Having shown a clip from August 25 with Bush explaining how he likes to work on
the ranch, Moore announces "George Bush spent the rest of the August at the
ranch." Not so, as Scott Marquardt found by looking at Bush's activity for the
very next day.

     Sunday, August 26
     Speaks at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
     Speaks at the U.S. Steel Group Steelworkers Picnic at Mon Valley Works,
southeast of Pittsburgh. He also visits some employees still working, not at
the picnic. 

   ----- 59deceits-p3.txt ends -----

John 

America:  First, Last, and Always!
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 * Origin: We are the Watchmen of our own Liberty! (1:379/1.99)