Bush Faces Countless Obstacles

The film "Celsius 41.11" opened this weekend in New York City. This hastily created anti-Michael Moore film does not deconstruct "Fahrenheit 9/11" as well as "Fahren-Hype 9/11" does, but it serves its purpose of setting some distortions in the Moore film straight. For Bush supporters, it is a must-see.

Whenever I hear someone talk about President Bush's ties with the bin Laden family or going to war for oil in Afghanistan, I know that person has seen the Moore propaganda opus. Another telltale sign is when the Bushbasher mentions the seven minutes Mr. Bush spent reading the book "My Pet Goat" after hearing of the attacks on the World Trade Center. The book Mr. Bush was actually reading was "Reading Mastery, Storybook 1," and "The Pet Goat" was one of the stories in the book. Senator Kerry, of course, admitted to being immobile in the Senate for 40 minutes after the attack. That's not mentioned in the Moore film.

Next week, the country will decide who will be president for the next four years, and judging from the past few months I can't understand how Mr. Bush can possibly win another term. He faces enormous opposition. Evan Thomas of Newsweek conceded on "Inside Washington" last week that "the media wants Kerry/Edwards to win," and so they're going to portray the Democratic team as being young, dynamic, and optimistic, and "there's going to be this glow about" them.

We've all heard about Dan Rather and the National Guard memos debacle. We haven't heard that much about his earlier attack on Vietnam veterans with a 1988 documentary, "The Wall Within," that was later exposed as completely fraudulent. Mr. Rather is still at CBS and has no plans to leave.

ABC's "Nightline" with Ted Koppel claimed it wanted to investigate the doubts cast by the Swift Boat Vets about one of Mr. Kerry's medals. So what did it do? It went to Vietnam, which is still a Communist country where freedom of speech is not so highly regarded. Mr. Koppel managed to find eyewitnesses from 30 years ago who stated, under the watchful eye of a state monitor, that Mr. Kerry did come under fire from many Vietcong guerrillas in the firefight. Mr. Koppel ignored John O'Neill, one of the "Unfit for Command" authors, who pointed out that Mr. Kerry himself said there was only one wounded enemy present. The Boston Globe had reported the same information, but Mr. Koppel was not interested. He became testy with Mr. O'Neill and more or less told him not to refute him with facts.

So most of the journalists in the press and broadcasting want Mr. Kerry to win. Kim Jong II, Fidel Castro, and Yasser Arafat are also rooting for him, as is Jacques Chirac. Most of the movie industry wants him to win. For heaven's sake, even Matt Damon has offered $1 million dollars to get rid of Mr. Bush. Eminem, the white rapper extraordinaire, has dissed the president. Union leaders are for Mr. Kerry. Let's not forget Bruce Springsteen and the rock 'n' roll contingent. The feminists, the gays, and the abortion rights advocates are rooting for Mr. Kerry.

College professors and the entire world of academia have been condemning the horrors of the Bush administration since it began. My daughter is taking a course at the College of Staten Island, and her history professor insists that the students read only the New York Times. The woman will not accept references from any other publication. Needless to say, the professor mocks Mr. Bush and praises Mr. Kerry. Then there's Jesse Jackson and the so-called black leadership scaring minority voters into thinking they will be disenfranchised.

These people have tremendous influence over the public perception of the candidates. What hope does Mr. Bush have, other than talk radio, Fox News, and the Internet, to get his positions out to the public?

As the campaigns wind down, violence against the Bush camp has escalated. GOP campaign offices have been vandalized and robbed. Let's not forget the voter-fraud factor. All over the country the new voter registrations are being discovered as fraudulent. Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, and Goofy are registered as Democrats in Ohio, and the DNC has already retained 1,000 New York lawyers, supposedly to make sure no one is prevented from voting.

If Mr. Bush does happen to eke out a win, he will have overcome huge obstacles set in his path. Of course, the president does have on his side the military and their families; most Vietnam veterans, be they Swift Boat or not; the pro-lifers; Nascar fans; the National Rifle Association; most bloggers, and Don King. He might also have the many union members, senior citizens, and minority-group individuals who have learned to think for themselves and refuse to listen to fear mongering demagogues.

Can't wait till this is all over.