Why did Boxer so embarrass herself, her party and her country on Thursday? Many who had seen the film Fahrenheit 9/11, which dramatized in conspiratorial tones the abortive Congressional Black Caucus challenge of 2001, immediately suspected director Michael Moore might have been behind Boxer's debacle.
Sure enough, Rep. Ric Keller (R.-Fla.) pointed to the evidence in a floor speech debating Boxer's challenge. On his website January 4, Moore had posted an open letter to U.S. senators, imploring them to challenge the Ohio vote-just as Boxer did. Boxer, meanwhile, was one of only a few senators who attended the premier of Moore's so-called documentary. "Is this all merely a coincidence? Is this pandering to the Michael Moore wing to the Democratic Party? Is it worth wasting two hours of Congress' time?" asked Keller. "The only bigger waste of two hours would be to go see Fahrenheit 9/11.
