Phronesis

Stop the presses - "Fahrenheit 911.5" is imminent (well, immanent).

Describing the rationale for this new endeavor, Michael Moore stated, "Fifty-one percent of the American people lacked information (in this election) and we want to educate and enlighten them. They weren't told the truth. We're communicators and it's up to us to start doing it now."

The vogue notion that education = information is pretty silly. Let's stipulate that, as ever, ignoramuses pulled the levers for both/all sides in the recent election, as well as that persons with advanced levels of schooling did the same. And it may be that misunderstandings over certain matters of (brute) fact - the domain of "information" - led some to vote one way or the other. But the most important, and contentious, matters can't be resolved according to some prosaically empirical procedure. Rather, an "informed" vote - like any advised decision - lies within the purview of prudence, sc., practical wisdom.  (The power of  raw  "information" to educate is pretty weak, anyhow - cp. the warnings on packets of cigarettes).

The argument over the invasion of Iraq provides a good example of a prudential dispute, namely, a matter which requires one to estimate relevance, significance, consequence, etc. Many of the "facts" weren't much at issue - what ought to have been done in light of them was (and still is).  Prudential arguments might not be unresolvable, absolutely speaking, but existentially they are usually indeterminate, betraying an asymptotic aspect. The thought that a "documentary" can somehow "educate" one as to the intricacies of a momentous (and tragic) decision like choosing a president is risible.

The ideal of education - as opposed to indoctrination, it's evil step-sibling - has always been some kind of wisdom - theoretical and practical. I trust it's understandable why Moore and Co. are silent as to that desideratum.