Moore to Bush on the Eve of War
Posted on March 18, 2003 at 11:33 am | No Comments
A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush on the Eve of War…
Monday, March 17, 2003
George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DCDear Governor Bush:
So today is what you call “the moment of truth,” the day that “France and the rest of world have to show their cards on the table.” I’m glad to hear that this day has finally arrived. Because, I gotta tell ya, having survived 440 days of your lying and conniving, I wasn’t sure if I could take much more. So I’m glad to hear that today is Truth Day, ’cause I got a few truths I would like to share with you:
1. There is virtually NO ONE in America (talk radio nutters and Fox News aside) who is gung-ho to go to war. Trust me on this one. Walk out of the White House and on to any street in America and try to find five people who are PASSIONATE about wanting to kill Iraqis. YOU WON’T FIND THEM! Why? ‘Cause NO Iraqis have ever come here and killed any of us! No Iraqi has even threatened to do that. You see, this is how we average Americans think: If a certain so-and-so is not perceived as a threat to our lives, then, believe it or not, we don’t want to kill him! Funny how that works!
2. The majority of Americans — the ones who never elected you — are not fooled by your weapons of mass distraction. We know what the real issues are that affect our daily lives — and none of them begin with I or end in Q. Here’s what threatens us: two and a half million jobs lost since you took office, the stock market having become a cruel joke, no one knowing if their retirement funds are going to be there, gas now costs almost two dollars — the list goes on and on. Bombing Iraq will not make any of this go away. Only you need to go away for things to improve.
3. As Bill Maher said last week, how bad do you have to suck to lose a popularity contest with Saddam Hussein? The whole world is against you, Mr. Bush. Count your fellow Americans among them.
4. The Pope has said this war is wrong, that it is a SIN. The Pope! But even worse, the Dixie Chicks have now come out against you! How bad does it have to get before you realize that you are an army of one on this war? Of course, this is a war you personally won’t have to fight. Just like when you went AWOL while the poor were shipped to Vietnam in your place.
5. Of the 535 members of Congress, only ONE (Sen. Johnson of South Dakota) has an enlisted son or daughter in the armed forces! If you really want to stand up for America, please send your twin daughters over to Kuwait right now and let them don their chemical warfare suits. And let’s see every member of Congress with a child of military age also sacrifice their kids for this war effort. What’s that you say? You don’t THINK so? Well, hey, guess what — we don’t think so either!
6. Finally, we love France. Yes, they have pulled some royal screw-ups. Yes, some of them can be pretty damn annoying. But have you forgotten we wouldn’t even have this country known as America if it weren’t for the French? That it was their help in the Revolutionary War that won it for us? That our greatest thinkers and founding fathers — Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, etc. — spent many years in Paris where they refined the concepts that lead to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution? That it was France who gave us our Statue of Liberty, a Frenchman who built the Chevrolet, and a pair of French brothers who invented the movies? And now they are doing what only a good friend can do — tell you the truth about yourself, straight, no b.s. Quit pissing on the French and thank them for getting it right for once. You know, you really should have traveled more (like once) before you took over. Your ignorance of the world has not only made you look stupid, it has painted you into a corner you can’t get out of.
Well, cheer up — there IS good news. If you do go through with this war, more than likely it will be over soon because I’m guessing there aren’t a lot of Iraqis willing to lay down their lives to protect Saddam Hussein. After you “win” the war, you will enjoy a huge bump in the popularity polls as everyone loves a winner — and who doesn’t like to see a good ass-whoopin’ every now and then (especially when it ‘s some third world ass!). So try your best to ride this victory all the way to next year’s election. Of course, that’s still a long ways away, so we’ll all get to have a good hardy-har-har while we watch the economy sink even further down the toilet!
But, hey, who knows — maybe you’ll find Osama a few days before the election! See, start thinking like THAT! Keep hope alive! Kill Iraqis — they got our oil!!
Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
Y’know, I like Michael Moore. Sometimes I love Michael Moore. But as far as point #1 goes… he’s kidding himself. As much as I’d like to believe that only right-wing talk-radio freaks and Fox news is gung-ho for war, it’s simply not true. This country is infested with the misguided, and a lot of them are spewing their bushy-brainwashings all over the ‘net. The more you search and surf, the more you’ll find. It ain’t pretty.
While some of the sentiment expressed in this letter is right on, I think it was a little knee-jerk. He’s capable of being far more witty, far more stinging, and frankly, far more accurate in his criticism. Ah well. At least someone’s saying something… but this one’s not going to win over any new MM fans.
A Fort Apache Update
Posted on March 18, 2003 at 9:14 am | No Comments
I dropped an email to Gary Smith, the big kahuna at Fort Apache, asking about plans for a rumored festival up in his new home of Bellows Falls, Vermont later this year. Here’s what he had to say. (my comments are in parens, and this is quoted with permission, o’course) …
Thanks for the note and the plug on the site. We’re swamped – with a smaller staff and a seemingly endless amount of work. This is, of course, amazing and a heck of a lot better than sitting around waiting for something to happen. That has never been my strong suit.
Big piece in the NY Times today about Natalie (Merchant) which drew a million calls from people inspired that Natalie is willing to take a chance and do something different. (She parted ways with Elektra records and is releasing a collection of traditional music and semi-contemporary folk with the help of the Fort). Mostly demoralized music industry veterans who spend their days wailing and gnashing their teeth about the state of the things.
As for (the rumored festival with) Kristin (Hersh) and Tanya (Donelly), working on that. Trying to get Tanya on schedule for a September release so this thing in Bellows Falls makes more sense. In any event we’re working on a beautiful if slightly pricey summer event in the foothills of the Green Mountains. Three days and at least that many shows. One in a big old festival grounds, one on a train, one in a 18th Century meeting house, one in a rock club.
More about this later.
Stay in touch.
Gary Smith
That festival sounds like it could be the bees knees… can’t wait to hear more about it. For more info on what the folks at Fort Apache are up to nowadays, check out the recent news post on their website.