A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush on the Eve of War
By Micheal Moore.
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!
...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!
Here is the full text of the letter in case the link goes bad:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php
Monday, March 17, 2003
A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush on the Eve of War
George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC
Dear 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
Michael Moore delivered a similar genuis statement in early November, 2000, saying that Gore would win the election by a landslide.
The truth is that a majority of Americans support the liberation of Iraq, as do a majority of Britons, and more importantly, a majority of Iraqis.
Posted by: Richard Bennett on March 23, 2003 03:54 AMBut Michael did say that people would like that part, he even said Bush's popularity ratings would go up as a result. Your're suggesting that Michael's prognostication skills are bad so he can't be right about the future course of the war -- and that therefore we won't win and Bush's rating will go down? That's just weird, cause not only Michael but also most other people disagree with that outlook; they, like he, think we'll win and Bush will have the usual ratings jump.
OTOH, he did say that people might actually start looking at the economy and what Bush has done to it, and that this is not a pretty sight and is unlikely to get better under Bush, given that he has shown incompetence there. Michael's prognositicating skills or lack thereof don't really enter into that, since it's something that's actually happened.
Posted by: QrazyQat on March 23, 2003 01:37 PMI am prepared to give ten free copies of The Prize: a novel about bullies
and victims and what drives to the first fifty schools to participate in a
project to help promote cooperation and literacy in our schools.
http://www.bulliesvictimsandchoices.com
My name is Marilyn LaCourt. I am a former marriage and family therapist
with more than twenty-five years of clinical experience. After the
Columbine tragedy, I spent several years researching the problem of youth
violence and bullying in our schools and created a bully prevention program
that would complement many of the fine programs already in existence. My
colleagues and I did a pilot study of our bully prevention program with a
class of seventh grade students at Koscuiszko Middle School in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. School guidance counselor, Melissa Werner praised the program
and stated that it had a very positive effect on the student's attitudes and
behaviors.
Recently my first novel, The Prize: a novel about bullies and victims and
what drives them, was published by American Book Publishing. "The Prize"
and the bully prevention program are based on a well-established theory of
cooperation created and researched by political scientist Robert Axelrod.
"The Prize" would be a great springboard for discussions between counselors
and students. My big dream is that teachers, librarians, counselors,
parents, therapists, and anyone who works with young adults will use "The
Prize" as one more tool in the box to prevent bullying and promote literacy.
I will be pleased to send a free copy of "The Prize" to any counselor,
teacher, social worker or librarian upon request. To get a one no
obligation copy of "The Prize" simply send a request to the author, Marilyn
LaCourt at lacourt@wi.rr.com 262-797-9857 P.O. Box 597 Elm Grove, WI
53122-0597
If after you have read and evaluated "The Prize" you agree to lead a
reading/discussion group with ten students; fill out a feedback form about
your experience and send your feedback to lacourt@wi.rr.com I will send ten
more free copies of "The Prize" to your Middle School or High School
library.
Results of this project will be posted on my web sites.
http://www.bulliesvictimsandchoices.com
http://www.lacourt-m.com
The Prize
By M. La Court
Reviewed by Deborah Turner
University of California Santa Cruz
Multicultural Outreach Librarian
The Prize starts like a familiar cliché about two guys in a bar. A
bully-turned-priest and his former favorite punching bag, who’s now a
successful business tycoon, meet for dinner. The now humbled executioner,
John Murphy, begs his old victim, Sydney Schuster, for a donation to save
the school run by his church. Sydney gets the last laugh, end of story.
But, no, wait. What follows is hardly a cliché. This timely novel starts
where we’d expect the story to end. Intriguing characters quickly draw you
in and make you wonder why the reunion. From there, writer M. La Court
takes us on a literary journey few have imagined: the two think adults can
learn from kids who behave as they did. Then, they plot a way to test their
radical idea.
La Court crafts a timeless tale which reads like a tour through a school
year of bullies and victims. Readers witness the unlikely pair selling their
idea to all who they hope can make it happen. All the while, we become
familiar with the middle school aged bullies and victims of the next
generation. Although the boys and girls have changed over the years, the
same fears exist.
La Court deliberately takes us from peer pressure-filled schools to
dysfunctional homes and back again. She crafts each complex character
carefully so that we not only see the stereotypical, public masks they use
to cope, but also their vulnerable natures within. She sets the boys and
girls up in an idealistic place where they are treated like equals and gives
them to motivation to save themselves from their own bad habits. We see the
strengths and vulnerabilities in each as they grapple with their present and
prepare for their futures.
At times while reading The Prize, we suspend our belief. For instance, we
wonder how Sydney developed such a close relationship with Kevin, his
manservant. Together, they occasionally discuss philosophical concepts.
Kevin even gives Sydney a new interpretation of Darwin, which earns him the
afternoon off. If this manservant is so enlightened, might he earn his wages
in a different occupation? Still, don’t let such instances keep you from
this modern folktale.
The Prize is essentially a window into the lives of bullies and victims, yet
it is more than a literary, reality show. It is based in an idea that
misdirected intelligence lies behind bully-victim behavior patterns. It
ponders the question of whether or not bullies pass the behavior on to their
children. Finally, it moves our common understanding of victims as objects
and examines them as subjects capable of choices, just as the bullies are.
For those entrusted with guiding youngsters junior high as well as for those
who never wanted to relive it, you'll be surprised at how impelled you'll be
by this page turner to read through the months to the end of the school
year.
The Prize: Reviewed by:
Deborah Bishop, MA
Couples and Family Counselor
Lakewood, CO
"This book is a real gift to every teen who struggles with peer
relationships. For the rest of us, it is the perfect antidote to the dreary
message of The Lord of the Flies. The Prize demonstrates that self-interest
is not a human trait to be rejected or restrained. Rather, it is the essence
of what makes cooperation work. Kudos to LaCourt for the creative way she
shares a profound insight into human nature.
Endorsement of "The Prize" by-Barry Duncan, Psy.D. Co-Director, Institute
for the Study of Therapeutic Change (www.talingcure.com), Co-Author of The
Heroic Client: Doing Client Directed, Outcome Informed Therapy and Heroic
Clients, Heroic Agencies: Partners for Change
"The Prize is a courageous and compelling story that challenges all the
taken-for-granted "truths" about bullies and victims. The Prize,
however, is far more than an exposé of the inadequacies of traditional ideas
in the amelioration of bullying. The book offers an inspirational
alternative based on two revolutionary ideas. LaCourt takes the very
provocative perspective, considered downright dangerous by many, that
bullies and victims are co-conspirators-not equal participants, but
contributing players-in the tragic cycle of violence, and she considers
proactive action by both to be critical. Perhaps even more radical is her
abiding faith in these participants, the bullies and the victims, to solve
their differences in their own way, without the encumbrances of
adult-imposed rules. The result is not only a refreshing alternative that
embraces and enlists the natural resiliency and competencies of youth, but
also an entertaining story that is both evocative and delightful to read. I
will heartily recommend this book to adolescents and their families, and to
anyone desiring a creative perspective that incorporates the voice of
youth."
Title: "The Prize"
Author: M. LaCourt
ISBN: 1-58982-066-5
Release date: March 2003
Binding: Soft Cover
Page count: 288
Dimensions: 5 x 8
Retail cost: $22.00
Distribution: pdbookstore.com, Baker & Taylor
Publisher: American Book Publishing
Respectfully,
Marilyn LaCourt
