A letter to all those who voted for George W. Bush

[-Replicant-]

To All My Fellow Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush:

On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?

How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?

That's right. Horse shows.

I really want to know -- and I ask you this in all sincerity and with all due respect -- how do you feel about the utter contempt Mr. Bush has shown for your safety? C'mon, give me just a moment of honesty. Don't start ranting on about how this disaster in New Orleans was the fault of one of the poorest cities in America. Put aside your hatred of Democrats and liberals and anyone with the last name of Clinton. Just look me in the eye and tell me our President did the right thing after 9/11 by naming a horse show runner as the top man to protect us in case of an emergency or catastrophe.

I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.

Are we safer now than before 9/11? When you learn that behind the horse show runner, the #2 and #3 men in charge of emergency preparedness have zero experience in emergency preparedness, do you think we are safer?

When you look at Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, a man with little experience in national security, do you feel secure?

When men who never served in the military and have never seen young men die in battle send our young people off to war, do you think they know how to conduct a war? Do they know what it means to have your legs blown off for a threat that was never there?

Do you really believe that turning over important government services to private corporations has resulted in better services for the people?

Why do you hate our federal government so much? You have voted for politicians for the past 25 years whose main goal has been to de-fund the federal government. Do you think that cutting federal programs like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been good or bad for America? GOOD OR BAD?

With the nation's debt at an all-time high, do you think tax cuts for the rich are still a good idea? Will you give yours back so hundreds of thousands of homeless in New Orleans can have a home?

Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us? Hurricane Katrina came in and blew off the facade that we were a nation with liberty and justice for all. The wind howled and the water rose and what was revealed was that the poor in America shall be left to suffer and die while the President of the United States fiddles and tells them to eat cake.

That's not a joke. The day the hurricane hit and the levees broke, Mr. Bush, John McCain and their rich pals were stuffing themselves with cake. A full day after the levees broke (the same levees whose repair funding he had cut), Mr. Bush was playing a guitar some country singer gave him. All this while New Orleans sank under water.

It would take ANOTHER day before the President would do a flyover in his jumbo jet, peeking out the widow at the misery 2500 feet below him as he flew back to his second home in DC. It would then be TWO MORE DAYS before a trickle of federal aid and troops would arrive. This was no seven minutes in a sitting trance while children read "My Pet Goat" to him. This was FOUR DAYS of doing nothing other than saying "Brownie (FEMA director Michael Brown), you're doing a heck of a job!"

My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?

And on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?

Our vulnerability is not just about dealing with terrorists or natural disasters. We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together. The middle class can't pay the mortgage or the hospital bills and 45 million have no health coverage whatsoever.

Are we safe? Do you really feel safe? You can only move so far out and build so many gated communities before the fruit of what you've sown will be crashing through your walls and demanding retribution. Do you really want to wait until that happens? Or is it your hope that if they are left alone long enough to soil themselves and shoot themselves and drown in the filth that fills the street that maybe the problem will somehow go away?

I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours. And you know, for our peace and safety and security, this has to be fixed. What do you propose?

I have an idea, and it isn't a horse show.

Yours,
Michael Moore

I thought it was pretty interesting

[Big Kahuna Burger]

Good thing Michael Moore was down there giving first aid and helping out, not writing about how terrible things are from his mansion.

what a hero

[R00k]

I agree.

Just a publicity stunt for him; he knows no republicans are going to read his letter and take it seriously, especially when he's just mocking them. This is just a letter to his fan club.

[Foo]

Meh. It's very poorly written. He asks the reader to put away their preconceptions then uses a ton of them to support his arguments.

[HM-PuFFNSTuFF]

Meh. It's very poorly written. He asks the reader to put away their preconceptions then uses a ton of them to support his arguments.

care to illustrate your claims?

edit: examples of the preconceptions

[Foo]

Meh. It's very poorly written. He asks the reader to put away their preconceptions then uses a ton of them to support his arguments.

care to illustrate your claims?

edit: examples of the preconceptions

Okay, at the start of it:

I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.

Followed by:

Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us?

My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?

I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours.

Just a few examples.

[HM-PuFFNSTuFF]

okay i think i see what you are saying... I agree it's better to stick to the facts and avoid rhetoric.

He probably should have just left it at this.

To All My Fellow Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush:

On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?

How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?

[glossy]

Sorry, but everyone who have registered for voting for Bush have been dead for many years, or didn't hit the polls at all.

[seremtan]

not one of moore's better efforts

[redfella]

Micheal Moore says, "We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together."

Sounds like Moore is getting very close to unintentionally slamming his own party. Why do blacks vote Democrat? Do the Dems keep them in "horrible" (correct word being 'abject') poverty and poor education systems for Democratic party interests and power-mongering? Quite possibly. With socialist-type handouts being issued in the most liberal of amounts, why bother to go to school, hell, why bother to get a job?

Anyways, Moore can't possibly be taken serious with an illogical rant like this. Go back to watching Jay and Silent Bob, while sticking cheetoos up your arse Moore.

[Pauly]

My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?

[random name]

I don't see how pointing out Moore's flaws is making Bush a better president though, as some seem to believe.

[ajerara]

I don't think the Democrats have been doing much of anything to anyone the last few years, the Republicans are totally running the show these days.

[redfella]

I don't see how pointing out Moore's flaws is making Bush a better president though, as some seem to believe.

You're right. It doesn't. I personally question the Iraq war as well as the Katrina relief efforts. I really never had any reason to believe that Bush was the best man for the job, yet I'd choose him over say Gore or Kerry. But that's just me and not really the subject here.

Do I (a "republican") think Bush has flaws? Undoubtedly, yes. However, I don't believe that he is entirely responsible for each and every little disaster that occurs in the world. The U.S. government adheres to the triumvirate model. We have 3 distinct bodies that all justify and moderate each others decision. If Democrats say that something is Bushs' fault, is it not also the fault of Congress, for example? Is it not also the fault of the Senators (some being Democrat) that vote on these bills?

Some may say that the right is gaining too much power and the balance of the system is being tugged violently in that direction. I say chill, surely it will even out and eventually swing over to the left, just as it has many times in the past... especially with the help of the un-godly large ratio of leftist media working for them.

Bye now.

[Nightshade]

I don't think the Democrats have been doing much of anything to anyone the last few years, the Republicans are totally running the show these days.

Yup. They ALL suck, and they're all culpable in regards to our current situation.

[Nightshade]

I don't see how pointing out Moore's flaws is making Bush a better president though, as some seem to believe.

You're right. It doesn't. I personally question the Iraq war as well as the Katrina relief efforts. I really never had any reason to believe that Bush was the best man for the job, yet I'd choose him over say Gore or Kerry. But that's just me and not really the subject here.

Do I (a "republican") think Bush has flaws? Undoubtedly, yes. However, I don't believe that he is entirely responsible for each and every little disaster that occurs in the world. The U.S. government adheres to the triumvirate model. We have 3 distinct bodies that all justify and moderate each others decision. If Democrats say that something is Bushs' fault, is it not also the fault of Congress, for example? Is it not also the fault of the Senators (some being Democrat) that vote on these bills?

Some may say that the right is gaining too much power and the balance of the system is being tugged violently in that direction. I say chill, surely it will even out and eventually swing over to the left, just as it has many times in the past... especially with the help of the un-godly large ratio of leftist media working for them.

Bye now.

This argument would hold more water if all three bodies in question weren't all on the same side. You speak of the ideal, not the reality.
Republican president, republican congress, conservatice high court.

[seremtan]

I don't see how pointing out Moore's flaws is making Bush a better president though, as some seem to believe.

You're right. It doesn't. I personally question the Iraq war as well as the Katrina relief efforts. I really never had any reason to believe that Bush was the best man for the job, yet I'd choose him over say Gore or Kerry. But that's just me and not really the subject here.

Do I (a "republican") think Bush has flaws? Undoubtedly, yes. However, I don't believe that he is entirely responsible for each and every little disaster that occurs in the world. The U.S. government adheres to the triumvirate model. We have 3 distinct bodies that all justify and moderate each others decision. If Democrats say that something is Bushs' fault, is it not also the fault of Congress, for example? Is it not also the fault of the Senators (some being Democrat) that vote on these bills?

Some may say that the right is gaining too much power and the balance of the system is being tugged violently in that direction. I say chill, surely it will even out and eventually swing over to the left, just as it has many times in the past... especially with the help of the un-godly large ratio of leftist media working for them.

Bye now.

i see you believe in two fallacies: that there's such a thing as immutable laws of history (that will allow things to "swing over to the left" - which btw in the US = slightly to the right of centre rather than completely to the right of centre); and the second fallacy is this idea of the "un-godly large ratio of leftist media" in the US, though i guess the US definition of 'left' may help to explain this

people who "tug violently" mean things to stay tugged, which they will unless other people tug the other way. you talk as if this will happen by itself, which it won't

[feedback]

Why do people always write these "letter to x" or "letter from x"? Do they live in some fucking gay ass fantasy land where anuses grow ripe on trees, to be picked whenever they wish and enjoyed nightly?

[Foo]

Hey. I take my holidays there.

[hax103]

I don't see how pointing out Moore's flaws is making Bush a better president though, as some seem to believe.

Who believes this (see above)? Mocking a poorly written and rather pathetic letter from Moore is umm obviously quite amusing without involving Bush at all. Is it possible you don't see the letter as a pathetic attempt at gaining attention?

[hax103]

Why do people always write these "letter to x" or "letter from x"? Do they live in some fucking gay ass fantasy land where anuses grow ripe on trees, to be picked whenever they wish and enjoyed nightly?

LOL

[Eraser]

The danger of this sort of thing is that anti-Bush people aim their pledge at Bush himself. Bush is not a good president, Bush screwed it up, Bush did this wrong, Bush did that wrong, Bush is the cause of this problem.

When the next elections are and Bush doesn't run for president anymore, there will be another republican president He will be voted on by all of those people who previously voted on Bush because, well, this new fella isn't Bush.

The problem is that while Bush will be gone, the very same administration (the people with the real power) are still there. Bush is just a puppet. Nothing more than an interface between the public and the administration, letting out only those bits of information the administration wants to let out.

[Nightshade]

Jules mentioned something similar in one of the Katrina threads, about FEMA's Michael Brown (:dork:) being made a scapegoat and diverting attention from the larger, systemic problems.
Whatever Moore's motives are, and I don't think they're entirely selfish, at least he's tried to address the larger problem. Not in this letter, but he touches on a lot of things in Fahrenheit 9/11.

The entire system is deeply flawed. Republicans, Democrats, they're two-sides of the same money-grubbing coin. I personally think that the Republicans are the worst of the bunch, due in large part to their voter base.

[MKJ]

Good thing Michael Moore was down there giving first aid and helping out, not writing about how terrible things are from his mansion.

what a hero

thats not his job though, thats the job of the leader of the country

[xchaser]

BUSH voters and followers are in denial.