[kj] FW: Three Easy Pieces for Any Decent American (from Michael Moore )

[Phillipps Marc]

Interesting reading . . . 

Also, anyone who hasn't seen Bowling For Columbine should 

Marc. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Michael Moore's Mailing List [SMTP:mailinglist@michaelmoore.com]
> Sent:	Tuesday, September 16, 2003 2:56 PM
> To:	marc.phillipps@enfield.nhs.uk
> Subject:	Three Easy Pieces for Any Decent American (from Michael
> Moore)
> 
> Three Easy Pieces for Any Decent American (from Michael Moore)
> September 15, 2003
> 
> There are many otherwise decent Americans who are either still on the
> fence about George W. Bush or they actually profess to like the man. They
> are the ones who make up the 58% approval ratings and the 64% who say they
> still believe the war was a good idea. You know these people well. They
> work next to you, or they sit in the classroom next to you, or they may
> even be sitting at your kitchen table right now! 
> 
> I think that we need to hold out a hand to them, not in a partisan sort of
> way, and not with any condescension. I think that if we share with them a
> few pieces of information, and do it with common sense instead of
> politics, there is a chance we just might break through and turn things
> around. Perhaps it's my foolish optimism in the goodness that is in every
> person, and in their ability to ultimately know right from wrong. 
> 
> I would like to give you three little vignettes to share with them. They
> are so simple and so shocking in their very content that, if you pass them
> around the office, the school, the neighborhood or the bedroom, it may
> just do the trick. Here they are: 
> 
> 1. GEORGE AND LAURA ON 9/11 -- A BARREL OF LAUGHS! 
> 
> The following is an interview with the First Couple from the current issue
> of one of my favorite magazines, Ladies Home Journal (Oct. '03). They are
> asked about what September 11, 2001, was like for them personally, and,
> although over 3,000 people had just perished, George W. was able to find
> some humor by the end of that day: 
> 
> Peggy Noonan (the interviewer): You were separated on September 11th. What
> was it like when you saw each other again? 
> 
> Laura Bush: Well, we just hugged. I think there was a certain amount of
> security in being with each other than being apart. 
> 
> George W. Bush: But the day ended on a relatively humorous note. The
> agents said, "you'll be sleeping downstairs. Washington's still a
> dangerous place." And I said no, I can't sleep down there, the bed didn't
> look comfortable. I was really tired, Laura was tired, we like our own
> bed. We like our own routine. You know, kind of a nester. I knew I had to
> deal with the issue the next day and provide strength and comfort to the
> country, and so I needed rest in order to be mentally prepared. So I told
> the agent we're going upstairs, and he reluctantly said okay. Laura wears
> contacts, and she was sound asleep. Barney was there. And the agent comes
> running up and says, "We're under attack. We need you downstairs," and so
> there we go. I'm in my running shorts and my T-shirt, and I'm barefooted.
> Got the dog in one hand, Laura had a cat, I'm holding Laura --
> 
> Laura Bush: I don't have my contacts in , and I'm in my fuzzy house
> slippers --
> 
> George W. Bush: And this guy's out of breath, and we're heading straight
> down to the basement because there's an incoming unidentified airplane,
> which is coming toward the White House. Then the guy says it's a friendly
> airplane. And we hustle all the way back up stairs and go to bed. 
> 
> Mrs. Bush: [LAUGHS] And we just lay there thinking about the way we must
> have looked. 
> 
> Peggy Noonan (interviewer): So the day starts in tragedy and ends in Marx
> Brothers. 
> 
> George W. Bush: THAT'S RIGHT-- WE GOT A LAUGH OUT OF IT!
> 
> (end)
> 
> Although America had just suffered the worst attack ever on our own soil,
> somehow this man was able to end his day on a funny note. I wonder how
> many of the 3,000 families who lost someone earlier that day had a funny
> ending before they went to sleep? Please read the above exchange aloud to
> anyone who will listen. It speaks volumes. 
> 
> 2. WE HAVE JUST WRECKED OUR KIDS' FUTURE. 
> 
> The first paragraph in yesterday's New York Times story on how Bush has
> taken a record surplus and demolished it into a record deficit was one of
> the best lead paragraphs I have ever read in a newspaper article. 
> 
> Here's how it went
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/14/politics/14DEFI.html?ex=1064116800&en=4
> 92a7429965853da&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE>:
> 
> "When President Bush informed the nation last Sunday night that remaining
> in Iraq next year will cost another $87 billion, many of those who will
> actually pay that bill were unable to watch. They had already been put to
> bed by their parents." 
> 
> Bingo. Gee, I hope the kids thank us some day! 
> 
> Here's the next paragraph (my emphasis added): 
> 
> "Administration officials acknowledged the next day that every dollar of
> that cost will be BORROWED, a loan that economists say will be repaid by
> the NEXT generation of taxpayers AND THE GENERATION AFTER THAT. The $166
> BILLION cost of the work SO FAR in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has stunned
> many in Washington, will be added to what was already the largest budget
> deficit the nation has ever known." 
> 
> Every conservative friend of yours should weep when they read that, and
> then you should hug them and tell them that it'll be okay, once we all do
> what we need to do. 
> 
> 3. WHAT WOULD $87 BILLION BUY? 
> 
> If you can't get through this list without wanting to throw up, I'll
> understand. But pass it around anyway. This is the nail in the Iraq War's
> coffin for any sane, thinking individual, regardless of their political
> stripe (thanks to TomPaine.com and the Center for American Progress
> <http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8857>)... 
> 
> To get some perspective, here are some real-life comparisons about what
> $87 billion means: 
> 
> $87 Billion Is More Than The Combined Total Of All State Budget Deficits
> In The United States.
> 
> The Bush administration proposed absolutely zero funds to help states deal
> with these deficits, despite the fact that their tax cuts drove down state
> revenues. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities] 
> 
> $87 Billion Is Enough To Pay The 3.3 Million People Who Have Lost Jobs
> Under George W. Bush $26,363 Each!
> 
> The unemployment benefits extension passed by Congress at the beginning of
> this year provides zero benefits to "workers who exhausted their regular,
> state unemployment benefits and cannot find work." All told, two-thirds of
> unemployed workers have exhausted their benefits. [Source: Center on
> Budget and Policy Priorities] 
> 
> $87 Billion Is More Than DOUBLE The Total Amount The Government Spends On
> Homeland Security.
> 
> The U.S. spends about $36 billion on homeland security. Yet, Sen. Warren
> Rudman (R-N.H.) wrote "America will fall approximately $98.4 billion short
> of meeting critical emergency responder needs" for homeland security
> without a funding increase. [Source: Council on Foreign Relations] 
> 
> $87 Billion Is 87 Times The Amount The Federal Government Spends On After
> School Programs.
> 
> George W. Bush proposed a budget that reduces the $1 billion for
> after-school programs to $600 million -- cutting off about 475,000
> children from the program. [Source: The Republican-dominated House
> Appropriations Committee] 
> 
> $87 Billion Is More Than 10 Times What The Government Spends On All
> Environmental Protection.
> 
> The Bush administration requested just $7.6 billion for the entire
> Environmental Protection Agency. This included a 32 percent cut to water
> quality grants, a 6 percent reduction in enforcement staff, and a 50
> percent cut to land acquisition and conservation. [Source: Natural
> Resources Defense Council]
> 
> There you go. In black and white. A few million of you will receive this
> letter. Please share the above with at least a half-dozen people today and
> tomorrow. I, like you, do not want to see another approval rating over
> 50%. 
> 
> Yours, 
> Michael Moore
> www.michaelmoore.com <http://www.michaelmoore.com>
> moorelist@aol.com <mailto:moorelist@aol.com>
> 
> PS. Thanks for the astounding response to the Wesley Clark letter (and for
> your kind comments to me). Over 95% of the thousands of letters received
> favored the General tossing his helmet in the ring. All were passed on to
> his organization. More to come on the road to removing Bush...
> 
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