[Groop]Fwd: [Mike's Message] An Open Letter to George W. Bush from Michael Moore

[Richard Gutierrez]

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Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2000 21:08:11 -0500
Subject: [Mike's Message] An Open Letter to George W. Bush from Michael
	Moore
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November 2, 2000


Dear Governor Bush,

It's been awhile since we've talked. I believe your last words to me were,
"Go find real work!" You kidder, you! That very night, it was you who found
real work for yourself by executing your 117th human being in Texas. How DO
you do it?!

Actually, the "real work" I do now, my job, is due in large part to your
family. Few people know what you and I know... that it was your cousin Kevin
who shot much of "Roger & Me."  At the time, I didn't know that your mother,
Barbara Bush, and his mother were sisters. Kevin must have missed the train
the rest of you were on! He came to Flint to return a favor to me for
helping him on a film he was making about hate groups. He is the person who
taught me how to make a movie. Without his generosity, "Roger & Me" might
never had been made.

I remember the day your dad was inaugurated as President. I was editing the
film in a ratty old editing room in D.C. and decided to go down to watch
your dad be sworn in on the Capitol steps. How weird it was to see my
mentor/cinematographer sitting next to you up on the dais!

Months later, when the film was released, your dad, the President, ordered a
print of "Roger & Me" to be sent to Camp David for the family to watch one
weekend. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall as all of you watched
the havoc and despair your father and Mr. Reagan had helped wreak upon my
hometown. I've always wanted to know -- at the end of the film, as the
deputy sheriff was tossing the kids' presents and Christmas tree out on the
curb because they were $150 behind in their rent -- were there any tears in
the room? Did anyone feel responsible? Or did you just think, "nice
camerawork!"

And now you want to be President of the United States.

I'm sorry to tell you, but that can't happen.

The American people need to know a few things about you -- and they had
better consider them right now, before a tragic mistake is made.

You know what I am talking about.

Your possible victory on Tuesday is a threat to our national security.

That may seem a bit strong, but I don't make this charge lightly. It has
nothing to do with your positions on the issues (all of which I disagree
with) or your patriotism (I'm sure you love your country).

It has to do with you. I believe, with all due respect, that if you sit in
the Oval Office, this nation of ours, it's security, and in turn, the
security of the world, has the potential to be in great jeopardy.

Why?

There are three reasons.

1. It appears you cannot read and write on an adult level. I'm sad to say
it, but you may be a functional illiterate. How can we entrust our nuclear
secrets to you if you can't read them?

As I have pointed out before, all the signs of either dyslexia or illiteracy
are there -- and no one is asking you about it. First, you lied about your
"favorite book" as a child ("A Very Hungry Caterpillar" you said). That book
wasn't even published until a year after you graduated from college!

Then there is the question of your college transcripts and if, in fact, they
have been doctored. How DID you get into Yale when the prospective students
we uncovered had higher SATs and grades? During this campaign you have made
up answers when asked to name the books you are currently reading (when
quizzed about the books' contents, you didn't know what to say). Is it any
wonder you have not had a press conference in over a month and a half? Your
handlers are scared to death of what might be asked or what you may say.

One thing is clear to all -- you can't speak the English language in
sentences we can comprehend.  At first, the way you mangled words and
sentences was cute and funny. But after a while, it became worrisome. Now,
I'm just scared. If you are Commander-in-Chief, you have to be able to
communicate your orders. What if your subordinates don't understand you?
What kind of chaos could that cause with our national security? No wonder
you want to increase the Pentagon budget. We'll need all the firepower we
can get after you accidentally order the Russians to be "wiped out" (when
you meant to say that the Russians are just "whipped" these days).

Your aides have said that you don't (can't?) read the briefing papers they
give you and that you ask them to read them for you or to you. Your mother
was passionately committed to reading programs as First Lady. I assume she
knew first hand the difficulty of raising a child with a learning
disability.  

I say none of this to knock you personally. Forty million adult Americans
cannot read above a 4th grade level and millions are dyslexic. There is no
shame in this. In fact, there is help. But for you to have your finger on
The Button when you may be disabled in this way is too great a risk for the
country to take. You need help -- not the Oval Office.

Hey, I'm not one to talk -- just look at this letter and all its wacky
syntax! But I ain't runnin' for President. At the very least, the voters
deserve an answer to this question of your illiteracy by Tuesday.

2. Are you an alcoholic? Again, there is no finger being pointed here and no
shame or disrespect intended. Alcoholism is a huge problem and it affects
millions of American citizens, people we all know and love. Many are able to
recover and live normal lives. I greatly admire anyone who can deal with
this addiction. You have told us that you are not able to drink, and haven't
touched a drop since you were 40. Congratulations.

But it has just been revealed tonight on CNN that, in the past, you were
arrested for drunk driving (and that you tried to cover it up). You have
told us that you used to "drink too much" and that you were "more in love
with the liquor" than you were with your own family. That is the definition
of an alcoholic. This does not disqualify you from being president, but it
does require that you answer some questions.

Why won't you use the word "alcoholic?" That is, after all, the first step
to recovery. What support system have you set up to make sure you don't fall
off the wagon? Being president is perhaps the most stressful job in the
world. What have you done to insure you can handle the pressure and the
anxiety associated with being the Leader of the Free World? How do we know
you will not resort to the bottle when faced with a serious panic? You have
never had a job like this. For 20 years, from what I can tell, you had no
job at all. When you stopped "drifting," your dad set you up in the oil
business with some ventures that failed and then he helped you get a ball
team which required you to sit in a box seat and watch a lot of baseball
games. Now you have served as governor of Texas, a relatively ceremonial job
in that state. How will you deal with a massive world crisis? Do you have a
sponsor you can call? Is there a meeting you can attend? I know this is very
personal, but the voters have a right to know.

3. Please, tell us the "felony" you committed and anything else of a similar
nature that you have been hiding. When you were asked last year about your
alleged cocaine use, you replied that you have committed "no felonies in the
last 25 years." That implies that you DID commit a felony before that. What
was the felony? 

The reason I am asking this is not to seek retribution for what you did. I
am concerned that if there is some deep, dark secret you are afraid of, it
means you are, in effect, providing ammunition for whoever discovers this
secret, be it a foreign enemy (that Bin-Laden guy) or a domestic enemy
(ExxonMobil). If they discover your secret felony, they will have something
over you -- and will be in a position to blackmail you. That makes you a
national security threat.

Trust me, someone will find out what you are hiding, and when they do, all
of us will be at risk. You have made yourself a national security threat and
you have a duty to disclose whatever this felony was that you committed. To
reveal it will nullify its potential use as a weapon against you or this
country should you be elected.


There are enough scary reasons why you should never be President. You will
oversee further destruction of our environment. You will push to have more
people executed. You will make sure your rich buddies make a killing off the
hard work and suffering of those less fortunate than you. Any of these
reasons is enough to stop you on Tuesday.

But, no matter where any of us stand on the political spectrum, liberal or
conservative, Democrat, Republican or Green, all of us have a right to know
the answers to these three critical questions.


Yours, 

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com



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