Michael Moore, Rant, Project Backpack, and Things That Go Boom In the Night

[ciroccoj]

Letter From Michael Moore

Friday, September 2nd, 2005

Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with? Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to
Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com

P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.

***
I wish I could find the article where I read this, but there was a report on foreign offers of help that showed lists of countries that had offered to send money, emergency personnel, etc, and been initially turned down because "America can handle this on our own". I really wish I had the list, because it included countries like El Salvador and Sri Lanka.

And one of the most disturbing things? The offers of help are now being accepted (thank god!) and Bush is planning on specifically asking for help from certain foreign countries. Which ones? Why, the oil producers, of course. Asking for cheap oil. Because the real tragedy here is not so much the (carless) people stranded on rooftops, but the SUV owners who have to pay more at the pump thus forcing them to take a break from pumping out greenhouse gases that increase global warming and make weather disasters like Katrina more and more likely.

Oops - sorry, didn't mean to go and politicize this tragedy. And yes, I know that the jump in oil prices does not just affect rich SUV owners - it also affects truckers, regular drivers (like me), emergency efforts, etc etc and eventually our entire oil-dependent economy. I just think it's interesting that one of the first concerns of this adminitration is Must. Protect. OIL!

***
OK, enough of today's ranting. Here's something actually useful:

The Mission: Help Kids Get an Education

(From the Project Backpack website) Hurricane Katrina displaced thousands of people when she struck Louisiana, and many escaped to Houston, Texas. The Houston Independent School District has taken in many of the children displaced by the disaster so they may continue with their education despite their circumstances.

There is a dire need for school supplies, clothing and educational materials for these children, not just in Texas but also in Mississippi, Alabama and other parts of Louisiana. Project Backpack's mission, should you chose to accept it, is to coordinate donations to the most needy areas. The information on this site will tell you where and what to donate as well as instructions for setting up your own collection center in your neighborhood.



***
And in non-Katrina-related news, here's a couple of pics of our kitchen:








By the way, that deformed silver ring you see on the front burner is all that is left of the lid of the pot Chris was using. The plastic handle and the glass of the actual lid were obliterated in the blast. You can see bits of glass on the top of the back edge of the stove.

The open can lying next to the stove top is what Chris was trying to boil. The lid flew off and landed near the basement stairs, and the contents of the can are what you see all over the stove, counter and ceiling.

The little gold balls are actually unpopped kernels of corn. Mere innocent innocent bystanders, sitting next to the pot, waiting to become part of this lovely scene of domestic disaster.



Chris and I can't seem to stop repeating a line from Galaxy Quest: "But the creature is dead. ::pause:: ::sound of blast:: And it exploded."

Comments

[bear.livejournal.com]

Holy shit, you weren't kidding!

Is Chris okay? I mean, no flying glass injuries or scalding or anything?

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Chris is fine - we were both upstairs when the thing went ka-boom. And he had a conveniently-timed migraine, which forced him to go to bed instead of helping me clean up his mess. Not that I minded - I was too busy laughing my ass off :D :D :D

He thanks you for your concern, and wonders what he needs to do to get some pity around here.

[snarkhunter.livejournal.com]

Can't see the pics yet, but I will say this re: Bush and Michael Moore. For what it's worth, as much as I can't stand the Moron-in-Chief, I really, truly think the breakdown in this disaster was somewhere in below the White House level. I mean, yes, he could've been doing more sooner, but he declared a federal disaster DAYS before the hurricane hit, so where the HELL was the Nat'l Guard and where was FEMA?

Ahem. Anyway. Thank you for the link--I've been wondering about school supplies for the kids.

Also? HEE. That's a big oops there in your kitchen. What did the boys say?

[shiningmoon.livejournal.com]

National Guard = in Iraq
FEMA = gutted, budget-wise

I don't buy that this was a total surprise. Those FEMA reports are prepared specifically for the incoming president at the start of their tenure.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

What did the boys say?
"WOW!!"

And they didn't even see it in its immediate post-bang state :D :D :D

[(Anonymous)]

Bush declared the disaster in response to Tropical Storm Cindy a few weeks before, not in response to Hurricane Katrina. Cindy had passed already doing little damage. He had simply failed to implement that disaster proclamation until several weeks had gone by. It would not have benefitted the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Bush restructured and reorganized FEMA to put it under the Dept of Homeland Security. He appointed two political allies with no experience in disaster preparedness to head FEMA and cut $20,000,000 in funding for contingency planning long before Hurricane Katrina hit. He had decided that he was going to "privatize" FEMA the way he has "privatized" the war in Iraq. Halliburton who lost eight billion dollars in Iraq has now been named as the contractor who is going to help "rebuild" in Mississippi and Louisiana after the hurricanes.

Bush also pulled funding from work that was in progress on the levees in New Orleans which had been started in 1995 under President Clinton. Bush decided that to finish the work was too expensive. He diverted the money to the war in Iraq. The levees were patched and left unfinished. Bush's decision to leave the work unfinished left the levees weaker than they were before the work was started.

Bush has had access to information on what would happen to New Orleans in a severe hurricane since at least 2001 when it was published in papers all over the country. He was briefed extensively at that time. He chose to ignore the information he was given. He lied on "Good Morning America", national TV, and said he had never heard the information. He chose to delay ordering relief supplies and troops into the city. He had to make a speech in California on the 60th anniversary of VJ day and tie the war in Iraq to World War II as a "noble cause". Then he had to stop in Arizona to play golf. He flew over the disaster areas in Air Force One briefly on his way back to Washington DC from a quarter of a mile up, instead of stopping in a nearby state and taking a helicopter to view the damage up close that day. He did not communicate with FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. Both act under his orders. Bush has to order them in before they can go.

This is all information I have obtained from mainstream media organizations, mostly MSNBC over the week I have been helplessly watching people die in New Orleans in ways too horrible to imagine.

The story about the nations wishing to provide aid was also disseminated through MSNBC and other news outlets. Google/News would have it still, I think. I was touched by the fact that even Iran, which is the next country Bush is threatening with invasion, offered aid and condolences. Bush summarily refused all foreign aid during a televised interview on "Good Morning America" last week.

I'm sorry, but this one belongs squarely to Bush. He should have returned to the area much sooner. He should have pushed the rescue efforts. In fact he did nothing until he got a lot of unfavorable publicity. He is still acting only when he is prodded. Do you remember the picture of Nero fiddling while Rome burned? I keep thinking of that.

The people of New Orleans are mostly black. They are mostly poor. It is unlikely that they voted Republican. Therefore they don't exist. Bush starts with a large indifference to people unless they are very rich. The press refers to it kindly as a "disconnect". I would refer to it as criminal. This is the best thing I can say about him. I was never a great fan of Bush's. But in New Orleans he exceeded his usual cruelty quotient.

[snarkhunter.livejournal.com]

I guess my point is that I don't think Bush is solely responsible for this--or for any of the bullshit this country pulls. The fact is, the United States gov't is a ridiculously huge, multi-limbed entity, and while it's easy to blame the person who is its head (and thus its face), it's also an oversimplification of the issue. Do I think the Bush Administration royally FUCKED UP this whole situation, and that people have died as a result? Yes. Yes, I do. Do I think that George W. Bush the person is solely responsible, and should hold all of the blame? No. I don't.

Don't get me wrong--I'd love to see him take serious flak--even up to impeachment--for this, but putting all of the blame on him absolves all of the other people--like Michael Brown, for example--of their responsibility for this nightmare.

I am not a fan of the president. I think his policies range from sucktastic to dangerous, I think this war is the worst idea since Hitler invaded Russia, and his insistence on faith-based programs is leading us down a very dark road. All of that said, however, we're stuck with him for another three years. I see no benefit in making blanket statements about one person's responsibility for huge disasters, when, quite frankly, it is always more complicated than such statements make it out to be. Saying "he's an evil bastard who deserves to be exiled for what he's done," while it may (or may not) be true, also serves only to alienate large portions of this country's population. (And for me, personally, it would only serve to alienate friends and members of my family, so I choose to be more temperate in my responses.)

Bush declared the disaster in response to Tropical Storm Cindy a few weeks before, not in response to Hurricane Katrina.

Actually, if I recall correctly, as Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast on Sunday night, he declared a pre-disaster in the region, in order to get the aid there faster. Fat lot of good that did. I watched the hurricane coverage for most of that evening, and the fact that they gave even lip service to the coming devastation surprised me, so it stuck in my head.

Do you remember the picture of Nero fiddling while Rome burned? I keep thinking of that.

Everyone keeps saying that. Of course, it's a myth. But it's certainly serving its purpose this time around.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

[Fred tries to digitize the pig-lizard with disastrous results]

JASON: What? What was that?
ALEX: Uh, nothing.
JASON: I heard some squealing or something.
GWEN: (quickly) Oh, no. Everything's fine.
TEB: But the animal is inside out--
JASON: I heard that! It turned *inside out*?

[The pig-lizard explodes]

TEB: And it exploded...
JASON: Did I just hear that the animal turned inside out, and then it EXPLODED?

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

LOL!!!

Thanks :)

just another thought

[animaltalker.livejournal.com]

I know the oil thing sounds awful but remember oil isn't just for gas it is also for home heating oil (Crude oil is also the startig material for other very important things like drugs) and given that 4 oil drilling platforms in the gulf are completely missing and two are adrift there is going to be a reduction in oil production, of course I'm not sure how many oil refineries have been affected, so even with crude oil being donated we may still have problems in that we may not be able to produce home heating oil in large enough quantities to prevent enormous price hikes, sothere is very liely to be a delayed reaction to Katrina that adversely affects the poor in the colder climes in the US.

Re: just another thought

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I know the oil thing sounds awful but remember oil isn't just for gas
Yeah, I know. But the fact is, we're an oil-based economy in large part because we haven't tried hard enough to find alternatives to oil, despite global warming and all sorts of other reasons (like, say, the possibility of exactly this kind of emergency situation) telling us that we should.

[nonniemous.livejournal.com]

Actually, the hike in gas prices and crude oil prices affects the poor far more disproportionally. They are the ones who can least afford to pay more, let alone possibly 30 - 50 % more for the gas they need to get to work, the oil and natural gas they need to heat their homes. I'm glad it will hit the SUV drivers where it hurts, but I worry about those of us who either can't at all or can barely afford these higher prices. It's *seriously* affecting our family budget planning for the next few months.

And go, Micheal. He gets a bit too much into grandstanding, but he does have a way with words--and a way of pointing thigns out. Gee, Bush hasn't changed, has he? Still sits and waits after the disaster, doesn't get up to deal with it right away. Nope just sits there, reading to the children. Argh.

[nonniemous.livejournal.com]

And I can, too, spell. "disproportionately." Argh. Just not without coffee and first thing in the morning.

BTW, love the kitchen pictures and the GAlaxy Quest references. Oh, I could so see that happening at my house, all of it.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it will hit the SUV drivers where it hurts, but I worry about those of us who either can't at all or can barely afford these higher prices.
Yeah, no kidding. I don't know what the Canadian poor will do come winter.

I just find it infuriating that we can't seem to learn from our mistakes and get serious about finding/funding alternatives to oil.

[nonniemous.livejournal.com]

Oh, we are right there with you in that rant. It's one of my husband's most common rants, what we could do towards finding alternatives to our oil based economny with the billions of dollars we're spending in Iraq.

I so want a hybrid car, but they're priced too far out of our budget.

My personal opinion is that all the best technologies, many of them quite viable and inexpensive, are all sitting in the deepest, darkest vaults of the Oil and Auto Industry's offices, nicely patented, paid for, and stored away where they can't threaten the current monopoly.

[linaelyn.livejournal.com]

My first thought was the same as Bear's: was anybody hurt? But since flying pyrex chunks didn't take anyone out, I have to admit that that *is* pretty danged funny.

I know where the Helicopters are. They've been flying over my house all week, along with huge troop transport and materiel transport planes. Pacticing touch-and-goes out at Moffet Field, here in the Bay Area.

No, I don't have an answer for why they aren't in Louisiana. I haven't heard them yet this morning, so maybe they're left for the disaster site. If so, it will take those 'copters at least two days to get there, maybe a day and a half if they can swap pilots on the way.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

But since flying pyrex chunks didn't take anyone out, I have to admit that that *is* pretty danged funny.
We're sure having a lot of fun with it :)

Mild rebuttal

[jessebee.livejournal.com]

to Mr. Moore:

1) Those military 'choppers? Won't be much good for search and rescue because a) there's no spare room in them, and b) they don't have lift winches.

2) What the bloody blue blazes were you doing sitting OUTSIDE during a hurricane? Even during the eye? You, sir, are an idiot on that account.

3) Having Presidents and other Lord High Mucketymucks dropping into a disaster area to visit Does Not Help. In fact, it is a royal pain in the ass. Security and handlers for those folks take up the time and energy that could much better spent doing things like, say, rescuing people. The Pres could have made a helluvalot better show of concern, I totally agree. But NOT by visiting the area immediately.

4) It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town.

Okay, I give: how exactly IS that situation the Shrub's fault? You're telling me that the years of his administration, deplorable as they are, are somehow responsible for several generations of New Orleans' poverty? How does that track, exactly? I'm curious.

Re: Mild rebuttal

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

2) What the bloody blue blazes were you doing sitting OUTSIDE during a hurricane? Even during the eye? You, sir, are an idiot on that account.
LOL - yeah, I couldn't help thinking that too. Much as I love Moore, he can be quite a twit.

3) Having Presidents and other Lord High Mucketymucks dropping into a disaster area to visit Does Not Help. In fact, it is a royal pain in the ass.
Good point.

4) It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town.

Okay, I give: how exactly IS that situation the Shrub's fault?
No, it's obviously not his fault, but he hasn't helped the situation much either. The problems in New Orleans (and other impoverished cities/regions) are not helped by the kinds of social-program and infrastructure cost-cutting measures Bush has been using in order to fund the war in Iraq. IMHO.

Also, by cutting or not funding projects to increase/maintain public transportation, his policies help keep New Orleans - and the US - too dependent on private transportation, which the poor can't afford. So when the floodwater hits the fan, the poor have no way to get out. Again, IMHO.

Re: Mild rebuttal

[jessebee.livejournal.com]

Okay, I give: how exactly IS that situation the Shrub's fault?

No, it's obviously not his fault, but he hasn't helped the situation much either. The problems in New Orleans (and other impoverished cities/regions) are not helped by the kinds of social-program and infrastructure cost-cutting measures Bush has been using in order to fund the war in Iraq. IMHO.

Also, by cutting or not funding projects to increase/maintain public transportation, his policies help keep New Orleans - and the US - too dependent on private transportation, which the poor can't afford. So when the floodwater hits the fan, the poor have no way to get out. Again, IMHO.

Both of your points above are excellent, and I certainly won't argue with either. My only point here was that Moore has a disturbing habit of dumping everything into W's lap, without apparent regard for the sins of past administrations. Actually, I owe you an apology, too, cirocco, for unwinding this all in your LJ when it should have been confined to mine. Mea culpa.

Re: Mild rebuttal

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

My only point here was that Moore has a disturbing habit of dumping everything into W's lap, without apparent regard for the sins of past administrations.
That he does. To his detriment - he goes that little bit too far and gets people who don't even like Bush to defend his policies, just to provide some kind of balance.

I still admire him for having the guts to point out a lot of stuff that needs to be said, but I do wish he tempered those guts with a little perspective.

Actually, I owe you an apology, too, cirocco, for unwinding this all in your LJ when it should have been confined to mine.
No need :) I posted an article I found interesting and you responded to it. Your comments were non-flames, well thought out, and relevant to the discussion; why apologize?

Re: Mild rebuttal

[jessebee.livejournal.com]

That he does. To his detriment - he goes that little bit too far and gets people who don't even like Bush to defend his policies, just to provide some kind of balance.

::raises hand:: Guilty as charged. :-)

No need :) I posted an article I found interesting and you responded to it. Your comments were non-flames, well thought out, and relevant to the discussion; why apologize?

Thank you, I really appreciate that. :-) I thought perhaps I'd overstepped the bounds a bit, there. ;-)

[shiningmoon.livejournal.com]

Holy cow. Explosion indeed.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

WAY cool, though, doncha think? And a great opportunity for some homeschooling re. the branch of physics called Blowing Things Up :)

[bear.livejournal.com]

the branch of physics called Blowing Things Up

Ah, the more age-appropriate cousin of Blowing Shit Up and Cool Shit That Blows Up. :)

[jennifus.livejournal.com]

I have never agreed with Michael Moore as much as I do now.

And, also? Your poor kitchen. :-(