![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ciroccojLetter 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 pumpthus 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."
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
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."
