A Message From Michael

I received this message from Michael Moore today.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about Moore. I think that he's done as much harm, if not more, than he's done good for the democratic party and the democratic process. I don't believe that "corporations are the enemy" anymore than I believe that government is inherently ineffective or ineffecient (it can be, but it doesn't have to be). I don't neccesarily believe in the zero-sum quotient of federal/governmental power vs personal freedom. I believe that jobs require companies, yes even corporations - that the infrastructure to allow those companies to florish as well as the oversight to protect consumers and workers requires a vigilant and responsible government and an agressively independant, free, but fair, press. I believe in fair-trade, and that sometimes such trade may cause jobs to migrate overseas in the short-term, but in the long term such migration is really just competition and that competition can spawn innovation, progress and a better standard of living for people all over the globe even if it does mean Flint Michagan becomes a ghost town in the meantime.

I doubt Moore believes any of this.

He's not even a democrat, he's actually is what Bill O'Reilly claims to be - an independant. I don't neccesarily like or agree with the imagery he provides here - of democrats as abuse victims -- but I do agree that they need to stop trying to change their behavior and try to appease Republicans, because the Right has taken over the Republican Party and the do rule it with an iron-clad - and extremely abusive - fist. Trying to talk them down isn't going to work, they are too far gone. I myself don't to any of my so-called "friends" of the Republican stripe anymore. There's no point. No amount of truth or logic will change them. We have to focus on the people who haven't been drinking the cool-aid and rally them together.

It's the only way.

It doesn't matter if they're in the majority or minority - they simply need to continue to hold their head up and make themselves heard. They need to do more than simply say - "Right Wing Neo-Con Republican Bad: We Good" - they need to prove it.

After the election I talked about "Revenge". But I wasn't talking about any type of physical retaliation. No. I meant that we need to harness the fire of outrage and indignation that burns bright within any American, or world citizen, who still believes in the true foundations of justice and freedom that this country was founded upon, not the bone-headed jingoism of the right and direct it into positive action and opposition.

Stop being ashamed of being a "Liberal" - and make people realize, make yourself realize, that the core of being "Liberal" is being a person who is willing to defend and promote Liberty!

I also fully believe that the rise of the neo-cons is ultimately a good thing. I believe that they are going to so completely FUCK THINGS UP, that the total bankrupcy of thier ideology will become plain for all to see and will drive them from legitimate power for decades once all the dust is settled.

That will be our ultimate revenge.

It may take years. It may take decades, as this right-wing/neo-con/fundamentalist monster wasn't built in a day.

But that day will come.

And it will be sweet.

Vyan

A Message from Michael Moore: 12/13/04 Dear Friends, It is no surprise that the Republicans are sore winners. They have spent the better part of the past month beating their chests, threatening to send to Siberia any Republican who doesn’t toe the line (poor Arlen Specter), and promising everything short of martial law if the Democrats don’t do what they are told. What’s worse is to watch the pathetic sight of the DLC (the conservative, pro-corporate group of Democrats) apologizing for being Democrats and promising to “purge” the party of the likes of, well, all of US! Their comments are so hilarious and really not even worth recognizing but the media is paying so much attention to them, I thought it might be worth doing a little reality check. The most people the DLC is able to get out to an event of theirs is about 200 at their annual dinner (where you have to pay thousands of dollars to get in). Contrast this with the following: * Total Members of Move On: More than 2,000,000 * Total Attendance at Vote for Change Concerts: An estimated 280,000 * Total Union Members in U.S.: Around 16,000,000 * Total Number of People Who Have Seen “Fahrenheit 9/11”: Over 50 million * Total Number of You Reading This: Perhaps 10 million or more The days of trying to move the Democratic Party to the right are over. We lost a very close election (a one-state difference) by running the #1 liberal in the Senate. Not bad. The country is shifting in our direction, not to the right. But the country was attacked and people were scared. They were manipulated with fear. And America has never thrown a sitting president out during wartime. That’s the facts. Oh, and our candidate could have run a better campaign (but we’ll have that discussion another day). In the meantime, while we reflect on what went wrong, I would like to pass on to you an essay that a friend who works with abuse victims sent to me. It was written by a woman who has spent years working as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse and she sees many parallels between her work and the reaction of many Democrats to last month’s election. Her name is Mel Giles and here is what she had to say… Watch Dan Rather apologize for not getting his facts straight, humiliated before the eyes of America, voluntarily undermining his credibility and career of over thirty years. Observe Donna Brazille squirm as she is ridiculed by Bay Buchanan, and pronounced irrelevant and nearly non-existent. Listen as Donna and Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles Schumer take to the airwaves saying that they have to go back to the drawing board and learn from their mistakes and try to be better, more likable, more appealing, have a stronger message, speak to morality. Watch them awkwardly quote the bible, trying to speak the ‘new’ language of America. Surf the blogs, and read the comments of dismayed, discombobulated, confused individuals trying to figure out what they did wrong. Hear the cacophony of voices, crying out, "Why did they beat me?" And then ask anyone who has ever worked in a domestic violence shelter if they have heard this before. They will tell you: Every single day. The answer is quite simple. They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence. As victims we can't stop asking ourselves what we did wrong. We can't seem to grasp that they will keep hitting us and beating us as long as we keep sticking around and asking ourselves what we are doing to deserve the beating. Listen to George Bush say that the will of God excuses his behavior. Listen, as he refuses to take responsibility, or express remorse, or even once, admit a mistake. Watch him strut, and tell us that he will only work with those who agree with him, and that each of us is only allowed one question (soon, it will be none at all; abusers hit hard when questioned; the press corps can tell you that). See him surround himself with only those who pledge oaths of allegiance. Hear him tell us that if we will only listen and do as he says and agree with his every utterance, all will go well for us (it won't; we will never be worthy). And watch the Democratic Party leadership walk on eggshells, try to meet him, please him, wash the windows better, get out that spot, distance themselves from gays and civil rights. See the Democrats cry for the attention and affection and approval of the President and his followers. Watch us squirm. Watch us descend into a world of crazy-making, where logic does not work and the other side tells us we are nuts when we rely on facts. A world where, worst of all, we begin to believe we are crazy. How to break free? Again, the answer is quite simple. First, you must admit you are a victim. Then, you must declare the state of affairs unacceptable. Next, you must promise to protect yourself and everyone around you that is being victimized. You don't do this by responding to their demands, or becoming more like them, or engaging in logical conversation, or trying to persuade them that you are right. You also don't do this by going catatonic and resigned, by closing up your ears and eyes and covering your head and submitting to the blows, figuring its over faster and hurts less if you don't resist and fight back. Instead, you walk away. You find other folks like yourself, 57 million of them, who are hurting, broken, and beating themselves up. You tell them what you've learned, and that you aren't going to take it anymore. You stand tall, with 57 million people at your side and behind you, and you look right into the eyes of the abuser and you tell him to go to hell. Then you walk out the door, taking the kids and gays and minorities with you, and you start a new life. The new life is hard. But it's better than the abuse. We have a mandate to be as radical and liberal and steadfast as we need to be. The progressive beliefs and social justice we stand for, our core, must not be altered. We are 57 million strong. We are building from the bottom up. We are meeting, on the net, in church basements, at work, in small groups, and right now, we are crying, because we are trying to break free and we don't know how. Any battered woman in America, any oppressed person around the globe who has defied her oppressor will tell you this: There is nothing wrong with you. You are in good company. You are safe. You are not alone. You are strong. You must change only one thing: Stop responding to the abuser. Don't let him dictate the terms or frame the debate (he'll win, not because he's right, but because force works). Sure, we can build a better grassroots campaign, cultivate and raise up better leaders, reform the election system to make it fail-proof, stick to our message, learn from the strategy of the other side. But we absolutely must dispense with the notion that we are weak, godless, cowardly, disorganized, crazy, too liberal, naive, amoral, "loose,” irrelevant, outmoded, stupid and soon to be extinct. We have the mandate of the world to back us, and the legacy of oppressed people throughout history. Even if you do everything right, they'll hit you anyway. Look at the poor souls who voted for this nonsense. They are working for six dollars an hour if they are working at all, their children are dying overseas and suffering from lack of health care and a depleted environment and a shoddy education. And they don't even know they are being hit. How true. And that is our challenge over the next couple of years; to hold out our hand to those being hit the hardest and help them leave behind a party that only seeks to keep beating them, their children, and the kid next door who’s on his way to Iraq. Yours, Michael Moorehttp://www.michaelmoore.com MMFlint@aol.com