Micheal Moore Letter to Bush...

[WarpdriveNYC]

And it reads...

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.

[nomembername]

[ghhhhhost]

great read..im not a huge michael moore fan but he brings up excellent points....it isnt the first or last time people r ignored cause they happen to be a shade darker (rwanda..haiti..etc)...

its funny how when the twin towers fell , FEMA was here within a day ...and there were cops everywhere making sure shit didnt get out of hand...i know its crappy to compare 9/11 to this...but its a national catastrophe....so it fits....anyway...thank god the majority of the business world is white-bread american...and thank god 9/11 happened in NYC and DC ...or there'd still b charred remains of people laying in some rubble pile in downtown wherever-the-hell

[dcny69]

SERVED!!!!

DC

[xlr8ted]

Instead of typing letters, this fat fucker should be donating the $1million dollar kitty for In-N-Out burger to the red cross.

[willtrahan]

its funny how when the twin towers fell , FEMA was here within a day ...and there were cops everywhere making sure shit didnt get out of hand.

Its funny how after 9/11, there was no one shooting at the cops, and at others trying to help the city.

[carmine09]

what a dick!! why does he not mention that after five days that no other countries came to our aid until today.. were is that mentioned thats what we all should be worried about.. and it was a horrible tragedy that took place in new orlens, houston and mississippi... he is a self ritious (sp) fucking asshole!! does he every state his efforts to help nope only what problems there are which are all over the world not just under bush's tenure.. just my 2 cents....

[chanman7483]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghhhhhost

its funny how when the twin towers fell , FEMA was here within a day ...and there were cops everywhere making sure shit didnt get out of hand.

Its funny how after 9/11, there was no one shooting at the cops, and at others trying to help the city.

Giuliani was all over the place on 9/11... he was prob the biggest reason none of that stuff happened. He called in everyone to prevent that from happening.

Also, doing all this stuff when there is 4-6 feet of water in the majority of the effected regions makes it a little more difficult... although I do agree that socioeconomic factors are playing a role here... I doubt this would be happening in Orange county or chicago's north shore...

[earthling]

What a low life! again using disaster to get attention.

[pookie23]

Maybe that fat slob can take some money out of his Twinkie fund to help the people down there instead of running his damn mouth...

[johnnyrevs]

he could feed a lot of babies with his breast milk

[supreme]

Many people are missing the point, the bottom line is Bush, FEMA the federal, state and municipal governments have waited too long too act on this disaster which proves we aren't prepared to deal with another national emergency( terrorist attack, etc.).

We can send troops overseas and generate millions of dollars to help the Tsunami victims but we deal with our problems very poorly.

[cubano43]

Many people are missing the point, the bottom line is Bush, FEMA the federal, state and municipal governments have waited too long too act on this disaster which proves we aren't prepared to deal with another national emergency( terrorist attack, etc.).

We can send troops overseas and generate millions of dollars to help the Tsunami victims but we deal with our problems very poorly.

Oh that bullshit you commi bastard. Those boys are dying overseas so you could have $4 a gallon gas, its worth it. How about all those weapons of mass destructions we found??? You and Michale whore should get F yourself.

Poor GW, he had to cut his vacation short. He's already had 322 vac days in 5yrs. Old record held by Reagan but it took him 8 yrs.

[backupqueen]

Most of the money that was supposed to fix the infrastructure in case of a categorie 5 hurricane in New Orleans was diverted to Homeland Security. Do people really think a Democrat government was going to do something different?

[cubano43]

Homeland security is the biggest piece of shit ever and we as Americans are eating it by the pound. We are no safer now than 9/11. People on the terrorist watch list still get in this country, now that's homeland security. More layers of bullshit by this Administration. Reagan is probably turning in his grave right now. Bring back GW Senior.

I'm neither a Democrat or Republican, 1st and foremost I’m a American which both side have forgotten.

[supreme]

Homeland security is the biggest piece of shit ever and we as Americans are eating it by the pound. We are no safer now than 9/11. People on the terrorist watch list still get in this country, now that's homeland security. More layers of bullshit by this Administration. Reagan is probably turning in his grave right now. Bring back GW Senior.

I'm neither a Democrat or Republican, 1st and foremost I’m a American which both side have forgotten.

You can state your opinion without resorting to name calling, you are better than that.

Second, why are you calling fact bullshit and reiterating my stand point at the same time. You really should read more and not repeat heresay!

[southbound24]

michael moore=reason kerry lost and the democratic party has lost me as a member and the whole party continues to wither away into oblivion

now consider me a part of the RUDY wing of the right, pro choice, pro union, anti asshole like moore

[majinbuu]

wow, we have another thread full of ignorance!

[binarycool]

Most of the money that was supposed to fix the infrastructure in case of a categorie 5 hurricane in New Orleans was diverted to Homeland Security. Do people really think a Democrat government was going to do something different?

i dont know the source of this, but my friend told me when kerry was campaigning in louisianna part of his platform was to fix the levees

[D.Schwartz]

wow, we have another thread full of ignorance!

exactly

when it comes to choosing sides, like chris rock said, there are some things im liberal about and somethings im conservative about..

[racerx1225]

fat scum bag is at it again?

When are all you people gonna realize how he tells half truths and errors and exploits peoples suffering for his own gain. He not only made a mint with Fahrenheit 9/11 but he fucked you Dem's up by turning so many people off with his transparent propaganda that in the end he hurt that llama Kerry's, chances aof gettiing elected.

Believing anything from that bastard's mouth is like believing the 'Passion of Christ' was a documentary.

I think Mel Gibson and Michael Moore should take turns anally violating themselves as they have done to the public who watches their shit.

[junglebuddha]

as someone stated before. i feel that once again, people have missed the point. despite one's feelings about micheal moore and his obvious use of propaganda; clear and simply it took over 5 days for help, fema, nat'l guard etc to respond to yet ANOTHER NATIONAL TRAGEDY.

*people died as a result of the storm, and more died as a result of those in a position to act dropping the ball; BIG TIME!

[diman]

Oh that bullshit you commi bastard. Those boys are dying overseas so you could have $4 a gallon gas, its worth it. How about all those weapons of mass destructions we found???

I am sorry...did i misunderstand your statement or are you saying that having $ 4 gallon of gas is worth soldier's life? And would you please be more specific as to what weapons of mass destructions you or someone else found?

Moore pointed out specific problems and was right on point. Not saying anything or doing anything for that matter for 5 days to help people of its land is a shame for this country and president.

[cubano43]

Come on give Bush some slack. He was praying for 5 days straight for Katrina not to hit, he didn't want his vacation interupted. Plus in the bible it does not talk about any Katrina hurricane so he had nothing to go on.

RICE: Let me address this question because it has been on the table.

I think that concern about what I might have known or we might have known was provoked by some statements that I made in a press conference. I was in a press conference to try and describe the August 6 memo, which I've talked about here in my opening remarks and which I talked about with you in the private session.

And I said, at one point, that this was a historical memo, that it was -- it was not based on new threat information. And I said, "No one could have imagined them taking a plane, slamming it into the Pentagon" -- I'm paraphrasing now -- "into the World Trade Center, using planes as a missile."

Could you imagine it now bitch?

[funeralhome]

Where Was George?

So far, Bush deserves only scorn for his "handling" of Katrina.

By Michael Tomasky

Web Exclusive: 09.01.05

The first reports on levee breaks in New Orleans starting moving across the wire services just after dawn on Tuesday, August 30. Radio and television were reporting the same: “The levees in New Orleans have been breached,†said National Public Radio’s Melissa Block that same morning. The potential for catastrophe was clear enough, early on Tuesday morning, that NPR reporter David Kestenbaum asked a Louisiana State University expert, “Think we’re ever going to have to give up on New Orleans?â€

By early afternoon Eastern time, the scope of the tragedy was evident, with images of New Orleans under water dominating every cable channel.

I don’t know about you, but if I were president, or if I were advising one, I’d have said to my colleagues: “We stop everything we’re doing right now. We go back to Washington, at the very least; ideally, we head down to the area -- if not New Orleans, then certainly to Baton Rouge, to meet with the governor and greet some evacuees. One of the country’s half-dozen greatest cities is dying.â€

Instead, Bush was in sunny San Diego, having just left sunny El Mirage, Arizona. In El Mirage, he gave a speech to group of senior citizens, trying to persuade them to sign up for his prescription-drug benefit -- which was passed in 2003, as you’ll recall, only after House Republican leaders kept the floor open for three extra hours to twist the arms of enough GOP members to switch their votes, and which, speaking of mirages, covers only the first $2,250 of a person’s drug costs, after which they pay 100 percent of the next $2,850 out of their own pocket.

The president then took time to help his now-close buddy Senator John McCain celebrate his 69th birthday, sharing a piece of birthday cake on the Tarmac. They posed for happy pictures as Katrina was smashing into the Gulf Coast with a force never before seen from a hurricane in the nation’s history.

In San Diego -- after the levees were breached -- Bush stayed to schedule, delivering yet one more tired propaganda speech about Iraq. But this time, he had the temerity to compare the Iraq War to World War II, as he was celebrating the 60th anniversary of America’s victory over Japan (which surrendered not on August 30 but on August 15; but with this president, who’s counting?).

“As we mark this anniversary, we are again a nation at war,†Bush told his Naval-base crowd, as if a war of choice peddled to the American public on trumped-up and outright false allegations were the same thing morally as a war in which America was attacked and then obligated to lead the fight against three powerful nations (OK, Italy; two and two-thirds), which it undertook in concert with its major allies.

And, yes, he had the nerve to meld Pearl Harbor and September 11, which are similar in some obvious respects, except in the sense Bush means -- that is, after Pearl Harbor, we responded by making war against the country that actually launched the attack on us. Imagine that!

By the time Bush finished that speech, one of America’s greatest urban treasures, one of the unique cities of the world, was mostly submerged. And towns and small cities in Mississippi were leveled, just gone. And yet the president steered clear of either Washington or the affected area for yet one more night, Tuesday night.

Finally, he still spent part of the next morning, Wednesday, at the Crawford ranch before Air Force One finally lifted off and took his to survey the damage -- from the air.

On one level, all this is “just†symbolism. But real leaders understand symbolism. They give speeches that are appropriate to the moment, dramatically unlike Bush’s ghastly performance on the White House lawn yesterday. He spoke as if it were September 13, 2001; as if the nation were still desperate to be united behind its leadership; as if saving New Orleans were simply a matter of resolve and guts; as if the catastrophe that is the war had never happened, and he still had credibility in the eyes of a majority of Americans; as if Mother Nature, abetted by the global warming that he denies, were another group of evildoers who could be brought to heel with tough words and a return volley of violence.

And on top of all this symbolism, there is substance, laid out in stunning detail by Sidney Blumenthal on Salon on August 29. “In 2004,†Blumenthal wrote, “the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent.†That was one of about eight amazing pieces of information. It will be fascinating to monitor how aggressively the major media follow this story over the coming days.

Like everyone else, I hope now that the administration plays furious catch-up and does everything it can to help the recovery and eventual rebuilding. But the first days of a crisis are a test. Bush has already failed it. Current and future New Orleanians will ask, as Ted Kennedy famously did of his father in 1988: Where was George?