Michael Moore's Letter to Bush on Katrina

[Zeo]

Ok. I don't necessarily like Michael Moore, given he's a babbling slob who tends to be overly one-sided (his side). I do, however find this interesting and he does make some valid points here. The letter is pretty witty and candid.

Friday, September 2nd, 2005
Vacation is Over... an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush


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
http://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.

[gwenhwyfar]

i wonder when we can expect the documentary on this.

[pryjmaty]

Maybe if the citizens of NOLA didn't try to kill the rescuers, alot more could be done toward getting people out of there.

[Zeo]

Maybe if the citizens of NOLA didn't try to kill the rescuers, alot more could be done toward getting people out of there.

Maybe if our federal government had sent in the National Guard and FEMA days before when they said they were going to, that never would have happened.
I'm sure some of those people looted stores for those guns while local authorities were trying to bust people out of their attics.
When the cops are busy rescuing people and there is no one there to keep the peace, that is the gravity that this type of situation can escalate to.

[creapyrob]

Maybe if the Governer and Mayor had done more...

Maybe if people just up and left on their own account...

Maybe if the Jet Stream was a little further south...

Maybe if the Mayor of New Orleans had followed the published evacuation plan...

Look if you wanna do what if's I can go all day.

The Lousiana Government screwed up. The president of FEMA probably should have done more sooner (BUT he has been hamstringed by being subordinated to Homeland Security). When heads roll (and they will) my money is going to be on the Lousiana Governer, Mayor of New Orleans, and President of FEMA in that order.

New Orleans published emergency plan was not followed out.

Members of the National Guard and Army Corps of Engineers were there as soon as the storm passed through to begin surveying and work on the levees.

What needs to be done now is EVERYONE moved out of the area. No people, no crime, nobody gets disentary. Complete survey of the city and clean up (bodies and other biohazards). Then MAYBE let people start moving home.

[gwenhwyfar]

i think there were fucks ups on several ends of the equation, and the result was indeed "unacceptable".

personally, i don't think its fair to form an opinion or label a group of thousands of people based on a handfull of idiots that thought shooting rescue choppers was a good idea. fucktards happen. thats not everyone else's fault.

and honestly, i don't see how a city with that high of a population could possibly be fully evacuated in 48hrs or less. and even if they all tried, it would create the traffic jam from hell. how many routes out of NOLA? ......4 or 5?

but however valid a point, i don't think a finger pointing debate or "maybe if" comments will result in anything other than ........................:drum roll, dundundun:
another locked thread.

[Mercurygriffin]

So back on topic of the letter then?
In that case I have to quote my favorite part.

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!

[Zeo]

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/hurrican ... cal_storms

[Zeo]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/washpost/200509 ... experience

[iblis]

Of course, people are still saying that global warming is a myth.

Morons, the lot of them..

[junkie christ]

yea but most people who think global warmings real also are vegans or veggies... therefor not eating cows and killing cows... and cow farts are the biggest cause of ozone decay in everything ive read. but im not going back into that.
i think the letter is possibly too sarcastic.
if your gonna beat someone up that bad, at least offer what another solution could be.

[iblis]

yea but most people who think global warmings real also are vegans or veggies... therefor not eating cows and killing cows... and cow farts are the biggest cause of ozone decay in everything ive read. but im not going back into that.

Hey, that means that whenever I eat steak, I'm PROTECTING THE PLANET.

Take that, vegan bitches.

w00t.