An open letter to George W from Michael Moore

For a fat, hairy slob of a man, he sure can write. Good read, interesting points. Thanks for sharing this with us.

i couldn't agree more Wahine!

It's too bad Bush will only hear of the letter secondhand, I wonder if he'll even publicly respond to it.

I doubt he will...Remember our president doesn't even read newspapers. And since Al Gore invented the internet he probably doesn't surf....

I wonder if the families of all the dead soldiers Moore rides on appreciates him waving the bloody shirt to further his career. 

Moore isn't an activist, he is P.T. Barnum, enjoying his well-earned seat in the Presidential box at the DNC.  No doubt this "letter" will garner him a bit more publicity before his TWO other books come out before the election...

 

In a comic and entertanment point of view its funny to me too. Micheal Moore has always been good at satire and good editing. But in my opinion this may wind up hurting Kerry more then helping.

My Two Cents

PS: thatoneguyinslc I loved that face Icon.

Michael is a talented, artistic, well spoken and very funny director....of fiction. He makes excellent movies, but they are just that, entertaining movies, not the fact filled documentaries he claims them to be.

They are heavily biased left wing propaganda, not mentioning the blatant sentsationalism that he at one time will criticize acerbically, then at another use and abuse with all the melodrama of a Hollywood diva.

Michael Moore's works are well made, but dangerous in that people take them for the de facto truth, simply because he is warm, funny and charismatic.

ANNOUNCER: "Mr. Kerry's biggest supporter, Sen. Max Cleland, claims to have lost two legs and an arm in Vietnam. But he still has one arm! How did that happen? One word: Cowardice. When duty called, he was unwilling to give his last limb. Is that the type of selfishness you want hanging out in the White House? We think not. Vote for the man who would be willing to give America his right frontal lobe. Vote Bush."

Great satire.

Michael Moore's works are well made, but dangerous in that people take them for the de facto truth, simply because he is warm, funny and charismatic

Didn't most of us, including the congress, take the cause for war as defacto truth?--far more dangerous.

I wonder if the families of all the dead soldiers Moore rides on appreciates him waving the bloody shirt to further his career.

Prolly not Baker, But then again the same thing could be said about GWB using Iraq as a focus of his re-election campaign

He makes excellent movies, but they are just that, entertaining movies, not the fact filled documentaries he claims them to be.

Yep.. I agree completely, but there is some truth in what he says, you just gotta take a grain of salt with him

Vote for the man who would be willing to give America his right frontal lobe. Vote Bush."

I agree. That one cracked me up

Michael Moore has always been good at satire

I agree. Some of the stuff he comes up with is funny, some of it is offensive ,and some of it is provocative. That's why he's a good filmaker. But like i said earlier, i do not always agree with him, or his style.
I liked his letter because it's the truth in one particular sense. Kerry volunteered to go to war, Bush 2.0 volunteered to do tap hits with his frat brothers instead.

"Kerry volunteered to go to war, Bush 2.0 volunteered to do tap hits with his frat brothers instead."

As I said in a recent blog, frat antics give propagandists little to work with outside the puritanical US. Someone lauding his own heroics and brandishing his medals from a war wherein he burned villages and openly admitted to violating the Geneva convention, though... I expect if Kerry wins what you will see from North Korea and Iran will make the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth look tame.

As I said in a recent blog, frat antics give propagandists little to work with outside the puritanical US.

I didn't see your other blog, Baker Street, which may explain my misunderstanding here, but I don't get your point. I thought that Moore is just mocking the Bushies for staying home for frat fun and then throwing mud at those who served -- satire and simplification, I know, but I don't get what your are saying at all.

I haven't seen Bush throw mud at anyone that served. I personally think it is humorous that Moore, Dean, Clark, and the rest are out openly lying about what the President said, calling the President's own service into question, while condemning people for calling Kerry's service into question.

In the end, all the "service" that Kerry is proud of is going to come back and bite him. His accomplishments in Vietnam won't be seen as heroic by the world, they'll be seen as he described them, gross injustice and cruetly.

Moore and the rest can make fun of Bush all they want, but I'd rather vote for someone who partied his way through Vietnam than someone who burned villages and killed livestock.

I just can't see how someone like Moore can look at what Bush did, then point to what Kerry was doing in Vietnam and pretend Kerry was the morally correct one.

I haven't seen Bush throw mud at anyone that served.

That's because he has his pitbull Karl Rove to do it for him. Well....Him and the swifties. And let's not forget about Bob "My wounds are better than yours" Dole either!

As I said in a recent blog, frat antics give propagandists little to work with outside the puritanical US. Someone lauding his own heroics and brandishing his medals from a war wherein he burned villages and openly admitted to violating the Geneva convention, though

You actually THINK that Kerry is the only american who participated in violating the Geneva Convention during Vietnam? Duuuuude! Wake up! Ever hear of the My Lai Massacre? Or more recently... Abu Garaib? And what about some of the stuff that has occurred in our own country? The downwinders during the 50's. They have dropped like flies in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona due to our Military's atomic weapons testing. So don't act as if the military has not had a history of this in the past.

but I'd rather vote for someone who partied his way through Vietnam than someone who burned villages and killed livestock.

And i would rather vote for a guy who knows how ugly war can be before he sends our troops to fight, rather than some yuppie cowboy who had his daddy protect him, and has no idea what its like to be in the line of fire.

Bush has no idea what its like to watch people die in front of him. John Kerry does!

"That's because he has his pitbull Karl Rove to do it for him. Well....Him and the swifties. And let's not forget about Bob "My wounds are better than yours" Dole either!"

For every Bush supporter there is a Kerry supporter doing the same job. In my opinion Kerry has a much more prolific soft-money machine at work.

"You actually THINK that Kerry is the only american who participated in violating the Geneva Convention during Vietnam? "

He'll be the only one holding the office of President. What will the world think of a man who volunteered to go, came back and openly condemned what he and others did, and then called it heroism 30 years later.

"Bush has no idea what its like to watch people die in front of him. John Kerry does!"

I think many nations that hate us will make points about the people Kerry saw die in front of him, the villages that were burned, etc. Say what you like, but this will be the first time we have elected a President that has admitted to commiting "atrocities".

Hypocritical. People here continue to question Bush's service while at the same time whining about people questioning Kerry's service. If the Kerry side wants to keep the fire on the service issue, which Moore, Dean, Clark, and their handlers obviously do, I think it will go much harder for Kerry than Bush. Count on it, actually.

You just don't get it and never will. The world has a hell of a lot more respect for Kerry than they EVER will Bush 2.0.

So what's it like to live in disneyland anyways? (joking)

, and the world's opinion matters...why?

You guys are aware that we are not the only country on the planet right? (Keyword: RIGHT)...Or maybe not. You're Neo-cons....The whole world revolves around you....My mistake!

The only reason i even brought it up was that Baker Started up on the whole "the world respects Bush 2.0 more than they would Kerry" thing.

If you think the people that hate us now will hate us LESS under Kerry, then you live in Disneyland. They hated us under Clinton, another "draft dodger", and they will hate us under Kerry. Only this time he has given them prodigious amounts of "crimes" to accuse him of. They aren't going to respect either. Kerry has a lot more propaganda value, though.

Remember to get me some mouse ears k Baker? Thanks!

Bubba was openly opposed to serving in Vietnam. Bush hid under daddies coat tails. Now he's returning the favor by cleaning up daddies mess. The world has always resented the US because of what we have, and what they don't have. Now they just hate us because of Bush 2.0. Big difference!

They hate us because of what we have and don't have, and they use whatever excuse is most useful. Look at the conspiracy mill that is the foreign press. Look at how North Korea deals with US history. We will be handing them a lot of grist for the mill with Kerry.

which crimes are we talking about?   the definitely horrific ones that other some of the other vets against the war told the larger group theyd committed while in vietnam and were subsequently described to the committee by kerry using the pronoun 'we' in its collective sense because he was representing the group?   or the clear violations of the geneva accord that were matter of course and policy--enforcing freefire zones,  carpet bombing, use of specific weapons (like 50cal machine guns) in areas where there were civilian noncombatants?  he was merely the messenger in the first instance.  the second group of violations were very frequently witnessed by everyone who watched network evening news tv broadcasts. 

the point of his testimony in that regard (and i cant believe it needs explaining one more time) was to inform the american public that its government was out of control and out of line in ordering their sons, fathers, brothers, etc. to routinely violate the geneva accords.

Kingbee: I think you are overestimating the honesty of propagandists. Just as Dean, Moore, Clark and the rest are falesly accusing Bush of smearing Kerry's war record, people who want to tear away at the US won't differentiate and point out the subtle grammar of Kerry's testimony. How hard will it be to accuse Kerry of atrocity when yo ucan cut/paste his own words?

We will, perhaps, overlook that as historical detail, but I don't think the rest of the world will when they are looking for propaganda. Regardless, comparing the "morality" of what Bush did during Vietnam and what Kerry did is dubiously subjective.

One avoided the "horrors" Kerry describes, the other willingly took part and only later had moral qualms while banking a poltiical career on it. I'm not seeing how the party that embraced draft dodgers for 30 years has much ground to stand on in this kind of debate.

The world has a hell of a lot more respect for Kerry than they EVER will Bush 2.0.

I spent three years living in Germany and had made about a dozen friends there. I still talk to one couple (who introduced me to my wife) and one ex-girl friend.

I talk to George and wife Silvia about once a month. My wife and me have in the past vacationed together with them; I would have to say that they are both moderates. They have said that in Germany Bush is not well liked, but Kerry is a man that is considered not very strong and will be easily dooped or swayed. They hold far more respect for Bush then they do Kerry. When I asked then if they think Germany or France will support Kerry in Iraq they stated for Germany no. In their opinion Germany is supporting America in Afghanistan and feels that even if Kerry wins will not go into Iraq. Germany has the largest number of troops there then any other allied country.

When I pressed them on France, the general feeling in Germany is that France will do nothing. The French had taken a gamble trying to do a political rally around themselves to reform some of the power that has faded, and lost. They feel that politically France gained little and are starting to slip even more with Rwanda, and the Iran showdown that they tried to organize earlier this year. The French has taken this very hard and considers all of it the US's fault. George believes that short of a major attack on the French embassy in Iraq, the French will not go into Iraq no matter who is President, because it is a pride thing.

My ex-girlfriend Katja is a one-time member of the German Green Party. She feels that Bush needs to go too but can not figure out why the Democrats would pick someone like Kerry. When I seen Bakers latest post it reminded me of our last conversation where she had even mentioned Kerry's war testimony. In her opinion Kerry is quote "A slim ball politician of the worse kind". She believed that for her as a German she wants Kerry, but if Kerry were running against Bush in Germany she would vote for Bush.

This is only two of the examples that I have of Europeans. Granted, this is limited to Germany. But it sounded that people in Europe generally want Kerry to win, but they don't Respect him at all.

Thats my two cents.

I guess I am trying to say that if the Democratic party is so concerned with the "perception" of the US, I'm not sure lauding heroism in Vietnam and condemning those who didn't want to go is logical.

Moore is openly attacking Bush for NOT getting involved in the kind of conflict Kerry condemned, continues to condemn, and continues to bank his "heroism" on. It makes no sense, especially after 30 years of excusing everyone else who dodged service in the war with the war's injustice.