An
Open Letter to George W. Bush from Michael Moore
November
2, 2000
Dear Governor
Bush,
It's been
awhile since we've talked. I believe your last words to me were, "Go
find real work!" You kidder, you! That very night, it was you who found
real work for yourself by executing your 117th human being in Texas.
How DO you do it?!
Actually,
the "real work" I do now, my job, is due in large part to your family.
Few people know what you and I know... that it was your cousin Kevin
who shot much of "Roger & Me." At the time, I didn't know that your
mother, Barbara Bush, and his mother were sisters. Kevin must have missed
the train the rest of you were on! He came to Flint to return a favor
to me for helping him on a film he was making about hate groups. He
is the person who taught me how to make a movie. Without his generosity,
"Roger & Me" might never had been made.
I remember
the day your dad was inaugurated as President. I was editing the film
in a ratty old editing room in D.C. and decided to go down to watch
your dad be sworn in on the Capitol steps. How weird it was to see my
mentor/cinematographer sitting next to you up on the dais!
Months
later, when the film was released, your dad, the President, ordered
a print of "Roger & Me" to be sent to Camp David for the family to watch
one weekend. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall as all of you
watched the havoc and despair your father and Mr. Reagan had helped
wreak upon my hometown. I've always wanted to know -- at the end of
the film, as the deputy sheriff was tossing the kids' presents and Christmas
tree out on the curb because they were $150 behind in their rent --
were there any tears in the room? Did anyone feel responsible? Or did
you just think, "nice camerawork!"
And now
you want to be President of the United States.
I'm sorry
to tell you, but that can't happen.
The American
people need to know a few things about you -- and they had better consider
them right now, before a tragic mistake is made.
You know
what I am talking about.
Your possible
victory on Tuesday is a threat to our national security.
That may
seem a bit strong, but I don't make this charge lightly. It has nothing
to do with your positions on the issues (all of which I disagree with)
or your patriotism (I'm sure you love your country).
It has
to do with you. I believe, with all due respect, that if you sit in
the Oval Office, this nation of ours, it's security, and in turn, the
security of the world, has the potential to be in great jeopardy.
Why?
There are
three reasons.
1. It appears
you cannot read and write on an adult level. I'm sad to say it, but
you may be a functional illiterate. How can we entrust our nuclear secrets
to you if you can't read them?
As I have
pointed out before, all the signs of either dyslexia or illiteracy are
there -- and no one is asking you about it. First, you lied about your
"favorite book" as a child ("A Very Hungry Caterpillar" you said). That
book wasn't even published until a year after you graduated from college!
Then there
is the question of your college transcripts and if, in fact, they have
been doctored. How DID you get into Yale when the prospective students
we uncovered had higher SATs and grades? During this campaign you have
made up answers when asked to name the books you are currently reading
(when quizzed about the books' contents, you didn't know what to say).
Is it any wonder you have not had a press conference in over a month
and a half? Your handlers are scared to death of what might be asked
or what you may say.
One thing
is clear to all -- you can't speak the English language in sentences
we can comprehend. At first, the way you mangled words and sentences
was cute and funny. But after a while, it became worrisome. Now, I'm
just scared. If you are Commander-in-Chief, you have to be able to communicate
your orders. What if your subordinates don't understand you? What kind
of chaos could that cause with our national security? No wonder you
want to increase the Pentagon budget. We'll need all the firepower we
can get after you accidentally order the Russians to be "wiped out"
(when you meant to say that the Russians are just "whipped" these days).
Your aides
have said that you don't (can't?) read the briefing papers they give
you and that you ask them to read them for you or to you. Your mother
was passionately committed to reading programs as First Lady. I assume
she knew first hand the difficulty of raising a child with a learning
disability.
I say none
of this to knock you personally. Forty million adult Americans cannot
read above a 4th grade level and millions are dyslexic. There is no
shame in this. In fact, there is help. But for you to have your finger
on The Button when you may be disabled in this way is too great a risk
for the country to take. You need help -- not the Oval Office.
Hey, I'm
not one to talk -- just look at this letter and all its wacky syntax!
But I ain't runnin' for President. At the very least, the voters deserve
an answer to this question of your illiteracy by Tuesday.
2. Are
you an alcoholic? Again, there is no finger being pointed here and no
shame or disrespect intended. Alcoholism is a huge problem and it affects
millions of American citizens, people we all know and love. Many are
able to recover and live normal lives. I greatly admire anyone who can
deal with this addiction. You have told us that you are not able to
drink, and haven't touched a drop since you were 40. Congratulations.
But it
has just been revealed tonight on CNN that, in the past, you were arrested
for drunk driving (and that you tried to cover it up). You have told
us that you used to "drink too much" and that you were "more in love
with the liquor" than you were with your own family. That is the definition
of an alcoholic. This does not disqualify you from being president,
but it does require that you answer some questions.
Why won't
you use the word "alcoholic?" That is, after all, the first step to
recovery. What support system have you set up to make sure you don't
fall off the wagon? Being president is perhaps the most stressful job
in the world. What have you done to insure you can handle the pressure
and the anxiety associated with being the Leader of the Free World?
How do we know you will not resort to the bottle when faced with a serious
panic? You have never had a job like this. For 20 years, from what I
can tell, you had no job at all. When you stopped "drifting," your dad
set you up in the oil business with some ventures that failed and then
he helped you get a ball team which required you to sit in a box seat
and watch a lot of baseball games. Now you have served as governor of
Texas, a relatively ceremonial job in that state. How will you deal
with a massive world crisis? Do you have a sponsor you can call? Is
there a meeting you can attend? I know this is very personal, but the
voters have a right to know.
3. Please,
tell us the "felony" you committed and anything else of a similar nature
that you have been hiding. When you were asked last year about your
alleged cocaine use, you replied that you have committed "no felonies
in the last 25 years." That implies that you DID commit a felony before
that. What was the felony?
The reason
I am asking this is not to seek retribution for what you did. I am concerned
that if there is some deep, dark secret you are afraid of, it means
you are, in effect, providing ammunition for whoever discovers this
secret, be it a foreign enemy (that Bin-Laden guy) or a domestic enemy
(ExxonMobil). If they discover your secret felony, they will have something
over you -- and will be in a position to blackmail you. That makes you
a national security threat.
Trust me,
someone will find out what you are hiding, and when they do, all of
us will be at risk. You have made yourself a national security threat
and you have a duty to disclose whatever this felony was that you committed.
To reveal it will nullify its potential use as a weapon against you
or this country should you be elected.
There are
enough scary reasons why you should never be President. You will oversee
further destruction of our environment. You will push to have more people
executed. You will make sure your rich buddies make a killing off the
hard work and suffering of those less fortunate than you. Any of these
reasons is enough to stop you on Tuesday.
But, no
matter where any of us stand on the political spectrum, liberal or conservative,
Democrat, Republican or Green, all of us have a right to know the answers
to these three critical questions.
Yours,
Michael
Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com
