Happy New Year, almost

Courtesy of Stephane Peray, The Nation, Bangkok, Thailand

Let's hope that 2005 brings us some good news for a change.
Viva la Revolution!

Change is good

Today my fiance asked me, "What happened to the girl I knew...the one who took chances?" My answer was that I'm not 17 anymore (when we first met.) He said that has nothing to do with it -- and he was right.

While I am quite content with my life right now (aside from my outrage about the current political climate) I do think it is a good thing to shake things up from time to time. Since there is little I can do right now about Dubya and Co, I have decided to make a personal change. And while I have talked about doing this for a long time, I feel that the time has come. I am going to cut my long brown hair really short, and possibly dye it blond. While you may think that is no big deal, I assure you, if you knew me, you'd know it is.

I'm hoping that it also helps with my worsening OCD. One of my compulsions is trichotillomania. Maybe if my hair is really short, I'll be less likely to pull.

Tomorrow I will start my quest for a decent hair stylist.

Amazon.com Is For Republicans

This is the best thing I've read in a long time. PLEASE read:

Amazon.com Is For Republicans

Attention, liberal shoppers! Next year, screw those GOP-supportin' companies, and try buying blue

by Mark Morford - SF Gate Columnist

Do you care much that greasy ol' Pizza Hut gave tens of thousands in PAC money to the GOP last year? How about the fact that Taco Bell stopped pumping out their happily toxic semirancid meatlike substances just long enough to write a fat check to the conservative Right? Isn't that weirdly fascinating, in a depressing and indigestible sort of way?

Does it matter a whit that, say, Fruit of the Loom underwear gave nearly 100 percent of its corporate donations to tighty-whitey-wearing Republicans, nearly every one of whom I'm guessing wouldn't know appetizing undergarments from a flap of burlap and some string?

Do you think maybe it should? Matter, that is?

This is what happened: there was this list, see, a long and rather surprising list of major consumer corporations in America, and it detailed just how much money each company forked over to the respective political parties last year in political-action-committee (PAC) donations.

Stop yawning. It gets better.

And the list was a bit revelatory and interesting, as such lists are often wont to be, and the companies' fiscal behavior might even surprise you a little, might even take you aback and make you reconsider your consumerist options, especially the part about how Amazon.com gave 60 percent of their donations to the GOP and except maybe for the part about how Coors Brewing gave almost every penny of their donations to Republicans in a concerted effort to, presumably, stop them icky Colorado gays from getting married and keep women in their place, all while furthering the cause of skanky undrinkable pisswater beer made for red-blooded Americans who lack taste buds and hope.

And this list, it recently winged its way around the Net and landed in a million liberal e-mail boxes and it became an instant mini sensation, and then did what any good electronic sensation does: it spawned a Web site.

And the site, called buyblue.org (along with its more detailed but less intuitively named counterpart, choosetheblue.com), spawned a mini movement and the mini movement spawned this very column and now you are right now encouraged to go see for yourself and discover the moderately shocking truths regarding which big shiny companies suck up to the happy sneering homophobic enviro-slappin' warmongering Repubs and which give thousands to the whiny limping kick-us-when-we're-down Demos.

And then what? Just what are you supposed to do with this information? Well, like any good American living in a gutted economy that's trillions in debt, all while a massive bogus unwinnable war is being waged by the most irresponsible cadre of pseudo-leaders this nation has ever known, you go shopping.

But maybe, just maybe, you shift your choices just a little. Maybe you change where your weakened and abused dollar goes as it slowly dawns on you that you might not be as powerless as you might've thought.

And maybe you recognize that if there's one thing that corporations absolutely goddamn never fail to respond to in a million years, it's the bottom line, consumer satisfaction, the almighty but increasingly limp dollar. You think?

Because I don't care how shriveled the souls of a given company's GOP-lovin' board of directors are, if they see profits dropping because all the shoppers in the huge and culturally potent blue cities -- the shoppers, in other words, who don't live in the red welfare states and hence who actually have a shred of disposable income and maybe a modicum of concern and integrity regarding who profits when they spend it -- if they notice that those shoppers are suddenly skipping nasty little Circuit City (98 percent to Repubs) and instead buy their compressed-plastic Japanese-made landfill-ready electronics at monstrous Price Club (98 percent to Dems), well, it sends them a message.

And the message is, in a calm and respectful nutshell, "Bite me."

Because this is what I get asked all the time: What can I do? How can I possibly help stop the ominous onslaught of born-again right-wing hypocrisy and fear and the Parents Television Council and all the bogus Texas machismo now flooding the nation like a bad country song? Here is part of your answer.

And no, it ain't exactly like marching in the streets and it ain't exactly as helpful as shifting your lifestyle over to organic foods and sustainable living and to buying local and supporting hybrid this and recyclable that, all while cranking your alt-spiritual vibration and having spectacular and deeply nonconservative sex.

But it's something. It's a start, a baby step. It is about getting informed, just a little, and realizing that you are, in fact, the fuel for America's economic engine, and if you decide to get yourself into massive credit card debt at the right kind of stores instead of those whose executives apparently believe that God really does hate gays and trees and women and the poor and anyone who wears a turban or speaks French, well, maybe it will make you feel just slightly more aligned and maybe it can make a tiny bit of difference and Goddess knows a difference is so desperately needed right now you can't even believe it.

What can you do? You can skip the Marriott or the Holiday Inn (76 and 73 percent to the GOP respectively), and stay at the lib-friendly Hyatt. Skip Yahoo.com (58 percent to the GOP -- what the hell?) and head over to Google, which gave 100 percent (!) of their donations to the Dems (side note: Google rules).

What else? Toss American and Continental, fly JetBlue. Join NetFlix. Screw Repub-lovin' Wal-Mart and K-Mart (and, if you're reading this column, chances are you need no prompting from me to avoid those epic karmic wastelands) and head over to the giant vortex of consumer madness known as Bed Bath & Beyond, which gave 93 percent to the Dems. I know. I hate that store, too. But now you get to hate them a little less.

Another amazing example? Starbucks. And as much as I despise their ruthless march into funky neighborhoods and strip malls across the nation, the coffee monolith does indeed have truly fabulous employee benefits and incredible customer service, and now you learn that they gave 100 percent of their donations, every single frothy frappaccinoed dime, to the Democrats. It's true. So leave that hideous Folgers and the Sanka swill to jittery BushCo. Go get yourself a peppermint mocha and feel good about it.

As for Amazon, well, it is a bit distressing for many of us who love that bulbous megastore and who shop there all the time to discover that they gave so much to Repubs, which is just odd and a bit inexplicable, especially given how they're based in hugely liberal Seattle and geeky CEO Jeff Bezos seemed at one time to be reasonably attuned and quirky and progressive, except maybe he's not.

Maybe he's just another hollow profiteer who supports war and disses foreigners and thinks gays are, you know, icky. But then again, Amazon did give 40 percent to Democrats. So it's a close call. After all, the venerable and terminally annoying Barnes & Noble gave 98 percent to the Dems, and I can't stand Barnes & Noble. But now, like Starbucks, I hate them a little less. And now maybe I'll just skip Amazon and buy my next gift copy of "The Surrender" or "What's the Matter with Kansas?" or "The Book of Bunny Suicides" from B&N instead.

See? See how easy? Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Thoughts for the author? E-mail him.

NOTE: Mark's column will be on holiday break until January 5.
Mark's column archives are here.

Merry Christmas

Courtesy of Gary Brookins of The Richmond Times-Dispatch

Merry Christmas, my blogger friends!

Time's Person of the Year 2004 - GW Bush  

Time's Man of the Year 1979 - Ayatollah Khomeni 

Time's Man of the Year 1971 - Richard Nixon 

Time's Man of the Year 1942 - Joseph Stalin 

Time's Man of the Year 1938 - Adolf Hitler 

Should we peel off their magnets?

If I see another "Support Our Troops" ribbon magnet on a car that has a Bush bumper sticker on it, I might snap. To me, it's an empty gesture.

Before Clinton left office, he told the Bush administration that Osama bin Laden was our biggest threat. Since the info came from Bill Clinton, whom they hated with a passion, they ignored it.

Then 9/11 happened - on Bush's watch, remember. But, the world came together and America's support was never greater.

When the talk came of invading Iraq, liberals protested. Dubya was pulling a fast one on the general public, and along with the mainstream media, they were falling for it.

I kept thinking of those teenagers in NY that enlisted right after 9/11. They were attacked in their own backyard and joined the army to go after bin Laden. Bush betrayed them in the worst possible way. Yes, Saddam was a bad man, but according to every General that was interviewed at that time, he was contained and not a threat. Even Daddy Bush agreed.

But, W had something to prove...and that oil was there for the taking. However, there was a problem. Saddam didn't attack us. Dubya needed an actual reason to go there, so he had to come up with one. He tried many. Remember these? 1) He tried to kill my daddy. 2) Saddam tried to buy uranium in Niger. 3) Saddam was involved with bin Laden. 4) Rape Rooms!
And the one that worked... 5) Saddam has WMDs!
Unbelievably, the general public bought it and off we went.

All during this time, we (liberals) didn't buy it. And when they tried & tried to blur the line between al Qaeda and Saddam, we knew it was all a pile of shit.

Oh, and let's not forget that when they didn't find WMDs, he changed the reason again! Now we are "spreading democracy" Can't ya tell? I always find that bullets and bombs are the best way to spread democracy. (Yes, I am being sarcastic.)

The righties support the troops as long as they keep their mouths shut. Last week, a brave soldier got the guts up to confront Rumsfeld about the lack of armored vehicles. Instead of applauding this young man's courage, the righties investigated who put him up to it! Nevermind that asking the question brought the situation into the light and made changes happen. How dare a soldier ask a question like that! (um, is that what you guys mean by support?)

Next time you see one of those Bush people with a flag or ribbon magnet, remember this:

Bush cut veterans benefits.

Bush opposed a supplemental bill that would have added $1.3 billion to veterans' health care.

Bush cut millions from military children's education funding.

Among those whose families are left out of the Bush tax cut are soldiers serving in combat zones.

Some children of soldiers in Iraq rely on charity.

Bush has yet to attend one soldiers funeral.

I support the troops. I define my support for them by speaking the truth and hoping that they come home alive and well. Bush is lying, people are dying. Now THAT should be plastered on cars.

PS. To the blogger who calls himself "True American." How can you have such an impenetrable loyalty to Bush & Company? Do you think that if you look beyond the flag-waving hype that you won't be a true American anymore? There is nothing more American than questioning your leaders, free speech and dissent. Maybe if we can turn you around, there is hope for the rest. It has to start somewhere. It has to.

Who knows, maybe it already has.

Overwhelmed by the GOP

I feel bad that I haven't written in several days. When you are the OCD Gen X Liberal you gotta keep plugging away, but the news keeps getting worse and the amount of things to write about is staggering. The truth of the matter is that I'm feeling overwhelmed. I've got several things cooking in my head, but I'm taking a short breather.

I'm sure I'll get something out in the next couple of days. In the meantime, your blogs will keep me focused.

It's Time to Stop Being Hit

Here is Michael Moore's latest letter, and I couldn't agree more. My blog entry from Dec. 7 has a similar theme.

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 Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
MMFlint@aol.com

P.S. There are only a few hours left if you want to vote for “Fahrenheit 9/11” in the People’s Choice Awards (online voting is cut off at 3pm Eastern Time today). Go to http://www.pcavote.com/voting/film/f01.shtml to vote.

People's Choice Awards Nominates "Fahrenheit 9/11" as "Favorite Film of the Year"

Latest Michael Moore letter:

December 8, 2004

Dear Friends,

May I take a break from our post-election despair to share with you a little piece of happy/silly/cool news?

"Fahrenheit 9/11" has been nominated by the People's Choice Awards as the American public's "Favorite Film of the Year." The five nominees were chosen from a poll of thousands of Americans in mid-to-late November. The other nominees for best film are "Spiderman 2," "The Incredibles," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (with Jim Carrey), and "Shrek 2." It is the first time ever a documentary has been nominated for best film by the People's Choice Awards.

The People's Choice Awards are considered, among all the awards shows, to be the one which most accurately reflects the "mainstream" public opinion in the United States.

OK, now, here's the best part: YOU get to vote! Online. Now. Just go to http://www.pcavote.com/voting/film/f01.shtml, click on the little circle next to "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the "Favorite Movie" category and press the "vote" button. Voting is going on now and continues only through this coming Monday, December 13, at 3:00pm ET, so send an e-mail to your friends and let them know they can vote, too. Winners will accept their awards live on CBS on January 9.

Now, normally I wouldn't make a very big deal out of something like this. It's nice and I'm honored, but it's not exactly the number one priority on any of our minds these days. In fact, when we found out we were nominated over a week ago, I didn't even think to tell you about it or put it up on our website.

But then a group of top Republicans took out a full page ad in USA Today (and placed a similar one in the Hollywood trade magazine, Variety) proclaiming that "An election is over, but a war of ideas continues." The point of the ad was to say that while they, as right wing conservatives, were proud of getting rid of Kerry, there was still one more nuisance running around loose they had to deal with -- me! They also issued a not-so-subtle threat to the Academy Awards voters that, in essence, said don't even THINK about nominating "Fahrenheit 9/11" for Best Picture. And Bill O'Reilly recently bellowed that if the Oscars recognize my work this year, Middle America will boycott Hollywood.

Oops. I guess he spoke too soon. Because now along comes Middle America's favorite awards show, the People's Choice, and the People's Choice this year, along with a Spiderman superhero and a lovable green ogre, is a film that apparently continues to resonate throughout the country. The truth about Iraq, Bush, terror and fear. The election has not altered or made irrelevant, unfortunately, a single one of these issues. That they (and the film that dealt with these issues) are still at the forefront of the majority of the public's minds should give serious pause to Mr. Bush as he brags about a nonexistent "mandate" and begins to spend his "political capital."

He may have been (barely) the people's choice on November 2 (Ohio recount excluded), but now the people get to vote again, this time for a movie. It's about the best we can do right now, and, trust me, it won't be long before we start the real work we need to do to get our country back.

Again, go to http://www.pcavote.com/voting/film/f01.shtml if you want to vote for our film. I promise, if we win, to give a nice and polite speech.

Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com

P.S. Please feel free to post or forward this to your friends...

P.P.S. Yes, it's true, I'm on the Barbara Walters people of the year special tonight. Did I cry? You'll have to watch to find out! :-)

24 years ago today

John Lennon

October 09, 1940 - December 08, 1980

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do,

Nothing to kill or die for

and No religion too,

Imagine all the people living life in peace

Imagine no possesions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will live as one

You're not the only one, John. The dream is still alive in many of us.

Parallels

Do you ever see interviews with abused women that stay with their husbands? The interviewer always has a list of horrible things that the husband has done to the wife. It's stuff like:

He constantly lies and then comes up with wild excuses for his behavior.

He hangs out with his creepy friends instead of working, or when he does work he's so incompetent that his friends have to cover for him

Before she met him, her life was good. When they met, he promised her the stars. Now that she's married to him, every part of her life has turned to shit. Her son is gone, she's lost her job and is about to lose her home.

And in the end, he's robbed her of her independence. She can no longer think for herself. She is scared all the time. Her friends are always showing her the facts to convince her that he's rotten, but she can't see it. He's brainwashed her. For her, abuse is the norm. She doesn't remember the way it used to be.

That is the way I see most Bush supporters.

Too much to ask?

I was reading the comments from my last blog entry and it got me thinking, what is it exactly about us liberals that right wingers find so offensive? Is this asking too much? :

1. Clean air, water and soil
2. The best public education system in the world, including early childhood education
3. True free speech
4. Fully staffed (and well paid) police and fire departments
5. Health insurance for every man, woman, and child
6. Affordable college educations
7. Equal pay for women
8. A women's right to choose
9. A fair criminal justice system that puts sentencing back into the hands of judges
10. Common sense drug laws / treatment on demand
11. Abolish the death penalty
12. Protect endangered species
13. Protect our lands from being overdeveloped
14. Support and protect unions
15. Strengthen animal abuse laws
16. Separate church and state
17. Research alternative energies
18. Give tax breaks for/to environmentally sound investments & industries
19. Fine environmental polluters and make them clean up their own messes
20. Allow stem cell research
21. Promote racial, religious, sexual and cultural tolerance
22. Support family farms
23. Shut down factory farms
24. Enact REAL gun control

25. Only send our troops to war as a last resort
26. Don't attack countries that did not attack us
27. Elect only intelligent, honest and admirable politicians
28. Do everything the 9/11 Commission Report advises
29. Overhaul voting process

I'm sure I'll think of many more

Wishful Thinking

If only they were true...

During the dedication of the Clinton Presidential Library, Hillary leans over to Laura Bush and asks, "Are you & your husband completely oblivious to what you've done?"

or, Bono tells Bush that he is the worst president in America's history...way worse than Nixon & Reagan. After hearing this, Bush does a 180 and sets a new course based on fact, science, multi-cultural understanding, and environmentalism.

John Kerry goes to each and every Swift Boat Vets for Truth guys houses, and punches each of them in the mouth. Later on, the men in the ads find out that Bush has cut their VA benefits.

Anti-choice parents find out that their daughters have been knocked up by men they consider to be their worst nightmare.

Homophobes start having feelings for their own sex. (Actually, they probably already do...that's why they're so full of rage.)

For one week, right-wing politicians and talk show hosts are magically transformed into homeless, drug-addicted, schizophrenic, non-Caucasian, war veterans.

Jesus comes back to tell fundamentalist Christians to stop twisting his message. He tells them that they have been misled by the forces of evil (Bush & Co.) He tells them to put down their guns, open their hearts & minds, and do whatever they can to remove Republicans from office.

Happy Thanksgiving

There is nothing more important than family.

Blues Natural Resources

Red states. Blue states. We are a country divided. I've been trying to think of ways to pull us together for the greater good (electing democrats) and I think I've got it.

Just think, we've got New York and California -- that's where the (so-called) liberal entertainment industries are. Let's really use them. It would require subliminal manipulation, but so what! The other side uses much dirtier tricks all the time!

Here's what we do:

When TV shows/events such as Nascar, bullriding, Hannity & Colmes, wrestling, O'Reilly Factor, hunting shows, etc, are being edited for broadcast, our liberal editors add influential subliminal visuals to the footage. The visuals can consist of many different things. For instance, home movies of happy gay families, or, footage of clean pristine environments, or, a woman talking privately with her doctor about family planning. The possibilities are endless. The same can be done with bad action movies.

For radio, we can go with audio subliminal messages. When Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, etc, shows get edited, our people can slip in a track that whispers "lies, lies, the opposite is true... lies, lies, the opposite is true..." Another track can say, "stop the hate-riotism, listen to Air America instead, stop the hate-riotism, listen to Air America for the truth..." On the next Toby Keith CD, we add another track that says, "break this disc, buy REM, Toby Keith is a dumbfuck, listen to Neil Young..."

Another thing we have going for us in the blue states are our scientists. I bet they can come up with interesting potions to poke holes in closed minds. Maybe there is a brain boosting vitamin, or a drug that conquers ignorance that they can work on.

I also have some ideas of what ordinary citizens can do. More to come soon.

I read the news today, oh boy

Watching tonight's evening news was very depressing. The stories consisted of the 9/11 Commission Report Reforms failing in congress...so that means our nation's safety will continue to decrease. Then there was the ever present story of the Iraq mess with more bodies piling up, followed by the segment of the basketball game fight, and then to put the cherry on top, they ended the evening news with a report about how fat we are all getting.

Now when I see what is happening to us, and what we are doing to the rest of the world, I think about what could have been. While John Kerry would not have stemmed the causes of our increasing waistlines, I do believe he wouldn't have been anything like the failure of a president we have now. To begin with, he would have made sure that everything recommended in the commission report get done. And in Iraq, while he couldn't undo the damage that has been done, he would have at least had a sense of what to do now. Instead, we get a president that surrounds himself with incompetent "yes-men/women" and then wonders why things are going so wrong. Actually, I take that back, he probably doesn't even know. All the Presidents Men keep him so sheltered that he probably thinks he's doing a good job!

True Christians

Ok, maybe that last blog entry was a little harsh. I don't mean to beat up on everyone that believes that Jesus is listening to their prayers. The people that quietly go to church, read the Bible without twisting it's words to suit their needs, and truly do what Jesus would do are the real Christians, and they do deserve our respect.

My problem is with the people that use Christianity as a weapon to hurt others. That is NOT what Jesus would do. Jesus spoke of love, compassion and forgiveness. The people that voted for Bush on moral issues, know nothing of these values. According to the Bible, Jesus loves all. Unfortunately for the right-wingers, that includes homosexuals, doctors that perform abortions, pacifists, treehuggers, etc. If they really want to follow Jesus' teachings, how about starting there?

He died a long time ago, & never came back

Hi everyone, I've missed you. I'm still very sore from the surgery, but I feel good enough to get back into regular blogging mode.

I'm still not over the election - far from it. I will never understand how such a large population can vote against their own best interests. I'm blaming part of it on what I'm calling the Jesus-haze.

If their own family members are killed in Bush's war, it is Jesus' will. If their own jobs are outsourced and they are put out on the street, they will say that Jesus will save them.

I'm sure they'll hate me for this but, Jesus isn't listening.

He wasn't there when 6 million Jews were murdered in WW2. He wasn't there when 50-100,000+ Kurds were killed in the late 80's. He isn't there now in Rwanda as the genocide continues. And he definitely wasn't there on 9/11 when our own planes were used as weapons against us.

We need to wake these people up from their Jesus haze, and I have an idea on how to start.

More to come...

Eggplant-colored skin

I'm back, sort-of. I'm using the PC for short periods of time because my body gets sore from sitting too long.

So far it looks like the surgeon did a very good job. However, my skin is so purple that it's hard for my fiancee to look at me. It looks like I was hit by a truck, and then got hit again.

If you are wondering what I did, I'll give you a hint. From my upper torso down to my knees, I'm smaller than I used to be.

The doctor gave me some pain meds to help with the pain, but I'm not taking them. All they do is knock me out and I don't like that feeling anymore. If I ever needed a sign that I am over my old drug addiction, that's it.

I'll try to write more later. I need to go lay down.

Thursday

I'm having surgery on Thursday. I'm having a little improvement done on myself. I don't want to say what it is right now because, lets face it, this is the world wide web.

I'm giving everyone the heads up so you don't wonder where I am after Thursday. I will probably be out of commission for several days.

But, I still have the rest of the night and tomorrow to talk about the stolen election and everything else us liberals like to talk about. So...Barack Obama is a contender...hummm.
I like it!

John Conner, where are you?

In the last Terminator movie, John Conner comes into his own as leader of the resistance/war against the machines. We need a John Conner now. We need someone to lead us.

The only ones that come to mind, IMO, are Wesley Clark and Howard Dean. I'm sorry, but as much as I like Hillary, I don't think it's the right time for her. She is not very well liked. I also find her to be a panderer, and that is the absolute last thing we need right now.

Our leader could be an unknown, and possibly not in politics. He should be fairly young, fearless, intelligent and proud to call himself a liberal. He could be black, white, gay or strait - doesn't matter. All that does matter is that he (or maybe she) can lead us. (No, I'm not talking about myself. I will follow.)

New Fall Shows !

The night after the election, Jon Stewart said, "I get it now. Now I understand what they mean by the culture war...Will & Grace - red states, no like-y"

So in the interest of unity, I am submitting these new fall TV shows:

1. Law & Order: Every Fetus Unit
Lead Actors: Toby Keith, Patricia Heaton, Ben Stein, & Tom Selleck as "The Chief"
Synopsis: Each week, Detectives Zygote & Oocyte from Operation Rescue are on the case when the word gets out that a women is about to make a choice about her own body.

2. Law & Order: Library Book Unit (Other title considered: L&O: Patriot Act Unit)
Lead Actors: Ron Silver, Heather Locklear, Angie Harmon, & Dennis Miller as "The Boss"
Synopsis: Each week, Detectives Tap & Track are on the case when they learn that libraries are letting people photo copy books like Our Bodies, Ourselves and Origin of Species in order to skip the check-out process.

3. CSI: Alabama
Lead Actors: Kelsey Grammer, Bo Derek, Shanon Doherty, & Sarah Michelle Gellar
Synopsis: After Roe v Wade is overturned, crime scene investigators are dispatched after several hangers are found in motel rooms & alleys.

4. The West Right Wing
All-star cast includes Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, James Woods, & Mel Gibson as GW Bush
Synopsis: Not needed - just read the paper

5. Will & Grace
BIG changes here. The character of Will will be going through a big change. He will find a church-based psychiatry program that teaches him that he can change his homosexual ways.
But, set those VCRs! In A Very Special Will & Grace episode, after months of suppressing his natural core being, Will snaps. In complete desperation, he has unprotected sex with some rough trade and brings home some very special HIV to his loving wife, Grace. Oh well...It's back to the reprogrammers for Will!!

6. Fox News Channel -- no change

Bill Maher rules

Just a quick note to say that Bill Maher kicked royal ass tonight. I'm going to miss him dearly during the shows hiatus.

I'll write more tomorrow....I'm not the night owl I used to be.

17 reasons not to slit your wrists

Latest letter from Michael Moore:

11/5/04

Dear Friends,

Ok, it sucks. Really sucks. But before you go and cash it all in, let's, in the words of Monty Python, 'always look on the bright side of life!' There IS some good news from Tuesday's election.

Here are 17 reasons not to slit your wrists:

1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again.

2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

3. The only age group in which the majority voted for Kerry was young adults (Kerry: 54%, Bush: 44%), proving once again that your parents are always wrong and you should never listen to them.

4. In spite of Bush's win, the majority of Americans still think the country is headed in the wrong direction (56%), think the war wasn't worth fighting (51%), and don't approve of the job George W. Bush is doing (52%). (Note to foreigners: Don't try to figure this one out. It's an American thing, like Pop Tarts.)

5. The Republicans will not have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate. If the Democrats do their job, Bush won't be able to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues. Did I say "if the Democrats do their job?" Um, maybe better to scratch this one.

6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that's a start. We've got most of the fresh water, all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in lava. And no more show tunes!

7. Once again we are reminded that the buckeye is a nut, and not just any old nut -- a poisonous nut. A great nation was felled by a poisonous nut. May Ohio State pay dearly this Saturday when it faces Michigan.

8. 88% of Bush's support came from white voters. In 50 years, America will no longer have a white majority. Hey, 50 years isn't such a long time! If you're ten years old and reading this, your golden years will be truly golden and you will be well cared for in your old age.

9. Gays, thanks to the ballot measures passed on Tuesday, cannot get married in 11 new states. Thank God. Just think of all those wedding gifts we won't have to buy now.

10. Five more African Americans were elected as members of Congress, including the return of Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. It's always good to have more blacks in there fighting for us and doing the job our candidates can't.

11. The CEO of Coors was defeated for Senate in Colorado. Drink up!

12. Admit it: We like the Bush twins and we don't want them to go away.
(Note from Lizzy - I do want them to go away.)

13. At the state legislative level, Democrats picked up a net of at least 3 chambers in Tuesday's elections. Of the 98 partisan-controlled state legislative chambers (house/assembly and senate), Democrats went into the 2004 elections in control of 44 chambers, Republicans controlled 53 chambers, and 1 chamber was tied. After Tuesday, Democrats now control 47 chambers, Republicans control 49 chambers, 1 chamber is tied and 1 chamber (Montana House) is still undecided.

14. Bush is now a lame duck president. He will have no greater moment than the one he's having this week. It's all downhill for him from here on out --and, more significantly, he's just not going to want to do all the hard work that will be expected of him. It'll be like everyone's last month in 12th grade -- you've already made it, so it's party time! Perhaps he'll treat the next four years like a permanent Friday, spending even more time at the ranch or in Kennebunkport. And why shouldn't he? He's already proved his point, avenged his father and kicked our ass.

15. Should Bush decide to show up to work and take this country down a very dark road, it is also just as likely that either of the following two scenarios will happen: a) Now that he doesn't ever need to pander to the Christian conservatives again to get elected, someone may whisper in his ear that he should spend these last four years building "a legacy" so that history will render a kinder verdict on him and thus he will not push for too aggressive a right-wing agenda; or b) He will become so cocky and arrogant -- and thus, reckless -- that he will commit a blunder of such major proportions that even his own party will have to remove him from office.

16. There are nearly 300 million Americans -- 200 million of them of voting age. We only lost by three and a half million! That's not a landslide -- it means we're almost there. Imagine losing by 20 million. If you had 58 yards to go before you reached the goal line and then you barreled down 55 of those yards, would you stop on the three yard line, pick up the ball and go home crying -- especially when you get to start the next down on the three yard line? Of course not! Buck up! Have hope! More sports analogies are coming!!!

17. Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for the candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate." That's more than the total number of voters who voted for either Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Gore. Again, more people voted for Kerry than Reagan. If the media are looking for a trend it should be this -- that so many Americans were, for the first time since Kennedy, willing to vote for an out-and-out liberal. The country has always been filled with evangelicals -- that is not news. What IS news is that so many people have shifted toward a Massachusetts liberal. In fact,that's BIG news. Which means, don't expect the mainstream media, the ones who brought you the Iraq War, to ever report the real truth about November 2, 2004. In fact, it's better that they don't. We'll need the element of surprise in 2008.

Feeling better? I hope so. As my friend Mort wrote me yesterday, "My Romanian grandfather used to say to me, 'Remember, Morton, this is such a wonderful country -- it doesn't even need a president!'"

But it needs us. Rest up, I'll write you again tomorrow.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

Troop level plan

Bush says he will not reinstate the draft, yet does not have an answer when asked how he will increase the troop levels needed in Iraq. I have the answer.

If you voted for W and you are between the ages of 18-45, you must enlist. This applies to men & women. Persons with a family that have both parents within the age limit, has the one & only exception. In this case, one of you must go. The other can stay behind to raise the children alone.

There will be no deferments. If your mother, father, grandfather, etc, has a government job, you will not be given special treatment - no one will. (This includes the Bush twins.) You will all start out as grunts. There will be no homeland National Guard assignments. You will have 6 weeks of combat training here, and then you will be on your way to Iraq.

I am not being sarcastic. I feel this is a workable plan. The benefits are two-fold. The military will get the forces they so desperately need, and the Bush voters will have a real opportunity to prove their impenetrable loyalty to him.

Anger, sadness, and shame

I agree with my blog buddy, Snave, when he says we should take a few days to reflect and then get back to fighting the good fight .

I was going to post a laundry list of "wishes" for the Bush voters, but I'm going to wait on that. The anger and sadness I am feeling is so profound that it might come off sounding like I want to do them harm. I'll take a day or so to see if this knot in my gut loosens up, then decide if I should post it or not.

I will say this, I have never been so ashamed to be an American.

A long, scary night

Can't blog right now, I'm busy pulling my hair out.

This Night of Nights

I don't like very much new music, however once in a while something will get to me. As far as political or protest songs go, in 1999, there was Testify by Rage Against the Machine, and in 2004, there is American Idiot by Green Day, and Mosh by Eminem.

On the eve of the most important election of our lifetime, Eminem's video sums it up perfectly.

Here it is: Eminem's Mosh

Lyrics can be found here

(The best protest songs are still the oldies. Ohio by CSN&Y will always be my favorite.)

Tension

Well, here we are the night before - the night before. I feel I've done my best to persuade those around me to make a change in the White House. I've hung signs, bumper stickered and put information flyers on cars. Maybe I could've done more, but I'm only human.

These last couple days are going to be very hard. I can already feel the tension building. Every time I see Dubya on TV, I want to punch his face in...same goes for the men in the ridiculous new Swift Boat ads. Which, by the way, I think will bring a backlash.

I'm trying not to think about Tuesday, but it's tough. To deal with the stress, I've been taking my dogs on long walks everyday. Also, I'm trying not to watch too much news or surf too long on the internet. Speaking of the internet, when this whole thing is over, my comments on everyone's posts will be better - I promise!

How is everyone else dealing with these last 2 days?

Retarded cowboy & his heart diseased sidekick

I love HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, however last night's show could have been much better.

Bill needs to make sure that his 3 guests get their say. Last night I wanted to jump through the TV screen to gag Kevin Costner. While some of the things he said made sense, for the most part he had a hard time making a succinct point. This caused him to ramble on & on. You could see that Gen. Wesley Clark & Richard Belzer were getting annoyed.

Then came the deranged Ann Coulter, which he had on via satellite. I don't know how he can call this nut his friend - and the audience let him know it. It's fine if you want to talk to someone on the right, but don't pick someone that is clearly insane.

My favorite part of the show is when he does his "New Rules." His last new rule was for Bush to quit linking wolves with terrorists. It's not fair to the wolves. He said the "only thing wolves have in common with Osama Bin Laden is that they're both running free." The best line of the night was something like: "If you think the only thing keeping up safe is a retarded cowboy and his heart diseased sidekick, then..." (I don't remember the rest.)

Other than that, the show could have been better...especially 4 days before the election.

Dumping the Dish

Me and DirecTV was not meant to be. About a year and a half ago, I decided to dump digital cable because of a contract problem with Fox Sports Net. I could care less about sports, but my father was worried that he wasn't going to see the Twins games. ONE day after having the dish installed, the contract dispute was settled with Fox Sports & Time Warner Cable. (My father has since passed away.)

Now I'm switching back. After numerous service calls to fix the satellite reception, including getting a whole new dish, I still lose the signal when it rains. I've had it. Time Warner Cable is coming back tomorrow to reinstall digital cable, and they are giving me a hell of a deal to do it.

I definitely will miss my DirecTV TiVo, but all is not lost in that department. I'm going to try the DVR that the cable company offers. If I don't like it, I can always buy a regular TiVo and hook it up to the cable line.

Everyone else I know that has DirecTV does not have these problems. I guess it was just not meant to be.

If you don't hear from me for a couple days, it will be because of this. Hopefully, the reinstall will be trouble-free.

The beginning of the end

Can you feel it? Can you hear it? It's the sweet sweet sound of Dubya going down.

W can't talk his way out of this one. One of our local TV news stations that had reporters embedded with the troops in Iraq has proof that the explosives were taken AFTER the fall of Baghdad. Read about it here:
EXCLUSIVE: 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS RAISES NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT UNGUARDED EXPLOSIVES

Not only that, but now Halliburton is being investigated by the FBI! It's been a bad week for dear old George W...but somehow I just can't shed a tear for him.

B'Bye George

I'm back

Long time, no hear! I was out of commission for a few days, thanks to Direct TV. I had them out here to look at my satellite because it goes out every time it rains, or is about to rain. They replaced the dish and installed it in a new place, however in the midst of all the work, they messed up my cable modem line.

I have had nothing but problems since going to satellite last year. When it works, it's great, but if you need a technician, look out! I've had at least 10 of them and each one complains about the last one's work. Finally, today, a senior tech leveled with me. He said I need it completely rewired because of all the hack work they've done. It's a good thing I bought the protection plan.

More to come....

Yep, that's him! 

Banner 

Me at the Kerry rally

Hey, it's Lizzy, the OCD GenX Liberal!
I'm going gray, very gray. That will be remedied soon.

30,000+ at MN Kerry rally

I had a great time at the Kerry Rally. Being with "my people" felt really good. There was a huge turnout - more than 30,000 in attendance. The tickets (printed off the Internet) said doors open at 4:30, so we left at around 3:15 to get a good spot. Security was very tight. We had to empty all of our pockets and go through a metal detector. The ticket said bags not allowed, so I left my purse at home.

The rally site was divided into red, white, and blue areas. Internet ticket holders were put in the white area, which sadly, turned out to be the worst of the three. None-the-less, my niece, her friend, & I got decent spots. A band started playing at around 5, then there were speeches by Mayor RT Rybak, Walter Mondale, and others. By then, we had been standing in one spot for 2 hours in falling MN temps. Finally around 6, Max Cleland introduced John Kerry. Kerry did a short stump-speech to the faithful. It was wonderful seeing him in person, even if it was from far away. I came away liking him even more.

I took a few pics. I'll post a few.

Off to see the next President

I'm off to see John Kerry! I'll blog about it tomorrow. If I'm close enough to take his picture, I'll post it here, too.

Under pressure, Sinclair backs off

Another win for the good guys:

Feeling heat, broadcaster backs off airing anti-Kerry film

How can you deny these dogs a new president? I know I can't.  

Kerry, or Canada

Before the last election in 2000, I started floating the idea around with my family that if W wins, I or we should consider moving to Canada. When Dubya "won" they laughed when I told them that everything was going to change. Unfortunately, I got the last laugh.

Here we are almost 4 years later and thoughts of Canada loom large for me. Up until 2000, I was a very proud American, not anymore. Bush ruined that. John Kerry must become our next President. It is essential for America in every way, especially our safety and for rebuilding all of those burned bridges.

If Dubya gets (s)elected again, I am going to push for the big move up North. However, my cousin, Bruce, told me that they don't like us up there.

Yesterday, while stopping for gas, I ran into a Canadian, (he had Ontario plates) so I asked him about this. He said that Canadians know the difference between Americans and their government. Good news.

I know it's cold up there, but then again, it can't be that much colder than Minnesota.

Thankfully, I have a very good feeling that I won't be going anywhere. : )

Bush Bulges

My friend, Motomama, turned me on to this: George Bush Bulges

How come we never noticed this before? And more importantly, why isn't Dubya being questioned about it? It's strange, very strange indeed.

As the day grows near...

As election day grows closer, I'm finding it harder & harder to concentrate. I'm sure having OCD has a lot to do with it, but I'm sure others are feeling the same thing. It's even hard to just sit and watch TV at times. My mind ruminates over the news reports of voter registration tampering, voting machine fraud, & the Sinclair crap, and it's starting to take it's toll on me.
All I can say is Kerry better win, because I don't think I can take another 4 years of this.

Anyone else having these problems?

Silly dogs with flat faces agree, Dubya's days are numbered.  

Kerry wins final debate

John Kerry's performance in the final debate just trounced Bush. Dubya looked crazed - like a bit of a madman...did you notice the spittle in the corner of his mouth?!

Last chance for truth

J. Marquis from the blog, Are We There Yet?, wrote this yesterday and he's absolutely right. He wrote:
For three and a half years we've all been writing, talking and reading about the issues and looking for any way we can get this idiot from Texas out of the White House.

After tonight's debate, there will be no more chances for Dubya to hear the truth, and for the true believers to hear the truth about Dubya. After the debate, Dubya goes back to the protective shelter of Rove & Co, and the faithful will stick their heads back in the sand.

So, this is it, my fellow bloggers. After 3 1/2 years, it's coming down to tonight. There has never been a more important night for us. John Kerry is a great communicator and tonight he has his work cut out for him. While answering the questions that are posed to him, he must get through to the masses that Bush is a complete failure and it is a must that he (Kerry) be our next president. He has to do it in a way that is easy to understand, yet not condescending. If there is one person that can pull this off, it's John Kerry.

I'm a bit of an agnostic, but tonight I will say a little prayer. I hope you all do, too.

From YouForgotPoland.com

Going Upriver

I am troubled about the possible airing of a bullshit anti-Kerry "documentary" two weeks before the election. These Sinclair owned stations are making FOX News appear almost fair & balanced. The righties will do anything and everything they can to win, legal & otherwise. It makes me want to throw up.

If they are able to get this crap aired, it would be only FAIR to broadcast Fahrenheit 9/11 or Going Upriver at the same time on the same number of stations in the same markets.

What is it going to take to wake the rest of the country up to the fact that this administration is the worst in our country's history? Who knows, maybe they are slowly coming around. The polls are looking good.

Florida Ballot

Courtesy of Uncle R:

Check this out: Democracy Version 2.0

A Day In The Life Of Joe Q. Republican('t)

My friend, Motomama, turned me on to this.
Courtesy of Punk Ass Bitch:

A Day in the Life of Joe Q. Republican

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.

With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His meds are safe because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, sausage and eggs. Joe's sausage is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry decades before.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays, vacation and an 8 hour day because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It's noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoyed throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

Republican'ts

AAAAHHHH!!! I just noticed that the Google ads on my blog are linking to Republican sites!! AAAHHHHHH!!

The reason it did that was because of my previous blog entry. When Google scans your blog, it picks up on certain words and then targets their ads. To make sure this NEVER happens again, I will now refer to republicans as republican'ts. This better work.

...and to reinforce my objective:

John Kerry for President
John Kerry for President
John Kerry for President
John Kerry for President
John Kerry for President
W Sucks
W Sucks
W Sucks
W Sucks

Michigan Republican Party calls for Moore's arrest

From Michael Moore:

10/6/04

Friends,

You may have heard by now that the Michigan Republican Party has called for my arrest. That's right. They literally want me brought up on charges -- and hope that I'm locked up.

No, I'm not kidding. The Republican Party, yesterday, filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutors in each of the counties where I spoke last week in Michigan.

My crime? Clean underwear for anyone who will vote in the upcoming election.

Each night on our 60-city "Slacker Uprising Tour" through the 20 battleground states, I've been registering hundreds (and on some nights, thousands) of voters at my arena and stadium events. I then ask for everyone over 23 who has never voted (or didn't vote in the last election) to stand up. I tell these slackers that I understand and respect why they think politicians are not worth the bother. I tell them that I may have been the original slacker, and that I do not want them to change their slacker ways. Keep sleeping 'til noon! Keep drinking beer! Stay on the sofa and watch as much TV as possible! But, please, just for me, on 11/2, I want you to leave the house and give voting a try -- just this once. The stakes this time are just too high.

If they promise me that they'll do this, I give the guys a 3-pack of new Fruit of the Loom underwear, and the women get a day's supply of Ramen noodles, the sustenance of slackers everywhere.

I then close by having them repeat the 2004 Slacker Oath: "Pick nose! Pick butt! Pick Kerry."

It seems to have worked, as each night the volunteer tables are swamped afterwards with hundreds of new and young voters signing up to campaign for regime change for the next four weeks.

The satire of all this seems to have been lost on the Republicans. Or maybe it hasn't. The state of Michigan (where we spent most of last week) reported that over 100,000 young people recently registered to vote, a record that no one saw coming. The Slacker Tour has turned into a huge steamroller with a momentum all its own.

So, the Republican Party, to show their gratitude that so many young people will now be involved in our system, has demanded that I be sent to jail for trying to "bribe" students to vote.

Of course, this would be quite laughable if they weren't so serious about their charges. But they are. I may soon be a wanted man in Michigan -- simply because I convinced a few slackers to change their underwear and eat a healthy meal of artificially flavored noodles.

I thought I'd seen it all this year -- Disney refusing to distribute the film they paid for, right-wingers harassing theater owners who showed "Fahrenheit 9/11," conservative action groups trying to get the FEC to kick our film ads off the air, the unnecessary restrictive R-rating that forced teenagers to sneak in to see it, and all the stupid, crazy attacks on me and my movie that I've had to listen to as I watched the public ignore them and pack the movie houses anyway, where my film was being shown. And when all that failed, five different Republican groups made five different attack dog tapes (oops, "documentaries"!) against me in a period of about six weeks. But they were all so bad, so boring, so right-wing, no one wanted to watch them and they too went away, a sad waste of good videotape.

Now, after enduring all this, with no tricks left in their bag, they've just decided, "Let's toss his sorry ass behind bars -- him and his noodles and his gift of clean underwear!"

My friends, they will not catch me. Though I may be on the run, and I may never be able to return home to my beloved Michigan, I make this solemn vow to you and yours: The slackers of America shall not be denied their noodles, they will proudly wear their clean underwear as free Americans, and they will vote Bush out of office come November 2nd (though they will not show up to the polls until well after noon)!

Stay strong, stay slacker, and please remember to turn the underwear inside out every three days. As for the noodles, add boiling water, stir.

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

P.S. My favorite moment of the VP debate: Cheney saying to the moderator that this was the first he heard that that many black women in America had AIDS. Clueless. Cheney, for an entire 90-minutes, only mentioned Bush's name -- that's his running mate, the "president" -- once. They should have called this the "President (Cheney) -- Vice President (Edwards) Debate."

P.P.S. Tomorrow's letter, as promised for today, will be about my new book, "Will They Ever Trust Us Again?: Letters from the War Zone." And thanks, everyone, for sending "Fahrenheit 9/11" on its first day to #1 on Amazon. If you find that your store didn't order enough copies, or to report other problems, please e-mail Sony Home video at HeySony@michaelmoore.com.

Edwards Wins Debate!

The Vice Presidential Debate was great. John Edwards was amazing. He didn't let the Prince of Darkness, Cheney, get away with anything. I was especially pleased that Edwards brought up Halliburton -- several times.

I am filled with optimism. Dubya's days are numbered.

Extreme Fear-mongering

The latest Dubya ads feature the worst fear-mongering I have ever had the displeasure of viewing. Have you seen the one where they show all the scaaary men while the voiceover says, "these men want to kill us." The icing on the cake is the end of the ad. It shows Dubya in one of his military costumes while the voiceover says, "we didn't start this war, but we will end it."

Ummm, what? What are they trying to pull here? Are they STILL trying to rewrite history? Are they STILL trying to link 9/11 with the invasion of Iraq? Do they actually believe people don't know the truth by now? This kind of fear-mongering is unprecedented.

On a side note, I'm trying Google's AdSense. If you scroll down on my page, you'll see some ads in the sidebar. Since I'm not working, I thought this may be a way of making a little cash. If the ads ever point to a Republican site, and I'm not able to correct it, I'll take it down.

Kerry pulls ahead

Yes. It's true, it's really really true. I just heard it on my local news, and when I googled it, I found this: Kerry Gains Lead in Newsweek Poll Following Debate

Now, the question is, what are the Bushites going to do now? These are my top four October surprise predictions that Rove has up his sleeve:

1) Osama or another high ranking al Qaeda member will be caught/killed

2) A stockpile of WMDs will be "found"

3) Osama will be found sitting on top of the WMDs

or, the most likely:

4) The terror alert will go up


To learn about past October surprises, or to predict this one, check these out:
October Surprise

CNN: 'October Surprise' guessing game

One Month to D-Day (Dump Bush) Day

Latest Michael Moore letter:

Dear Friends,

This is it: One month to D-Day! That's "Dump Bush Day," November 2nd.

It's now time to roll up our sleeves -- each and every one of us -- and get to work. There will be nearly 10 million of you who will read this letter either on my list or on my site. An army of ten million cannot be defeated! The time for hitting the snooze button has passed, voter registration deadlines start Monday and we only get one shot at this!!!

My plan is simple. Will you join me in the following?

1. REGISTER FIVE PEOPLE TO VOTE THIS WEEKEND. There are only a few days left in most states before voter registration is cut off. Keep asking like-minded people you know if they are registered. If they are not, take them to this website where you can show them where they need to go to get registered. Offer to take them there yourself. Take them to lunch afterward! If you can, pick up registration forms from your local city or county clerk (or get them from you local Democratic Party or Kerry HQ). Carry them with you everywhere you go. Hook up with local groups standing outside shopping centers and events this weekend or Monday or Tuesday and register people there. Nothing is more critical in the next 48 to 72 hours than to get our people registered. The wealthy and the conservatives are already registered -- the poor, the single moms, the recent transplants to your town are not. And neither are students and young adults (check local and state laws, some of which make it very hard for college students to register and vote). VOTER REGISTRATION ENDS ON MONDAY IN Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. Make no mistake, if you live in any of these states – realize now that WHAT YOU DO OR DON’T DO THIS WEEKEND will have an effect on this election!!!

2. CALL AND VOLUNTEER NOW. There is nothing more important in the next 31 days than spending whatever free time you have working to remove George W. Bush from the White House. Again, call the local Democratic Party HQ or the local Kerry HQ or the ACT office and say you want to help. They will put you to work making calls, going door to door, putting up yard signs, lining up rides on Election Day for senior citizens, etc. Removing Bush and electing Kerry will require physical labor on all our parts. We just can't sit home and wish it to happen. (A Warning: Some local Dem HQs are not always as organized as you would hope them to be. If you call and they don't have it together, don't get discouraged. Just move on to my next point, #3...)

3. START YOUR OWN KERRY CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS! If the Dems don't have it together in your area, don't complain, just take matters into your own hands and run your own campaign for Kerry. Or, even if there is a strong Kerry presence in your county seat, there still may not be in the outlying areas where you live. There's nothing wrong with you and your friends saying, "OK, today we inaugurate the Kerry HQ here in Hooterville...or Kurt Cobain High...or Dorm Building 5!" If you can't get signs or leaflets, make your own! Don't wait for someone to do it, otherwise it won't get done. Send me pictures of your own renegade Elect Kerry/Dump Bush HQ and I will put them up on my site!

4. IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN A SWING STATE, GO THERE AND START SWINGING. Virtually everyone in this country lives within driving distance of one of the 20 battleground states where the election will be close. Pick one weekend this month and go on a fall color tour to dump Bush. Pack up the kids or the neighbors, pick a town -- any town -- in your nearest swing state, reserve a room at the local Motel 6 and hit the road! Volunteer online or call ahead to the local party HQ to say you are coming and you want them to put you to work (again, if there is no one there to put you to work, make your own handbills, print out a thousand of them, and just show up in Anywhere, Ohio and start going door to door). There are other groups doing work in the swing states that you can hook-up with, like ACT and Driving Votes who could really use your help getting out the vote. You don't have to feel left out of this election just because you live in New York or California or Illinois or any of the other 29 states the candidates won't be visiting. Take matters into your own hands. Think of what a great educational experience it will be for your kids -- or yourself. JUST ONE WEEKEND THIS MONTH -- PLAN IT NOW!

5. TAKE OFF WORK OR SCHOOL NOVEMBER 2. We need everyone working the polls, the phones, the neighborhoods from dawn to dusk. Poll watchers are needed to make sure there is no cheating. Help is needed in all 50 states and you can do it from home or you can park yourself in a swing state for the day.

There you have it. Five Simple Steps. I’ll be doing my part as I travel the country to the 20 swing states. Please join with me in this effort. Kerry is doing his part, he won the first debate (stop the kvetching...of course YOU would have done a better job! But YOU'RE not running for president! He beat Bush...Bush must go!!). Remember, what's at stake in this election is bigger than John Kerry, bigger than political parties and all the other noise that accompanies politicians and their elections. This is about that mother from Flint, Michigan -- and all the other mothers from all the other towns in America -- who have lost and WILL LOSE their sons and daughters in Bush’s never-ending war in Iraq.

Please, put aside whatever keeps you from jumping in to do the necessary work to remove George W. Bush from office. This can only be accomplished when you, right now, stop reading this letter and make that call (or click that mouse) to get involved.

Thanks so much...

Michael Moore

mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com
www.michaelmoore.com/takeaction/vote/

P.S. If you are having trouble registering or voting, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

P.P.S. If you have a chance to see Going Upriver, the great new documentary about John Kerry in theaters this week, do so!