Open Letter to 'our president'

even if you don't agree with the author all the time - you have to admit its sadly amusing, and true - this time at least.

Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

I'm looking for the applause icon.

GREAT ARTICLE!!

lol that was a lot of fun to read!!!!

Michael Moore is a first class jack@ss!

you would think he could afford cable TV. they've been showing nothing but evacuations for the past 2 days.

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Posted by dleeny

Michael Moore is a first class jack@ss!

you would think he could afford cable TV. they've been showing nothing but evacuations for the past 2 days.

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Yes, the past 2 days. too bad Hurricane Katrina happened on Monday!

Nothing against you D - but he does have a point. Doing something 4 days after the fact when people are at their wits end is highly irresponsible.

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Posted by SomethingBlu

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Posted by dleeny

Michael Moore is a first class jack@ss!

you would think he could afford cable TV. they've been showing nothing but evacuations for the past 2 days.

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Yes, the past 2 days. too bad Hurricane Katrina happened on Monday!

Nothing against you D - but he does have a point. Doing something 4 days after the fact when people are at their wits end is highly irresponsible.

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I'm no fan of Bush. I agree that it took a long time to get the proper amount of relief in. there was no precendent for this kind of tragedy.

Totally agree with the article. Bush had to get fire under his behind before he remembered he was President of the US again.

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Posted by dleeny
I'm no fan of Bush. I agree that it took a long time to get the proper amount of relief in. there was no precendent for this kind of tragedy.

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Agreed. But shouldn't there have been? LA is BELOW SEA LEVEL, warnings came in 5 days BEFORE the hurricane hit. This was expected to be a 'monster'. Why did he go down there on Friday?

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Posted by SomethingBlu

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Posted by dleeny

Michael Moore is a first class jack@ss!

you would think he could afford cable TV. they've been showing nothing but evacuations for the past 2 days.

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Yes, the past 2 days. too bad Hurricane Katrina happened on Monday!

Nothing against you D - but he does have a point. Doing something 4 days after the fact when people are at their wits end is highly irresponsible.

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THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

No offense to any one, and I am sure I will get **** for this...but there are people who do things about it and people who talk about it, what have you done for those people?

We have donated money and clothes-There isnt much more that anyone can do about it, and it really is time for people to stop pointing fingers and bitching about what everyone else ISNT doing and then not doing anything to help.
The only thing to hope for is that people are more prepared, and that we have plans in place for the next time-God Forbid-this happens. I met a guy today who drove from Louisiana and he said that he left hours before the hurricane hit and NO ONE was running from their homes to leave.

Dant hate me for feeling like this

ETA:I agree that it shouldnt have taken so long for help though

did he fly in to help in the rescue efforts? Im just curious b/c i'm sure that he's in the financial state to do so.

sorry- im just tired of his repetitive lines, and everything else about him. But, at least we were able to preview the opening of his next 'documentary'.

Dont get me wrong- Im not content w/ the response time either, and i can't even imagine what the situation is like down there- despite the photos and articles- and i can't say that i have a better plan either, But i'm not about to give Moore any credit just b/c, with Bush's disapproval factor right now, he can write a letter that he finds witty and 'purposeful'.

was there a point to his letter? a goal? was it to prove that he doesnt like/ approve of Bush? 'Been there, done that'. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem, and i just dont see how writing such a letter is helping the situation in any way. But, hey, it gave me something to do at 3 in the morning

Actually Michael Moore's next film is about HMOs and the insurance companies.

The cover of the NY Daily News yesterday (who endorsed Bush for re-election back in November) was The Shame of the Nation - and included a blistering editorial about the lax government response. The Daily News has organized its own donation fund and has sent food, clothes and water to the affected areas.

Michael Moore has contributed $$$$ to the affected areas - and there is a means to donate online through his website.

The purpose of Moore's letter, newspaper editorials and the debates surrounding the situation is to make sure this type of thing never happens again.

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Posted by takeoutcook

Actually Michael Moore's next film is about HMOs and the insurance companies.

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i hope it's a goodie - HMO's and insurance companies are shameful...

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Posted by kismet8601

No offense to any one, and I am sure I will get **** for this...but there are people who do things about it and people who talk about it, what have you done for those people?

We have donated money and clothes-There isnt much more that anyone can do about it, and it really is time for people to stop pointing fingers and bitching about what everyone else ISNT doing and then not doing anything to help.
The only thing to hope for is that people are more prepared, and that we have plans in place for the next time-God Forbid-this happens. I met a guy today who drove from Louisiana and he said that he left hours before the hurricane hit and NO ONE was running from their homes to leave.

Dant hate me for feeling like this

ETA:I agree that it shouldnt have taken so long for help though

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EXCELLENT post! playing the blame game is not helping.

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Posted by dleeny
EXCELLENT post! playing the blame game is not helping.

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Exactly!!!

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Posted by takeoutcook
The purpose of Moore's letter, newspaper editorials and the debates surrounding the situation is to make sure this type of thing never happens again.

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writing a letter full of cheap Jabs does not ensure that this type of thing will never happen again, nor does it help the situation in anyway- all it does is allow someone a forum to voice their anger and displeasure. thats fine- freedom of speech, but as i said, i'm not about to give him any credit b/c he can write a letter full of his same over-used lines and lead the crowd with a torch in his hand. This does absolutely nothing to move us foward IMO. And yes... he donated money- any one of us can - but if he's going to talk about being 'more proactive', then he certainly should be called out on not being more proactive himself. If i had the amount of money that the Rich and famous did, you can bet your hiney would've gotten a helicopter and flown over the area to see if there were any people that i could help rescue- not sit at home, pointing fingers at others for not doing the same

I think that playing the so-called 'blame game' is not only helping, but also necessary. Lots and lots of people are dead for no good reason. We cannot let this kind of disaster happen again. We must hold people accountable.

Sure, we can't control the weather (or can we... plenty of scientists believe that the recent increase in hurricane strength is being caused by global warming, which is in turn caused by this country's ridiculously weak environmental policies). BUT we can control our response to disasters. AND we must hold those responsible accountable for their actions, or lack thereof.

Blame does not belong solely to Republicans or Democrats or Greens or whoever else. It belongs to everyone in our government who made those cuts to emergency relief and flood funding. It belongs to everyone in our government who decided that the United States' priorities are beyond our shores and beyond our borders. It belongs to every person in our government (and, frankly, every voter) who emphasizes corporations' rights and wealthy people's rights over human rights.

If we do not hold anyone accountable, the same disasters will occur. Again and again and again. If that's the 'blame game,' sign me up to play.