|
|
Friday, November 5
Michael Moore: 17 Reasons Not To Slit Your Wrists
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 05 Nov 2004 03:31 PM CST
 17 Reasons Not To Slit Your Wrists
by 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. 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.
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.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com
A Ray of Good News by Molly Regan
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 05 Nov 2004 10:52 AM CST
A Ray of Good News
by Molly Regan, DFIA Environmentalist
A ray of
good news. We were successful in Scott County for a Soil &
Water Conservation District Commission seat! A huge IOWA
“Thank You” to those on the steering committee: Alta, Chuck
(treasurer), Cliff, Monica, Joe, Lou, Betty, Cal, Caroline, Terry, Paul
and all who helped. There was a lot of work in putting out yard
signs and in letting your relatives, friends & neighbors know to
turn the ballot over to find the non-partisan section for Soil &
Water.
Molly Regan speaks at the Sierra Club/Eagle View
Chapter at the Bettendorf library.
There is
one important item I want to address during my 4 year tenure, and that
is to have MERCURY tested for on the waterways in Scott County.
Testing is done twice a year on the streams in our county, but MERCURY
is not on the list of things to be checked. Hopefully, that can be
addressed. Thanks again to all who helped and to those who
voted for me. A special thank you to Linda Thieman who placed a section on the blog
for information about my campaign, and to DFA for their support.
The teamwork in this organization is inspirational…..DEAN ON!…..NOW
MORE THAN EVER!
Molly Regan
 Congratulations,
Molly! Can't think of anyone more perfectly suited to the
position since you live and breathe environmental protection. A
job well done! We are very proud of you!
ENVIRONMENT: The Bush Administration's Swift and Steady Sabotage
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 05 Nov 2004 05:00 AM CST
 ENVIRONMENT: The Bush Administration's Swift and Steady Sabotage
American Progress
Last
week, the Washington Post reported thirty-four Superfund projects in 19
states will go unfunded this year. The Environmental Protection Agency
acknowledged that Superfund, which is the government's toxic waste
cleanup program, is now nearly bankrupt. Why are these crucial sites
being neglected? Carol Browner, the administrator of the EPA from
1993-2001, explains, "Because the fees that are used to pay for these
cleanups are no longer being collected." In a sop to the oil industry,
the Bush administration ended the tax on corporate polluters that
funded the program by refusing to ask Congress to reinstate the fee oil
and chemical companies paid that generated the money for cleanups. This
is part of an overall pattern of a swift and steady sabotage of
environmental safeguards.
THE ENVIRONMENT AT A GLANCE:
A new study by Knight Ridder, for example, found that the steady
improvement in air and water quality of the past three decades "has
stalled or gone in reverse in several areas" since January 2001.
Specifically, Superfund cleanups of toxic waste fell by 52 percent;
fish-consumption warnings for rivers doubled; the number of beach
closings rose 26 percent; civil citations issued to polluters fell 57
percent; asthma attacks increased by 6 percent; and there were
"record-low" additions to national parks, wilderness, wildlife refuges
and the endangered species list. (For a look at how Iowa stacks up with
health, safety and the environment, check out American Progress' new
interactive map.)
LETTING THE INMATES RUN THE ASYLUM:
The Washington Post reports that the chemical industry has given $2
million to the EPA for a study supposedly "exploring the impact of
pesticides and household chemicals on young children." (For those of
you keeping track, the American Chemistry Council is the same group
that fought against the finding that wood treated with arsenic
shouldn't be used in playground equipment.) The EPA already has a $572
million research budget; no word on why the agency needed to take money
from the chemical industry to conduct an independent study. The EPA
admits the money means "We will seek their opinions." Carol Henry, a
vice president at the American Chemistry Council, also acknowledges the
association has set up a board of hand-picked academics and industry
officials to be a "resource to investigators," adding, "We'll give them
our guidance." (The administration has a track record of allowing
corporations to call the regulatory shots; check out this comprehensive
report about the special interest takeover.)
DRILLING AWAY THE WILDERNESS:
George W. Bush has claimed, "I guess you'd say I'm a good steward of
the land." Not really. According to the Los Angeles Times,
environmentally damaging policies put in place by Secretary of the
Interior Gale Norton take away the safeguards which for decades have
protected potential wilderness areas. Even more egregious, the
administration claimed that the Department of the Interior "is barred –
forever – from identifying and protecting wild land the way it has for
nearly 30 years." In effect, "The administration is giving industry
virtual carte blanche to look for oil and gas wherever it wants outside
of existing parks and wilderness areas." The Washington Post points out
that Bush has "approved about 70 percent more drilling permits on
public lands during the first three years of his administration" than
the three preceding years. And, writes the New Yorker, "By stripping
away restrictions on the use of federal lands, often through
little-advertised rule changes, the Administration has potentially
opened up sixty million acres, an area larger than Indiana and Iowa
combined, to logging, mining, and oil exploration."
GLOBAL WARMING:
A top NASA climate expert yesterday joined a long line of scientists in
criticizing the Bush administration for its disregard of science. Dr.
James E. Hansen, who has twice briefed Vice President Dick Cheney's
task force on global warming, charged, "In my more than three decades
in government, I have never seen anything approaching the degree to
which information flow from scientists to the public has been screened
and controlled as it is now." Hansen also "said the administration
wants to hear only scientific results that 'fit predetermined,
inflexible positions.'" Specifically, he charged the White House edited
reports that outline the potential dangers of global warming to make
the problem appear less serious. "This process is in direct opposition
to the most fundamental precepts of science," he said. "This," he
warned, "is a recipe for environmental disaster."
|
|
