Michael Moore: "Never Forget: Bad Wars Aren't Possible Unless Good People Back Them "

I've always said that whatever you think of Michael Moore, the guy is still news... and today's post is another example of that.

As you probably know by now, I (like 1000s of other people) receive emails from Michael Moore on a regular basis and that, time to time, I choose to share them with you guys... So, yep, today's one is receiving the LoupDargent.info treatment by not only being shared with you but also being published with a few extra added (hopefully informative enough) links and, of course, some pictures.


It is a very lengthy email (far more longer than the ones previously shared, so you might want to make yourselves a cup of coffee or tea before starting to read it) and its content is rather controversial (but, then again, we would not expect any less from the Big Guy)... And I sure loved it, especially the part about the death threats as that reminded me of that time when I foolishly uploaded a funny (well, I thought it was funny anyway) anti-BNP video of mine on Youtube and was branded a "traitor to my race", among other things, because of it by some BNP supporters (at the time, they believed that they would get in power and were already, and openly, making plans on how they would deal with the "traitors" and, as painful death was the most popular option, being called a "traitor to our race" by them was the equivalent of receiving a death threat). Ah, yes, those were the days...


But, enough of all that "me, me, me..."


Michael Moore's email is long enough already without me adding more stuff to this post.
So, I'll just give the floor to the Big Man instead.


All the best


Loup Dargent




Never Forget:
Bad Wars Aren't Possible
Unless Good People Back Them
by Michael Moore


September 15, 2010


I know we've been "free" of the Iraq War for two weeks now and our minds have turned to the new football season and Fashion Week in New York. And how exciting that the new fall TV season is just days away!


But before we get too far away from something we would all just like to forget, will you please allow me to just say something plain and blunt and necessary:


We invaded Iraq because most Americans -- including good liberals like Al Franken, Nicholas Kristof & Bill Keller of the New York Times, David Remnick of the New Yorker, the editors of the Atlantic and the New Republic, Harvey Weinstein, Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and John Kerry -- wanted to.


Of course the actual blame for the war goes to Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz because they ordered the "precision" bombing, the invasion, the occupation, and the theft of our national treasury. I have no doubt that history will record that they committed the undisputed Crime of the (young) Century.


But how did they get away with it, considering they'd lost the presidential election by 543,895 votes? They also knew that the majority of the country probably wouldn't back them in such a war (a Newsweek poll in October 2002 showed 61% thought it was "very important" for Bush to get formal approval from the United Nations for war -- but that never happened). So how did they pull it off?


They did it by getting liberal voices to support their war. They did it by creating the look of bipartisanship. And they convinced other countries' leaders like Tony Blair to get on board and make it look like it wasn't just our intelligence agencies cooking the evidence.


But most importantly, they made this war (and its public support) happen because Bush & Co. had brilliantly conned the New York Times into running a bunch of phony front-page stories about how Saddam Hussein had all these "weapons of mass destruction." The administration gleefully fed this false information not to Fox News or the Washington Times. They gave it to America's leading liberal newspaper. They must have had a laugh riot each morning when they'd pick up the New York Times and read the nearly word-for-word scenarios and talking points that they had concocted in the Vice President's office.


I blame the New York Times more for this war than Bush. I expected Bush and Cheney to try and get away with what they did. But the Times -- and the rest of the press -- was supposed to STOP them by doing their job: Be a relentless watchdog of government and business -- and then inform the public so we can take action.


Instead, the New York Times gave the Bush administration the cover they needed. They could -- and did -- say, 'Hey, look, even the Times says Saddam has WMD!'


With this groundwork laid, the Bush crowd ended up convincing a whopping 70% of the public to support the war -- a public that had given him less than 48% of its vote in 2000.


Early liberal support for this war was the key ingredient in selling it to a majority of the public. I realize this is something that no one in the media -- nor most of us -- really wants to discuss. Who among us wants to feel the pain of having to remember that liberals, by joining with Bush, made this war happen?


Please, before our collective memory fades, I just want us to be honest with ourselves and present an unsanitized version of how they pulled off this war. I can guarantee you the revisionists will make sure the real truth will not enter the history books.


Children born when the war began started second grade this month.


Kids who were eleven in 2003 are now old enough to join up and get killed in Iraq in a "non-combat capacity."


They'll never understand how we got here if we don't.


So let me state this clearly: This war was aided and abetted by a) liberals who were afraid to stick their necks out and thus remained silent; and b) liberals who actually said they believed Colin Powell's cartoon presentation at the U.N. and then went against their better judgment by publicly offering their support for the invasion of Iraq.


First, there were those 29 (turncoat) Democratic senators who voted for the war. Then there was the embarrassing display of reporters who couldn't wait to be "embedded" and go for a joy ride on a Bradley tank.


But my real despair lies with the people I counted on for strong opposition to this madness -- but who left the rest of us alone, out on a limb, as we tried to stop the war.


In March of 2003, to be a public figure speaking out against the war was considered instant career suicide. Take the Dixie Chicks as Exhibit A. Their lead singer, Natalie Maines, uttered just one sentence of criticism -- and their career was effectively dead and buried at that moment. Bruce Springsteen spoke out in their defense, and a Colorado DJ was fired for refusing to not play their songs. That was about it. Crickets everywhere else.


Then MSNBC fired the only nightly critic of the war -- the television legend, Phil Donahue. No one at the network -- or any network -- spoke up on his behalf. There would never again be a Phil Donahue show. (Little did GE know that, when they soon filled that 8pm hour with a sports guy by the name of Keith Olbermann, they would end up with the war's most brilliant and fiercest critic, night after night after night.) There were a few others -- Bill Maher, Janeane Garofalo, Tim Robbins and Seymour Hersh -- who weren't afraid to speak the truth. But where was everyone else? Where were all those supposed liberal voices in the media?


Instead, this is what we were treated to back in 2003 and 2004:


** Al Franken, who said he "reluctantly" was "a supporter of the war against Saddam." And six months into the war Al was still saying, "There were reasons to go to war against Iraq ... I was very ambivalent about it but I still don't know if it was necessarily wrong (to go to war)."


** Nicholas Kristof, columnist for the New York Times, who attacked me and wrote a column comparing me to the nutty right-wingers who claimed Hillary had Vince Foster killed. He said people like me were "polarizing the political cesspool," and he chastised anyone who dared call Bush's reasons for going to war in Iraq "lies."


** Howell Raines, editor-in-chief of the "liberal" New York Times, who was, according to former Times editor Doug Frantz, "eager to have articles that supported the war-mongering out of Washington ... He discouraged pieces that were at odds with the administration's position on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction and alleged links of al-Qaeda." The book "Hard News" reported that "according to half a dozen sources within the Times, Raines wanted to prove once and for all that he wasn't editing the paper in a way that betrayed his liberal beliefs..."


** Bill Keller, at the time a New York Times columnist, who wrote: "We reluctant hawks may disagree among ourselves about the most compelling logic for war -- protecting America, relieving oppressed Iraqis or reforming the Middle East -- but we generally agree that the logic for standing pat does not hold. ... we are hard pressed to see an alternative that is not built on wishful thinking."


(The New York Times is so left-wing that when Raines retired, they replaced him with... Keller.)


** The New Yorker, the magazine for really smart liberals, found its editor-in-chief, David Remnick, supporting the war on its pages: "History will not easily excuse us if, by deciding not to decide, we defer a reckoning with an aggressive totalitarian leader who intends not only to develop weapons of mass destruction but also to use them. ... a return to a hollow pursuit of containment will be the most dangerous option of all." (To cover its ass, the New Yorker had another editor, Rick Hertzberg, write an anti-war editorial as a rebuttal.)


Some of the above have recanted their early support of the war. The Times fired its WMD correspondent and apologized to its readers. Al Franken has been a great Senator. Kristof now writes nice columns (check out last Sunday's).


But the support of the war by these leading liberals and the majority of the Democrats in the Senate made it safe for the Right to let loose a vicious and unchecked tirade of hate and threats on anyone (including myself) who dared to step out of line. It was not uncommon to hear the media describe me as "un-American," "anti-American," "aiding the terrorists," and being a "traitor."


Here are just a couple of examples of what was said about me over the airwaves by two of the nation's leading conservative commentators:


"Let me just tell you what I'm thinking. I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out -- is this wrong? I stopped wearing my 'What Would Jesus Do' band, and I've lost all sense of right and wrong now. I used to be able to say, 'Yeah, I'd kill Michael Moore,' and then I'd see the little band: 'What Would Jesus Do?' And then I'd realize, 'Oh, you wouldn't kill Michael Moore. Or at least you wouldn't choke him to death.' And you know, well, I'm not sure." (Glenn Beck)


And:


"Well, I want to kill Michael Moore. Is that all right? All right. And I don't believe in capital punishment. That's just a joke on Moore." (Bill O'Reilly)


(Ironically, O'Reilly made his threat/joke the night after Janet Jackson's breast was bared at the Super Bowl -- which got CBS fined over half a million dollars because, you know, nipples are far more frightening than death threats.)


So that's how I'll personally remember the early war years: living with a real and present danger caused by the hate whipped up by right-wing radio and TV. (I've been advised not to recount certain specific incidents that happened to me, as it would only encourage other crazy people.)


So I dealt with it. And I'm still here. And I know many of you went through your own crap, standing up against the war at school, or work, or at Thanksgiving dinner, taking your own blows for simply saying what was the truth.


But how much easier it would have been for all of us if the liberal establishment had stood with us? We didn't own a daily newspaper, or a magazine with a circulation in the millions. We didn't have our own TV show or network. We weren't invited on shows like "Meet the Press," because they simply could not allow our voice to be heard.


The media watchdog group FAIR reported that in the three weeks after the war started, the CBS Evening News allowed only one anti-war voice on their show -- and that was on one night in one soundbite (and that was four seconds of me in a line from my Oscar speech) -- even though in March of 2003 our anti-war numbers were in the millions (remember the huge demonstrations in hundreds of cities?). We were around 30% of the country according to most polls (that's nearly 100 million Americans!) and yet we had no way to communicate with each other aside from through the Nation and a few websites like CommonDreams.org and Truth-Out.org.


But that was no way to build a huge mass movement of Middle Americans to oppose the war. Unless you had just lucked out and been handed an Oscar on live television in front of a gazillion people where you had 45 seconds to say something before they cut you off and booed you off the stage (hahahaha), you had no public platform. (Jeez, I sure did get booed a lot that year: simply walking through an airport, or eating dinner in a restaurant, or sitting at a Laker game where they suddenly put me up on the Jumbotron and the place went so angry-crazy that Larry David, who was sitting next to me, felt that maybe for his own safety he should perhaps slide a few seats down or go get us a couple of wieners. Instead, he stuck by my side -- and his skillful ninja moves got us out of there alive after the game.)


I know it's hard to remember, but when this war started, there was no YouTube, no Facebook, no Twitter, no way for you to bypass the media lords so you could have your own friggin' say.


Too bad for the bastards, those days are over.


The next time around, it won't be so easy to shut up a country girl band or try to silence someone while he accepts his little gold statue -- or completely ignore the millions of citizens in the streets.


So now we can hope that one of our wars is over. Too bad we lost. I hate to lose, don't you? But the fact is, we lost the very day we invaded a sovereign nation that posed absolutely no threat to us and had nothing to do with 9/11. We lost lives (over 4,400 of ours, hundreds of thousands of theirs), we lost limbs (a total of 35,000 troops came back with various wounds and disabilities and God knows how many more with mental problems). We lost the money our grandchildren were supposed to live on.


And we lost our soul, who we were, what we stood for as a once-great country -- lost it all. Can we now ask for redemption -- for forgiveness? Can we be... "America" again?


I guess we'll see. The vast majority of the country eventually came around to the Dixie Chicks' position. And we elected an anti-Iraq-war guy by the name of Barack Hussein Obama.


But, please, promise yourselves never to forget how our country went crazy 7 1/2 years ago -- even though, to many people at the time, it seemed completely normal. And I'm here to tell you, no matter how much better it's gotten, no matter how normal you may think things are now, we're still halfway nuts. Just listen to the new batch of "sensible pundits" as they start to beat the drums about what we should do to Iran. One war down, one (or two or three) to go.


C'mon, Mr. President, not one more kid needs to die overseas wearing a uniform with our flag on it. We can't win like this. Let's dig a few thousand wells in Afghanistan, build a few free mosques, leave behind some food and clothing, fix their electrical grid, issue an apology and set up a Facebook page so they can stay in touch with us -- and then let's get the hell out. Your own National Security Advisor and your CIA Director have told you there are less than 100 al-Qaeda fighters in the entire country. 100???


100,000 U.S. troops going after 100 al-Qaeda? Is this a Looney Tunes presentation? "A-ba-dee-a-ba-dee-a-ba-dee -- That's All Folks!" Let's get real. I'm glad one war is "over." But I know how we got there -- and I'm willing now to fight just as hard to stop these other wars if you won't, Mr. Obama.


Your call.


Yours,


Michael Moore
Mike@MichaelMoore.com
MichaelMoore.com


P.S. Just a thought, Mr. President. Can I ask that you go back and watch this movie I made -- "Fahrenheit 9/11." There might be some answers there. I give you my permission to download it for free by going to this site: TorrentHound.com. Don't tell the studio I said it was ok! They've only made a half a billion $$ on it so far.


P.P.S. To everyone on my list: Thanks to your thousands of generous donations, we've raised over $60,000 for the Muslim community center near Ground Zero. This has made news around the world, that there are Americans who believe in our stated American principles.






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Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' Is Out On DVD

Yep, 'Capitalism' is now out on DVD and we've got one of Michael Moore's emails telling us all about it...

While I've been more than happy to help in a small humble way promoting Michael Moore's movie by sharing his emails with you guys, I haven't been able to actually see it as, sadly, the price of a plane ticket to the USA was  a tad too high for my modest and overstretched budget.

But, now that the movie is available on DVD, that's obviously not a problem anymore, I'll be able to watch the movie at last.

Just to refresh your memory (and for our new visitors), here are the related posts we've published around the time the movie was released::

• Michael Moore: 'Capitalism' as Comedy and Tragedy Now Playing in NY and L.A.
• Free Screenings Tonight of "Capitalism" for the Jobless and Homeless in America's Hardest Hit Cities
• 'Capitalism' Opens Today at a Theater Near You! ...an invitation from Michael Moore
• 'Capitalism': More from Michael Moore
• Michael Moore's Open Letter to President Obama

And, just in case that was not enough, we've also added the ones published by our good friend and fellow Stumbler and Mixxer, PinkPackrat

• Sunday Fun With Michael Moore
• Thoughts on Michael Moore and Capitalism
• Michael Moore is OK by Me

Okay... If you didn't know who on Earth Michael Moore is and what his movie is about, you must have some idea by now . So, let's The Man Himself tell you more about it and its release on DVD.


Enjoy..

Loup Dargent

Sell! Buy! Rebel! 
'Capitalism: A Love Story' 
Is Out Today on DVD 
(...and what is up with Wal-Mart?)!

Friends,

DVD-Day for "Capitalism: A Love Story" has finally arrived for all you good folks who just couldn't figure out how to fit in a trip to the movie theater between your three part-time jobs -- or simply weren't able to afford the $10 for the small popcorn at your local rip-off cine-mall when my film was released last fall.

What's with you people?! I make these movies for you to see on a big screen, in the dark, with 200 strangers who want to hoot and holler along with you. Those of you who did see it -- thank you!! You helped to make it the 8th-largest grossing documentary of all time (and, as of Sunday morning, "Capitalism" had sold more tickets than Best Picture winner, "The Hurt Locker").

But for those of you who didn't get to the theater, what's your excuse? Didn't want to sit through 20 minutes of TV ads up on the screen before the movie started? Don't like sitting next to people who have 6 important cell calls to make during the film? Feet get stuck to the floor after two hours of people spilling their 164 oz. sodas, thus preventing you from getting up when the film's over? Jeez, what babies!

Well, starting today, you can now OWN your very own DVD (or Blu-ray) copy of my latest action/romance/horror film, "Capitalism: A Love Story" -- and watch it in the comfort of your soon-to-be-foreclosed home! Get it cheap at Amazon, rent or stream it fast at Netflix, or go down to the local Wal-Mart that put your locally-owned mom & pop video store outta business and pick it up for pennies on the dollar. See! Something for everyone!

The fact that Wal-Mart is carrying this movie -- a movie that specifically exposes Wal-Mart's past practice of taking out secret "dead peasant" life insurance policies on its employees and naming itself as the lone beneficiary should the employee meet an "untimely" early death -- well, my friends, need you any further proof that Corporate America is so secure in its position as the ruler of our country, so sure of its infallible power that, yes, they can even sell a movie that attacks them because it poses absolutely no threat to them?

A sane person would think that Wal-Mart would never carry "Capitalism: A Love Story" because it's simply not in their best interests to inform their customers of their shady past. After all, many Wal-Mart stores wouldn't carry "Bowling for Columbine" back in 2003. That was *Kmart* I went after (for selling the ammo to the Columbine killers)! But I guess that was too Mart-y close for Wal-Mart -- so no DVDs were allowed of that film on the shelves of some of the world's biggest retail chain's stores (the movie studio estimated that cost them $2.5 million in sales).

But seven years later, it's a new day in America. The corporate coup is complete. Corporations like Wal-Mart now call all the shots, write all the laws, pay off almost all the congressmen and essentially (along with the other Fortune 500 companies and Wall Street) rule the nation. They've helped to eliminate consumer choice and the free market while convincing you they are all for "free enterprise" and the "U.S.A."
More importantly, they've snuffed out any criticism or opposition. They've even co-opted liberals, like the people who made the wonderful documentary, "Food, Inc." The last half-hour of this movie includes -- I kid you not -- an homage to Wal-Mart as the filmmakers swoon over this kinder, gentler company that has decided to -- bless them! -- put an organic food counter in their stores! Thank you, Wal-Mart! Kumbaya! (And hey, granolaheads, don't forget to flash a smile on the way out of the store at the "greeter" who can't afford to see a doctor.)
Yes, Wal-Mart, by selling "Capitalism," is saying to me: "Go ahead Mike and expose us all you want! Hahahhaha! We're so convinced that the public has either been dumbed down or made numb enough to not give a lick about whatever it is you're saying about us and capitalism. We can sell a million of these and it won't make a damn bit of difference about our ability to rule the world. So knock yourself out, big guy! Hehehehehehe. Go ahead and put your little movie on our shelves. It will never start a revolution."

Or so they think.

But what if they're wrong?

What if they and their brethren -- the banks, the insurance companies, the hedge fund sociopaths -- are too confident we won't fight to get our country back? They think that because they, the richest 1%, now own more financial wealth than 95% of all Americans COMBINED, that they can get away with anything. Perhaps they're right. Perhaps they're not.

I did ask someone at the studio why Wal-Mart was so willing to carry this movie.

"They're no dummies," he told me. "They know who shops in their stores -- working people, blue collar, the people hit hardest by the economy. They know your movie will resonate with them and that only means one thing -- ka-ching, ka-ching at the cash register!"

Happy now? Good. I thought I'd cheer you up on my big day!

Listen, let me cut right to it: I am passionate about this movie. It is not only my most personal film, it is the most vital and necessary film I've made in my 20 years as a filmmaker. Period. I told my crew at the start of this movie, "Let's make this film so brutally honest that NO ONE with any money will ever want to write us a check to make another movie!" And so we set off to make the most dangerous documentary we could.

As gloomy as our situation in the world looks these days, I refuse to give up. If there's even the slightest chance that we can turn this around, then I want to help, I want to be part of the fight along with you.

And I want you to see this movie. Not next week (by then, the health insurance companies will have won). Not next month (by then, the banks will have scuttled any new regulations). I need you to watch it right now and I need you to get as many of your friends and family to watch it as soon as possible -- and then I want you to do something.

That "something" can be found in the 80 new minutes of material and DVD extras I've put on this home video. It's 80 minutes of bold ideas and things we can do to get our country back. No one has seen these extras -- and today will be the first time they're available on the home video of this movie.

Well, that's the pitch. I get nothing $-wise from the sale of these DVDs. I just want you to see this movie because, if you haven't, I think you will not only be "entertained" for 2 hours, you'll be ready to rock-n-roll your way down to the local Citibank and create the nonviolent ruckus they need to see. THIS IS OUR COUNTRY -- not theirs. They have plundered and pillaged long enough. Homes in this country receive foreclosure filings every eight seconds! This must be stopped.

Let my movie be the tool you use to rise up and become the citizens I know you want to be. If not now, when?

Thank you for all your support over all these years. You must know by now that I honestly couldn't make these movies without you.

My absolute gratitude and best wishes for you and yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
 
P.S. To order "Capitalism: A Love Story" from Amazon, click here. You can also add "Capitalism" to your Netflix and Blockbuster queues.

P.P.S. To see just how secure Wal-Mart feels in its place as King of the World, I'll take a spin around to some Wal-Marts this weekend and see if the DVD has been pulled off the shelves. I'll let you know!

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Tags: Michael Moore  Capitalism Movies

Michael Moore's Open Letter to President Obama

Image via Wikipedia

It's been a while since we have shared some of Michael Moore's emails with you, hasn't it?... 

Well, the one we've posted today (with added links for good measure) will definitely make up for it.

Yep, It's the copy of the open letter to President Obama sent by The Man Himself.

Don't thank me, I'm only the messenger... 

But, we definitely can all give a big thanks to Michael Moore for sharing all that stuff with us on a regular basis.

Enjoy!

Loup Dargent

 

An Open Letter 
to President Obama 
from Michael Moore

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Dear President Obama,

Do you really want to be the new "war president"? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do -- destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they've always heard is true -- that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so. 

It is not your job to do what the generals tell you to do. We are a civilian-run government. WE tell the Joint Chiefs what to do, not the other way around. That's the way General Washington insisted it must be. That's what President Truman told General MacArthur when MacArthur wanted to invade China. "You're fired!," said Truman, and that was that. And you should have fired Gen. McChrystal when he went to the press to preempt you, telling the press what YOU had to do. Let me be blunt: We love our kids in the armed services, but we f*#&in' hate these generals, from Westmoreland in Vietnam to, yes, even Colin Powell for lying to the UN with his made-up drawings of WMD (he has since sought redemption). 

So now you feel backed into a corner. 30 years ago this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) the Soviet generals had a cool idea -- "Let's invade Afghanistan!" Well, that turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin. 

There's a reason they don't call Afghanistan the "Garden State" (though they probably should, seeing how the corrupt President Karzai, whom we back, has his brother in the heroin tradeGenghis Khan but I lost his number. I do have Gorbachev's number though. It's + 41 22 789 1662. I'm sure he could give you an earful about the historic blunder you're about to commit.  raising poppies). Afghanistan's nickname is the "Graveyard of Empires." If you don't believe it, give the British a call. I'd have you call

With our economic collapse still in full swing and our precious young men and women being sacrificed on the altar of arrogance and greed, the breakdown of this great civilization we call America will head, full throttle, into oblivion if you become the "war president." Empires never think the end is near, until the end is here. Empires think that more evil will force the heathens to toe the line -- and yet it never works. The heathens usually tear them to shreds. 

Choose carefully, President Obama. You of all people know that it doesn't have to be this way. You still have a few hours to listen to your heart, and your own clear thinking. You know that nothing good can come from sending more troops halfway around the world to a place neither you nor they understand, to achieve an objective that neither you nor they understand, in a country that does not want us there. You can feel it in your bones. 

I know you know that there are LESS than a hundred al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan! A hundred thousand troops trying to crush a hundred guys living in caves? Are you serious? Have you drunk Bush's Kool-Aid? I refuse to believe it. 

Your potential decision to expand the war (while saying that you're doing it so you can "end the war") will do more to set your legacy in stone than any of the great things you've said and done in your first year. One more throwing a bone from you to the Republicans and the coalition of the hopeful and the hopeless may be gone -- and this nation will be back in the hands of the haters quicker than you can shout "tea bag!" 

Choose carefully, Mr. President. Your corporate backers are going to abandon you as soon as it is clear you are a one-term president and that the nation will be safely back in the hands of the usual idiots who do their bidding. That could be Wednesday morning. 

We the people still love you. We the people still have a sliver of hope. But we the people can't take it anymore. We can't take your caving in, over and over, when we elected you by a big, wide margin of millions to get in there and get the job done. What part of "landslide victory" don't you understand? 

Don't be deceived into thinking that sending a few more troops into Afghanistan will make a difference, or earn you the respect of the haters. They will not stop until this country is torn asunder and every last dollar is extracted from the poor and soon-to-be poor. You could send a million troops over there and the crazy Right still wouldn't be happy. You would still be the victim of their incessant venom on hate radio and television because no matter what you do, you can't change the one thing about yourself that sends them over the edge. 

The haters were not the ones who elected you, and they can't be won over by abandoning the rest of us. 

President Obama, it's time to come home. Ask your neighbors in Chicago and the parents of the young men and women doing the fighting and dying if they want more billions and more troops sent to Afghanistan. Do you think they will say, "No, we don't need health care, we don't need jobs, we don't need homes. You go on ahead, Mr. President, and send our wealth and our sons and daughters overseas, 'cause we don't need them, either." 

What would Martin Luther King, Jr. do? What would your grandmother do? Not send more poor people to kill other poor people who pose no threat to them, that's what they'd do. Not spend billions and trillions to wage war while American children are sleeping on the streets and standing in bread lines. 

All of us that voted and prayed for you and cried the night of your victory have endured an Orwellian hell of eight years of crimes committed in our name: torture, rendition, suspension of the bill of rights, invading nations who had not attacked us, blowing up neighborhoods that Saddam "might" be in (but never was), slaughtering wedding parties in Afghanistan. We watched as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were slaughtered and tens of thousands of our brave young men and women were killed, maimed, or endured mental anguish -- the full terror of which we scarcely know. 

When we elected you we didn't expect miracles. We didn't even expect much change. But we expected some. We thought you would stop the madness. Stop the killing. Stop the insane idea that men with guns can reorganize a nation that doesn't even function as a nation and never, ever has. 

Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop. 

Tonight we still have hope. 

Tomorrow, we shall see. The ball is in your court. You DON'T have to do this. You can be a profile in courage. You can be your mother's son. 

We're counting on you. 

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
 

P.S. There's still time to have your voice heard. Call the White House at 202-456-1111 or email the President.

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'Capitalism': More from Michael Moore

Image via Wikipedia

I was so wrong when I said in my last post that 

Michael Moore's emails always come in threes....

I've just discovered that they actually come in fours.

I'm glad he's send that other email as I was quite curious to know how things went for the movie'sGrand Opening Night and I'm pleased to learn that the movie was well received.

But, and most importantly, I'm also very excited to see that total stangers were talking to each others about it after the movie was finished...

When something like that happens, that's usually the proof, if one's needed, that the movie is not just another movie but is bond to quickly become a "classic"... A "must see" kind of movie that people will talk about for years to come.

Once again, I'm going to let Michael Moore "talk" to you himself about the movie, its Grand Opening Night and other related stuff by sharing his email with you...

 Enjoy!

Loup Dargent

A Great Opening Night! 

Do Not Put Off Seeing "Capitalism: 

A Love Story" -- GO TONIGHT! 

All of Wall Street is Watching! 

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

 Friends,

Thank you, all of you, who packed the theaters across North America last night to see my new film. The movie houses were rockin'! The national movie exit poll company announced this morning that the audiences in America gave "Capitalism: A Love Story" a rare "A" rating! Wow, thank you! In most multiplexes where "Capitalism" played, it was the #1 or #2 top-grossing movie there for the evening. That is nothing short of amazing.

For those of you waiting till next week to see it, I can't say this strongly enough: Do not put off going to see "Capitalism: A Love Story." It is not just a movie. It is a referendum that is being closely watched by the CEOs of America. Let me tell you bluntly, the suits on Wall Street are closely watching to see how this movie does this weekend. So, too, are the members of Congress. If "Capitalism" has a huge opening, it will send shivers down their corporate spines, telling them loud and clear that the American people are mad as hell and are not into taking it any more. It will put all the bosses on notice that the vast Obama-voting majority has awoken from its silence and are out in full force.

But if the attendance is just "ok" or "so-so," then they will be relieved knowing that there is not a popular groundswell of opposition out there -- and then they can go about their business as usual. I'd like to send them a different message.

Treat tonight and tomorrow as if it were election day. Blow their minds on Monday morning when they show up at their executive suites, switch on CNBC or Fox Business News, and learn that America turned out in droves to participate in a raucous denunciation of Wall Street and everything it stands for. I often hear people ask, "What can I do to make my voice heard?" Your answer is at the nearest theater showing this movie. Trust me, packing these movie houses tonight and tomorrow will eff them up in an overwhelming and profound way.

Last night, there were many reports of spontaneous cheering throughout the film in nearly all the theaters. Theater managers reported difficulties in getting people to clear the theater lobby afterwards because groups of total strangers assembled to passionately discuss what they just saw. One manager wrote to me and said, "It's a good thing we carry Gummy Bears and Junior Mints at the concessions stand instead of pitchforks and torches! These crowds were ready to march over to the local Citibank and do something!" Another manager said a crowd in the lobby formed around the little Chase ATM machine next to his popcorn stand and started to "yell at it." Jeez! (Click here to see some of the cell phone photos fans have sent from various theaters around the country last night.)

Here's what I've heard the most about last night: Audiences were stunned and shocked by many of the things I reveal in the movie -- stuff that the networks have refused to show them -- even though they have the footage! They purposely withhold this news from you, the public. And because I dare to show it, some networks now refuse to license any of their footage to me. So I get my hands on it and put it in the movie anyway. I truly don't care. I'm sick and tired of the truth not being told to the American people -- and I am willing to suffer whatever the consequences come my way because I showed it to you. Fortunately we have "fair use" laws in this country that have kept my hide out of court so far. There is something so patently wrong with not being told what Wall Street and Corporate America are up to. If you go see "Capitalism" tonight, you'll see what I mean. You will alternately have your head spinning and then find yourself laughing your ass off!

Much more is riding on the success of this movie than the amount of popcorn that is sold. If we do well this weekend, the studio will expand the film to smaller towns next week. Don't put off seeing it! Click here to find out where it's playing and order your tickets now. Call some friends and make a night of it. My crew and I have put nearly two years of our lives into this and I am honored that it has been so well received. Join in on the fun of giving AIG, GM, Bank of America and all the other thieves the shellacking they deserve. And send me a photo of you and the crowd there tonight! I'll post it and personally send it to the heads of all the financial institutions and the members of Congress. They need to get a clue -- right now -- and I'd like you to help me send them that clue!

Thanks again, and I'll see you tonight at the movies!

Yours,
Michael Moore

MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

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'Capitalism' Opens Today at a Theater Near You! ...an invitation from Michael Moore

Michael Moore's emails are like trains... 
They always come in threes.

I'm only joking, of course. 
It just that today, I've received another email from Michael Moore about his latest movie and, like what I've done with the two previous ones, "Michael Moore: 'Capitalism' as Comedy and Tragedy Now Playing.." and "Free Screenings Tonight of 'Capitalism' for the Jobless and Homeless...", I'm going to share it with you. 

That makes it three Michael Moore related posts almost in a row. D'oh! Does that mean that 'Forward and Share' has become a train station? 

"Tickets, please!"
As you can see, I've obviously missed my vocation. 
Plus, I do look good in uniform (so I've been told, but that's another story)... 


So, today is D Day (at least in America) for 'Capitalism: A Love Story'... 
In his email, Michael Moore is doing more than just pitching his movie. He is actually sharing with us some of his feelings about it. 'Capitalism' is truly his baby, there is no doubt of that.



Even if you don't agree with what Michael Moore stands for, you will, hopefully, see him the same way that I'm seeing him when reading his email: a filmmaker, a creator, being proud of his creation and wanting to share the moment with others. 


But, enough of me going in on and on and on about it...
Let's listen to the Man Himself instead (Oi! Who said "It's about time"?!).


Enjoy!


Loup Dargent

PS: Michael Moore mentions popcorn in his email, so here we go... 

Friends,

For two months, we've sat and watched the rabid right achieve the unimaginable: Derail universal health care and send the Democrats in Congress running for cover. Many have asked, "How did this happen? How could a small minority of angry people control the public agenda? Where is the majority's response? Why the silence?"

I don't have the answers to all these questions. But I do know this: I've had enough. As far as I'm concerned, Tea Bag Nation ends today -- at noon to be precise. For that's when I set loose, on a thousand screens across this great land, a movie I've made that's so relentless, so dangerous, so damning in its humor, that it will -- I can only hope -- do what no movie has done before: Take them down, take them all down, once and for all.

The days of the majority of Americans being ignored and played for chumps are over as of right now. This weekend, consider your local cinema the REAL town hall meetings! Come and spend two hours with hundreds of other people who are fed up and in need of a bit of inspiration -- and a good hearty laugh at the expense of all the S.O.B.s who've wrecked our economy and laid ruin to our democracy.

I'm personally inviting you to come see what many critics are saying is my best film yet: "Capitalism: A Love Story." You will not be disappointed. I will show you things and tell you things about how the captains of corporate America have stolen our country from us. No one on the nightly news is bringing these truths to you. Beginning at noon today, I pull back the curtain and reveal who's responsible for the calamity we're in. That's right -- I name names and I explain why this economic system we have is nothing more than legalized greed, and Wall Street is nothing more than a crime syndicate in suits. You will be blown away by what you see, but you will not leave the theater in a pit of despair. I'm counting on your response to be one of exhilaration and determination. I've watched this movie in sneak previews with audiences from Pittsburgh to L.A. and I've never seen more hooting and hollering during a documentary in my life. There are actually standing O's during the movie! Weird. Cool. Down in front!

Please see "Capitalism: A Love Story" this weekend. Take a bunch of friends and make it an event. Last weekend in New York and L.A. many shows sold out (making "Capitalism" the biggest per screen average at the box office for 2009), so get your tickets early. And if you get a chance, send me a photo of what opening night looks like in your city and I'll post it on my website.

C'mon, friends -- RISE UP! This is our moment. And it comes with popcorn! Not bad!

Thank you so very much for all your support and encouragement over the years.

Yours,
Michael Moore

MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
 
P.S. For a list of theaters and to find the nearest one to you showing "Capitalism: A Love Story," click here.

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Free Screenings Tonight of "Capitalism" for the Jobless and Homeless in America's Hardest Hit Cities

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

Yep, I've got another email from Michael Moore to share with you guys... 
But, this one might be even more important than the one in my previous post, because it shows that, despite what some of his detractors would like us to believe, he is not such an hypocrite after all! 

The only problem with Michael Moore's emails (I'm not complaining about receiving them, far from it) is that there are some kind of deadlines in them. Hence why I'm going to do what I've done with the "Michael Moore: 'Capitalism' as Comedy and Tragedy Now Playing.."one and publish it straight away, with only some slight editing done then and there..

That might look like lazy blogging for some people, but I won't apologise too much for this as I know that there are a lot of peeps out there who need to get that information as soon as possible and preferably before the deadlines.

(Well, that's my excuse anyway, and I'll stick to it as long as I can...)

So, ready for the good news?

Here there are, from the Man Himself..

Enjoy!

Loup Dargent

Free Screenings Tonight of "Capitalism" for the Jobless and Homeless in America's Hardest Hit Cities (plus local benefit premieres all across the country)

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Friends,

We're just one day away from the widest opening I've ever had for any of my movies. Tomorrow, Friday, October 2nd, "Capitalism: A Love Story" opens on over a thousand screens across the United States, a record for an independent documentary.

This follows last weekend's limited opening in New York and L.A. where "Capitalism" set the box office record for the highest per screen average of ANY movie released so far this year. Not just any documentary -- any MOVIE! It was, as the studio said, a good indicator of just how well the movie may do when it goes wide this weekend. I sincerely hope they're right because I believe deeply in this film.

To kick off the national release of "Capitalism: A Love Story," I've asked the studio to offer a number of screenings in the nation's hardest hit cities -- the ones with the highest unemployment rates and highest foreclosure rates -- where those who've lost their jobs or who are in foreclosure (or have already been evicted) may attend my film free of charge. They've agreed, and so tonight (Thursday), the night before our opening day, ten cities will grant you free admission if you have fallen on hard times. The list of theaters and cities is below. You don't need to bring any "proof" of your situation -- just show up -- it's the honor system, no questions asked.

Of course, a free movie ain't much when what you really need is a job or a place to live. And that's not going to change until the party that controls both the Congress and the White House wakes up and realizes the American people put them in charge to fix the mess created by the previous administration. For that to happen requires the active involvement of each of us. And, as I show in this movie, it's going to also require us to challenge some fundamental assumptions about an economic system that currently allows the wealthiest ONE PERCENT in this country to have more financial wealth than the bottom 95% combined. That concentration of money and power in the hands of so few people is, I believe, at the core of so many of our problems.

So, if you're going through tough times and you live in one of the areas below, please be my guest tonight, on the eve of my new film's opening. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Also, in another five cities tonight, I have made the film available to local groups to hold benefit screenings to raise money for their local organizations -- organizations which are working toward a day when a filmmaker doesn't have to offer free screenings to people who've been put through the wringer. If you live in any of these areas (see below for the list of benefit premieres tonight), please come out and support the good work of these grassroots groups.

So, until tomorrow, thanks for your support, and I'll see ya at the movies!

Yours,

Michael Moore

MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
Twitter.com/MMFlint
Facebook.com/MMFlint
MySpace.com/MMFlint

"CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY" FREE SCREENINGS:

Las Vegas, Nevada
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Cinemark Orleans
4600 W Tropicana Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89103

Phoenix, Arizona
Thursday, Oct.1st, 7:00 p.m.
Harkins Christown
1620 W Monte Bello
Phoenix, AZ 85015

Fresno, California
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Edwards Stadium
250 Paseo Del Centro
Fresno, CA 93720

Saginaw, Michigan
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Goodrich Saginaw 8 Theater
3250 Kabobel Dr.
Saginaw, MI 48604

Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Regal North Hills Stadium 14
4150 Main at North Hills St.
Raleigh, NC 27609

Tampa / St. Petersburg, Florida
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Muvico Starlight
1800 Highwood Preserve Parkway
Tampa, FL 33647

Elkhart, Indiana
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Carmike Encore Park 14
2701 Cassopolis Street
Elkhart, IN 46514

Baltimore, Maryland
Thursday, October 1st, 7:30 p.m.
The Charles Theatre
1711 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Cleveland, Ohio
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
AMC Westwood Town Center
21653 Center Ridge Road
Rocky River, OH 44116

Peoria, Illinois
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:00PM
Willow Knolls 14 Theatre
4100 W Willow Knolls Drive
Peoria, IL 61615

"CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY" BENEFIT SCREENINGS:

Miami, Florida
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Sunrise Intracoastal
3701 NE 163rd Street
North Miami Beach, FL 33160
Benefiting: Take Back the Land

Madison, Wisconsin
Thursday, October 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Sundance Cinemas 608
430 N. Midvale Blvd.
Madison, WI 53705
Benefiting: Madison Association of Worker Cooperatives / Union Cab / Isthmus Engineering

San Francisco, California
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Embarcadero Center Cinema
One Embarcadero Center, Promenade
San Francisco, CA 94111
Benefiting: US Federation of Worker Cooperatives

Chicago, Illinois
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 8:00 p.m.
Kerasotes City North
2600 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
Benefiting: United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America

Grass Valley, California
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Del Oro Theatre
165 Mill Street
Grass Valley, CA 95945
Benefiting: KVMR-FM

Boulder, Colo. (past screening)
Tuesday, Sept. 29th, 8:00 p.m.
Boulder Theater
2032 14th Street.
Boulder, CO 80302
Benefiting: Present Tense Films

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