A Letter To Michael Moore

[RBInMaine]

(I have sent this letter to Mr. Moore. Thought I'd share.)

Dear Mr. Moore,

We agree in a number of areas and disagree in some. I admire your guts and candor in general, but there are times when I think you go overboard. Saying you are more depressed with Pres. Obama and Democrats (because they haven't done enough) than you were with Bush/Cheney is such a case. Michael, if you are so depressed, then make like Al Franken and run for elective office yourself. Meantime, please allow me to refresh your memory on a number of points.

The Democratic House has passed hundreds of good bills. Your depression really rests with the Senate and its knot-tying rules being abused by the R's. The Dems also have a far more diverse caucus than the R's in this big regional nation, and they always have. Please understand the nation better. This is nothing new. It is harder to get such a diverse caucus to come together on many of the big sticky issues such as healthcare which is our stickiest and perhaps most complex. However, you must give the President and Democrats credit for trying and getting closer to getting something comprehensive passed, no thanks to the Republicans, than any President and Congress in 100 years. Yes, the bill is far from perfect. If we had he kind of national movement needed for single payer we'd have that. But we just don't. But this bill does do some needed insurance practices reform, gets millions more covered, and reduces the debt over time. It is a start. It is something. And we need to do SOMETHING. Doing nothing is not an option, and the options are limited given having to get so many diverse people to come together on something. We NEED to pass the bill and then work to improvement it over time. We need to start somewhere. Too many people are dying not to do so. Alan Grayson, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Al Franken, Howard Dean, and many other progressives support it as a start. You should too.

The bank bailout totally sucked, but it was better than the next Great Depression. Little choice there. It's being repaid, and new banking regulations are pending in Congress. A bill is coming.

Iraq is winding down, and Pres. Obama did exactly what he said he would on Afghanistan. He wishes he had not inherited either problem, but he did and he is doing what he said he would and wants it all to end as soon as reasonably possible. End of story.

Thanks to Pres. Obama and the Dems, hundreds of thousands of teachers, firefighters, cops, construction workers, etc. are on the job, as well as plenty in the private sector including in the green energy sector. More is coming. This recession could have been much worse.

Thanks to Pres. Obama and Dems, hundreds of thousands more kids have healthcare, women have equal pay for equal work, stem cell science is moving ahead, and there are fewer restrictions on choice.

Thanks to Pres. Obama and Dems, the don't ask don't tell rule is on the way out.

I saw Obama speak during the campaign. I saw his inaugural speech. He said it would take YEARS to fix these huge problems. He inherited the biggest mess since the Great Depression. It won't be fixed overnight.

Do I have disappointments too? Sure. Dems need to get more united, clearer in their messaging, and MUCH tougher on the Republicans, and Senate rules need to be reformed. But c'mon, you're feeling worse than the darkest days of Bush/Cheney? Buck up partner. If it's that bad, run for office yourself. You have plenty of name recognition and money. Go ahead. You can't just point out problems with your movies and rhetoric, and you can not crawl under a rock in despair and quit. You need to organize. You need to step up yourself and run for office.

PS: You once called Bill Clinton our best "Republican" President. Clinton won two elections and left office even after a sex scandal and a relentless right wing assault with a 60+% job approval.

[FSogol]

1. K & R. Spot on. n/t

[Champion Jack]

2. Well said

[mmonk]

3. I agree with Moore in the area of the need for real regulatory measures

on the economic front. I do not like the economic team in the White House. However, the more disappointed than when bush was in office is a bit much. I'm actually fearing another bush like presidency in the future sometime. I agree with you that any real measures die in the Senate. I'm very frustrated with that body of ineptitude.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. I didn't expect this crap from a Democratic administration

In that respect, I am also more disappointed than when Bush was in office. We expected Bush to be bad. Not Obama.

[mmonk]

9. I understand. Where decisive change is most needed is where

it falls short. It seems more of a slowing down of the slide than corrective measures to eradicate a slide.

[CTLawGuy]

4. K&R

He won't run for office for the same reason Ed Schultz won't, it's hard to get in there and try to accomplish something and it is easy to sit back and criticize on TV those who are trying to do just that.

[ChicagoSuz219]

5. I could've written this letter...

...thanks for doing it for me! :-)

[Spazito]

7. Well said!

Recommended.

[the other one]

8. Dear Michael Moore: Dont ever change.

:)

[asjr]

10. Good letter. You read my mind. I really

like Michael Moore but when he acts like a Republican I back off.

[zipplewrath]

11. A few points of clarification

Yes, the senate is a major problem, although the whole abortion fracas comes out of the House. And the Senate problems are as much the conservative democrats leveraging GOP opposition as it has anything to do with the GOP. Truth is, the GOP is only able to do this because of democratic (and Lieberman) cooperation. And Obama (and Rahm) refuse to expose this and prefer to continue to blame the GOP since it is "retarded" to expose those democrats that cooperate with the GOP.

You claim we "need" to pass a bad bill. I'd really like to see a contrast and compare on the details. Not on the promise for the future, but on what THIS bill will do. The reason I suggest that is because through the whole process we've always been told that the "Fix" is in the future. The House abortion language was going to be "fixed" in the senate. Yet now we are told that in order to pass the bill, the senate will have to negotiate with the House to add back in some of their language. We were suppose to support the Senate bill coming out of committee because it was only one of 9 bills coming out and the public option could be added back in. Then we were suppose to support the senate passing their bill because it could be fixed in conference with the House. Now we're suppose to pass the Senate version and they'll fix it with reconciliation. And there will be more fixes in the coming years.

This president campaigned AGAINST a cadillac tax. He campaigned FOR a public option. He stated that single payer was the best ultimate solution. Now supposedly all those things have reversed. He's for the tax, doesn't need a PO, and the single payer "won't work". Why should I believe him that anything will get "fixed" in the out years? Why should I presume that his commissions and Exchanges will do the things that are promised they will do. They structure and powers aren't that clearly defined. The authority they'll have to actually control and/or cut costs isn't clear. The same guys who handed out billions to the banks, with no strings attached, now want me to believe that they can cut costs through regulation. And the same DLC bunch that brought us NAFTA now wants us to accept a regulatory model for health care is going to benefit Americans. I just don't see anyone actually making that case ON THIS BILL. It is always on the promise of some future improvement, or the work of a commission or agency that doesn't even exist yet. Why should I believe they'll be anymore successful with that than closing Gitmo?

And as for those bank bailouts you defend. There was ALOT of choice there. Handing out that much cash with no strings attached was stone cold stupid. Pay and bonuses, not to mention some relief for the mortgage holders should have been part of the package, not buying "toxic assets" at face value as oppose to market value. And how much interest is being charged? And you claim that "new banking regulations are coming" but we're already seeing Krugman and others complain about what is being written. Why should anyone be impressed with such promises after what we saw come out of the health insurance regulation bill we are currently being asked to pass.

Then there is this one:

"Thanks to Pres. Obama and Dems, hundreds of thousands more kids have health care, women have equal pay for equal work, stem cell science is moving ahead, and there are fewer restrictions on choice."

The only "thanks" here is that he wasn't involved. Those bills existed in some form or another prior to his taking office. Such bills were passed with GOP support while Bush was in office. Bush vetoed them, but the support for them already existed in Congress. I'm happy Obama didn't get in the way and I'm glad Rahm didn't try to help.

And please don't make promises you can't keep on DADT. He's done nothing so far. He's bought into every delaying tactic the pentagon has suggested. He's still expelling officers. And considering the guy couldn't close Gitmo (and all he's really done is offer to change addresses), I'd be careful about accepting promises for which he has no real solutions until the deed is done.

The reason one might feel worse on than the darkest day of the Bush administration is because we had real hope then that things could get better. Now, it's a case of "this is as good as it gets?". And don't get me started on the torture photos, indefinite detentions, torture memos.....

[RBInMaine]

18. Well, if you're so unhappy, then go run for office yourself. Bitch less. Run for office more.

[AllentownJake]

12. My rebuttal

1) On HCR, mandating private insurance without a public option to cut cost is the quintessential episode of stupidity.

2) The bank bailout did nothing. Nothing is being paid back. The banks are all still in as bad shape as they were in October of 2008. The only difference is we have changed the rules that they aren't till they run out of liquidity. If you want me to explain this to you, I will do so gladly.

3) The President has done good things, he's been negligent on the crisis that faced him when he walked into office, and has been doing a shit load of can kicking.

4) Bill Clinton's banking deregulation push was one of the steps that got us to where we are today.

5) Michael Moore ever ran for office, I'd move to that district and work for free.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Agree 100% with Michael Moore

Always have. He speaks for me:)

[harun]

14. I stand with Moore and hope he goes after them even harder. But I do

wish he would run for office or even better Obama could put him on the Supreme Court.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. Mandates to force the purchase of profit driven products is daft

and it is wrong. I stand with Moore. I stood with the President before he changed his entire platform into that of some Republican on this issue. That fits with his dogmatic agreement with Palin about equal civil rights.
Michael Moore is right. Obama is wrong. About so many things it is getting exhausting. Obama is against my family's rights, against choice in Insurance, against, against, against. And he ran as the opposite of what he is now. He ran as a Democrat.

[NJmaverick]

16. This if a very reasonable and well thought position

which means it will not be popular here, but I will give it a kick and rec.

[Cha]

17. Great letter, RBMaine! Why do these guys who have such

good ideas at times..have to use such idiotic hyperbole at other times?

Is it to get attention? It's stupid. Hope he answers you back.