Stupid White Men-- and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation! - Michael Moore [16]
c. E-mail: For Senators, go to www.senate.gov/contacting/indexbystate.cfin; for Representatives, go towww.house.gov/writerep/
d. Send a telegram: call Western Union—1-800-325-6000—or visit their Web site: www.westernunion.com
2. Dog Bush Wherever He Goes. If you hear Junior’s coming to town, organize a group of friends to protest the event. Remind the media that Bush doesn’t govern by the will of the people. Be loud. Be funny. Signs, street theater, mock trials—show him there’s no safe haven from the Truth.
3. Force the Democrats to do their job. Obviously, the easiest way to counter the coup is to get the “opposition” to fight the good fight. But it won’t be easy: today’s Democrats have little time for those who can’t make their $1,000-a-plate dinners. So here’s how to start a little Democratic behavior modification program:
• Take the Pledge. Go to my Web site (michaelmoore.com) and sign the on-line petition that challenges the Democrats in Congress to stand up to Bush/Cheney and fast—or we’ll work to deny them Congressional leadership next year by running Greens in close races where the Democrat’s just a Republican in a bad suit.
• Take over your local Democratic Party. In most counties the local Democratic Party is ran by just a few people, ‘cause most citizens would never think of showing up. Go the next county or town Party meeting, and bring ten friends. In most cases your bunch will constitute a majority. Use the rules and the state party by-laws (which can often be found on the Web) and seize control.
4. YOU must run for office. That’s right—YOU, the person reading this book. It’s the only way things are ever going to change. Unless normal, decent people run for government office, the job is left to rascals. How can we carp about crooked politicians if we won’t do the job ourselves? It’s time for YOU to throw your hat in the ring—and to do it next year. You can run for school board, city council, county treasurer, drain commissioner, city or county clerk, state representative, state senate, state board of education, secretary of state, governor, member of Congress, U.S. Senator, even dogcatcher—or any number of other offices. The one you should definitely run for is precinct delegate. Every precinct in America elects delegates from each party; it may be the lowliest office, but it’s also the foundation on which the whole house of cards is built. Selected delegates attend the national party conventions to nominate the presidential candidates; you should be among them.
And I’m not just saying this—I’m doing it, this year, and getting a dozen friends to run in their precincts too. It requires collecting enough signatures to get your name on the ballot, and qualifications vary. But so few people vote in primaries—and so many precincts end up with no candidates—that often getting elected isn’t much harder than just showing up. So head down to your board of elections or county clerk’s office and pick up some petitions before the deadline passes.
These are only a few of the measures we can take to stage our countercoup. Whether you do it as a Democrat, or a Green, or just one pissed-off citizen, the important thing is to rise up and do it.
Two
Dear George
An Open Letter to “President” George W. Bush
Dear Governor Bush:
You and I—we’re like family.. Our personal connection goes back many years. Neither of us has cared to publicize it, for all the obvious reasons—mostly because no one would believe it. But because of something personal, something the Bush family did, my life was profoundly affected.
Let’s come clean and admit it: it was your cousin Kevin who shot Roger & Me.
At the time I made the movie, I didn’t know that your mother and Kevin’s mother were sisters. I just thought Kevin, whom I’d met when he was shooting his own film at a cross burning in Michigan, was one of those bohemian artist types who lived in Greenwich Village. Kevin had made