Monday, March 17, 2003
A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush on the Eve of War


George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC


Dear Governor Bush:

So today is what you call "the moment of truth," the day that "France and
the rest of world have to show their cards on the table." I'm glad to hear
that this day has finally arrived. Because, I gotta tell ya, having survived
440 days of your lying and conniving, I wasn't sure if I could take much
more. So I'm glad to hear that today is Truth Day, 'cause I got a few truths
I would like to share with you:

1. There is virtually NO ONE in America (talk radio nutters and Fox News
aside) who is gung-ho to go to war. Trust me on this one. Walk out of the
White House and on to any street in America and try to find five people who
are PASSIONATE about wanting to kill Iraqis. YOU WON'T FIND THEM! Why?
'Cause NO Iraqis have ever come here and killed any of us! No Iraqi has even
threatened to do that. You see, this is how we average Americans think: If a
certain so-and-so is not perceived as a threat to our lives, then, believe
it or not, we don't want to kill him! Funny how that works!

2. The majority of Americans -- the ones who never elected you -- are not
fooled by your weapons of mass distraction. We know what the real issues are
that affect our daily lives -- and none of them begin with I or end in Q.
Here's what threatens us: two and a half million jobs lost since you took
office, the stock market having become a cruel joke, no one knowing if their
retirement funds are going to be there, gas now costs almost two dollars --
the list goes on and on. Bombing Iraq will not make any of this go away.
Only you need to go away for things to improve.

3. As Bill Maher said last week, how bad do you have to suck to lose a
popularity contest with Saddam Hussein? The whole world is against you, Mr.
Bush. Count your fellow Americans among them.

4. The Pope has said this war is wrong, that it is a SIN. The Pope! But even
worse, the Dixie Chicks have now come out against you! How bad does it have
to get before you realize that you are an army of one on this war? Of
course, this is a war you personally won't have to fight. Just like when you
went AWOL while the poor were shipped to Vietnam in your place.

5. Of the 535 members of Congress, only ONE (Sen. Johnson of South Dakota)
has an enlisted son or daughter in the armed forces! If you really want to
stand up for America, please send your twin daughters over to Kuwait right
now and let them don their chemical warfare suits. And let's see every
member of Congress with a child of military age also sacrifice their kids
for this war effort. What's that you say? You don't THINK so? Well, hey,
guess what -- we don't think so either!

6. Finally, we love France. Yes, they have pulled some royal screw-ups. Yes,
some of them can be pretty damn annoying. But have you forgotten we wouldn't
even have this country known as America if it weren't for the French? That
it was their help in the Revolutionary War that won it for us? That our
greatest thinkers and founding fathers -- Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin,
etc. -- spent many years in Paris where they refined the concepts that lead
to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution? That it was France
who gave us our Statue of Liberty, a Frenchman who built the Chevrolet, and
a pair of French brothers who invented the movies? And now they are doing
what only a good friend can do -- tell you the truth about yourself,
straight, no b.s. Quit pissing on the French and thank them for getting it
right for once. You know, you really should have traveled more (like once)
before you took over. Your ignorance of the world has not only made you look
stupid, it has painted you into a corner you can't get out of.

Well, cheer up -- there IS good news. If you do go through with this war,
more than likely it will be over soon because I'm guessing there aren't a
lot of Iraqis willing to lay down their lives to protect Saddam Hussein.
After you "win" the war, you will enjoy a huge bump in the popularity polls
as everyone loves a winner -- and who doesn't like to see a good
ass-whoopin' every now and then (especially when it 's some third world
ass!). So try your best to ride this victory all the way to next year's
election. Of course, that's still a long ways away, so we'll all get to have
a good hardy-har-har while we watch the economy sink even further down the
toilet!

But, hey, who knows -- maybe you'll find Osama a few days before the
election! See, start thinking like THAT! Keep hope alive! Kill Iraqis --
they got our oil!!

Yours,

Michael Moore