it's
weird how you can read articles about what's going on and not let it
hit you...but once you see footage and pictures of what's going
on...it's like you can't get those images out of your head. it almost
seems like no one knew this hurricane was coming. that's fucken
ridiculous! it
really makes you wonder if this had happened in an affluent area, would
the relief help have taken this long? i mean, people have been going on
without food or water for several days. people have no idea where their
families are. i saw footage of a lady talking on a cell phone (handed
to her by an actor) with tears in her eyes because she was just so
relieved to hear from her kids. that really made me tear up too. i'm not normally emotional...but seeing footage of people who are wandering the streets, not knowing if tomorrow is even going to come, trying to find their families and food, and avoid the dead bodies and fights AT THE SAME TIME...really gets to me 
Vacation is Over... an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush
Friday, September 2nd, 2005
Dear Mr. Bush:
Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina
and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted.
Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do
you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot.
Man, was that a drag.
Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We
could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to
do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to
begin with?
Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the
eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1
then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today,
there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said
this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did
anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and
I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to
go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed
her!
I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of
flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business
peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the
hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in
the dike?
And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal
how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for
New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them
that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there
weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you
had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING
DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!
On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to
say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from
the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look
of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and
stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done
that.
There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and
try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that
out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this
would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter
and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all
their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a
hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that
stretched from New York to Cleveland.
No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault
that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of
thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're
black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you
imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make
me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!
You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army
helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and
the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com
P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your
ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now
driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way.
Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.
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