17 Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists...by Michael Moore

Michael Moore's Web Site ^ | 11/5/04

[KidGlock]

Friday, November 5th, 2004

17 Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists...by Michael Moore

Dear Friends,

Ok, it sucks. Really sucks. But before you go and cash it all in, let's, in the words of Monty Python, “always look on the bright side of life!” There IS some good news from Tuesday's election.

Here are 17 reasons not to slit your wrists:

1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again.

2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

3. The only age group in which the majority voted for Kerry was young adults (Kerry: 54%, Bush: 44%), proving once again that your parents are always wrong and you should never listen to them.

4. In spite of Bush's win, the majority of Americans still think the country is headed in the wrong direction (56%), think the war wasn't worth fighting (51%), and don’t approve of the job George W. Bush is doing (52%). (Note to foreigners: Don't try to figure this one out. It's an American thing, like Pop Tarts.)

5. The Republicans will not have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate. If the Democrats do their job, Bush won't be able to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues. Did I say "if the Democrats do their job?" Um, maybe better to scratch this one.

6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that's a start. We've got most of the fresh water, all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in lava. And no more show tunes!

7. Once again we are reminded that the buckeye is a nut, and not just any old nut -- a poisonous nut. A great nation was felled by a poisonous nut. May Ohio State pay dearly this Saturday when it faces Michigan.

8. 88% of Bush's support came from white voters. In 50 years, America will no longer have a white majority. Hey, 50 years isn't such a long time! If you're ten years old and reading this, your golden years will be truly golden and you will be well cared for in your old age.

9. Gays, thanks to the ballot measures passed on Tuesday, cannot get married in 11 new states. Thank God. Just think of all those wedding gifts we won't have to buy now.

10. Five more African Americans were elected as members of Congress, including the return of Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. It's always good to have more blacks in there fighting for us and doing the job our candidates can't.

11. The CEO of Coors was defeated for Senate in Colorado. Drink up!

12. Admit it: We like the Bush twins and we don't want them to go away.

13. At the state legislative level, Democrats picked up a net of at least 3 chambers in Tuesday's elections. Of the 98 partisan-controlled state legislative chambers (house/assembly and senate), Democrats went into the 2004 elections in control of 44 chambers, Republicans controlled 53 chambers, and 1 chamber was tied. After Tuesday, Democrats now control 47 chambers, Republicans control 49 chambers, 1 chamber is tied and 1 chamber (Montana House) is still undecided.

14. Bush is now a lame duck president. He will have no greater moment than the one he's having this week. It's all downhill for him from here on out -- and, more significantly, he's just not going to want to do all the hard work that will be expected of him. It'll be like everyone's last month in 12th grade -- you've already made it, so it's party time! Perhaps he'll treat the next four years like a permanent Friday, spending even more time at the ranch or in Kennebunkport. And why shouldn't he? He's already proved his point, avenged his father and kicked our ass.

15. Should Bush decide to show up to work and take this country down a very dark road, it is also just as likely that either of the following two scenarios will happen: a) Now that he doesn't ever need to pander to the Christian conservatives again to get elected, someone may whisper in his ear that he should spend these last four years building "a legacy" so that history will render a kinder verdict on him and thus he will not push for too aggressive a right-wing agenda; or b) He will become so cocky and arrogant -- and thus, reckless -- that he will commit a blunder of such major proportions that even his own party will have to remove him from office.

16. There are nearly 300 million Americans -- 200 million of them of voting age. We only lost by three and a half million! That's not a landslide -- it means we're almost there. Imagine losing by 20 million. If you had 58 yards to go before you reached the goal line and then you barreled down 55 of those yards, would you stop on the three yard line, pick up the ball and go home crying -- especially when you get to start the next down on the three yard line? Of course not! Buck up! Have hope! More sports analogies are coming!!!

17. Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for the candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate." That's more than the total number of voters who voted for either Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Gore. Again, more people voted for Kerry than Reagan. If the media are looking for a trend it should be this -- that so many Americans were, for the first time since Kennedy, willing to vote for an out-and-out liberal. The country has always been filled with evangelicals -- that is not news. What IS news is that so many people have shifted toward a Massachusetts liberal. In fact, that's BIG news. Which means, don't expect the mainstream media, the ones who brought you the Iraq War, to ever report the real truth about November 2, 2004. In fact, it's better that they don't. We'll need the element of surprise in 2008.

Feeling better? I hope so. As my friend Mort wrote me yesterday, "My Romanian grandfather used to say to me, 'Remember, Morton, this is such a wonderful country -- it doesn't even need a president!'"

But it needs us. Rest up, I'll write you again tomorrow.

Yours,

Michael Moore MMFlint@aol.com www.michaelmoore.com

[frog_jerk_2004]

In spite of Bush's win, the majority of Americans still think the country is headed in the wrong direction (56%)

It is now obvious that people think liberalism is the wrong direction for this country because it was so soundly defeated! This question has never been qualified by the pundits so, this is why they were so shocked with the outcome of the election.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

All insufficient reasons, I'm afraid.

Don't listen to the silly fat man, my sweet young liberal friends. Keep sawing. :)

[Puppage]

Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president

And, she's only a little bit pregnant

[wolfman]

I wonder if Moore tried to hang himself. I'll bet the rope would break, turning him into just another redneck.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Michael Moore is on the side of the losers. He is in denial. He needs to ask himself why his side lost. If he chooses to continue to be arrogant in the face of reality, his days will continue to be dark.

[muawiyah]

"whole West coast"?~

Alaska has the greater part of the "West coast". They voted for "W". It has something to do with being in range of North Korean nuclear tipped warheads. Washington, Oregon and Northern California (San Francisco) will shortly join that part of the West coast.

Eventually these other guys have to get upset with Senators who opposed SDI, which would be in place defending them already but for that opposition.

[uncbob]

Unfortunately I tend to agree with some of the Fat Boys statements

I constantly posted here that as an incumbent with a very good economy and fighting a war on terror Bush should have been at 55%in the polls and should have gotten at least 55% of the vote

The fact he didn't shows just how much further this country has slipped to the left

Just look how far we have gone down since Reagans and Bush's father's landslides

In addition I didn't think the left/dems could have found a worse candidate than Carter-Mondale-Ducakis-Clinton- Gore

BUT THEY DID

Kerry was absolutely the worst lying traitor low life traitor with a mental case for a wife and yet a man of honesty and integrity like Bush with 4 years of incumbency and no scandals etc etc could only get 51% of the vote

I am relieved but not optimistic for the future

[rmgatto]

You've seen that picture fat michael posted on his website which is a portrait of W consisting of hundreds of small pictures of slain American soldiers? I'd like to see one of moore made up of tiny cheeseburgers or, even better, turds.

[DoughtyOne]

And that's why it's vitally important that republicans find a way to reduce that number to about 2 million also.

I know that sounds impossible, but privatization should be a top goal of the Bush administration. It's not going to happen overnight, but social security is a good place to start. Devise a long term plan to turn social security into a bonified retirement savings plan, one that the government keeps it's sticky fingers out of.

Medicare, welfare and other programs should be studied and ways devised to get government out of them.

[mtbopfuyn]

So he identifies with the kiddie MTV crowd? Sad isn't it that he was so hated in high school he's now trying to go back to buddy up with the popular kids.

[RobFromGa]

17. Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for the candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate."

Wrong. Maybe 30 million TOPS voted FOR the #1 Liberal. The other 25 million voted AGAINST the hated President Bush portrayed by the media, and held their noses to vote for Kerry.

The real danger is that in 4 years we pick a candidate that does not energize the base in a misguided effort to get more centrist votes. We need to keep what we've got happy.

[excalibur1701]

>>Finally and most importantly, over 55 million
>>Americans voted "for" the candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in
>>the Senate."

This is so untrue, a majority of these people were voting AGAINST Bush. The Democrats could have had Donald Duck on the ballat, and they still would have received most of the Democratic votes.

[AmCon]

Just think if all of those who threatened to leave would. What a beautiful day that would be. Maybe they could just all go to France (in time for the funeral).

[uncbob]

In addition I should add except for one other post besides mine all the posts on this thread were essentially personal insults about Moore

No rebutal of his points

Get your heads out of the sand

This was NOT A LANDSLIDE OR MANDATE

Unless Bush uses the bully pulpit more effectively and unless the MSM somehow comes to their senses the future is not rosy at all

Even FOX caved in to the democrat pressure and started drifting to the dark side

[uncbob]

This is so untrue, a majority of these people were voting AGAINST Bush. The Democrats could have had Donald Duck on the ballat, and they still would have received most of the Democratic votes.

And you find that reassuring ??????

You are just helping prove his point

[Wristpin]

Number One Reason for Michael Moore to slit his own wrists:

Global warming and the polar ice cap melting. As an obese traveling activist, he is callously responsible for more fuel being burned by the airlines and the resulting additional tons of pollution.

[freedomlover]

He's already proved his point, avenged his father and kicked our ass.

I did like that part.

[excalibur1701]

I find that very reassuring. This President had a lot of things going against him. Mainly, Iraq and the economy (Jobs). And yet, he still won! This is simply amazing. God bless Bush, and the USA.

[Richard Kimball]

Actually, I don't think he can reach his wrist with the other hand.