A Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives ...by Michael Moore

[kpete]

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006
A Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives ...by Michael Moore


To My Conservative Brothers and Sisters,

I know you are dismayed and disheartened at the results of last week's election. You're worried that the country is heading toward a very bad place you don't want it to go. Your 12-year Republican Revolution has ended with so much yet to do, so many promises left unfulfilled. You are in a funk, and I understand.

Well, cheer up, my friends! Do not despair. I have good news for you. I, and the millions of others who are now in charge with our Democratic Congress, have a pledge we would like to make to you, a list of promises that we offer you because we value you as our fellow Americans. You deserve to know what we plan to do with our newfound power -- and, to be specific, what we will do to you and for you.

Thus, here is our Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives:

Dear Conservatives and Republicans,

I, and my fellow signatories, hereby make these promises to you:

1. We will always respect you for your conservative beliefs. We will never, ever, call you "unpatriotic" simply because you disagree with us. In fact, we encourage you to dissent and disagree with us.

2. We will let you marry whomever you want, even when some of us consider your behavior to be "different" or "immoral." Who you marry is none of our business. Love and be in love -- it's a wonderful gift.

3. We will not spend your grandchildren's money on our personal whims or to enrich our friends. It's your checkbook, too, and we will balance it for you.

4. When we soon bring our sons and daughters home from Iraq, we will bring your sons and daughters home, too. They deserve to live. We promise never to send your kids off to war based on either a mistake or a lie.

5. When we make America the last Western democracy to have universal health coverage, and all Americans are able to get help when they fall ill, we promise that you, too, will be able to see a doctor, regardless of your ability to pay. And when stem cell research delivers treatments and cures for diseases that affect you and your loved ones, we'll make sure those advances are available to you and your family, too.

6. Even though you have opposed environmental regulation, when we clean up our air and water, we, the Democratic majority, will let you, too, breathe the cleaner air and drink the purer water.

7. Should a mass murderer ever kill 3,000 people on our soil, we will devote every single resource to tracking him down and bringing him to justice. Immediately. We will protect you.

8. We will never stick our nose in your bedroom or your womb. What you do there as consenting adults is your business. We will continue to count your age from the moment you were born, not the moment you were conceived.

9. We will not take away your hunting guns. If you need an automatic weapon or a handgun to kill a bird or a deer, then you really aren't much of a hunter and you should, perhaps, pick up another sport. We will make our streets and schools as free as we can from these weapons and we will protect your children just as we would protect ours.

10. When we raise the minimum wage, we will pay you -- and your employees -- that new wage, too. When women are finally paid what men make, we will pay conservative women that wage, too.

11. We will respect your religious beliefs, even when you don't put those beliefs into practice. In fact, we will actively seek to promote your most radical religious beliefs ("Blessed are the poor," "Blessed are the peacemakers," "Love your enemies," "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God," and "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."). We will let people in other countries know that God doesn't just bless America, he blesses everyone. We will discourage religious intolerance and fanaticism -- starting with the fanaticism here at home, thus setting a good example for the rest of the world.

12. We will not tolerate politicians who are corrupt and who are bought and paid for by the rich. We will go after any elected leader who puts him or herself ahead of the people. And we promise you we will go after the corrupt politicians on our side FIRST. If we fail to do this, we need you to call us on it. Simply because we are in power does not give us the right to turn our heads the other way when our party goes astray. Please perform this important duty as the loyal opposition.

I promise all of the above to you because this is your country, too. You are every bit as American as we are. We are all in this together. We sink or swim as one. Thank you for your years of service to this country and for giving us the opportunity to see if we can make things a bit better for our 300 million fellow Americans -- and for the rest of the world.

Signed,

Michael Moore
[e-mail]
(Click here to sign the pledge)
www.michaelmoore.com

P.S. Please feel free to pass this on.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2006-11-14

[xultar]

1. BRILLIANT. Though I know some here will disagree with MM.

[zanne]

3. What's to disagree with?

A government that represents ALL the people instead of just half?

[xultar]

8. True. But with some of the bitter stuff around here about how we

should treat conservative democrats of course some would disagree.

[Toots]

10. You mean like hold them accountable for their corruption as well?

Usually when you find very conservative representatives you find corruption...They sort of go hand in hand.

[xultar]

12. Corruption comes with POWER. No one in power is pure.

[Toots]

18. What is the goal of social conservatism?

Is it not to have the power to dictate how you live your life in private as well as public? Anyone IMO that wants that power over people is corrupt and will do whatever it takes to gain that power. Fiscal Conservatives on the other hand I have no problem with. It is smart IMO to manage your assets properly

[xultar]

21. I have no problems with fiscal conservatives. It is the socialconservatives

that piss me off the most. That is why I can't honestly say I hate all Republicans. I won't ever vote for one. I've never voted for a rethug. When the ballot only has 1 person and doesn't list a party I'll do a write in.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

6. I will admit I don't like Moore's

documentary style. But I have always liked his writing and also have heard him speak in public and he's very good.

This is good, with just a pinch of snark. And that's ok.

Not sure I agree about handguns, but that's a whole 'nother issue.

[bryant69]

7. Well if you say something and nobody disagrees

It probably wasn't worth saying in the first place.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[xultar]

9. Weeeellllll, I don't know about that.

[zanne]

19. Bingo! Well said. nt

[xultar]

22. Peace & Love then.

[LTR]

2. This is an amazing article

And it definitely belongs on the front page.

A strong K+R!!!

[klook]

4. Excellent

Thanks for posting this. This guy is great at mixing humor and truth, and this is one of his best offerings.

[vi5]

5. I'm far from a Michael Moore hater....

I like his movies and I think he's a tremendous asset to the country and the culture and I don't understand the venom that even some on the left have for him or why they feel the need to apologize for him.

However, I do take issue with his usage of "we" when the dems win when he's one of the more high profile previous proponents of the "there's no difference between the parties" shtick that helped Bush coast to office in the first place. I realize that he's more or less come around but it's still something that sticks in my craw when I see him refer to dem victories as a "we" or "us".

Go ahead and flame me superfans.

[Ganja Ninja]

11. Sorry but I'm not in the mood for our own mission accomplished

moment. I don't care how bad conservatives are feeling. They rejoiced at our despair. They cheered on and encouraged the behavior and attitudes that have led us to where we are today.
The only promise I want us to make to them is this. I want to promise them that we'll tear down the media machine that is responsible for brainwashing them into hating us and that we'll investigate and prosecute their hero's to the fullest extent of the law.

[The Count]

14. It's hardly a "mission accomplished" moment. It's a statement of principles

and the promise we'll follow them. I see nothing wrong with that.
It even had its purpose for Citizen Kane. Eventually.
As for tearing down the media machine, much as I'd like that, other than passing some fairness doctrine thingy that W will veto, I see no relief possible at this time.

[girlphoenix]

13. My first ever recommend!

And I sent it far and wide. This is the kind of governance I want. And here's hoping it's exactly what we see...

[benEzra]

15. What about a NON-disheartened NON-conservatives...

who own guns, Mike?

9. We will not take away your hunting guns. If you need an automatic weapon or a handgun to kill a bird or a deer, then you really aren't much of a hunter and you should, perhaps, pick up another sport. We will make our streets and schools as free as we can from these weapons and we will protect your children just as we would protect ours.

Who gives a #@%! about hunting guns? The vast majority of gun owners (80%) are nonhunters. There are at LEAST three times as many handgun owners in the U.S. as there are hunters.

"Automatic weapons" have been tightly controlled for 72 years now, and possession of one without Federal permission (BATFE Form 4) is a 10-year Federal felony under the Title 2/Class III provisions of the National Firearms Act.

Moore sounds like he's playing to some sort of Rovian stereotype of Dems. "Dems'll take yer guns" and all that crap. Sheesh, fully half of gun owners are NOT repubs, and there are a ton of handgun and black rifle owners here on DU. Moore needs to get a clue on that issue, at least.

Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What?

[The Count]

16. Love your automatic THAT much, huh?

[zanne]

20. Warning; Do not irritate DU gun nuts...

You will be flamed.

[irislake]

23. What's with the big gun fetish, Americans?

Why are Americans so turned on and fanatical about guns? Is it something to do with being macho? The penis thing? I honestly wonder why it is such a major issue in your country. Is it just part of the whole weapons thing? Guns,bombs,rockets,and all that war stuff? Is it a symbol for manhood. Please enlighten. Sincerely interested Canadian.

[benEzra]

25. Where do you live in Canada?

What's with the big gun fetish, Americans? Why are Americans so turned on and fanatical about guns? Is it something to do with being macho? The penis thing? I honestly wonder why it is such a major issue in your country. Is it just part of the whole weapons thing? Guns,bombs,rockets,and all that war stuff? Is it a symbol for manhood. Please enlighten. Sincerely interested Canadian.

Where do you live in Canada, out of curiosity? Some of your western provinces have gun ownership rates rather similar to ours, or at least they used to. Prior to the 1990's, your gun laws weren't all that different from ours; automatic weapons tightly controlled, non-automatics freely available to law-abiding citizens with clean records.

No, it's not about being "macho"--one in three American gun owners is a woman, BTW (including my wife)--and gun owners are more likely to be college-educated than the population at large. It's more a cultural thing, that cuts across racial/ethnic and party lines (half of all gun owners in the U.S. are Democrats and independents, contrary to some people's perception of the issue).

FWIW, actual military type weapons (machineguns, actual assault rifles, bombs, rockets) are as tightly controlled here as they are in Canada--but the culture of individual small arms ownership in the U.S. goes way back, and IMHO is an outgrowth of the egalitarian anti-elitist mindset that characterizes a great deal of the American psyche. One of our founders (Madison?) highlighted the egalitarian, post-Englightenment U.S. view of gun ownership when he pointed out that in Europe, only the elites owned weapons, but in the U.S., the common citizen did.

Point of fact, our war for independence from Great Britain actually started more than a year BEFORE our Declaration of Independence. The DoI was signed July 4, 1776, but the shooting started on April 19, 1775 when British law enforcement tried to confiscated some farmers' guns in Massachusetts, out of concerns over a possible insurrection. In so doing, they launched the insurrection they feared, we declared independence fourteen months later, and as they say, the rest is history...

To me, gun ownership is both a competence thing and a freedom thing. And it doesn't hurt that I am a certifiable physics geek, and there are very few inexpensive hobbies that are more physics-intensive than rifle shooting. (Aviation is more physics-intensive, but it's not inexpensive...)

Gun owners tend to lean individualist rather than collectivist, and most (not all, but most) have a high view of individual rights. To me, the guns in our family's gun safe are a tangible reminder that my wife and I are free people. We don't own those at the dispensation of some elite individual; we can own them because we ARE free individuals. That's probably a cultural thing and I wouldn't expect you to feel the same way, but the freedom issue runs very, very deeply with most gun enthusiasts and with Americans at large, and is a major reason why protections for civilian gun ownership are written into both our Federal and State constitutions.


FWIW, what bugs the hell out of me about the gun-control debate in the U.S. is the obsession with banning nonhunting-style target rifles, when rifles are almost never used criminally in the U.S. (all rifles combined account for less than 3% of U.S. homicides, per the FBI). Even if you don't like guns, rifles are simply not a crime problem in this country and never have been.

[irislake]

26. Apart from folks in Alberta

it's not an issue that Canadians get all hot and bothered about. They did get annoyed about the Liberal gun registry because of the money involved but the issue of guns doesn't generate the passion that it does in the U.S. That is what puzzles me. The passion. I know we have lots of guns. I live in a rural area. Most of my neighbours have guns. Farmers have them. There are gunshots around me daily now as it's deer season and I live in the woods. But Americans get so riled up if someone suggests making stricter laws against guns. I don't know anyone in Toronto who has a gun in their house. (Used to live there for 30 years.) In general city people want stricter gun control but nobody would dream of having a gun in their house unless they were hunters. And on the whole the hunters are rural. I just wonder about the intense emotions generated in the U.S. That's all.

[benEzra]

27. I understand...it's definitely a cultural thing. (n/t)

[benEzra]

24. Possession of an automatic weapon is a 10-year Federal felony...

unless you have Federal permission to own one, in the form of a BATFE Form 4. The government clearance process required to get a Form 4 generally requires four to six months, and is similar in some ways to getting a Secret-level government security clearance, minus the polygraph. And if you get one, the Federal BATFE gets to inspect your home once a year. For all practical purposes, automatic weapons are restricted to police/military only, plus a few very wealthy collectors with squeaky-clean records.

No, I don't own an automatic weapon. My point was, Michael Moore is mistaken when he thinks that automatic weapons aren't already tightly controlled by Federal law, which I gather was your impression also?

I'm not talking about automatics. I'm talking about NON-automatic civilian rifles with modern styling, like Ruger mini-14's, AR-15 type target rifles, SKS's, M1 Garands, M1 carbines, Kel-Tec carbines, Springfield M1A's, and the like. Plus handguns.


Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What?

[Deep13]

17. I like Moore and his media productions. Having said that...

...he can't have my revolver.

I have yet to see most of that Bowling for Columbine. For some reason the two times I tried to watch it I fell asleep and missed all but the first third of it. It had nothing to do with the film, I was just drowsy those times.

He might be interested to know that many auto-loading rifles and handguns are built specifically for hunting.

[DenaliDemocrat]

28. Yep, LEAVE MY GUNS ALONE!!!

When are we gonna learn. If you like winning, leave the guns alone!

[David Zephyr]

29. K& R for Michael!

How can you not love this guy?