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I read opinions in this forum on Michael Moore. He may have got under some folks' skin, and maybe be a little brash, and may even do some things that seem "inappropriate" at times, but he's got BRASS ONES! How can you bash the messenger so much while totally ignoring the message and the subject of the message? It's all "THE TRUTH", and you can ignore it, or face up to it. It's not going to go away. We can't let it. Read on:
February 11, 2004 (67th anniversary of the Great Flint Sit-Down Strike)
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush


Dear Mr. Bush,

Thank you for providing the illegible Xeroxed partial payroll sheets (or whatever they were) yesterday covering a few of your days in the National Guard. Now we know that, not only didn't you complete your tour of duty, you were actually paid for work you never did. Did you cash those checks? Wouldn't that be, um, illegal?

Watching the press aggressively demand the truth from your press secretary -- and refusing to accept the deceit, the dodging, and the cover-up -- was a sight to behold, something we really haven't seen since you took office (to watch or listen to the entire press conference, or to read the full transcript, go here).

More than one reporter pointed out that those pieces of paper your press secretary waved at them yesterday mean nothing. Even if they aren't forged documents, getting paid does not necessarily mean you showed up to do your duties. As retired Army Col. Dan Smith, a 26-year veteran, told the AP:

"Pay records don't mean anything except that you're in or you're out," said Smith. "It doesn't necessarily reflect what duty you've actually performed because pay records simply record your unit of assignment and then all of your pay and benefits per pay period."

Mr. Bush, this issue is not going to go away -- and I think yesterday's actions just dug you into a deeper hole. You're probably wondering why the heck this story won't just die. You probably thought that after I brought it up last month and then got slammed by Peter Jennings for uttering the "d" word, the whole matter would just disappear as fast as a bag of blow being thrown out the window of a speeding car on a deserted Maine highway.

But your "desertion" didn't go away -- and here's the reason why. You have sent countless numbers of our sons and daughters in the National Guard to their deaths in the last 11 months. You did this while misleading their parents and the nation with bogus lies about weapons of mass destruction and scary phony Saddam ties to al Qaeda. You sent them off to a never-ending war so that your benefactors at Halliburton and the oil companies could line their pockets. And then you had the audacity to prance around in a soldier's uniform on an aircraft carrier proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" -- while the cameras from your re-election campaign ad agency rolled.

THAT is what makes this whole business of your being AWOL so despicable, and makes the grief-stricken relatives want to turn away from you in disgust. The reason your skipping-out on your enlistment didn't matter in the 2000 election was because we were not at war. Being stuck in a deadly, daily quagmire now in 2004 makes your military history-fiction and your fly-boy costume VERY relevant.

You still have not answered the questions surrounding your National Guard "service." Let me repeat them as simply as I can for you (all of them based on the investigative work of the Associated Press and the Boston Globe):

1. How were you able to jump ahead of 500 other applicants to get into the Texas Air National Guard, thus guaranteeing you would not have to go to Vietnam? What calls did your father (who was then a United States Congressman representing Texas) make on your behalf for you to get this assignment?

2. Why were you grounded (not allowed to fly) after you either failed your physical or failed to take it in July 1972? Was there a reason you were afraid to take the physical? Or, did you take it and not pass it? If so, why didn't you pass it? Was it the urine test? The records show that, after the Guard spent years and lots of money training you to be a pilot, you never flew for the rest of your time in the Guard. Why?

3. Can you produce one person who can verify that he served with you in the Guard during the year that your Texas commanders said you did not show up? Why have you failed to bring forth anyone who served with you in the Guard while you were in Alabama? Why hasn't ONE SINGLE PERSON come forward?

4. Can you tell us what you did when you claim to have shown up in Alabama for Guard duty? What were your duties? You were grounded, so what did they have you do instead?

5. Where are the sign-up sheets that would have your name and service number on them for each weekend you showed up? Aaron Brown on CNN told us how, when he was in the reserves, he had to sign in each time he reported, and his guest from the Washington Post said, that's right, and there would be "four copies of that record" in the files of various agencies. Will you ask those agencies to release those records?

6. If you were in fact paid for that time when you apparently went AWOL, will you authorize the IRS to release your 1972-73 tax returns?

7. How did you get an honorable discharge? What strings were pulled? Who called who?

Look, I'm sorry to have put you through all this. I was just goofing around when I made that comment about wanting to see a debate between the general and the deserter. I had no idea that it would lead to this. And there you were, having to suffer through Tim Russert on Sunday, saying weird things like "I'm a war president!" I guess you believe that, or you want us to believe that. Americans have never voted out a Commander-in-Chief during a war. I guess that's what you're hoping for. You need the war.

But we don't. And our troops in the National Guard don't either. I know you see the writing on the wall, so why not come clean now? We are a forgiving people, and though you will not be returned to White House, you will find us grateful for a little bit of truth. Answer our questions, apologize to the nation, and bring our kids home.

Yours,

Michael Moore
[email protected]
www.michaelmoore.com

I can not believe that any self respecting person would post ANYTHING Michael Moore has to say. I even read his book Stupid White Men or whatever it is called. The guy lacks a sense of judgement and most of his brain cells.

What a waste of Oxygen.

What pont is that Rick?

He's physically fit?

He's a humble man?

No, I'm standing by what I said. I don't care if you have a problem with it or not!

Hmmmmmmmmmm, I think Robby's on to something and I think that I like it.

pensive blood

You're right, he should have good character, like Bill Clinton? Did you vote for him?

Lest we forget what "Slick Willy" aka Bill Clinton, did to a perfectly good cigar. We should all hate him for that alone.. hehehehe

And didn't we cover the service thing already? Typical liberals, grab on to a life ring when your sinking and hold on tight!!

Jon R

Presidency off of the Honorable George W. Bush,

the correct english is from, not off of.

"You're right, he should have good character, like Bill Clinton? Did you vote for him?"

AJ?

OK, so round up every rich, privileged kid who was old enough but never went to Vietnam and ship his a$$ off right now. We'd have to rent a fleet of ships. I'm glad my generation won't have this issue to deal with when our age group starts moving to the white house. It's an all volunteer force now. How are they going to spin that?

On the issue at hand. It's always easier to look back at things and point out flaws but the people that were there at the time (the commanders and personnel officers) didn't prosecute Bush for being AWOL so he must have been able to BS his way out of it. Let's just say that military records ain't always right.

"Pretend it's not Michael Moore saying it..."

Ok, then such a worthless article wouldn't litter this site! You wouldn't waste your breath trying to defend Moore so you want to deflect ANY attention from him and make it seem like Rush would say something like THAT?!?

Rush has his differences with GW as do I but we're not grandstanding at the Oscars bleeting them out.


And Rick...nice try, but after your Coulter rant...I don't even want to hear it from the likes of you. You're entitled to your opinion and I'm entitled to mine. Don't like it? Don't read it. You certainly don't sway the way I think and believe. To think that you're THE higher authority of namecalling...that's a laugh after the all the hatred you've spewed about Bush.

AJ, I am not a right fanatic and I am not a Republican. I vote for whomever i feel is the best candidate period. And Kerry is not it.

JonR

why is michael moore suppossed to give money to the people he reported about. that is the dumbest response i have seen you make.

DrMaddVibe

what the hell has michael moore's film have to do with kerry.

if mel gibson paid his crew and decided not to give them a bonus, which given the amount of money he made, i would have, that's his business.

moore at least exposed the problem like any reporter. do you expect rush or o'rielly to give money to the people they talk about? where or when does your logic begin.

Robby. NO, I did not vote for Clinton. Did you attack Clinton, make fun of him for his character flaws, and want him out of office? Well, you've got that chance again.

"You probably thought that after I brought it up last month and then got slammed by Peter Jennings for uttering the "d" word, the whole matter would just disappear as fast as a bag of blow being thrown out the window of a speeding car on a deserted Maine highway." -a reference to a totally unsubstantiated allegation.

"THAT is what makes this whole business of your being AWOL so despicable, and makes the grief-stricken relatives want to turn away from you in disgust. The reason your skipping-out on your enlistment didn't matter in the 2000 election was because we were not at war. Being stuck in a deadly, daily quagmire now in 2004 makes your military history-fiction and your fly-boy costume VERY relevant." -every account of the feelings of the surviving relatives I've read was positive with one or two exceptions.

"Was it the urine test?" - I doubt it! Manditory urinalysis didn't start in the military until 1982.

"Where are the sign-up sheets that would have your name and service number on them for each weekend you showed up?" -What a coincidence! I don't have any payroll stubbs, report cards, or anything else I can think of from 1973!

"But we don't. And our troops in the National Guard don't either" - I wish people (and I use that term loosely here) who have never worn a uniform would stop speaking for those of us that do!

These losers wil NEVER accept any answer they are given! When they ran Gore against Bush in 2000, they painted Bush as an idiot, and called him junior! albert gore JR had fewer degrees than G.W.Bush (son of G. H. Bush). They seem to delight in overlooking the HISTORICAL FACT that Saddam HAD WMD, and had used them on numerous occaisions. They like overlooking the fact that Clinton, Gore, Daschle, Kerry, Leiberman ALL stated before the invaision (or at least before Bush got in office) that Saddam was working on rebuilding his arsenal, and needed to be stopped! And left-wing pansies like this insist on making it sound like the WMD issue was a whole-fabric lie perpetrated solely by the Bush administration! If the intelligence was flawed, WHO gutted the CIA (Clinton, Gore, Kerry) If the Clinton administration had such a high priority on Osama, WHY did they turn down (multiple times) offers by the Sudanese government to turn him over? WOW! they knew he was thinking about striking in the U.S.! Remember the FIRST WTC bombing? He was involved in that too! that was when he first hit our radar as a threat. There were warnings (unsubstantiated) that he might be plotting to crash a plane into a target. Considering the warnings you see at every airport about the security at Lagos, Nigeria, an attack on one of our embassies overseas would have been alot more logical. I wish people would stop trying to make him sound stupid, and a maniacal super-intellect all in the same breath! it makes it hard to figure out which crock of excrement to overturn first!

Speaking of "crocks of excrement"...filled it up pretty good there. Nothing but deflections and same old smoke screen. Nothing of substance. Ignore anything that sounds true but looks bad, or blame the bad on the past. You guys remind me of a bunch of teenage cheerleaders. Oh, what's the score? Are we winning? Oh, I don't really care...Rah! Rah! Sis! Boom! Bah! Goooooooo team Bush! Yea!

Just more smoke and deflection. It's a matter of "liking" a change in "evils". You don't understand that most of the world is anti-Bush administration right now? Well, here's news, they are! This includes a 60% majority of the British. Now, if we were one big democratic world...

DrMaddVibe is correct. A few foreign governments institute policies of hate for the USA. Most of them disparage the USA because they are jealous of our freedoms and/or fear the spread of democracy threatens their hold on power.

Topped for Robby.

???

DMV, you have to be one of the biggest blow-hards on here. You rant and rave about everyone's right to have an opinion, yet go balistic when it goes against yours. Also, please refrain from posting OUT-OF-DATE articles published by bias media sourches........you consistently throw up a myriad of articles knowing we (the rest of the world with a life) has absolutely no time to get knee-deep in the political muck of a self-absorbed loner such as yourself.

BTW, what exactly are you a doctor of? You have to be out of work, due to the time you spend muddling in oceans of political literature.

Now, though I cannot stand Mr. Moore nor that drug-using hunk of crap Rush, please provide a rebutle to the points THE ARTICLE touches on.

See, the same guys who trash Clinton for getting a BJ are the same guys who convienently over-look Rush's ILLEGAL drug use.......man, hate the game not the player. Maybe if GW got his knob polished more, we wouldn't be in the situation we are in.

sheesh!


Hey, DMV, I need some bathroom material........how's 'bout postin' some more articles!

DMV, my comment about a Red Herring was that this artical by "Mr." Moore is nothing more than just that, a Red Herring. It is intended to distract from the real issues just like Sonny's post above. The last time I checked, Rush is not an elected official? Yet for some reason, his addiction somehow nullifies his political points of view? Amazing... And just as relevant as Bush's National Guard service in the 70s... I believe the salient points and issues to be,

1. The War on Terror and our national security, homeland defense. Bush is the logical choice here.

2. Our onerous tax burden and ways it can be lightened permanently. Bush is the logical choice here.

3. Preventing legislation from the bench by liberal judges. Bush is the logical choice here.

The problem/challenge here is that some do not sift their decisions through a prism of logic. Rather, they are more creatures of passion and emotion. They make decisions on a visceral level “what feels best” rather than applying a rational, contemplative, logical thought process. Things have always been this way, and they always will be. Some would vote for Bin Laden before they would vote for Bush. That’s just f’ing crazy…