Fellow U2 fans,
I just recieved the most recent addition to Michael Moore's book tour diary. Some of you were bloody pissed at the content of humour contained the last addition (Good Friday/Easter...etc), but I can gurantee that the suject matter of this letter pretains almost exclusively to politics and the fact that his book is #1 on the NYTimes Bestsellers list for the 4th STRAIGHT WEEK!
Let's keep the conversation going, and remember that we attain truth by hearing both sides of the story.
And now...Mr. Moore
....
#############################################
"Stupid" Stays at #1 on NY Times List, 4 Weeks in a Row
4/15/02
Dear Friends,
I woke up in Tampa, Florida, yesterday, picked up the Sunday newspaper, and
there it was: the New York Times today had declared that, for the fourth week in
a row, "Stupid White Men" is the #1 book in the country.
I am out of explanations at this point as to how this thing has stayed atop on
the Times bestseller list for a month. I've been informed that the book is now
in its 19th printing. Also, it remains #1 in Canada, and it has gone to #1 this
week in Britain and Ireland, according to the Sunday Times of London.
All this has occurred in spite of a virtual press blackout on the book. Or maybe
because of it. The more the book is ignored by the media, the better it does.
So, if you are a newspaper editor or a TV producer, PLEASE do NOT pay any
attention to this book! Just because more Americans are reading it than any
other book in the country for the past month should NOT persuade you to ask
crazy questions of yourselves like, "How can this be happening when the
'President' has the highest approval ratings ever?" Just concern yourselves with
repeating your mantra of the past 7 months -- "America Loves Bush! America Loves
Bush!" It's a comforting mantra, one that seems to bring you solace at a time of
journalistic confusion. It's also simple and easy to repeat -- and it means that
you don't have to go out and do the work you are supposed to do (like rooting
out the Enron-backed criminals in the White House or finding out what really
happened before and after September 11th ).
The front page of the Tampa Tribune yesterday was all ablaze with the news about
the convention of Florida's Democrats on Saturday in Orlando. There was a color
photo of a smiling, waving Al Gore. Lieberman was there and so was Kerry and a
host of other stars of the Democratic Party. About 2,500 Floridians were in
attendance.
But in Tampa, on that same night, I was looking out from the stage at the Sun
Dome at a crowd of nearly 7,000 people who had come to the "Democracy Rising"
rally organized by Ralph Nader. Tampa has now produced the largest crowd of the
book tour (I signed the 2000th book of the evening somewhere around 2am). This
is 3 times the crowd that the Democrats got and, again, there is virtually no
coverage.
But remember -- it NO LONGER MATTERS that most of the media ignores the real
news. It no longer matters because much of the media has chosen to make itself
irrelevant through its lazy reporting, sleazy presentation, its obedience to the
corporate agenda, and all the blowhard pundits who scream out their useless
opinions. A political shift has occurred in the country and the media has
completely missed it. We have become a nation where the majority of citizens are
very liberal and progressive on the issues. The majority of Americans now call
themselves pro-environment, pro-choice, pro-labor, and anti-Big Business. 154
million out of the 200 million voters in this country did NOT cast a vote for
George W. Bush.
That is the America in which we now live. Liberal, progressive, and sick of the
stupid white men who run the country.
Hey, here's something that you haven't seen on the Fox Nuisance Channel - there
are now over 140 college campuses in the U.S. with an active student Green
organization. The Green kids in Florida are everywhere and their numbers are
among the largest. You wouldn't think so, not after the blame that was heaped on
the Greens for causing Gore to "lose" Florida. But they are building a mass
movement, and the turnout I saw in Tampa was proof to me that there is a ruckus
afoot in America, and if it's rockin' in a place like central Florida, then it's
happening just down the street from where you live.
The Democrats could have stopped this. They could have spent the past two years
fighting to raise the minimum wage or to lower the amount of pollutants spewed
into the air or to call for a Special Prosecutor to investigate Bush and Enron.
But, no. The Democrats have spent their time trying to act like Republicans,
thinking that's how they will win back the House this November. Note to
Democrats: You will not win the House by being your usual weak, lame-o selves.
The Greens will deny you the chance you have had to take charge. Until you get a
clue, the Greens will thrive and grow. You want to avoid a repeat of 2000? Fight
for the working people of this country! You want to stop the Greens? Act like a
real Democrat!
Stand up for something! Do the math: A couple of thousand in Orlando come to see
the stars of the Democratic Party, while, at the same exact moment, nearly three
times that number is in Tampa to cheer on a progressive agenda -- which is
greater? If the Democrats can't add 2+2, then they are doomed.
I should also mention that Tampa is the command headquarters for the war on
Afghanistan. It's all done via remote control from the comfort of Florida's
beautiful Gulf coast. How many civilians have we killed now? I believe the last
number I read, it was more than the civilians who died on September 11th. Oh, I
know the Bush boys over at Macdill Air Force Base have their rationalization as
to why, in wartime, sometimes civilians have to die. The terrorists of 9-11 had
their rationalizations, too. Everybody's got their rationalizations. Well,
here's mine -- there is NO rationalization for the killing of other human beings
except in the rare and extreme cases of true self-defense.
Today is the beginning of National Library Week. As many of you know by now, it
was a single librarian who saved my book from the corporate shredder. In the
next day or so, I will send you another letter telling you about what she did
and what you can do to support the libraries of this country.
Thanks again to everyone for your support. I'll be in the Northwest later in the
week. Hope to see many of you there.
Yours,
Michael Moore
Author
Filmmaker
Detroit Tigers fan
#############################################
I just recieved the most recent addition to Michael Moore's book tour diary. Some of you were bloody pissed at the content of humour contained the last addition (Good Friday/Easter...etc), but I can gurantee that the suject matter of this letter pretains almost exclusively to politics and the fact that his book is #1 on the NYTimes Bestsellers list for the 4th STRAIGHT WEEK!
Let's keep the conversation going, and remember that we attain truth by hearing both sides of the story.
And now...Mr. Moore
#############################################
"Stupid" Stays at #1 on NY Times List, 4 Weeks in a Row
4/15/02
Dear Friends,
I woke up in Tampa, Florida, yesterday, picked up the Sunday newspaper, and
there it was: the New York Times today had declared that, for the fourth week in
a row, "Stupid White Men" is the #1 book in the country.
I am out of explanations at this point as to how this thing has stayed atop on
the Times bestseller list for a month. I've been informed that the book is now
in its 19th printing. Also, it remains #1 in Canada, and it has gone to #1 this
week in Britain and Ireland, according to the Sunday Times of London.
All this has occurred in spite of a virtual press blackout on the book. Or maybe
because of it. The more the book is ignored by the media, the better it does.
So, if you are a newspaper editor or a TV producer, PLEASE do NOT pay any
attention to this book! Just because more Americans are reading it than any
other book in the country for the past month should NOT persuade you to ask
crazy questions of yourselves like, "How can this be happening when the
'President' has the highest approval ratings ever?" Just concern yourselves with
repeating your mantra of the past 7 months -- "America Loves Bush! America Loves
Bush!" It's a comforting mantra, one that seems to bring you solace at a time of
journalistic confusion. It's also simple and easy to repeat -- and it means that
you don't have to go out and do the work you are supposed to do (like rooting
out the Enron-backed criminals in the White House or finding out what really
happened before and after September 11th ).
The front page of the Tampa Tribune yesterday was all ablaze with the news about
the convention of Florida's Democrats on Saturday in Orlando. There was a color
photo of a smiling, waving Al Gore. Lieberman was there and so was Kerry and a
host of other stars of the Democratic Party. About 2,500 Floridians were in
attendance.
But in Tampa, on that same night, I was looking out from the stage at the Sun
Dome at a crowd of nearly 7,000 people who had come to the "Democracy Rising"
rally organized by Ralph Nader. Tampa has now produced the largest crowd of the
book tour (I signed the 2000th book of the evening somewhere around 2am). This
is 3 times the crowd that the Democrats got and, again, there is virtually no
coverage.
But remember -- it NO LONGER MATTERS that most of the media ignores the real
news. It no longer matters because much of the media has chosen to make itself
irrelevant through its lazy reporting, sleazy presentation, its obedience to the
corporate agenda, and all the blowhard pundits who scream out their useless
opinions. A political shift has occurred in the country and the media has
completely missed it. We have become a nation where the majority of citizens are
very liberal and progressive on the issues. The majority of Americans now call
themselves pro-environment, pro-choice, pro-labor, and anti-Big Business. 154
million out of the 200 million voters in this country did NOT cast a vote for
George W. Bush.
That is the America in which we now live. Liberal, progressive, and sick of the
stupid white men who run the country.
Hey, here's something that you haven't seen on the Fox Nuisance Channel - there
are now over 140 college campuses in the U.S. with an active student Green
organization. The Green kids in Florida are everywhere and their numbers are
among the largest. You wouldn't think so, not after the blame that was heaped on
the Greens for causing Gore to "lose" Florida. But they are building a mass
movement, and the turnout I saw in Tampa was proof to me that there is a ruckus
afoot in America, and if it's rockin' in a place like central Florida, then it's
happening just down the street from where you live.
The Democrats could have stopped this. They could have spent the past two years
fighting to raise the minimum wage or to lower the amount of pollutants spewed
into the air or to call for a Special Prosecutor to investigate Bush and Enron.
But, no. The Democrats have spent their time trying to act like Republicans,
thinking that's how they will win back the House this November. Note to
Democrats: You will not win the House by being your usual weak, lame-o selves.
The Greens will deny you the chance you have had to take charge. Until you get a
clue, the Greens will thrive and grow. You want to avoid a repeat of 2000? Fight
for the working people of this country! You want to stop the Greens? Act like a
real Democrat!
Stand up for something! Do the math: A couple of thousand in Orlando come to see
the stars of the Democratic Party, while, at the same exact moment, nearly three
times that number is in Tampa to cheer on a progressive agenda -- which is
greater? If the Democrats can't add 2+2, then they are doomed.
I should also mention that Tampa is the command headquarters for the war on
Afghanistan. It's all done via remote control from the comfort of Florida's
beautiful Gulf coast. How many civilians have we killed now? I believe the last
number I read, it was more than the civilians who died on September 11th. Oh, I
know the Bush boys over at Macdill Air Force Base have their rationalization as
to why, in wartime, sometimes civilians have to die. The terrorists of 9-11 had
their rationalizations, too. Everybody's got their rationalizations. Well,
here's mine -- there is NO rationalization for the killing of other human beings
except in the rare and extreme cases of true self-defense.
Today is the beginning of National Library Week. As many of you know by now, it
was a single librarian who saved my book from the corporate shredder. In the
next day or so, I will send you another letter telling you about what she did
and what you can do to support the libraries of this country.
Thanks again to everyone for your support. I'll be in the Northwest later in the
week. Hope to see many of you there.
Yours,
Michael Moore
Author
Filmmaker
Detroit Tigers fan
#############################################
