Here Comes Trouble: Stories from My Life

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Mike's Letter

December 11th, 2000 12:00 AM

Judgment Day O'Connor

Dear friends,

I'm sorry I haven't been able to write to you in the past couple of weeks. My mom became ill and had to have surgery. Everything went well and she is now recovering. My sisters and I are blessed to have our parents, nearing 80, still with us.

Meanwhile, I guess some sort of overthrow is taking place right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. I knew the U.S. Supreme Court was dominated by reactionaries and conservatives. But, honestly -- I never, ever, believed it was... crooked.

Until now.

This Court appears ready to install a President who did not win the election. Can this really be happening?

Everyone knows that if the votes are ever counted in Florida, Gore is the winner. George W. Bush knows that more than anyone -- that's why he's fighting so desperately hard to stop that count from ever taking place. If he felt he was truly the winner, his attitude would be, "Sure, go ahead and count the ballots, I'm not worried 'cause I know I'm the winner."

But that's NOT what he thinks or knows. He knows he lost. EVERYONE knows he lost. Let's cut the B.S. If those 12,000 ballots ever get counted, George W. Bush is the loser and everyone with an I.Q. of over 70 knows it.

Why would the loser insist on being given the top prize? Have you ever heard of such a thing? Not only that, he has convinced all the loser-lovers in the Florida legislature and the U. S. House of Representatives to grant him the victory in case he loses -- again -- in court.

In every other nation on this planet, they have a word for this behavior -- and that word is "coup."? George W. Bush and his allies in Congress, the Florida legislature, and the U.S. Supreme Court are trying to stage a coup, an overthrow of the will of the people.

According to last Sunday's stunning front page story in the Miami Herald, had there been no shenanigans in the Florida election, the Herald calculates that Gore would have won Florida by 23,000 votes!

You can check out this story by clicking here:

The theft of this election didn't just start with Jeb Bush's girlfriend/Bush for President Co-Chairwoman/Bush delegate to the Republican Convention/Secretary of State Katherine Harris's refusal to count the ballots. Months ago, Jeb and Katherine sought to eliminate as many black voters as possible from the voting rolls.

This is a mind-blowing story and I encourage you to read it by clicking here:

The U.S. Supreme Court stopped the counting of the ballots this weekend and violated the law in doing so. They are allowed to grant a stay only if "irrevocable, irreparable harm" would happen if the votes were counted. Since when does the counting of our citizens' votes cause "irreparable harm"? Justice Antonin Scalia said (I'll paraphrase here), well, we believe Bush won and if we allow those votes from Florida to be counted and Gore ends up ahead, well, that would cause irreparable harm to a Bush administration.

Yes, that is what he said!

Look, let's be honest about something. Part of the reason we are in the mess we are in today is because AL GORE voted YES to put Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court.

Let me say this one more time so it sinks in to every Gore-loving head out there:

AL GORE VOTED TO PUT SCALIA ON THE SUPREME COURT!

The chickens sure have come home to roost for that blunder (and for the 11 Democrats who voted YES to give Clarence Thomas his narrow victory). Don't write me and tell me about the kind of Court we "might" get under Bush thanks to Nader. We already have it, thanks to Al and his Democrats. It's a tough pill to swallow.

Listen, this fight today, Monday, December 11, 2000, is not about Al Gore. It is about the only thing that ultimately matters in a democracy -- the right to vote. The right to have a say in who will represent us. Gore got 300,000 more votes than Bush. Gore won. Gore will have more votes in Florida if those ballots are allowed to be counted. Gore won.

I have no personal interest in seeing Al Gore in the White House. I did not vote for him.

But I don't like liars, I don't like thieves, and I really hate cowards.

Mr. Bush (that's what the majority of Americans will always call you, because we will not participate in your lie by ever calling you "Mr. President") -- we know what you are so afraid of. You are a coward for not wanting those ballots counted because you know the outcome. You know you've lost. You know the people have spoken. Be a man, for crying out loud! Go back to your ranch and let us get on with bugging the shit outta Al Gore for the next four years!

Friends, if you do anything today, it must be to take a stand against this coup. If you live within a few hours of Washington, DC, I am asking that you pack the grounds of the Supreme Court the way any nation of citizens would do if their election was being stolen from them.

The rest of you -- call Western Union right now! That's right, leave this 21st century technology of the Internet behind and return to the 19th century way of the telegram. They will not be expecting an avalanche of telegrams on their desks! Western Union still hand-delivers telegrams. Let's

flood the offices of Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy (the only two conservatives on the Court who are not certifiable loons) within the next few hours and let them know the true will of the people. I am especially calling upon anyone who voted for Bush or Nader or Buchanan to rise above political ideology and take a stand for what you know is right.

Here's how you send a hand-delivered telegram:

1. Call Western Union at 800-325-6000. Then wait for the live operator. 

2. Tell the operator that you want to send a hand-delivered telegram that needs to get there within the next few hours. 

3. It costs $17.95 for 15 words or less, and another $13.95 for the hand delivery. That's a total of $31.90. Most credit cards accepted. 

4. The address is: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (and/or Justice Anthony Kennedy), U.S. Supreme Court, One First Street N.E., Washington, DC 20543.

I know thirty bucks is a lot of dough for many of you. Is our country worth $31.90?? I think it is. If you truly can't afford it, then call the Supreme Court today and make your feelings known (202-479-3211 -- they say they don't have a comment line).

But I'm telling ya, forcing the Justices to swim in a sea of yellow telegrams -- that will have an enormous impact. It will make national news and inspire millions more to do the same. No one sees the phone calls coming in or the e-mails being sent (the Justices won't accept e-mails). But those Western Union guys having to lug truckloads of telegrams up the steps of the Supreme Court... whoa!? Call 10 people right now and ask them to join us.

There will be plenty of time later to discuss the other issues pertinent to this election -- why 100 million citizens again did not vote, the way the rich bought and paid for both candidates, why I am personally responsible for this whole mess, etc.

But right now -- TODAY -- we have to act like we have never acted before. Trust me, if they can get away with this, they can get away with ANYTHING. Maybe many of you are already convinced that they can. I am still clinging to some sort of strange hope that right and justice will prevail, that a few million of us can shock this corrupt court into coming to its senses, if not its own sense of self-preservation.

The clock is ticking.

Yours,

Michael Moore
http://www.theawfultruth.com/
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
mmflint@aol.com

P.S. Send this letter to anyone you wish, asap.

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