Say what you will about Michael Moore: truth-telling genius sticking it to the man or angry white guy with a chip on his shoulder--he is nothing if not provocative. He can definitely spin it with the best of them.
So when I saw this comment he wrote on Obama's election I thought it was pretty cool and not something I would expect from Mike. He writes that this is a "pinch me" moment in history and the beginning of new opportunities for growth and creativity. But the thing I liked best was the part he wrote about not gloating it over the Republicans in your life. That idea hit a little close to home for me. Let's just say I've been a teensy bit angry the last eight years and Tuesday night I felt not only jubilation in victory but also the vindication that comes from seeing a long-deserved smack-down.
So I'm going to take a cue from MY President-Elect and Mike Moore and try to be a gracious winner. Hopefully Obama will get the health system crisis solved soon and I can afford to get some Valiums to help me out.
Here's what Michael had to say:
Subject: Pinch Me ...a message from Michael Moore
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 06:48:22 -0500
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Friends,
Who among us is not at a loss for words? Tears pour out. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. A stunning, whopping landslide of hope in a time of deep despair.
In a nation that was founded on genocide and then built on the backs of slaves, it was an unexpected moment, shocking in its simplicity: Barack Obama, a good man, a black man, said he would bring change to Washington, and the majority of the country liked that idea. The racists were present throughout the campaign and in the voting booth. But they are no longer the majority, and we will see their flame of hate fizzle out in our lifetime.
There was another important "first" last night. Never before in our history has an avowed anti-war candidate been elected president during a time of war. I hope President-elect Obama remembers that as he considers expanding the war in Afghanistan. The faith we now have will be lost if he forgets the main issue on which he beat his fellow Dems in the primaries and then a great war hero in the general election: The people of America are tired of war. Sick and tired. And their voice was loud and clear yesterday.
It's been an inexcusable 44 years since a Democrat running for president has received even just 51% of the vote. That's because most Americans haven't really liked the Democrats. They see them as rarely having the guts to get the job done or stand up for the working people they say they support. Well, here's their chance. It has been handed to them, via the voting public, in the form of a man who is not a party hack, not a set-for-life Beltway bureaucrat. Will he now become one of them, or will he force them to be more like him? We pray for the latter.
But today we celebrate this triumph of decency over personal attack, of peace over war, of intelligence over a belief that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs just 6,000 years ago. What will it be like to have a smart president? Science, banished for eight years, will return. Imagine supporting our country's greatest minds as they seek to cure illness, discover new forms of energy, and work to save the planet. I know, pinch me.
We may, just possibly, also see a time of refreshing openness, enlightenment and creativity. The arts and the artists will not be seen as the enemy. Perhaps art will be explored in order to discover the greater truths. When FDR was ushered in with his landslide in 1932, what followed was Frank Capra and Preston Sturgis, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, Dorothea Lange and Orson Welles. All week long I have been inundated with media asking me, "gee, Mike, what will you do now that Bush is gone?" Are they kidding? What will it be like to work and create in an environment that nurtures and supports film and the arts, science and invention, and the freedom to be whatever you want to be? Watch a thousand flowers bloom! We've entered a new era, and if I could sum up our collective first thought of this new era, it is this: Anything Is Possible.
An African American has been elected President of the United States! Anything is possible! We can wrestle our economy out of the hands of the reckless rich and return it to the people. Anything is possible! Every citizen can be guaranteed health care. Anything is possible! We can stop melting the polar ice caps. Anything is possible! Those who have committed war crimes will be brought to justice. Anything is possible.
We really don't have much time. There is big work to do. But this is the week for all of us to revel in this great moment. Be humble about it. Do not treat the Republicans in your life the way they have treated you the past eight years. Show them the grace and goodness that Barack Obama exuded throughout the campaign. Though called every name in the book, he refused to lower himself to the gutter and sling the mud back. Can we follow his example? I know, it will be hard.
I want to thank everyone who gave of their time and resources to make this victory happen. It's been a long road, and huge damage has been done to this great country, not to mention to many of you who have lost your jobs, gone bankrupt from medical bills, or suffered through a loved one being shipped off to Iraq. We will now work to repair this damage, and it won't be easy.
But what a way to start! Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Wow. Seriously, wow.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MichaelMoore.com
MMFlint@aol.com
3 comments:
Vampire it MR! Stop making me cry! (And I usually HATE Michael Moore.)
During the campaign I had a few posts planned that I decided not to write, such as "Dear John: What happened? You used to be so cool" (tracking John McCain's fall from wat he was in 2000 to what this campaign turned him into, and everything in between) and "Atonement Time" (a message to Bush voters stressing that their poor decisions in the past had gotten us into the mess that we are in today, and their only shot at redemption was to completely change who holds the reins in D.C.) In the final weeks of the campaign, neither one seemed particularly necessary or appropriate - though I might have thought otherwise had the election gone differently.
Similarly, I had a post planned for January 20 called "Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish." Kow that just feels like kicking a pathetic failure when he's already crawling away. But Bush has plenty of time to make things worse, especially if he goes on a scorched-earth deregulation blitz between now and then like he's threatening to.
GR--there is no crying in blogging! But I know they are happy tears, right?!?
DB--You are right, the joy of the lopsided election sort of obliterates my desire to rub their noses in it. But I am going to keep one eye open, just in case. Let's hope this scorched earth thing doesn't happen, I think people are expecting it, so may be able to thwart any particularly nasty stuff.
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