November 17, 2006
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A Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives
Here's Michael Moore at his most non-ironic. It'd be nice if he had the power to actually keep some of these promises....
**********A Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives
November 14th, 2006
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
mmflint@aol.com
(Click here to sign
the pledge)
www.michaelmoore.com
Comments (29)
Although I am liberal, this made me laugh. A politician is a politician. I am sure there will be name calling on both sides. We never stop calling our enemies poopie heads. We just improve our vocabulary.
It would be nice if this could happen, wouldn't it?
ryc: Yes, you are right, I do need a personal assistant.
ryc: why yes, i have noticed. although theologian dan isn't necessarily one of my two favourites; he just trusts me enough, and talks to me often enough, that i spend a lot of time posting and things for him. anyway. i sincerely enjoy your comments because, unlike a lot of people, you tell it like it is, without insulting just for insult's sake. i respect that.
Stunning. Am I rediculously naive to think that if we all pledged together we would have the power to keep these promises? Given that only half of eligible voters vote, we have a profound growth opportunity.
haha! i was gonna post this letter, too. it made me laugh because he's basically telling republicans what jerk-offs they are and how great democrats are. he cracks me up.
HUBRIS is always unbecoming...and as the so-called "liberal" media jumps on the Fox "news" bandwagon in the condemnation of Nancy Pelosi's Murtha endorsement...gonna be a LONG 2 years
yeah, i love michasel moore. i'm afraid a lot of conservatives wouldn't even understand this letter
It would be good if even ONE-HALF of these things came to pass. We can only hope!
I am signator #22130. Thank you for making this available. I agree with Civildis that this will go over the heads of the average cuntservative.
Michael Moore is such an idiot sometimes. (Frequently.) I think I'll stop with that before I get out of control.
Since i already incoherently replied to this post, i can RYC two of your comments...Since Howard Stern is a few years older than me, i consider him more of a peer than hero. RESPECT him a great deal, since me & George Churchill basically did the same thing he did from junior high school...throughout history guys must have been doing it...but we never THOUGHT you could make money by taking your class clown act on the radio
Since i've had all those pseudo-philosophical "spiritual" discussions by the time i graduated high school, i find it kind of puerile for a 20-something year old to be pushing his philosophy down everyone's throats like it's some new deal...but at that age i guess you think that every thought you have is probably the most original thought in the universe...you haven't yet learnt that there is nothing new under the sun. i was a little different at that age because of the blues---it's damn near mandatory to LISTEN to your elders and STUDY history if you wanna be a bluesman...ahhh, kids are different today...
"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. "
far out, , , and we were worried, , , this will be great, , , mejicojohn has always been in love with this old high school flame. she would never talk to him, , , but she died in a fiery car crash a few years back, , , she should have no objection now if he digs her up and marries her, , , and since she wont be able to help much with the household expenses, , , maybe she can draw disability or something, , ,
mapleleafjohn has this crush on an 8 yr old neighbor girl, , , a perfect match, , ,
i on the other hand have this cute doberman, , ,
go liberals go, , , i for one think we should sweep all this conservatism under the table as quick as possible.
"I am signator #22130. Thank you for making this available. I agree with Civildis that this will go over the heads of the average cuntservative."
Posted 11/18/2006 at 3:16 AM by Kevin72
That comment is exactly the kind of juvenile, close-minded crap that we criticize conservatives for. We would be well-served to not suffer from the same affliction.
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RYC: I'm not an architecture expert, but I did look it up, here's how http://www.siamaffiliate.com/washington1.htm explained it: "Constructed out of loose granite blocks without the use of cement to hold them together, the monument is the tallest freestanding masonry structure in the world, a 555ft (169m) marble obelisk that stood uncompleted for 37 years."
So that's what the ranger was talking about - gravity is the glue!
This is an awesome letter. Conservatives sure are crabby about even a nice letter like this. Scrooges.
i guess you can consider yourself honoured[?] since your's is the only comment i'll answer as i'm about to take an unexpected road trip---i think Infinity Broadcasting was a fledging 6-station conglomerate until they took on Howard Stern and became an EMPIRE
i didn't like the Beatles, but i think they sold enough records to DESERVE to make more money than the Monkeys
i HATE Rush Limbaugh, but he imitated Stern in the political arena and makes a mint...do i think he DESERVES it...not morally, but economically---like PT Barnum he found his own batch of suckers, so THEY deserve the fleecing thye get
ryc: i have lawyers who will look at the case if the church tries to put me out. Also, I will absolutely go to the media. but i don't know how to ask anyone for the kind of help you were talking about. how do you ask a friend for a 40,000 dollar loan?
I must confess to having no great love for Mr Moore. At the same time I have similar sentiments towards Joel Osteen and his ilk. I am just a middle of the road kind of guy. I do however appreciate the sentiment stated here on freedom. I think the right believes that they are right and that the rest of us would be so much better off if we were right with them.
My opinion is "we each need to have freedom". While I don't agree with agenda's on either side I believe that one of the most important things God gave us is freedom. He values it so highly that He just watched as Adam and Eve screwed it up for the rest of us!
Tim
Wow. This is a good letter. I don't agree with all of it, but it would be a good place to start if people actually wanted to start here.
ryc: How is me spending money for a personal trainer taking food out of some poor children's mouths?
Michael left out a few. "Rather than "unpatriotic", we will refer to you as "neocons". We will raise your taxes. On that, you can bet. We will reinstate the draft. We will promote socialism, and you can kiss the really good doctors goodbye, because they will either leave for better money-making opportunities, or they will become veterinarians. We won't take away your hunting guns, because you have a right to hunt. Our prey is inside the womb, yours is outside the womb. Death is death. The ACLU will never stop suing Christians until Christians are forced to use the sign of the fish and the cross to identify one another and have secret church sessions in back alleys." I really hate Michael Moore.
I gave up politics. See my earlier post.
Great Post John!
justsayin.........
)0(
I think its not as kind hearted ashe makes out..a little rubbing salt in the wounds and all but deserved and fine by me:)
Repubs will break this down into "sound-bytes" so they can continue their lashing out at the dems, but the overall gist of this is dead-on. I thought it had a nice, somewhat light bounce to it, if it can be "light" when alot of it is so important.
Michael Moore is considered extreme by the far right. IF at times he is "extreme", it is BECAUSE of the lunacy coming out of the far right camp. Someone has to combat the empirical advances of those who believe they hold the title of the ruling class.
There was a time, when I was more interested in DELIVERING newspapers than READING them, that I thought Dubya's daddy seemed like a distinguished gentleman, grandfatherly, almost. So there was a certain respect I had for him, despite the antics of his ill-equipped son, Dubya.
The respect for Senior blew up in a million pieces after Fahrenheit 911 was released. Bush Sr. started calling Moore "that fat shit".
No apologies, just lashing out! I think he started to make a lot of people wonder, even the ones who normally line up behind the Bush Party of America.
Any Moore piece is designed to make people REALLY stop and think about what he's saying. The far right has the biggest objection to this, as they, plain and simple, do not like "new" or "different" points of view. Thankfully, we have recently seen that even a blind squirrel (dems) will find the odd nut, and boot it out of the tree!
Peace
Scott
I like this list. I particularly like how he explains that Dems won't consider Repubs unpatriotic if they disagree. Zing.
RYC: You always find the positive, Ecc.
My Libertarian cynicism admires and despises Michael Moore at the same time. I admire his proverbial brass balls, yet I find him trite and his arguments are overly dependent upon pathos while falling short of a sufficient amount of logos.
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.
How magnanimous of him. Now when can I buy my ice skates for the year-round outdoor rink they're going to build in Phoenix?
A politician is much like a missionary: His goals are centered around convincing others that he is correct in his reasoning and thinking while those who disagree are heathens or traitors, depending on the arena. Either way, there's absolutely no way for a politician/missionary to encourage or respect dissent while still doing their jobs efficiently.
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.
Crap! I didn't mean to submit that comment.
Feel free to delete that first comment. 
Regarding #1: How magnanimous of him. Now when can I buy my ice skates for the year-round outdoor rink they're going to build in Phoenix?
A politician is much like a missionary: His goals are centered around convincing others that he is correct in his reasoning and thinking while those who disagree are heathens or traitors, depending on the arena. Either way, there's absolutely no way for a politician/missionary to encourage or respect dissent while still doing their jobs efficiently.
I agree with #2, since government should play a relatively minimal role in determining who should be able to marry.
I'm not quite sure to what Moore is referring in #3. Is he talking about Bush's proposal for privatizing Social Security in the first part? I happen to agree with Bush on it, actually, but I could see how some would be concerned. I always hope that Congress can decrease spending and consequently balance the budget. However, in order to be perceived as caring about their constituents, it is in a representative or senator's interest to bring home the bacon. If they don't succeed or if they show a predisposition to cutting back on pork, voters won't usually re-elect them. Now I'll be sharpening those ice skates...
As embarrassed as I am to admit to this, I don't follow the Iraq War closely. I don't believe that we should go to war when our national interests are not at stake. Having said that, based on what I know about Iraq, I think that we should have just let their country self-destruct instead of sending our troops out to spread the "America = Good" gospel.
I'm certainly torn on #5. Universal health care is a good idea and all, but to make it accessible to all through taxpayer money isn't a good way to go about it. I'm inclined to believe that it would encourage those who are using it to spend more than necessary. Besides that, it would certainly damage the insurance industry in general by making it appear less competitive. (I'll admit that I have a vested interest in that last point, since my money for college-related goods comes from my mom, who sells health insurance for a living.)
I do think that embryonic stem cell research has potential, as does reasearch involving adult stem cells. I don't think that it should be prohibited by law, but the government shouldn't fund it, either. Instead, I would think that private companies would fund research if they saw enough promise in it. As for the prices of those cures, those who discover them have every right to charge what they want. Obviously, if the amount isn't reasonable, nobody is going to buy it.
Number 6 is something I agree with partially. It's in our interest to keep the air clean, but we shouldn't need to have the government micromanage us into doing it. I personally think that private companies that pollute should a voucher system that would limit their pollutants. They'd have a certain number of vouchers that they can buy from the government based on how much and what they produce. If the company goes over the amount of pollution allotted, they have the choice of either paying fines to the government or buying vouchers from other companies. Either way, it'd be a good system.
I agree on #7 wholly, so I don't have any criticism.
Number 8 is also something I agree with Moore on, although I would go a little bit further and say that the government has no business in paying for people to get abortions just because they can't afford it. If you're too poor to have a child, then take the proper precautions: Don't have sex or take the time to buy condoms and other contraceptives.
Number 9 is simple for me. I'll be honest and say that I'm very pro-gun rights. Those who have guns should be responsible with them, especially parents. The type of guns you want to own shouldn't be relevant.
Number 10 is something I completely disagree with for many reasons. First of all, the gap between men and women in earning wages isn't something that can be alleviated by an increase in the federal minimum wage. Women and men tend to work in different types of industries. Men are more willing to work in less desireable locations, work in occupations that require more physical dexterity, move more frequently for their jobs, work for longer periods of time each day, and spend more time away from their families for long periods of time than women.
As for minimum wage, it discourages people from starting businesses. The late, great Milton Friedman once called the minimum wage law the most discriminatory law ever passed because of how Southern businessmen ended up hiring less blacks than whites (which correlated with the increase in wages). I also think that a business should set its own standard regarding wages. If the amount is too low, then the business suffers because it doesn't have enough people to perform the necessary tasks. A business that sets its wages too high will suffer, as well, since they won't make enough money to cover all of their expenses.
Number 11 is something I would be inclined to agree with, but I'm sort of wondering about how Moore defines fanaticism and how he would go about discouraging it. Is a fanatic someone who takes a literal interpretation of the Bible or other religious text? What does he consider to be religious intolerance?
Number 12 is sort of like the previous question. What does he consider a corrupt politician? The cynic in me would be more than willing to point out that all politicians are bought and paid for by the rich (lobbyists, for example). I doubt that either side will really go after their own "corrupt" politicians first, since staunch partisanship is rampant, especially nowadays.
I wanted to thank you for that comment you left me.
I've read some of your earlier entries and must say that I'm always delighted to encounter intelligent people on Xanga (and you're clearly one of them). 
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