Re: RAT Fwd: ZNet Update / Arrestees in Philly, Action Urgently Needed

[Gleaball@aol.com]

A Letter from Michael Moore to the
> Non-Voters of America
>
>  Dear friends,
>
>  DISCLAIMER: If you are planning to
>  vote for Al Gore in November, good for
>  you. Don't let what I'm about to say
>  change your mind because I've been
>  told by all the experts that if you do
>  change your mind based on what I'm
>  about to say, George W. Bush might win
>  the election and I certainly couldn't live
>  with myself if that connoisseur of
>  pharmaceuticals (the kind you snort up
>  your nose or the kind you inject on
>  death row) won, in part, because of a
>  letter I spit out over the Internet.
>
>  So let's review -- you like Gore, you vote
>  for Gore. He's a decent guy. I met him
>  last year at some benefit, he came up to
>  me, big hug -- whoa, this veep is no stiff,
>  I thought -- and thanked me for this and
>  that. He even quoted lines from "The
>  Awful Truth" - whoa, scary, I thought,
>  what's he doing watching cable
>  channels above 40 on the box...not
>  much to do on this veep gig, eh?
>
>  I told him I admired what he did when
>  he came home to America as a Vietnam
>  Vet and spoke out against the war. That
>  took a lot of courage, I said (his dad lost
>  his Senate seat for being an early
>  opponent of the war).
>
>  So, if Al Gore is your man, go for it. In
>  fact, I insist on it, even if you are just
>  throwing your vote away.
>
>  What I am about to say, though, is not
>  intended for any Al Gore (or George W.)
>  voters. If you are one, please click off
>  now.
>
>    To Whom It May Concern:
>
>  I address this letter to the largest
>  political party in the United States - the
>  55% of you in the voting public who are
>  so disillusioned with politics and
>  politicians, so sick and tired of all the
>  broken promises, so disgusted with all
>  the b.s. that you have absolutely no
>  intention of voting in November.
>
>  You know who you are.
>
>  AND YOU ARE THE MAJORITY!
>
>  You rule. You are the Non-Voters, all
>  100 million of you!
>
>  Until now, you have been the subject of
>  scorn and ridicule. You've been called
>  apathetic, lazy, ignorant. Your actions
>  have been viewed as unAmerican (I
>  mean, what kind of citizen in the World's
>  Greatest Democracy would not exercise
>  his or her most important and cherished
>  right - the right to freely choose your
>  leader!).
>
>  Well, may I be the first to tell you that,
>  not only are you NOT stupid and
>  apathetic, I believe you are smarter than
>  all the rest of us combined. YOU figured
>  it out. YOU uncovered the scam. And
>  YOU had the guts to no longer
>  participate in a lie. Way to go! In 1996,
>  you helped set the all-time American
>  record for lowest turnout ever at a
>  presidential election.
>
>  The reason you, the majority, no longer
>  vote in America is because you, the
>  majority, realize there is no real choice
>  on the ballot. The "two" parties both do
>  the bidding of the wealthy and agree
>  with each other on 90% of the issues.
>  They take 90% of their money from
>  people who make over a hundred-grand
>  a year, and then enact over 90% of the
>  laws those contributors want passed.
>
>  On the ballot this November, you
>  already know there is no contest. The
>  independent Cook Political Report in
>  D.C. last week announced that, out of
>  435 House seats up for election in
>  November, there are only 47 seats
>  where there is a "true race" between
>  opponents - and, of those, only 14
>  seats have a race that is even "close"
>  between the two candidates. 14 out of
>  435!
>
>  "Ninety-seven to ninety-nine percent of
>  incumbents running for re-election will
>  be returned to Congress in November,"
>  according to the Cook Report.
>
>  The Non-Voters already understand
>  this. And they are not going to waste
>  one iota of their day on November 7
>  driving to some smelly elementary
>  school gymnasium to participate in a
>  Soviet-style election with no friggin'
>  choice on the ballot.
>
>  So, to you brave voter-resisters, I say
>  congratulations on your act of civic
>  disobedience! I joined you this primary
>  season and refused to go along with
>  this charade of "choice." Nearly 80% of
>  those of us of voting age - over 160
>  million Americans - staged a sit-in on our
>  living room couches during this year's
>  primaries. THAT is the great untold story
>  of this election year. How much longer
>  will the punditocracy be able to get
>  away with dismissing this massive
>  no-show as "a sign Americans are
>  content with the booming economy?"
>
>  Now that we have made our presence
>  known (you all don't mind me speaking
>  for us, do you? Good. In fact, I'll just
>  assume the currently-vacant mantle of
>  this majority party and serve as your
>  leader until you say otherwise...), it is
>  time to find a way that says, loudly and
>  clearly, just how mad as hell we are and
>  how we are not going to take it
>  anymore. We need to find a way where
>  our vote screams "None of the Above!"
>  A chance to act, like that Chinese guy in
>  Tieneman Square, standing in front of a
>  moving tank and stopping it in its path.
>
>  In November, we should find a way to
>  follow in the footsteps of those
>  intelligent Minnesotans who, even
>  thought they could care less about
>  professional wrestling (and even less,
>  I'm sure, for Jesse "The Body"), proved
>  to the world that they not only have a
>  sense of humor, but they know how to
>  stick it to the whole bloody system.
>  Think of just how high their level of
>  anger must have been against the
>  One-Party-With-Two-Heads monopoly! I
>  mean, state government is no joke -
>  somebody's gotta build the roads, run
>  the schools, catch the criminals. You
>  don't want to turn the asylum over to the
>  chief lunatic but, damn it, that's what the
>  people of Minnesota did - just to send a
>  message! Wow. That took some guts.
>
>  So, for those of you who weren't going
>  to vote anyway, well...what if you
>  actually did? What if you drove down to
>  that stinky gym where the little shell
>  game behind the pretend curtains is
>  taking place ("Pay no attention to the
>  voters behind the curtains!"), walk in,
>  sign in, take the ballot they hand you,
>  and toss yourselves inside the booth
>  like a political molotov cocktail.
>
>  Boom!
>
>  "You wanna tell me there's a choice
>  here between two guys who both
>  support NAFTA, WTO, the death
>  penalty, the Cuban embargo, increased
>  Pentagon spending, sleazy HMOs,
>  greedy hospital chains, 250 million guns
>  in our homes, more bombing of Iraq, the
>  rich getting richer and the rest of us
>  declaring bankruptcy?"
>
>  Boom!
>
>  Not me.
>
>  Boom!
>
>  I'm voting for Ralph Nader.
>
>  KAAAABOOM!
>
>  Friends, we are losing our democratic
>  control over our country. We may have
>  already lost it. I hope not. But in the last
>  20 years of the Reagan administration,
>  Corporate America has merged and
>  morphed itself to such an extent that
>  just a handful of companies now call all
>  the shots. They own Congress. They
>  own us. In order to work for them, we
>  have to take urine tests and lie
>  detectors and wear bar codes on chains
>  around our necks. In order to keep our
>  jobs we have had to give up decent
>  health care, the 8-hour day (and time
>  with our kids), the security that we'll
>  even have a job next year, and any
>  unwillingness we may have to compete
>  with a 14-year old Indonesian girl who
>  gets a dollar a day.
>
>  And how frightening (and great) is it that
>  the last place we can freely try to inform
>  and communicate with each other is on
>  this very Web? Six companies run by six
>  men control the majority of the news we
>  now get from newspapers, television,
>  radio and the Internet. One out of every
>  two books is bought at a bookstore
>  owned by one of only two companies. Is
>  it safe in a "free society" to have the
>  sources of our information and mass
>  communication in the hands of just a
>  few wealthy men who have a VESTED
>  interest in keeping us as stupid as
>  possible - or at least in keeping us
>  thinking like them so that we vote for
>  THEIR candidates?
>
>  I fear the cement on this new oligarchy
>  of power is quickly drying, and when it is
>  finished hardening, we are finished. The
>  democracy, the one that's supposed to
>  be of, by, and for the people, will cease
>  to exist.
>
>  We must not let this happen, no matter
>  how cynical and disgusted we've
>  become at the whole electoral process.
>
>  Ralph Nader, to me, represents a
>  chance for us to at least temporarily
>  stop the cement from drying. We need
>  him in there kicking things up, stirring
>  the pot and forcing a real debate about
>  the issues. Whether it's Ralph as
>  Candidate or Ralph as President, he
>  may represent our last hope to get our
>  country back from the clutches of the
>  powerful few.
>
>  I am not writing these words lightly. I am
>  hoping to sound a siren and rally the
>  majority who, for good reason, have
>  given up - but might just have it in them
>  to find the will for one last fight against
>  the bastards.
>
>  Can Ralph win? Well, stranger things
>  have happened in the past decade.
>  C'mon, think about it, not a single one
>  of us ever thought we'd see the Berlin
>  Wall come down or Nelson Mandela as
>  President of South Africa. After those
>  two things happened, I joined a new
>  school of thought that said ANYTHING
>  was possible. Jesse Ventura started
>  with 3% in the polls and won. Ross
>  Perot in '92 started with 6% and, after
>  proving to everyone that he was
>  certifiably insane, still got nearly 20% of
>  the vote.
>
>  Ralph already has between 7% and
>  10% in the polls - before he's done any
>  serious campaigning. He's gone from
>  3% to 8% in my home state of Michigan.
>  These are amazing numbers and the
>  pundits and lobbyists and Republicrats
>  are running scared. Hey, you like to
>  watch scared Republicrats running? Tell
>  a pollster you're voting for Ralph.
>
>  Now, look, before you all send me a lot
>  of mail about how weird Ralph is 'cause
>  he doesn't own a car or is a "sell-out"
>  'cause he's got a few million dollars, let
>  me say this: I used to work out of his
>  office, and Ralph is definitely one of a
>  kind. In a future letter I will write of those
>  experiences but, for now, let's just agree
>  that Ralph is at least half as crazy as
>  Jesse Ventura - and about a hundred
>  times as smart. I'd say he's also saved
>  about a million or so lives, thanks to the
>  consumer and environmental legislation
>  he has devoted his life to.
>
>  And between Gore, Bush, and himself,
>  he's the only person running who would
>  guarantee universal health care for all,
>  the only candidate who would raise the
>  minimum wage to a decent level, the
>  only one who would get up each
>  morning asking himself the question,
>  "What can I do today to serve all the
>  people of this country?"
>
>  The list goes on and on. You can read
>  more about what Ralph stands for by
>  going to his website
>  (http://www.votenader.org). You'll agree,
>  I'm sure, there's lots of common sense
>  there, regardless of what political stripe
>  you are.
>
>  But remember. If you are even
>  THINKING of voting for Al Gore, vote for
>  Al Gore. Ralph Nader does not need a
>  single Gore vote. There are a hundred
>  million of us out there who are
>  uncommitted and currently not voting.
>  Right now, Gore and Bush are each
>  hoping to win by getting only 40 million
>  votes.
>
>  If you are in the Non-Voting majority and
>  want to let 'em all have it, if you want to
>  get our country back in our hands...well,
>  if even half of you show up and vote
>  November 7 then you won't be held
>  responsible for Bush winning the White
>  House.
>
>  In fact, you won't be held responsible
>  for putting Gore in the White House,
>  either.
>
>  Rather, you will have made history by
>  putting a true American hero at 1600
>  Pennsylvania Avenue.
>
>  And you will have given every company,
>  every boss who's done ya wrong, the
>  worst nightmare of their lives.
>
>  November 7. Payback Time.
>
>  The revenge of the Non-Voters!
>
>  So sayeth their unappointed leader,
>  yours truly,
>  Michael Moore
>  mmflint@aol.com
>  http://www.theawfultruth.com
>  http://www.michaelmoore.com
>
>  PS. Come to think of it, Democrats
>  should be on their knees thanking
>  Ralph for running. Rather than taking
>  votes from Gore, Ralph's going to be
>  the one responsible for turning the
>  House back over to the Democrats.
>
>  When millions of these Non-Voters enter
>  that booth to vote for Ralph, and they
>  come across their local race for
>  Congress, they will find no Green Party
>  candidate in most of the 435
>  Congressional districts. So who do you
>  think Ralph's army of Non-Voters will
>  plunk down for Congress? The
>  Republican? I don't think so.
>
>  The Democrats are only six seats short
>  of regaining control of the House. Ralph
>  Nader will be the reason the Democrats
>  get the House back for the first time
>  since Newt's Contract on America in
>  1994.
>
>  Democrats should send their checks to
>  Nader 2000, P.O. Box 18002,
>  Washington, DC 20035.
>
>  (Or, better yet, let's try to elect enough
>  Greens to Congress -- a dozen or so --
>  and they'll hold the deciding votes
>  because neither the Democrats nor the
>  Republicans will have the majority. It'll
>  be a friggin' Knesset!)
>  PPS. If you're still worried this letter

>  might convince a weak-kneed Gore
>  voter to flip over to Nader - and thus
>  lead to President George W. stacking
>  the Supreme Court to make abortion
>  illegal, well, it's all a bunch of hooey.
>  Please read my latest grassroots.com
>  column entitled, "I Ain't Fallin for That
>  One Again" at:
>  http://www.michaelmoore.com/aint.html
> >
>  PLEASE PASS THIS LETTER ON TO
>  YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
>  PERMISSION IS GRANTED TO
>  REPRINT ANYWHERE.