Anton
02-28-02, 04:23PM
An Open Letter to George W. Bush from Michael Moore
Dear George,
When it's all over in a couple months, and you're packing up your
pretzels and Spot and heading back to Texas, what will be your biggest
regret? Not getting out more often and seeing the sights around Rock
Creek Park? Never once visiting the newly-renovated IKEA in
Woodbridge, Virginia? Or buying your way to the White House with
money from a company that committed the biggest corporate swindle in
American history? I got a feeling you didn't miss much by not spending
an entire Saturday afternoon assembling a Swedish bookcase -- but you
should have known that there was no way you would ever finish your
term by hopping into bed with Kenneth Lay. It's kind of sad when you
think about it. Here you were -- the most popular president ever! -- the
recipient of so much good will from your fellow Americans after
September 11, and then you had to go and blow it. You just couldn't
stay away from your old cowpoke friend from Texas, Kenneth Lay.
Kenny has always been there for you. You needed a way to fly around
to all the primaries and campaign stops in the 2000 election -- so Kenny
gave you his corporate jet. Did you tell the voters when you arrived in
each city that the bird you flew in on was from a billionaire who was
secretly conspiring to give the bird to all his employees and investors?
He flew you around America on the Enron company jet, and for that
favor you touched down on tarmac after tarmac to tell your fellow
citizens that you were "going to restore dignity to the White House, the
people's house." You said this standing in front of an Enron jet! Man,
you loved Lay so much, you not only affectionately referred to him as
"Kenny Boy," you interrupted an important campaign trip in April, 2000,
to fly back to Houston for the Astro's opening day at the new Enron
Field -- just so you could watch Kenny Boy Lay throw out the first pitch.
How sentimental! I mean, you loved this man so intensely that, when
you were awarded a set of keys the Supreme Court had made for you
so you could live in the White House, you invited Kenny Boy to set up
shop -- at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! He interviewed those who would
hold high-level Energy Department positions in your administration. You
not only let Kenny Boy decide who would head the regulatory agency
that oversaw Enron, you let him hand-pick the new chairman of the
Securities and Exchange Commission -- a former lawyer for his
accountant, Arthur Andersen! Kenny and the boys at Andersen also
worked to make sure that accounting firms would be exempt from
numerous regulations and would not be held liable for any "funny
bookkeeping" (don't you wish you were this forward-thinking?). The rest
of Kenny Boy's time was spent next door with his old buddy, Dick
Cheney (Enron and Halliburton, as you'll recall, got the big contracts
from your dad to "rebuild" Kuwait after the Gulf War). Lay and Dick
formed an "energy task force" (Operation Enduring Graft) which put
together the county's new "energy policy." This policy then went on to
shut down every light bulb and juicer in the state of California. And
guess who made out like bandits while "trading" the energy California
was in desperate need of? Kenny Boy and Enron! No wonder Big Dick
doesn't want to turn over the files about those special meetings with Lay!
The only thing that surprises me more than all the Enron henchmen who
ended up in your cabinet and administration is how our lazy media just
rolled over and didn't report it. The list of Enron people on your payroll
is
impressive:
Lawrence Lindsey, your chief economic adviser? A former adviser at
Enron!
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill? Former CEO of Alcoa, whose lobbying
firm, Vinson and Elkins, was the #3 contributor to the your campaign!
Who is Vinson and Elkins? The law firm representing Enron! Who is
Alcoa? The top polluter in Texas.
Timothy White, the Secretary of the Army? A former vice-chair of Enron
Energy!
Robert Zoellick, your Federal Trade Representative? A former adviser at
Enron!
Karl Rove, your main man at the White House? He owned a quarter-
million dollars of Enron stock.
Then there's the Enron lawyer you have nominated to be a federal judge
in Texas,
the Enron lobbyist who is your chair of the Republican Party,
the two Enron officials who now work for House Majority Leader Tom
DeLay,
and the wife of Texas Senator Phil Gramm who sits on Enron's board.
And there's the aforementioned Mr. Pitt, the former Arthur Andersen
attorney whose job it is now as SEC head to oversee the stock markets.
George, it never stops! My fingers are getting tired typing all this
up -- and there's lots more. Don't get me wrong, George -- I do not
think you're an evil man. You don't need any crap from people like me
-- heck, you got mother-in-law problems! Now, I have a very good
relationship with my mother-in-law, but then, I never told her to put
$8,000 of her money into a company my administration knew was going
belly-up.
You say you didn't know? Your bag man -- Don Evans, the man who
squeezed all that money for you from Enron as your campaign finance
chairman (and is now collecting his reward as your Commerce
Secretary) -- has admitted that he got calls from Enron begging for help
last year because they were going under. Didn't he tell you this? Then
Paul O'Neill, your Treasury Secretary, admitted that Enron and Kenny
Boy called him, too, for some special favors to save Enron. Didn't he
mention this to you?
They claim to have called your chief of staff, Andrew Card, and he
said he didn't bother to inform you. What does your mother-in-law think
about these boys her daughter's husband consorts with? I love watching
the O'Neill and Evans show. What a couple of cut-ups! They're, like, all
proud of themselves for "not doing Enron any favors."
Actually, I think it's more like they didn't do your MOTHER-IN-LAW any
favors. Enron got LOTS of favors. And why not? Kenny Boy has been
your number one financial backer since you ran for governor. No other
American or Saudi has given you more money than Kenny Boy and his
gang at Enron. O'Neill, Evans, Cheney, Energy Secretary Spencer
Abraham -- ALL of them gave Lay and Enron special favors from day
one.
The New York Times last May was so concerned about how Kenny had
the run of the place (1600 Pennsylvania Ave.), they referred to Lay as the
"shadow adviser to the president." And what advice! Who was it that
wanted you to deregulate the energy industry further? Kenny Boy! Who
was it that convinced you to explore the sick idea of PRIVATIZING our
water supply and then allow private corporations to "trade" it in the
future? Kenny Boy! Who was it that wanted Social Security to be tied
to the stock market? Yup, Kenny Boy! (Imagine, if you will, what would
have happened to our precious Social Security funds had they been
invested in Enron stocks as you, George, suggested be done during
your campaign as yuppies everywhere clucked along in agreement over
that genius idea.)
O'Neill's and Evans's admission that they "did nothing" when Enron told
them of the company's shell game and impending collapse is reason
enough for you and yours to hit the Beltway and never return to that
sacred trust we call Our American Government. They are proud of
"doing nothing?" By doing nothing, millions of Americans have been
swindled. Tens of thousands have lost their jobs. Thousands more have
lost their savings and their retirement. Yet your cabinet secretaries gloat
over what a "good job" you and they did by "doing nothing."
Let me ask you this: If someone was setting a house on fire, and they
called you to help them set it on fire, and you said no you wouldn't
help them -- BUT then you also DIDN'T call 911 and inform the police
that someone was going to burn down a house, do you think you would
have committed a crime? Of course you would have! You had prior
knowledge and then you knowingly and purposefully HID this information
from the authorities and the people living in the house! You only
admitted that you knew a house was going to be torched when you
were confronted by the police. Are you complicit? Yes! Are you an
accessory? Yes! Who would even think of going around boasting, "Hey,
look what a great guy I am -- a friend of mine told me he was going to
commit an act of arson, and then I decided NOT to tell ANYONE about
it!! WHOO-HOO!!" Enron and Kenny Boy bought your silence and the
silence of your cabinet members. You yourself didn't have to actually
raid the 401(k) accounts of those poor people in Houston (many of
whom probably voted for you every time your name was on a ballot). All
you had to do was remain silent, change the government
regulations that let them get away with it, and install their hand-picked
cronies to sit on the "oversight" boards which were supposed to be
keeping an eye on them.
Dear George,
When it's all over in a couple months, and you're packing up your
pretzels and Spot and heading back to Texas, what will be your biggest
regret? Not getting out more often and seeing the sights around Rock
Creek Park? Never once visiting the newly-renovated IKEA in
Woodbridge, Virginia? Or buying your way to the White House with
money from a company that committed the biggest corporate swindle in
American history? I got a feeling you didn't miss much by not spending
an entire Saturday afternoon assembling a Swedish bookcase -- but you
should have known that there was no way you would ever finish your
term by hopping into bed with Kenneth Lay. It's kind of sad when you
think about it. Here you were -- the most popular president ever! -- the
recipient of so much good will from your fellow Americans after
September 11, and then you had to go and blow it. You just couldn't
stay away from your old cowpoke friend from Texas, Kenneth Lay.
Kenny has always been there for you. You needed a way to fly around
to all the primaries and campaign stops in the 2000 election -- so Kenny
gave you his corporate jet. Did you tell the voters when you arrived in
each city that the bird you flew in on was from a billionaire who was
secretly conspiring to give the bird to all his employees and investors?
He flew you around America on the Enron company jet, and for that
favor you touched down on tarmac after tarmac to tell your fellow
citizens that you were "going to restore dignity to the White House, the
people's house." You said this standing in front of an Enron jet! Man,
you loved Lay so much, you not only affectionately referred to him as
"Kenny Boy," you interrupted an important campaign trip in April, 2000,
to fly back to Houston for the Astro's opening day at the new Enron
Field -- just so you could watch Kenny Boy Lay throw out the first pitch.
How sentimental! I mean, you loved this man so intensely that, when
you were awarded a set of keys the Supreme Court had made for you
so you could live in the White House, you invited Kenny Boy to set up
shop -- at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! He interviewed those who would
hold high-level Energy Department positions in your administration. You
not only let Kenny Boy decide who would head the regulatory agency
that oversaw Enron, you let him hand-pick the new chairman of the
Securities and Exchange Commission -- a former lawyer for his
accountant, Arthur Andersen! Kenny and the boys at Andersen also
worked to make sure that accounting firms would be exempt from
numerous regulations and would not be held liable for any "funny
bookkeeping" (don't you wish you were this forward-thinking?). The rest
of Kenny Boy's time was spent next door with his old buddy, Dick
Cheney (Enron and Halliburton, as you'll recall, got the big contracts
from your dad to "rebuild" Kuwait after the Gulf War). Lay and Dick
formed an "energy task force" (Operation Enduring Graft) which put
together the county's new "energy policy." This policy then went on to
shut down every light bulb and juicer in the state of California. And
guess who made out like bandits while "trading" the energy California
was in desperate need of? Kenny Boy and Enron! No wonder Big Dick
doesn't want to turn over the files about those special meetings with Lay!
The only thing that surprises me more than all the Enron henchmen who
ended up in your cabinet and administration is how our lazy media just
rolled over and didn't report it. The list of Enron people on your payroll
is
impressive:
Lawrence Lindsey, your chief economic adviser? A former adviser at
Enron!
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill? Former CEO of Alcoa, whose lobbying
firm, Vinson and Elkins, was the #3 contributor to the your campaign!
Who is Vinson and Elkins? The law firm representing Enron! Who is
Alcoa? The top polluter in Texas.
Timothy White, the Secretary of the Army? A former vice-chair of Enron
Energy!
Robert Zoellick, your Federal Trade Representative? A former adviser at
Enron!
Karl Rove, your main man at the White House? He owned a quarter-
million dollars of Enron stock.
Then there's the Enron lawyer you have nominated to be a federal judge
in Texas,
the Enron lobbyist who is your chair of the Republican Party,
the two Enron officials who now work for House Majority Leader Tom
DeLay,
and the wife of Texas Senator Phil Gramm who sits on Enron's board.
And there's the aforementioned Mr. Pitt, the former Arthur Andersen
attorney whose job it is now as SEC head to oversee the stock markets.
George, it never stops! My fingers are getting tired typing all this
up -- and there's lots more. Don't get me wrong, George -- I do not
think you're an evil man. You don't need any crap from people like me
-- heck, you got mother-in-law problems! Now, I have a very good
relationship with my mother-in-law, but then, I never told her to put
$8,000 of her money into a company my administration knew was going
belly-up.
You say you didn't know? Your bag man -- Don Evans, the man who
squeezed all that money for you from Enron as your campaign finance
chairman (and is now collecting his reward as your Commerce
Secretary) -- has admitted that he got calls from Enron begging for help
last year because they were going under. Didn't he tell you this? Then
Paul O'Neill, your Treasury Secretary, admitted that Enron and Kenny
Boy called him, too, for some special favors to save Enron. Didn't he
mention this to you?
They claim to have called your chief of staff, Andrew Card, and he
said he didn't bother to inform you. What does your mother-in-law think
about these boys her daughter's husband consorts with? I love watching
the O'Neill and Evans show. What a couple of cut-ups! They're, like, all
proud of themselves for "not doing Enron any favors."
Actually, I think it's more like they didn't do your MOTHER-IN-LAW any
favors. Enron got LOTS of favors. And why not? Kenny Boy has been
your number one financial backer since you ran for governor. No other
American or Saudi has given you more money than Kenny Boy and his
gang at Enron. O'Neill, Evans, Cheney, Energy Secretary Spencer
Abraham -- ALL of them gave Lay and Enron special favors from day
one.
The New York Times last May was so concerned about how Kenny had
the run of the place (1600 Pennsylvania Ave.), they referred to Lay as the
"shadow adviser to the president." And what advice! Who was it that
wanted you to deregulate the energy industry further? Kenny Boy! Who
was it that convinced you to explore the sick idea of PRIVATIZING our
water supply and then allow private corporations to "trade" it in the
future? Kenny Boy! Who was it that wanted Social Security to be tied
to the stock market? Yup, Kenny Boy! (Imagine, if you will, what would
have happened to our precious Social Security funds had they been
invested in Enron stocks as you, George, suggested be done during
your campaign as yuppies everywhere clucked along in agreement over
that genius idea.)
O'Neill's and Evans's admission that they "did nothing" when Enron told
them of the company's shell game and impending collapse is reason
enough for you and yours to hit the Beltway and never return to that
sacred trust we call Our American Government. They are proud of
"doing nothing?" By doing nothing, millions of Americans have been
swindled. Tens of thousands have lost their jobs. Thousands more have
lost their savings and their retirement. Yet your cabinet secretaries gloat
over what a "good job" you and they did by "doing nothing."
Let me ask you this: If someone was setting a house on fire, and they
called you to help them set it on fire, and you said no you wouldn't
help them -- BUT then you also DIDN'T call 911 and inform the police
that someone was going to burn down a house, do you think you would
have committed a crime? Of course you would have! You had prior
knowledge and then you knowingly and purposefully HID this information
from the authorities and the people living in the house! You only
admitted that you knew a house was going to be torched when you
were confronted by the police. Are you complicit? Yes! Are you an
accessory? Yes! Who would even think of going around boasting, "Hey,
look what a great guy I am -- a friend of mine told me he was going to
commit an act of arson, and then I decided NOT to tell ANYONE about
it!! WHOO-HOO!!" Enron and Kenny Boy bought your silence and the
silence of your cabinet members. You yourself didn't have to actually
raid the 401(k) accounts of those poor people in Houston (many of
whom probably voted for you every time your name was on a ballot). All
you had to do was remain silent, change the government
regulations that let them get away with it, and install their hand-picked
cronies to sit on the "oversight" boards which were supposed to be
keeping an eye on them.