Michael Moore's To-Do Lists

Morning After To-Do List:

1. Take over the Democratic Party and return it to the people. They have failed us miserably.
2. Fire all pundits, predictors, pollsters and anyone else in the media who had a narrative they wouldn't let go of and refused to listen to or acknowledge what was really going on. Those same bloviators will now tell us we must "heal the divide" and "come together." They will pull more hooey like that out of their ass in the days to come. Turn them off.
3. Any Democratic member of Congress who didn't wake up this morning ready to fight, resist and obstruct in the way Republicans did against President Obama every day for eight full years must step out of the way and let those of us who know the score lead the way in stopping the meanness and the madness that's about to begin.
4. Everyone must stop saying they are "stunned" and "shocked". What you mean to say is that you were in a bubble and weren't paying attention to your fellow Americans and their despair. YEARS of being neglected by both parties, the anger and the need for revenge against the system only grew. Along came a TV star they liked whose plan was to destroy both parties and tell them all "You're fired!" Trump's victory is no surprise. He was never a joke. Treating him as one only strengthened him. He is both a creature and a creation of the media and the media will never own that.
5. You must say this sentence to everyone you meet today: "HILLARY CLINTON WON THE POPULAR VOTE!" The MAJORITY of our fellow Americans preferred Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Period. Fact. If you woke up this morning thinking you live in an effed-up country, you don't. The majority of your fellow Americans wanted Hillary, not Trump. The only reason he's president is because of an arcane, insane 18th-century idea called the Electoral College. Until we change that, we'll continue to have presidents we didn't elect and didn't want. You live in a country where a majority of its citizens have said they believe there's climate change, they believe women should be paid the same as men, they want a debt-free college education, they don't want us invading countries, they want a raise in the minimum wage and they want a single-payer true universal health care system. None of that has changed. We live in a country where the majority agree with the "liberal" position. We just lack the liberal leadership to make that happen (see: #1 above).

Let's try to get this all done by noon today.
-- Michael Moore

Day Two's To-Do List:

1. Must quickly and decisively form an opposition movement, the likes of which hasn't been seen since the 1960s. I will do my part to help lead this as I'm sure many others (Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, MoveOn, the hip-hop community, DFA, etc.) will, too. The core of this opposition force will be fueled by young people who, as with Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, don't tolerate b.s. and are relentless in their resistance to authority. They have no interest in compromising with racists and misogynists.


2. Prepare to impeach Trump. Just as the Republicans were already planning to do with President Hillary from Day One, we must organize the apparatus that will bring charges against him when he violates his oath and breaks the law -- and then we must remove him from office.

3. Must commit right now to a vigorous fight (including civil disobedience, if necessary) which will block any and all Donald Trump Supreme Court nominees who do not meet our approval. We demand the Democrats in the Senate aggressively filibuster any nominees who support Citizens United or who oppose the rights of women, immigrants and the poor. This is non-negotiable.

4. Demand the DNC apologize to Bernie Sanders for trying to fix the primaries against him, for spinning the press to ignore his historic campaign, for giving Clinton the questions in advance at the Flint debate, for its latent ageism and anti-Semitism in trying to turn voters against him because of his age or religious beliefs, and for its anti-democracy system of "superdelegates" who are elected by no one. We all know now had Bernie been given a fair shot, he probably would have been the nominee and he -- as the true outsider and "change" candidate --would have inspired and fired up the base and soundly defeated Donald Trump. If no apology is soon forthcoming from the DNC, that's ok -- when we take over the Democratic Party (see yesterday's To-Do List, #1), we will issue the apology in person.

5. Demand that President Obama establish a Special Prosecutor to investigate who and what was behind FBI Director James Comey's illegal interference into the Presidential election 11 days before the vote was held.

6. Begin a national push while it's fresh in everyone's mind for a constitutional amendment to fix our broken electoral system: 1. Eliminate the Electoral College -- popular vote only. 2. Paper ballots only -- no electronic voting. 3. Election Day must be made a holiday for all -- or held on a weekend so more people vote. 4. All citizens, regardless of any run-ins with the criminal "justice" system, must have the right to vote. (In swing states like Florida and Virginia, 30-40% of all Black men are prohibited by law from voting.)

7. Convince President Obama to immediately do what he should have done a year ago: Send in the Army Corps of Engineers to Flint to dig up and replace all the poisoned pipes. NOTHING HAS CHANGED; the water in Flint is still unusable.

Will try to get these done by sundown. More To-Do tomorrow...
--Michael Moore

Michael Moore On MSNBC's Morning Joe's.

Coming To A Theatre Near You Friday February 12th

Michael Moore's 1. film in 6 years, finally!

Let's go watch Where to Invade Next.

Meanwhile let's wish Michael a full recovery

& let's hope for us that there will be more movies of his in our future.

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Proposal to OWS from Michael Moore

I am offering Michael Moore's proposal to OWS below as food for contemplation and discussion. The time has come for real change, the change so many of us have been wanting for a long time. Go to his website, link on the bottom, to find a long list of intelligent, thoughtful comments that expand on his ideas. Who said that Occupy was vague and unfocused?

10 Things We Want
A Proposal for Occupy Wall Street
Submitted by Michael Moore

1. Eradicate the Bush tax cuts for the rich and institute new taxes on the wealthiest Americans and on corporations, including a tax on all trading on Wall Street (where they currently pay 0%).

2. Assess a penalty tax on any corporation that moves American jobs to other countries when that company is already making profits in America. Our jobs are the most important national treasure and they cannot be removed from the country simply because someone wants to make more money.

3. Require that all Americans pay the same Social Security tax on all of their earnings (normally, the middle class pays about 6% of their income to Social Security; someone making $1 million a year pays about 0.6% (or 90% less than the average person). This law would simply make the rich pay what everyone else pays.

4. Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, placing serious regulations on how business is conducted by Wall Street and the banks.

5. Investigate the Crash of 2008, and bring to justice those who committed any crimes.

6. Reorder our nation's spending priorities (including the ending of all foreign wars and their cost of over $2 billion a week). This will re-open libraries, reinstate band and art and civics classes in our schools, fix our roads and bridges and infrastructure, wire the entire country for 21st century internet, and support scientific research that improves our lives.

7. Join the rest of the free world and create a single-payer, free and universal health care system that covers all Americans all of the time.

8. Immediately reduce carbon emissions that are destroying the planet and discover ways to live without the oil that will be depleted and gone by the end of this century.

9. Require corporations with more than 10,000 employees to restructure their board of directors so that 50% of its members are elected by the company’s workers. We can never have a real democracy as long as most people have no say in what happens at the place they spend most of their time: their job. (For any U.S. businesspeople freaking out at this idea because you think workers can't run a successful company: Germany has a law like this and it has helped to make Germany the world’s leading manufacturing exporter.)

10. We, the people, must pass three constitutional amendments that will go a long way toward fixing the core problems we now have. These include:

    a) A constitutional amendment that fixes our broken electoral system by
1) completely removing campaign contributions from the political process;
2) requiring all elections to be publicly financed;
3) moving election day to the weekend to increase voter turnout;
4) making all Americans registered voters at the moment of their birth;
5) banning computerized voting and requiring that all elections take place on paper ballots.

    b) A constitutional amendment declaring that corporations are not people and do not have the constitutional rights of citizens. This amendment should also state that the interests of the general public and society must always come before the interests of corporations.

    c) A constitutional amendment that will act as a "second bill of rights" as proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt: that every American has a human right to employment, to health care, to a free and full education, to breathe clean air, drink clean water and eat safe food, and to be cared for with dignity and respect in their old age.

Let me know what you think. Occupy Wall Street enjoys the support of millions. It is a movement that cannot be stopped. Become part of it by sharing your thoughts with me or online (@OccupyWallSt.org). Get involved in (or start!) your own local Occupy movement. Make some noise. You don't have to pitch a tent in lower Manhattan to be an Occupier. You are one just by saying you are. This movement has no singular leader or spokesperson; every participant is a leader in their neighborhood, their school, their place of work. Each of you is a spokesperson to those whom you encounter. There are no dues to pay, no permission to seek in order to create an action.

We are but ten weeks old, yet we have already changed the national conversation. This is our moment, the one we've been hoping for, waiting for. If it's going to happen it has to happen now. Don't sit this one out. This is the real deal. This is it.

If you need more inspiration watch a panel with Michael Moore and Naomi Klein as regards a move from outrage to hope. 

A few of my notes on Mike's proposal:

#2 Penalties seem unrealistic to me, but maybe an import tax so that outsourcing simply looses profitability? 

#5 If the Crash of 2008 is to be investigated, then surely Bush's and cronies crimes on humanity ought to be. The South African Truth and Justice model might serve us better then any demand for legal justice.

#6 Yes to the realignment of our values to peaceful co-existence rather then dominion over the world. Bring back foreign troops, close bases around the world, stop the wars, defund the Pentagon. This ought to be up on top of any list of demands.

#7 A single-payer, universal health care system for all that takes away control from the pharmaceutical - and health insurance industries is an absolute essential priority.

#10 Money has got to go out of politics. Votes can not be bought. Corporations are not people and can not be allowed to hold rights like citizens. I like the simple idea of moving voting days to weekends for increased voter participation. Why has nobody ever thought of that. We do know of the importance of paper ballots, that's a no-brainer. I would support compulsory voting. Citizens ought to not just have the right, but carry the burden of responsibility to vote.

What is not mentioned is the ridiculous war on drugs and incarceration of many non-violent low level drug offenders in privately run prisons. Legalize dope already and stop the criminalization of a whole segment of our population. Instead use the money now used in senseless war on dope to offer opportunities for education, jobs and quality of life, so drugs are not the first answer to a challenging existence. Prisons ought to protect society and should not be run for profit, that inevitably will create a form of slavery.

Your thoughts on these matters are welcome, feel free to offer your comments and thanks for taking the time to consider these very serious issues.

Must See

Michael Moore's History Lesson on US Violence

Another Hero Stepped Forward

Michael Moore with 2 others offered bail for Julian Assange. The court according to a Swiss newspaper source accepted, today Tuesday December 14th. The next court hearing is set for January 11th.

Michael Moore's sites seem unaccessible currently, let's hope because of the interest this news incited. But he makes his website available for Julian Assange's support, financial and other is my understanding.

I applaud the stepping forward of another hero, Michael Moore, who is taking again a courageous stance and will not be silenced and will not stop showing the public what matters.

BBC News:
"Mr Stephens said he had not been given any of his post - including legal letters - since being remanded in custody.
"He has absolutely no access to any electronic equipment, no access to the outside world, no access to outside media," he said.

 

The lawyer said the only correspondence his client had received was a note telling him that a copy of Time magazine sent to him had been destroyed because the cover bore his photograph."

What an effective way of silencing Assange, but not for long!

Update: Bail was granted and then challenged by Swedish prosecutors. They have 48 hours to present their objections. According to Swiss news 10 people participated in posting bail, but the court claims to need a week to process checks! Delaying tactics every which way one looks.

"It is not the rebels of the world who create the problems. 

It is the problems that create the rebels." -John T. Grubesic

Health Insurance Reform

Images from the White House Flickr Photostream

This so called reform leaves me cold, for me it means having to come up with insurance cost I can not afford. For the Health Insurance Companies it can only mean more money, a lot more money, as millions will have to join their for profit institutions. I can only hope that this is one step only in the right directions towards universal health care that includes a Public Option. I am happy for those in need that will benefit. I am happy nobody can be turned away any longer because of pre-conditions, and finally I am happy for President Obama and the Democratic Party to have accomplished this. A loss would have been devastating and even more demoralizing.

Michael Moore spoke very eloquently on the issue on Larry King Live:
http://larrykinglive.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/23/lkl-last-night-michael-moore-on-health-care-reform/


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/the-good-the-bad-and-the_b_512131.html
Andrew Weil hits the nail with this being a Health Insurance Reform.

Myself I have managed to avoid conventional medical care. I take no over the counter medicine, treat my current cold with Echinacea, Vitamin C and Riccola (Swiss candy that soothes the throat.) It works, applied early and frequent enough. My pups got some pest, probably fleas and those too I have treated without pharmaceuticals, mostly Tea Tree oil and natural offensive odors to pests. This too worked, my girl is no longer losing huge clumps of fur and can lie down for extended periods of times without scratching herself and annoying me to no end, but we are not done yet.

I am aware though that I am only one health catastrophe away from total ruin.  This health  insurance reform (termed so correctly seems to me by Dr. Weil) will make the cost of  insurance to self employed individuals like me, that have no pool to join (unaffordable now, mandatory soon) even more expensive! And this is our so-called health care reform? What a strange society I live in, the land of the Americas, the richest country in the world!

Finally, someone please analyze Barack Obama's most interesting signature, I would be curios about their insights.