I thought some of you might enjoy this. > > This is the real state of the union.... > > "George W. in the Garden of Gethsemane" > 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?). > > Then 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 advisor? A former advisor > 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 advisor 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 advisor 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. > > While doing all this, you told the American people that these rich friends > of yours were not getting any special breaks -- when, in fact, Enron had > already scammed their way out of paying NO taxes in four out of the last > five years. Your economic "stimulus" bill that you got the House to pass > after 9-11 had a section that would give Enron a gift of $250 million of > our tax money. You were pushing this bill in November and December, long > after your administration knew that Enron was raiding the vault and > screwing its workers and investors. > > You and your Republican friends are quick to point out that Enron had their > claws into the Democrats as well. Yes, they did, and thank you for making > the case why we not only need an alternative to the current make-up of the > Democratic Party, we need private money removed from our electoral process > ASAP. > > But, George, let's be real -- the Democrats only got a pittance from Enron > compared to the millions you and the Republicans received. Democrats just > don't have the killer instinct to do anything right, and they certainly > don't know much about making money the old-fashioned way, one off-shore tax > shelter at a time. I would expect nothing less from a Party that couldn't > even put their candidate in the White House after he had already won the > election. > > The Democrats are like a Yugo -- you know it won't last long or work well, > but it will occasionally get the job done. Fat cats know they can buy the > Democrats at discount prices, and so they do. Anyone who tries to deflect > this scandal away from you, George, or away from the Republicans, or away > from the whole dirty way we elect our leaders, is someone who is > desperately trying to cling to what's left of a very crooked system that > has to go and go now. > > The saddest part of this whole affair was the day the scandal was revealed > -- and you denied that you even knew your good friend, Kenneth Lay. "Ken > who?" you said. Oh, he's just some businessman from Texas. "Heck, he backed > my opponent for governor, Ann Richards!" was your way of trying to deflect > the truth that was hitting you like a Mack truck. You knew that he, in > fact, endorsed YOU and gave you THREE times the money Ann Richards ever saw > from him. > > I hardly ever talk to the guy, you said. You were like Peter in the Garden > of Gethsemane, denying he knew Jesus, three times. And then the cock > crowed. And Peter felt shame and ran away. > > What shame do you feel tonight, George, for the lies you have told? What > shame do you feel using the dead of 9-11 as a cover for your actions, > hoping that our sorrow for those lost souls and our fear of being killed by > terrorists would distract us from what your boys and Kenny Boy were up to > during those horrific weeks in September and October? > > It was during those very days, while the rest of us were in shock and > sadness, that the executives at Enron were selling off their stock and > shifting assets to their 900 phony partnerships overseas. Did they notice > the remains of the dead being pulled from the rubble while they were > downloading their millions, or were their eyes glued only to the bottom > third of the TV screen as the stock ticker with the rigged Enron price > crawled across the images of firemen desperate, in tears, to find their > fallen brothers? > > The country was behind you when you said you were fighting the evildoers > who did this. In fact, all the while, the real fight your friends at Enron > were conducting was the fight against the clock, to see how fast they could > transfer all the loot to their personal accounts and run away. Those were > the evildoers, George, and you knew it. And because you, by design or > negligence, allowed this to happen, it is time for you to resign. The cock > has crowed for the last time. > > At the very least, your mother-in-law deserves better. > > Yours, > > Michael Moore >
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