Michael Moore on Obama...

[Ben]

What Will It Be Like to Have a Smart President?

By Michael Moore, MichaelMoore.com. Posted November 6, 2008.

Today we celebrate the triumph of intelligence over a belief that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs just 6,000 years ago.

Who among us is not at a loss for words? Tears pour out. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. A stunning, whopping landslide of hope in a time of deep despair.

In a nation that was founded on genocide and then built on the backs of slaves, it was an unexpected moment, shocking in its simplicity: Barack Obama, a good man, a black man, said he would bring change to Washington, and the majority of the country liked that idea. The racists were present throughout the campaign and in the voting booth. But they are no longer the majority, and we will see their flame of hate fizzle out in our lifetime.

There was another important "first" last night. Never before in our history has an avowed anti-war candidate been elected president during a time of war. I hope President-elect Obama remembers that as he considers expanding the war in Afghanistan. The faith we now have will be lost if he forgets the main issue on which he beat his fellow Dems in the primaries and then a great war hero in the general election: The people of America are tired of war. Sick and tired. And their voice was loud and clear yesterday.

It's been an inexcusable 44 years since a Democrat running for president has received even just 51 percent of the vote. That's because most Americans haven't really liked the Democrats. They see them as rarely having the guts to get the job done or stand up for the working people they say they support. Well, here's their chance. It has been handed to them, via the voting public, in the form of a man who is not a party hack, not a set-for-life Beltway bureaucrat. Will he now become one of them, or will he force them to be more like him? We pray for the latter.

But today we celebrate this triumph of decency over personal attack, of peace over war, of intelligence over a belief that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs just 6,000 years ago. What will it be like to have a smart president? Science, banished for eight years, will return. Imagine supporting our country's greatest minds as they seek to cure illness, discover new forms of energy, and work to save the planet. I know, pinch me.

We may, just possibly, also see a time of refreshing openness, enlightenment and creativity. The arts and the artists will not be seen as the enemy. Perhaps art will be explored in order to discover the greater truths. When FDR was ushered in with his landslide in 1932, what followed was Frank Capra and Preston Sturgis, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, Dorothea Lange and Orson Welles. All week long I have been inundated with media asking me, "gee, Mike, what will you do now that Bush is gone?" Are they kidding? What will it be like to work and create in an environment that nurtures and supports film and the arts, science and invention, and the freedom to be whatever you want to be? Watch a thousand flowers bloom! We've entered a new era, and if I could sum up our collective first thought of this new era, it is this: Anything Is Possible.

An African American has been elected President of the United States! Anything is possible! We can wrestle our economy out of the hands of the reckless rich and return it to the people. Anything is possible! Every citizen can be guaranteed health care. Anything is possible! We can stop melting the polar ice caps. Anything is possible! Those who have committed war crimes will be brought to justice. Anything is possible.

We really don't have much time. There is big work to do. But this is the week for all of us to revel in this great moment. Be humble about it. Do not treat the Republicans in your life the way they have treated you the past eight years. Show them the grace and goodness that Barack Obama exuded throughout the campaign. Though called every name in the book, he refused to lower himself to the gutter and sling the mud back. Can we follow his example? I know, it will be hard.

I want to thank everyone who gave of their time and resources to make this victory happen. It's been a long road, and huge damage has been done to this great country, not to mention to many of you who have lost your jobs, gone bankrupt from medical bills, or suffered through a loved one being shipped off to Iraq. We will now work to repair this damage, and it won't be easy.

But what a way to start! Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Wow. Seriously, wow.

[Crawler]

thanks for posting this.

[thx1138]

More words from Mike:> This is a rewrite of something I saw in 2004 and I like the high note on
> which it ends.
> Dear Red States:
>
> We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and
> we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware,
> that includes: California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota,
> Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split
> will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new
> country of New California.
>
> To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We
> get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty.
> You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. We get
> Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. We get 85 percent of America's venture capital
> and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue,
> you get to make the red states pay their fair share.
>
> Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian
> Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single
> moms. Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and
> anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at
> once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids
> they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and
> they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets
> coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq , and hope that the WMDs turn
> up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.
>
> With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent
> of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and
> lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's
> quality wines, 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech
> industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias
> and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Berkeley,
> Cal Tech and MIT. With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to
> cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health
> care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the
> tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern
> Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob
> Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We get Hollywood
> and Yosemite, thank you.
>
> Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was
> actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless
> we're discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say
> that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in
> 9/11 and 61 percent believe they are people with higher morals than we
> lefties.
>
> Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed
> they grow in Mexico.
>
> Peace out,
> Blue States