Garvey's Ghost: Black Talk

A Message to Michael Moore

Hello Mr Moore;
I enjoyed your film and encouraged everyone to watch it. I just read your 'open letter" to the voters of America and found the portion directed at me to be, well, insulting. you wrote:

To Non-Voters:

I understand why you stopped voting. Politicians suck. Nothing ever seems to change. You’re only one vote.
Yes, politicians suck. But so do car salesmen – and that hasn’t stopped you from buying a car. Politicians only respond to the threat of the angry mob also known as the voting public. If most people don’t vote, that’s good news for them ‘cause then they don’t have to answer to the majority.
Almost fifty percent of Americans don’t vote. That means you belong to the largest political party in America – the Non-Voting Party. That means you hold all the power to toss George W. Bush out of the Oval Office. How cool is that?
I believe that we are going to have the largest election turnout in our lifetime tomorrow. You don’t want to miss out on that. The lines at the polls are going to be long and raucous and fun. It is an historic election. You won’t want to say that you were the only one who wasn’t there. Promise me you’ll vote, just this one time.


Car salespersons? I mean is that the best you could come up with? First I don't give car salespeople jobs. Nor do I vote them in or out of their jobs. Secondly I choose to enter into a negotiation with a car dealer for a specified item. Should I not be satisfied with the item, price or service i may simply decline and move along. Ultimately I am in complete control of the process, Voting for president does not work that way. Not only is my personal vote liable to be thrown out without my knowledge, It can be nullified if I happen to live among people who do not agree with me. clearly the process of purchasing a vehicle is far more democratic than voting for a United States President.

But lets get to the point about being the largest political party in the US. We, well I can only speak for me, do not vote simply because we recognie the candidates and parties for what they are, two sides of the same coin. We refuse to even lend credence to the process by having our names associated with either party. Some of us are even more astute, we realize that like Corporations, there is really no need for us to participate. We just need to be in a position to benefit from whoever is in office. Just as Isreal knows it will continue to get arms and money regardless of who is in office, We learn how the tax code and other things work and position oursleves to benefit regardless and if things get too bad, like corporations we will simply up and move and take our assets with us. We are the non-whiners, we don't spend our time whining about what the government is doing or not doing. We don't spend our time whining about who's in office and we were not impressed by Clinton and aren't fooled by Jimmy Carter's "Altruism." We tell anyone who will listen how to organize themselves to protect thier interests.

if and when a decent candidate shows up, who is really "different" we'll be the first to vote (ie: Cynthia McKinney). Otherwise, we ain't interested. So let's be clear here, this isn't apathy. This isn't ignorance, this is an informed decision with full understaning of the consequences.

Your second point was:
To African Americans:

First of all, let’s just acknowledge what you already know: America is a country which still has a race problem, to put it nicely. Al Gore would be president today had thousands of African Americans not had their right to vote stolen from them in Florida in 2000.

Here is my commitment: I will do everything I can to make sure that this will not happen again. And I’m not the only one making this pledge. Thousands of volunteer lawyers are flying to Florida to act as poll watchers and intervene should there be any attempts to deny anyone their right to vote. They will NOT be messing around.

For my part, I have organized an army of 1,200 professional and amateur filmmakers who will be armed with video cameras throughout the states of Florida and Ohio. At the first sign of criminality, we will dispatch a camera crew to where the vote fraud is taking place and record what is going on. We will put a big public spotlight on any wrongdoing by Republican officials in those two states. They will not get away with this as they did in 2000.

In Ohio, the Republicans are sending almost 2,000 paid “poll challengers” into the black precincts of Cleveland in an attempt to stop African Americans from voting. This action is beyond despicable. Do not let this stop you from voting. I, and thousand of others, will be there to fight for you and protect you.

Ok Mr. Moore thanks for telling me soomething I already know. But let's not forget a few things, Al Gore is known for having a "low tolerance for negroes." Previous staffers have noted this. When the voter irregularities occured Al Gore was MIA. So I could really give a fart about him in 2000. What is even worse about the Democrats was, as you showed in your film, when the Black Congressiona Caucus asked for one single senator to certify their action to investigate the Florida vote, not a single Democratic senator would do it. So with "friends" like that, why should I stand in line to hand a Democrat my vote when they wouldn't vote with me? Why is Chuck Sxhumer getting 70% of the NY electorate? Why Will Hillary Clinton get similar support from blacks when neither of them supported us? As far as blacks are concerned, they should be seen as no different than Republicans.
So Mr. Moore, I could give a fart about how many video cameras were at the polls cause I would have personally put a fist in the mouth of someone who attempted to stop me from voting. I don't need a lawyer or a video camera to help me out.

Overall, your suggestions to me as both a non-voter and a Black American citizen are insulting. It assumes that I don't know why I refuse to vote and why I think Democrats should jump off the same cliff as Bush. I admire your films and as a white male, you are way better than many that I know, but please do not patronise me by insulting my intelligence.

Thank You