This country has truly changed, and I believe there will be no going back. Hate lost on Election Day. That is amazing in and of itself. Add to that all the women who were elected and you have a total rebuke of Neanderthal attitudes.
Now the real work begins. Millions of us — the majority — must come together to insist that President Obama and the Democrats stand up and fight for the things we sent them there to do. Mr. President, do not listen to the pundits who call for you to "compromise." You already tried that. It didn't work. You can compromise later if you need to, but please, no more beginning by compromising. If the Republican House doesn't want to play ball, do a massive end run around them with one executive order after another — just like they have done and will do if given the chance again.
We have to have Obama's back. As he is blocked and attacked by the Right, we need to be there with him. We are the majority. Let's act like it.
And please Mr. President, make the banks and Wall Street pay. You're the boss, not them. Lead the fight to get money out of politics — the spending on this election is shameful and dangerous. Don't wait until 2014 to bring the troops home — bring them home now. Stop the drone strikes on civilians. End the senseless war on drugs. Act like a pit bull when it comes to climate change — ignore the nuts, and fix this now. Take the profit motive out of things that any civilized country would say, "This is for the common good." Make higher education affordable for everyone and don't send 22-year-olds out into the world already in massive debt. Order a moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions. Enact economic policy that will create good-paying jobs and spend the money that's needed to do that. Make your second term one for the history books.
Finally, thanks must be given to the Occupy movement who, a year ago, set the tone of this election year by getting everyone to talk about the 1 percent versus the 99 percent. It inspired Obama and his campaign to realize there was a huge popular sentiment against what the wealthy have done to the country, and there was something wrong if just 400 rich guys owned more than 160 million Americans combined (all those moochers and bums). This led to Romney's "47 percent" remarks, which were the beginning of the end of his campaign. Thank you, Mother Jones, for releasing that secret tape, and thank you to the minimum wage worker who placed a camera on the serving buffet next to the candle.
The Washington Post's headline following Election Day said it all: "At Romney headquarters, the defeat of the 1 percent."
Thank you, Sandra Fluke, for enduring the insults hurled at you and then becoming an important grassroots leader against the war on women. Thank you, Todd Akin, for... well, for just being you. Thank you, CEOs of Chrysler and GM, for coming out forcefully against the Republican(!) candidate, saying he lived in "some parallel universe" when he lied about Jeep. Thank you, Governor Christie, for your new bromance with Obama. You know, you really didn't have to!
And you, Mother Nature, with all your horrific damage, death and destruction you caused last week, you became, ironically, the undoing of a Party that didn't believe in you or your climate changing powers.
Perhaps they'll believe now.
Once again, thanks to all of you who brought a nonvoter to the polls. In a last minute effort to get Obama an extra million votes he wasn't counting on, I enjoyed talking and texting with your loved ones and friends who weren't going to vote — but then changed their minds after a little nudge and some TLC ("Damn! Michael Moore? I'm getting in to car right now to go vote.").
To my fellow Americans, I think you'll agree: It was nice to wake up following the election in the United States of America.
Copyright 2012 Michael Moore, Oscar and Emmy-winning director of "Roger & Me," "Bowling for Columbine," and "Fahrenheit 9/11," which also won the top prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and went on to become the highest grossing documentary of all time. Reach Moore at his website, MichaelMoore.com.
Arizona Willie posted at 8:03 am on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
Very very good article, Mr. Moore.
Too bad the papers in Aridzona don't print more of what you write.
mnjcpa posted at 8:10 am on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
This man is vile, disgusting, and a hypocrite. Why the editors give him one inch of space is testament to rotting of American culture. The only thing this election proved is the depth of corruption in the liberal left.
JNelson posted at 8:46 am on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
WOW!!! What a load of garbage, but then, what else should one expect from Moore who obviously has no liking for the US Constitution, or even for fair treatment for all according to the laws which exist. Obama should RULE by Executive Order?? Just what the country needs, a totalitarian ruler the likes of which proved to be so successful in places like the USSR, I guess.
If Moore ever saw facts and truth, it isn't evident in his rant here.
chatmandu002 posted at 9:20 am on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
Mr Moore,
HOW?????? How does this nation create new good paying jobs? How does this nation afford to send everyone to college and pay for it? The 47% has now , as of this election, turned into the 51% and are depending on the Big Government to control and maintain their lives.
The first thing out of Obama's mouth was to raise taxes on the rich. But then his mouth went shut. Nothing... How Mr President? How will you stop the deficit spending? How much higher will the debt climb to? How many more business killing EPA rules and regulations will there be? How many more green energy companies will take our money and fail to succeed? How expensive is energy going to be because of your policies? How can business grow when there is not enough energy or it costs to much? How much more will we pay to Obamacare to provided for 30+ million more that will not have to pay? How can you micromanage the economy and still call it a free market system? How much more federal rule will you inflict upon the states? How much more of our sovereignty will you give away to the UN? What I do know for sure, if Obama fails then it's all George Bush's fault, if he succeeds then he will take a victory tour around the world with Michele and the kids at our expense.
Mr Moore, you are part of the 1% can we see your income tax returns? LOL
Accuracy posted at 9:33 am on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
While controversial filmmaker Michael Moore shouts applause for President Obama’s re-election, most Americans wonder what Obama's next term means for them.
The past four years have seen a marked increase in the erosion of many of America’s basic rights, values, and traditions. This Obama administration has expressed almost unprecedented hostility toward gun owners, small business owners and entrepreneurs, corporations, the energy industry, pro-lifers, marriage between a man and a woman viewed as sacred, and Christian institutions. And now that Obama doesn't have to worry about another campaign election, who knows how that hostility will be now expressed . . . Moore??
Mike McClellan posted at 9:33 am on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
I find Michael Moore a repellent propagandist -- his so-called documentary that won him an Academy Award -- "Farenheit 9/11" -- is replete with distortions and in some cases, flat out lies.
One quick example -- the move claims that Bush approved the Bin Laden family flying out of America after 9/11. Not only was that wrong, but Richard Clarke -- no fan of Bush -- said repeatedly that HE made that decision. Yet Moore chose to put in the lie.
He is no different, really, than the Fox New Propaganda Machine. And those who share Moore's point of view will accept his propaganda, just as the Fox News Fans accepts its.
Stevo357 posted at 10:03 am on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
I am amazed by this election. I feel that our days as the leader of the world are numbered. We are destined to fail and it is by our own doing.
There is a large portion of the country that have turned from our values of doing what is best for the nation to what is best for "my" group. The current administration has turned the feeling of many toxic.
This is the begging of the Cold Civil War. A nation divided!
gilbertgrandma posted at 10:53 am on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
Moore's second sentence says, "Hate lost on Election Day." Then he proceeds to spew a hateful rant against everyone who does not believe in his socialist agenda - what a despicable person!
Rich posted at 11:05 am on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
It's been about 50 years guy, we all felt like that in 1962. "To heck with Hate." (sic - Joe South). Some us used that half a century to grow a bit beyond our adolescent naiveté obviously you didn't. Bad government is just bad government and a pathetic belief in the wisdom of collective ignorance does change a thing about it.
Dale Whiting posted at 3:20 pm on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
Ok, all you Neo-cons out there.
Let's not assume facts that do not exist. Where 'accuracy' implies otherwise by his statement that " most Americans wonder what Obama's next term means for them." let us all remember and acknowledge that "most Americans [the majority of those who voted] voted for President Obama, austensibly because they believed that four years of Obama would mean more to them that would four years of Mitt Romney, this not withstanding the state of the economy.
Excuses, excuses! Wake up, dear Neo-cons, and smell them roses!
onerebel posted at 9:37 pm on Sat, Nov 10, 2012.
Micheal Moore telling others they have a Neanderthal attitudes is like the toilet bowel telling the sink it's full of you know what. So Mr. Moore hammers the right for not compromising then tells the president to not compromise. Then to do an end run around congress, acting more like a dictator. Like some other Liberals were, he was GLAD the hurricane hit. I guess death and destruction is fine as long as it helps push your agenda? It's not a tragedy it's an opportunity? What kind of SICK WARPED MIND thinks like that? To our Lib-con Dale, We'll see how well those roses smell in four years!
mnjcpa posted at 8:55 am on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
What I remember Dale is a map of the US 'blue' sections were pockets of people on east and west coasts & the red was 95% of the rest of the country. Obama ran a brilliant campaign focused on those pockets, spoke to their fears, and used character assignation with the corrupt media to destroy a decent man. That's a winning strategy right out of a Solinksy handbook. Romney wasn't a conservative which points to the GOP's inept strategy. Conservatism and libertarians hardly lost or you've conveniently forgotten history when the tables were turned.
There was a broad cross-section of the US that thoroughly disagree with Obama and his Keynesian big spending ways. They're not just going to lay down and see America become another Argentina. Whether it's nullification or other methods conservatives & libertarians that insist on fiscal sanity aren't going to just sit there while Obama unleashes the Treasury spending money we don't have for things we don't agree with.
Arizona Willie posted at 9:18 am on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
It's amusing -- in a sad sorta way -- to see the right wingers complaining about the MSM and and the " LIBERAL MEDIA " etc. etc.
The " media " is OWNED BY REPUBLICANS.
Only 6 companies own over 90% of " the media ".
And the executives who run them are virtually all Republicans.
But, when the Republican Party nominates a " KIng " who never had to worry about getting laid off and missing a house payment, someone who never held a " real " job in his life ... the American people look askance.
Americans want a Leader not Royalty.
The 47% don't take kindly to a man who was born with 100 million dollars in Trust Funds telling them they are lazy and just looking for handouts.
Especially when that man destroyed the company they used to work for and sent the jobs to China, and then squirreled the money away in offshore accounts so he didn't have to pay taxes on it.
NOT MOST PEOPLE'S IDEA OF A GOOD AMERICAN.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 9:55 am on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
I DON'T GIVE A RAT'S PATOOTIE IF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF WAS BORN WITH $100,000,000.00 IN THE BANK OR $0.01 IN THE BANK.....................AS LONG AS HE WAS BORN IN THE UNITED STATES AND NOT IN KENYA.
sockratties posted at 10:38 am on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
mnjcpa... I expected you, as a man of numbers, might understand the difference between area and population.
Since you were dazzled by the pretty bright colors you forgot that the population in those low density states are conservative rural farmers who don't have much use for government as long as they get their crop insurance and farm subsidies. Farmers tend to be traditional with many farms belonging to the same families that homesteaded them a couple of centuries ago. They are looking for status quo, not change. Big oil, big coal, big steel and manufacturing also dominate many of the red states.
Blue states have large populations who relate to components of government that have come under fire during this campaign; health care, education and the economy. They also tend to be ever more ethnically and financially diverse so the status quo does not favor them if it favors the wealthy.
The color that matters as much as red or blue is green. The billions that were spent destroying the reputations, esteem and image of all candidates went right back into the pockets of big business. Most of the workers were volunteers but the media didn't give anyone a break. If money can be taken out of the political equation perhaps the will of the people can have greater influence on issues that really matter.
Cerulean posted at 12:02 pm on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
I wonder if Stevo can tell us exactly what the “Cold Civil War” is about?
In an attempt to simplify and diminish the issues leading to the Civil War, Stevo claims it was about “raw goods vs. finished goods”.
When president Lincoln said, ”A house divided against itself cannot stand!” He was talking about the spread of slavery as an economic underpinning of the entire ‘free world’.
A comparison in today’s economy might include the fact that one of the wealthiest families in the world, the Waltons, were able to convince our legislators (our representatives?) that each one of their mega stores scattered throughout the U.S is a small business. Without guilt or hesitation, the Waltons use that fait accompli to fill their bellies with truffles and goat cheese, to leisure cruise the world and to afford the best cosmetic surgery money can buy: while the cashier at Wal-Mart must, by necessity use the tax supported state healthcare services to provide basic care for themselves and their children.
I think it time for the Waltons pay a higher tax to help support the United States.
Deddzone posted at 12:24 pm on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
I don't often agree with M. Moore. But one thing I do agree with is when he says "Hate lost on Election Day."
Yes, it did. I had posted on another news site where I claimed a day would come when all the hate that was spewed by those on the far, far right would come back to haunt them.
I officially welcome you to that day!
Now, realize it's not the 1950's or even the 1980's. The country is changing and the GOP must move to attract a HUGE diverse group of voters. I wish them luck...
Deddzone posted at 12:32 pm on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
Hate lost on Election Day.
Deddzone posted at 12:32 pm on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
That says it all!
Mike McClellan posted at 2:24 pm on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
mjncpa has a convenient lapse of memory -- every single attack on Romney that came from the Dems originated during the Republican primaries by . . . the other Republicans.
Apparently, mjncpa has forgotten the Sheldon Adelson-financed 30 minute attack "documentary" on Bain as Vulture Capitalism. Or the other attacks by Gingrich and Santorum in particular.
And he's forgotten how Romeny shot himself in the foot by his "evolution" on so many issues so often. Heck, at the end of the campaign, he'd even abandoned his original tax proposal.
chuckles3 posted at 7:04 pm on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
Scary scary stuff. I would estimate Mr Moore's IQ to be about 100.
Executive orders? "You're the boss" Hate lost?
Obama is not a King. Or an Emperor.
We still live in Representative Republic. Obama won a small plurality of the Popular vote and a larger margin of Electoral votes. The Republicans held the House comfortably and lost a couple Senate seats due to very poor choices for candidates.
We are headed into a regulatory hell that will crush our economy into another recession. Will the useful idiots that still blame Bush continue to do so for the next four years?
Deddzone posted at 8:13 pm on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
Chuckles, I will agree this is not a monarchy. The voters spoke. Living in fear is not working for the GOP. Neither is being lied to by the countless websites that spew false right-wing BS.
mrconservative posted at 8:27 am on Mon, Nov 12, 2012.
Thank you, Michael Moore the Bore, for being a snobbing, lying, decieving snob.
"Hate lost the election"?
I don't think so! "The EVIL empire defeated the Rebellion" would be more accurate.
In 720 + days, we will take America back in the Senate. ANd in about 1,450 days, we'll take back the White House.
mnjcpa posted at 8:28 am on Mon, Nov 12, 2012.
There you go again Mike M with your critical thinking skills. I never said Romney was my guy - he never was.
Sock - A deep analysis of the colors isn't relevant. Small pockets of the population defined what the rest of the country's vision would be likely many of those illegals given access to the voting booths. You'll never convince me the polls were run fair and square when George Soros Swiss company counted the votes.
AZWillie - Here's a economics lesson. General Electric owns NBC. General Electric paid ZERO taxes last year and has had `green subsidies` amounting to millions during Obama's term. Owned by the Republicans? Seriously you need to understand this topic better than you do.
The point is just because liberals won the election doesn't mean libertarians or conservatives lost. The Republicans put up the wrong guy and I don't think any other candidate could have beat Obama given the enormous power of the corrupt media.
There's not a thing I can do about politics. But what I can do, and will do is spend the rest of my career keeping as much tax revenue as possible away from the government and with the families who risk their livelihoods to employ people and attempt to have a decent future. I'm renewed and invigorated but not because I've succumb to big spending liberals.
I love what Rich said - `Bad government is just bad government and a pathetic belief in the wisdom of collective ignorance does change a thing about it.`
Mike McClellan posted at 9:22 am on Mon, Nov 12, 2012.
Never said he was your man, mnjcpa. Just pointing out that the other Republican candidates did a pretty fair job of ripping into Romney long before Obama did, including Sheldon Adelson, who first tried to smear Romney then later funded support for Romney.
As to Rich's comment that you like so much -- `Bad government is just bad government and a pathetic belief in the wisdom of collective ignorance does change a thing about it' --
The "wisdom of collective ignorance" pretty much sums up the people who depended on Right Wing Media for their information.
On election day, for example, guess who went to Fox for election trends? Romney's campaign. Why? Because their own turnout machine -- ORCA -- died within an hour of it coming online. The Romney folks were left in the dark because of it, so they turned to Fox News for their information.
Another reason Romney lost -- his reluctant connection to the Hard Right Media Machine. Had he run as Moderate Mitt from the start, he might've won.
However, the HRMM won't acknowledge that. Stay in the bubble, Hard Righters, and continue to be losers in otherwise imminently winnable campaigns.
Deddzone posted at 10:05 am on Mon, Nov 12, 2012.
Mr. Conservative, using Star Wars terms is a bit silly. Beyond that this whole "taking back the country" thing has gotten very old. The GOP never lost a thing except large segments of the voting population.
mnjcpa posted at 10:08 am on Mon, Nov 12, 2012.
If it makes you feel good Mike picking the bones of the election have at it. I"m neither right wing, depended on Fox, nor does collective ignorance have anything to do with choosing a television channel. And if you have a grasp of history, you would know that your bubble won't last. The Republicans will learn from this or they won't. It doesn't mean people will embrace your big spending ways or a libertarian revolution won't rise as people learn from this lesson. All you've proven to me again is we made the right decision to pull our kids from the public school system.
Accuracy posted at 10:18 am on Mon, Nov 12, 2012.
‘Name-calling’ Dale Whiting concludes: “Excuses, excuses! Wake up, dear Neo-cons, and smell them roses!”
--------------------------------------------------
President Obama wants to raise tax rates and another increase in the government's debt ceiling. So “Name-calling Whiting” is insinuating a compromise with the Democrats – by ‘kicking the can down the road’.
An inclined description applied to all the problems that are not being solved and are simply kicked further down the road as Washington is going off the so-called "fiscal cliff".
VofReason posted at 1:26 pm on Mon, Nov 12, 2012.
Thank you for that from Michael Moore. Whenever I see things he writes or puts into movies I just chuckle and say "no one can believe this". But evidently I stand corrected. Mother Nature spoke huh. She must really hate Republicans and non believers in Global warming. I wonder what she was trying to say or who she was telling for the last million hurricans over the last millions of years. This guy is a lunatic and should be shunned.