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<p>
Hot off the presses! My newest letter on Flint. Please read, Sign my petiti=
on, and Share! <a href=3D"http://www.michaelmoore.com/DontSendBottledWater"=
>http://www.michaelmoore.com/DontSendBottledWater</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>"Do Not Send Us Bottles Of Water. Instead, Join Us In A Revolt."<br />
A Letter From Michael Moore</b>
</p>
<p>
Many of you have contacted me wanting to know how you can help the people o=
f Flint with the two-year long tragedy of drinking water contaminated by th=
e radical decisions made by the Governor of Michigan. The offer is much app=
reciated by those who are suffering through this and who have not drank a g=
lass of unpoisoned water since April of 2014.
</p><p>
Unfortunately, the honest answer to your offer of help is, sadly, you can=
=92t.
</p><p>
You can't help.
</p><p>
The reason you can=92t help is that you cannot reverse the irreversible bra=
in damage that has been inflicted upon every single child in Flint. The dam=
age is permanent. There is no medicine you can send, no doctor or scientist=
who has any way to undo the harm done to thousands of babies, toddlers and=
children (not to mention their parents). They are ruined for life, and som=
eone needs to tell you the truth about that. They will, forever, suffer fro=
m various neurological impediments, their IQs will be lowered by at least 2=
0 points, they will not do as well in school and, by the time they reach ad=
olescence, they will exhibit various behavioral problems that will land a n=
umber of them in trouble, and some of them in jail.
</p><p>
That is what we know about the history of lead poisoning when you inflict i=
t upon a child. It is a life sentence. In Flint, they=92ve already ingested=
it for these two years, and the toll has already been taken on their devel=
oping brains. No check you write, no truckloads of Fiji Water or Poland Spr=
ing, will bring their innocence or their health back to normal. It=92s done=
. And it was done knowingly, enacted by a political decision from a Governo=
r and a political party charged by the majority of Michigan=92s citizens wh=
o elected them to cut taxes for the rich, take over majority-black cities b=
y replacing the elected mayors and city councils, cut costs, cut services, =
cut more taxes for the rich, increase taxes on retired teachers and public =
employees and, ultimately, try to decimate their one line of defense agains=
t all this, this thing we used to call a union.
</p><p>
The amount of generosity since the national media finally started to cover =
this story has been tremendous. Pearl Jam sent 100,000 bottles of water. Th=
e next day the Detroit Lions showed up with a truck and 100,000 bottles of =
water. Yesterday, Puff Daddy and Mark Wahlberg donated 1,000,000 bottles of=
water! Unbelievably amazing. They acknowledged it=92s a very short-term fi=
x, and that it is. Flint has 102,000 residents, each in need of an average =
of 50 gallons of water a day for cooking, bathing, washing clothes, doing t=
he dishes, and drinking (I=92m not counting toilet flushes, watering plants=
or washing the car). But 100,000 bottles of water is enough for just <em><=
b>one bottle per person</b></em> =96 in other words, just enough to cover b=
rushing one=92s teeth <em>for one day</em>. You would have to send 200 bott=
les a day, per person, to cover what the average American (we<em> are</em> =
Americans in Flint) needs each day. That=92s 102,000 citizens times 200 bot=
tles of water =96 which equals <strong>20.4</strong> <strong>million </stro=
ng>16oz<strong>. </strong>bottles of water <strong>per day,</strong> every =
day, for the next year or two until this problem is fixed (oh, and we=92ll =
need to find a landfill in Flint big enough for all those hundreds of milli=
ons of plastic water bottles, thus degrading the local environment even fur=
ther). Anybody want to pony up for that? Because THAT is the reality.
</p><p>
This is a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. There is not a terrorist=
organization on Earth that has yet to figure out how to poison 100,000 peo=
ple every day for two years =96 and get away with it. That took a Governor =
who subscribes to an American political ideology hell-bent on widening the =
income inequality gap and conducting various versions of voter and electora=
l suppression against people of color and the poor. It was <strong>those </=
strong>actions that led Michigan=92s Republican Governor to try out his eco=
nomic and racial experiment in Flint (and please don=92t tell me this has n=
othing to do with race or class; he has removed the mayors of a number of b=
lack cities. This, and the water crisis in Flint, never would have been vis=
ited upon the residents of Bloomfield Hills or Grosse Pointe -- and everyon=
e here knows that). We have now seen the ultimate disastrous consequences o=
f late-20th=A0century, neo-conservative, trickle down public policy. That w=
ord =93trickle,=94 a water-based metaphor, was used to justify this economi=
c theory -- well, it=92s no longer a metaphor, is it? Because now we=92re t=
alking about how <em>actual</em> water has been used to institute these twi=
sted economic beliefs in destroying the lives of the black and the poor in =
Flint, Michigan.
</p><p>
So, do you still want to help? Really help? Because what we need in Flint =
=96 and across the country =96 right now, tonight, is a nonviolent army of =
people who are willing to stand up for this nation, and go to bat for the f=
orgotten of Flint.
</p><p>
Here=92s what you and I need to do:
</p>
<ol>
<li><div><p><strong>Demand the removal and arrest of Rick Snyder, the Gov=
ernor of Michigan.</strong> When the police have an "active shooter" situat=
ion in a building, they must first stop the shooter before they can bring a=
id to the victims. The perp who allowed the poisoning to continue once he k=
new something was wrong -- and his minions who cooked the evidence so the p=
ublic and the feds wouldn't find out =96 must be removed from office ASAP. =
Whether it's via resignation, recall or prosecution, this must happen <stro=
ng>now</strong> because he is still refusing to take the aggressive and imm=
ediate action needed. His office, as recently as this past Thursday, was cl=
aiming the EPA had no legal authority to tell him what to do. You know the =
EPA -- that federal agency every Republican politician wants eliminated? Go=
vernor Snyder is not going to obey the law. He has covered up the crime, an=
d I submit he has committed an act of voluntary or involuntary manslaughter=
. Last month I posted a meme of me holding a pair of handcuffs with the has=
htag #ArrestGovSnyder:</p>
<p><img style=3D"width:100%; height:auto;" src=3D"http://michaelmoore.s3.=
amazonaws.com/web/img/actionPage/ArrestGovSnyder/michael.jpg"/></p>
<p>It went viral, so I posted a petition (<a href=3D"http://michaelmoore.=
com/ArrestGovSnyder" target=3D"_blank">link</a>) to U.S. Attorney General L=
oretta Lynch asking her to arrest the Governor =96 and asking President Oba=
ma to send help to Flint immediately. As each day brought a new revelation =
of the Governor's corruption or incompetence, and with Rachel Maddow on a n=
ightly tear, the momentum built. MoveOn.org and Democracy For America joine=
d me in circulating our petition. We are now on our way to having a half-mi=
llion signatures! Then Bernie Sanders became the first candidate to call fo=
r the Governor=92s removal. That same day, President Obama issued his first=
emergency order for Flint. The next night, Hillary Clinton fiercely called=
out the racist actions of the Governor.</p>
<p>You want to help? <a href=3D"http://michaelmoore.com/DontSendBottledWa=
ter#signup-form">Sign the petition</a> =96 and get everyone you know to sig=
n it. Now. Another half-million signatures could become the tipping point w=
e need. All eyes are on Flint.</p></div></li>
<li><div><p><strong>Make the State of Michigan pay for the disaster that =
the State of Michigan created. </strong>The Governor wants the President to=
declare Flint a federal disaster zone and have him send federal money to f=
ix the problem. Not so fast. All relief aid for Flint currently coming from=
the federal government to Michigan is going through the Governor's office =
to disburse. That is literally paying the fox to fix the chicken coop he de=
stroyed. As a Michigan resident and voter, I think that the people who elec=
ted Governor Snyder must show some of that personal responsibility they=92r=
e always lecturing about to the poor. The majority of my fellow Michigander=
s wanted this kind of government (they elected him twice), so now they shou=
ld have to pay for it. This year the state treasury posted nearly a $600 mi=
llion surplus. There is also another $600 million in the state=92s =93rainy=
day fund=94. That=92s $1.2 billion =96 just about what Flint=92s congressm=
an, Dan Kildee, estimates it will cost to replace the water infrastructure =
and care for the thousands of poisoned children throughout their growing ye=
ars.</p>
<p>And before there is any talk of federal tax dollars being used (and, y=
es, they will be needed), the state legislature must remove the billion-dol=
lars=92 worth of tax cuts the Snyder administration gave the wealthy when h=
e took office. That will go a long way to helping not just Flint but Michig=
an=92s other destitute cities and school districts.</p></div></li>
<li><div><p><strong>The Federal Government must then be placed in charge.=
</strong>The State government cannot be trusted to get this right. So, ins=
tead of declaring a federal disaster zone, President Obama must declare the=
same version of martial law that Governor Snyder declared over the cities =
of Flint and Detroit. He must step in and appoint a federal emergency manag=
er in the state capitol to direct the resources of both the state and feder=
al government in saving Flint. This means immediately sending in FEMA in fu=
ll force. It means sending in the CDC to determine the true extent of not j=
ust the lead poisoning in the water, but also the latest outbreak that has =
been discovered in Flint =96 a tenfold increase in the number of Flint peop=
le who=92ve contracted Legionnaires Disease. There have now been 87 cases s=
ince the switch to the Flint River water, and ten people have died. The loc=
al hospital has also noted sharp increases in a half-dozen other toxins fou=
nd in people=92s bodies. We need the CDC. The EPA must take over the testin=
g of the water, and the Army Corps of Engineers must be sent in to begin re=
placing the underground pipes. Like the levees in New Orleans, this will be=
a massive undertaking. If it is turned over to for-profit businesses, it w=
ill take a decade and cost billions. This needs to happen right now and Oba=
ma must be in charge.</p></div></li>
<li><div><p><strong>Evacuate any and all Flint residents who want to leav=
e now. </strong>They=92ve suffered long enough and, until the water is trul=
y safe, no one should have to stay there who doesn=92t want to. The state a=
nd FEMA should move people into nearby white townships that are still hooke=
d up to Lake Huron water.</p></div></li>
<li><div><p><strong>For those who choose to stay in Flint, FEMA must crea=
te a temporary water system in each home.</strong> One idea that has been s=
uggested is to deliver two 55-gallon drums to every home in Flint. Each day=
water trucks will arrive to fill them with fresh clean glacial water from =
Lake Huron. The drums will have taps attached to them. People can=92t be ex=
pected to carry jugs of water from buildings that are miles away.</p></div>=
</li>
</ol>
<p>
In the end, we will need to create a new economy and bring new employment t=
o this town that created the middle class, that elected the first black may=
or, and that believed in and created the American Dream. They deserved more=
than to be poisoned by their own Governor -- a Governor who thought that, =
because the people in the town were politically weak, he could get away wit=
h this unnoticed and without a fight. He figured wrong.
</p><p>
A crime against humanity has been committed against the people of Flint, ma=
king them refugees in their own homes. Tell me honestly: if you were living=
in Flint right now, and you learned that your children had been drinking l=
ead-filled water for two years, and then you discovered that the Governor k=
new this and the state lied about it =96 tell me, just how fast would your =
head be spinning? With your children now poisoned, and with the poisoning c=
ontinuing=85 is the word =93nonviolence=94 dominating your thoughts right n=
ow? Are you absolutely, stunningly amazed how peaceful the people in Flint =
have remained? Are you curious how much longer that can last? I hope it doe=
s. If you want to help Flint, <a href=3D"http://michaelmoore.com/DontSendBo=
ttledWater#signup-form">sign the petition</a>, demand that the federal gove=
rnment take action, and then get involved yourself, wherever you live, so t=
hat this doesn=92t happen to you =96 and so that the people we elect know t=
hey can no longer break the law as they rule by fiat or indifference. We de=
serve much better than this.
</p><p>
<strong>For a better world,</strong><br />
<strong>Michael Moore</strong>
</p>
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