From Michael Moore's webpage

[brettdale]

Friends,

Last week I closed my New York production office and sent my staff down to New Orleans to set up our own relief effort. I asked all of you to help me by sending food, materials and cash to the emergency relief center we helped set up on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain with the Veterans for Peace. We did this when the government was doing nothing and the Red Cross was still trying to get it together. Every day, every minute was critical. People were dying, poor people, black people, left like so much trash in the street. I wanted to find a way to get aid in there immediately.

I hooked up with the Vietnam veterans and Iraqi war vets (Veterans for Peace) who were organizing a guerilla, grass-roots relief effort. They were the same group that had set up Cindy Sheehan's camp in Crawford and now they had moved Camp Casey to Louisiana.

I have good news and horrible news to report. First, your response to my appeal letter was overwhelming. Within a few days, a half-million dollars was sent in through my website to fund our relief effort. This money was immediately used to buy generators, food, water, a mobile medical van, tents, satellite phones, etc.

Others of you began shipping supplies to our encampment. People in communities all over the country started organizing truck caravans to us in Louisiana. Twenty-two trucks from southern California alone have already arrived. A semi-truck from Chicago delivered ten tons of food. A group of friends in New Jersey got two 24 foot trucks, got their community to load them up with goods, and arrived in Covington tonight. Fifteen iMacs are inbound from California. One man gave us his pick-up truck and another donated truck is en route from Houston.

Your response to my appeal has been nothing short of miraculous. And it has saved many, many lives.

A number of you decided to just get in your cars and drive to our camp to volunteer to help. We now have had 150 volunteers here doing the work that needs to be done. Last night they unloaded twenty tons of food from a tractor trailer in under two hours. Each day more volunteers arrive. Everyone is sleeping on the ground or in tents. It is a remarkable sight. Thank you, all of you, for responding. I will never forget this outpouring of generosity to those forgotten by our own government.

My staff and the vets spend their 18-hour days delivering food and water throughout the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. What they have seen is appalling. I have asked them to post their daily diaries on my website (www.michaelmoore.com) along with accompanying photos and video so you can learn what is really going on. What the media is showing you is NOT the whole story. It is much, much worse and there is still little being done to bring help to those who need it.

Our group has visited many outlying towns and villages in Mississippi and Louisiana, places the Red Cross and FEMA haven't visited in over a week. Often our volunteers are the first relief any of these people have seen. They have no food, water or electricity. People die every day. There are no TV cameras recording this. They have started to report the spin and PR put out by the White House, the happy news that often isn't true ("Everyone gets 2,000 dollars!").

The truth is that there are dead bodies everywhere and no one is picking them up. My crew reports that in most areas there is no FEMA presence, and very little Red Cross. It's been over two weeks since the hurricane and there is simply not much being done. At this point, would you call this situation incompetence or a purposeful refusal to get real help down there?

That's why we decided not to wait. And we are so grateful to all of you who have joined us. The Veterans for Peace and my staff aren't leaving (and that's why we are hoping those of you who can't get to Covington will make it to the Veterans for Peace co-sponsored anti-war demonstration in DC on September 24: www.unitedforpeace.org.)

If you want to help, here's what we need in Covington right now:

Cleaning Supplies (glass cleaner, bleach, disinfectant, etc.)
Aspirin and other basic over the counter drugs.
Bottled Water
Canned Goods
Hygiene Supplies
Baby Supplies - Baby Food Formula, diapers #4, #5, Wipes, Pedialyte
Sterile Gloves
Batteries - All kinds, from AA to watch and hearing aid batteries.
Volunteers with trucks and cars
Self contained kitchens with generators, utensils, workers

Consider sending supplies in reusable containers. List the contents on the outside of the package so the folks in the warehouse can easily sort the items.

Clothes are not needed. If you go, keep in mind that you MUST be self-sufficient. Bring a tent and a sleeping bag. People are driving to Covington from across the country and often have extra room in their cars for you or for an extra box of supplies. For more information, go to the Veterans for Peace message board: www.vfproadtrips.org/katrina/.

Send supplies via UPS to:
Veterans for Peace
Omni Storage
74145 Hwy. 25
Covington LA

Thanks again for funding and supporting our relief efforts. It has been a bright spot in this otherwise shameful month.

Yours,
Michael Moore
[e-mail]
www.michaelmoore.com

[giant_robot]

1. How sad that a man vilified by the ruling party for telling the truth...

...a man who is simply an author and filmmaker, can mount a humanitarian response to the hurricane faster than a cabinet-level uber-bureaucracy designed to keep us safe from future 9/11's. :puke:

Thank you, Michael Moore :patriot:

[mrsadm]

2. I think this is great!

It would be so easy for him to sit in his apartment and pass criticism on the bush administration - but instead he chose to go there himself and make a real difference for people.

Bravo, Michael!

[anarchy1999]

3. I'm nothing but pissed off. His camp? Give me a break! and then some!

I used to love you. I've got some issues.

"our efforts" Damn it all, Michael. The Vets have been there since the beginning. How dare you! My staff and me, me, me. and "our" camp. When Michael, did it become "your" camp?

"My staff and the vets", this is just quite plain and simply wrong.

"Our group"

This is wrong.

But hey, Mike, thanks for giving a shout out to the VFP.

[ladylibertee]

4. OOHhhKaaayy...Anyways, I think it's great to see my homestate

California helping in the effort, but ya know what pisses me off? Wisconsin took up a collection and sent trucks and all, but they only sent it to Mississippi and Alabama. Am I reading too much into this or have I found myself in a prejudice state?

[anarchy1999]

5. Its okay, every state needs lots of help. N/T and welcome to DU

with reservations.

[ohio_liberal]

6. I wouldn't read too much into that

From what the *media* is reporting, New Orleans and surrounding area have gotten the most attention so far. Your state probably reacted to that and sent stuff where they thought it was needed most.

[Mend]

7. In the movie, I am sure your guys will get tons of credit

but the point is that only he can make "the Katrina movie" and that is how the rest of the country will see the truth.

[anarchy1999]

8. You know, I quit.

n/t

[bryant69]

11. Yeah, Michael Moore is a great man

In all seriousnesss - but he does have a self aggrandizing streak; and he favors simplistic stories sometimes (not always, Bowling for Columbine was very nuanced).

To me it's problamattic that he is the one thrust into the spotlight as the voice of liberalism/progressive ideals. He's good but there are other commentators that are better, but who are less controversial.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[matt819]

13. As you say, you clearly have some issue. . .

He never says "my camp." The only time he refers to "my" is when that's appropriate. His crew. His staff. Otherwise, it's always ours - that's collective, inclusive. He's clearly working with the VFP and considers their efforts jointly. I don't know whether they are doing the same, and, frankly, I don't think it matters, as long as the effort is being made. If his reference to "my staff and the vets" is wrong, prove it. Is his staff not working down there? Is his staff not working with the VFP group? Did the volunteers not unload tons of food in 2 hours?

[bribri16]

14. Thank you. I am suspicious of people who "damn with faint praise."

Michael is there, he packe up his staff. This has cost all of them personally. I admire the man and if he has selfagrandizing streak, he has earned the right in my book to show it. Better to has that streak when you do something to earn it then, like GW, have it for no reason at all.

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. OUR EFFORTS. The half a million dollars he raised from HIS web site

is wrong? Are you sure? I would think he would know how much money he raised through his web site. He didn't raise that money? He INCLUDES the Vets in his letter. In fact, he qualifies that early in the letter. He SAID he joined up with the Vets. He also said he sent HIS NEW YORK STAFF to NOLA. Is that wrong? He didn't do that? OUR GROUP....HIS STAFF + THE VETS would = 'OUR GROUP', would it not? I don't see ANY me, me, me, me in his letter. I think thanks are in order for a man who used his FAMOUS name to help the victims. Isn't THAT the most important thing here? Or is it more important who set up a camp and who joined the camp later? The important thing IS, The Veterans for Peace and Michael Moore have joined forces to help those poor people in NOLA. When he says "my" or "I", he is referring to his web site or his office or his staff. I don't see where he took ANYTHING away from the Vets and Michael Moore OF ALL PEOPLE, wouldn't do that. A question that should be asked, Would they have raised that much money, gotten that many donation if not for Michael Moore's name and his plea on HIS web site. He deserves Thanks for his help, don't you think?:(

Last week I closed my New York production office and sent my staff down to New Orleans to set up our own relief effort. I asked all of you to help me by sending food, materials and cash to the emergency relief center we helped set up on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain with the Veterans for Peace. We did this when the government was doing nothing and the Red Cross was still trying to get it together. Every day, every minute was critical. People were dying, poor people, black people, left like so much trash in the street. I wanted to find a way to get aid in there immediately.

I hooked up with the Vietnam veterans and Iraqi war vets (Veterans for Peace) who were organizing a guerilla, grass-roots relief effort. They were the same group that had set up Cindy Sheehan's camp in Crawford and now they had moved Camp Casey to Louisiana.

I have good news and horrible news to report. First, your response to my appeal letter was overwhelming. Within a few days, a half-million dollars was sent in through my website to fund our relief effort. This money was immediately used to buy generators, food, water, a mobile medical van, tents, satellite phones, etc.

Others of you began shipping supplies to our encampment. People in communities all over the country started organizing truck caravans to us in Louisiana. Twenty-two trucks from southern California alone have already arrived. A semi-truck from Chicago delivered ten tons of food. A group of friends in New Jersey got two 24 foot trucks, got their community to load them up with goods, and arrived in Covington tonight. Fifteen iMacs are inbound from California. One man gave us his pick-up truck and another donated truck is en route from Houston.

Your response to my appeal has been nothing short of miraculous. And it has saved many, many lives.

A number of you decided to just get in your cars and drive to our camp to volunteer to help. We now have had 150 volunteers here doing the work that needs to be done. Last night they unloaded twenty tons of food from a tractor trailer in under two hours. Each day more volunteers arrive. Everyone is sleeping on the ground or in tents. It is a remarkable sight. Thank you, all of you, for responding. I will never forget this outpouring of generosity to those forgotten by our own government.

My staff and the vets spend their 18-hour days delivering food and water throughout the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. What they have seen is appalling. I have asked them to post their daily diaries on my website (www.michaelmoore.com ) along with accompanying photos and video so you can learn what is really going on. What the media is showing you is NOT the whole story. It is much, much worse and there is still little being done to bring help to those who need it.

Our group has visited many outlying towns and villages in Mississippi and Louisiana, places the Red Cross and FEMA haven't visited in over a week. Often our volunteers are the first relief any of these people have seen. They have no food, water or electricity. People die every day. There are no TV cameras recording this. They have started to report the spin and PR put out by the White House, the happy news that often isn't true ("Everyone gets 2,000 dollars!").

The truth is that there are dead bodies everywhere and no one is picking them up. My crew reports that in most areas there is no FEMA presence, and very little Red Cross. It's been over two weeks since the hurricane and there is simply not much being done. At this point, would you call this situation incompetence or a purposeful refusal to get real help down there?

That's why we decided not to wait. And we are so grateful to all of you who have joined us. The Veterans for Peace and my staff aren't leaving (and that's why we are hoping those of you who can't get to Covington will make it to the Veterans for Peace co-sponsored anti-war demonstration in DC on September 24: www.unitedforpeace.org .)

If you want to help, here's what we need in Covington right now:

Cleaning Supplies (glass cleaner, bleach, disinfectant, etc.)
Aspirin and other basic over the counter drugs.
Bottled Water
Canned Goods
Hygiene Supplies
Baby Supplies - Baby Food Formula, diapers #4, #5, Wipes, Pedialyte
Sterile Gloves
Batteries - All kinds, from AA to watch and hearing aid batteries.
Volunteers with trucks and cars
Self contained kitchens with generators, utensils, workers

Consider sending supplies in reusable containers. List the contents on the outside of the package so the folks in the warehouse can easily sort the items.

Clothes are not needed. If you go, keep in mind that you MUST be self-sufficient. Bring a tent and a sleeping bag. People are driving to Covington from across the country and often have extra room in their cars for you or for an extra box of supplies. For more information, go to the Veterans for Peace message board: www.vfproadtrips.org/katrina/.

Send supplies via UPS to:
Veterans for Peace
Omni Storage
74145 Hwy. 25
Covington LA

Thanks again for funding and supporting our relief efforts. It has been a bright spot in this otherwise shameful month.

Yours,
Michael Moore
[e-mail]
www.michaelmoore.com

[bklyncowgirl]

9. Is Mike documenting this?

His efforts to alleviate suffering are terrific and his support for and publicizing of Covington a very good thing but America needs Michael Moore and his camera crews documenting this disaster.

That's where his true expertise lies and America needs to see this truth.

[Mend]

10. I hope the cameras are rolling....eom

[laura888]

12. Good question.

No one can argue with real footage.

[Dr Fate]

22. What do you think?

I would imagine the PT Barnum of politics is filming every second of it- as well as collecting home videos from others.

[Ronnie]

15. Amazon

We just ordered two cases of Pedialyte through Amazon. It only took a few minutes. BTW, the zip code is 70435-5609. Another BTW, most of the rest of this thread is really depressing. I don't think personal attacks are appropriate right now.

[in_cog_ni_to]

16. He closed his NY production office and sent his staff to NOLA???

He's a true humanitarian. He then put out a request on his web site asking for donations and received a HALF A MILLION DOLLARS? Unbelievable! It takes someone as WELL KNOWN AS Michael Moore to get things done. I, for one, am SO THANKFUL that he cares enough to do this when our own Government didn't.

THANK YOU MICHAEL! :loveya:

[Dr Fate]

18. This is the man the DEM strategists tell us to distance ourselves from

The DEM strategists who lost the last 3 elections, I might ad.

[in_cog_ni_to]

19. That just kills me. This man did a movie, F911, and opened the eyes

of MILLIONS of Americans who had NO CLUE what this administration was doing. He deserves our thanks, not scorn. The DLC hates the guy, I'm sure. We should embrace him, if that's the case. :)

[joanne]

20. Exactly!

We expect the Repukes to do everything to discredit Michael...."he hates America", but Democrats should be proud of him.

He's a true patriot. :patriot:

:yourock:

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. Bingo! We're suppose to do what the repukes want us to do?

Since when?! If the repukes hate him, that just means he's doing a GREAT job.:loveya: I love the guy.

[earth mom]

23. Exactly-those in office can't stand him because they feel threatened.

Michael Moore rocks! It's so ridiculously obvious that the dems and rethugs in office dis him because they are jealous and threatened and are afraid of what would happen if MM ran for office. I for one would LOVE to see that happen and finally get someone in office who really gives a damn about the american people instead of the f-cking corporations! :grr:

We need to keep this thread kicked and get it nominated to the greatest page!