I have two excuses to forward the following letter (by Michael Moore, from
his newsletter) to the Ezra Pound list.
 
First, there's been considerable discussion of the Hitler/Mussolini era on
the list recently.  Italian Fascism and German Naziism both began as
alliances between government and big business, to the exclusion of the
interests of the general populace.  Ideology soon transcended these
alliances, of course, and the movement assumed a quasi-religious fervor.
There are parallels to be drawn between this and what we are now
experiencing with a Republican congress devoted totally to the interests of
corporations, with a religious right looming over its decisions.
 
Second, most members of this list are academics, either teachers or
students, a group that almost always favors Democratic candidates, but
almost never bothers to vote.  If you agree with Mr. Moore's analysis, I
respectfully suggest you act on it by voting on November 3, getting your
friends out to vote, and perhaps by forwarding this letter to others on your
e-mail list.
 
                                   * * * * *
 
Dear Friends ...
 
I would like to propose a legal act of civil disobedience that could send
the Right into near oblivion.
 
I am not a member of the Democratic Party.  To me, they are a barely
tolerable version of the Republicans.  We had the lowest turnout ever in
1996, but the majority who could stomach that pathetic choice on the ballot
went and voted for Bill Clinton.  That was the will of the people.  And that
is the will the Republicans are trying to subvert.
 
All the public opinion polls - New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN -
have said the same thing over and over: The American public does NOT want
impeachment.  Yet, Congress has decided to tell the public to take a flying
%$#& and has moved ahead with the impeachment process anyway.  This is their
fatal mistake and it will be their undoing.
 
The act of civil disobedience I am calling for is for each and every
American to go to the polls on Nov. 3 and vote for the Democratic candidate
for Congress on your ballot.  That's right, my fellow cynics and
progressives - the only way to send a true message to the right wing is to
throw every Republican out of office. I'm talking about a backlash the likes
of which American politics has never seen.  If you think this is something
that can't happen, I need only point to the national election in Canada in
1993 when the voters threw all but two members of the Conservative Party out
of Parliament.  In 1995, in Great Britain, the people of Scotland and Wales
removed every single member of the Torries from Parliament - that's right,
EVERY SINGLE ONE.
 
Now it's our turn in America.  Each of us must do all that we can to get our
fellow citizens out to vote on Nov. 3.  The Republicans are hoping and
praying that the turnout will be low, figuring that the public, especially
those who had voted for and trusted Clinton, is so burned out on politicians
and politics that they are just going to stay home.  They know, though, that
their own die-hard conservative supporters WILL be at the polls, come hell
or high water.
 
Yes, most of the Democrats suck.  I rarely vote for the sorry, wishy-washy
losers.  But this election is not about how I feel about them - it's about
US using THEM to whack the right wing for good.  Imagine if the Democrats
are voted in by overwhelming numbers (when all the pundits are predicting a
Republican landslide).  The message would be loud and clear to all these new
Democrats - THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WANTS THE AGENDA OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT
REMOVED FROM THE HALLS OF OUR UNITED STATES CONGRESS!
 
Yes, we would then have to stay on these Democrats to make sure they behave
and vote the way we want them to.  But that's a whole lot better than
allowing individuals to stay in office who want to subvert the will of the
American people because they would actually prefer a theocracy over a democracy.
 
If you want to stop this witch hunt, if you want Congress to start focusing
on the REAL problems facing the country and the world, then the ONLY way
this nonsense is going to stop is to throw the bums out.
 
Find out who the Democrat is who is running in your district at
'www.democrats.org/action' and then call up his/her headquarters and
volunteer to help turn out the vote.
 
Then get out and vote Nov. 3.  Hold your nose if you have to.  This is a
one-issue election and if you want the impeachment stopped - and I assure
you, you have the power to stop it at 8:01 p.m. that evening of Nov. 3 - you
must remove the Republicans in your districts.  I can think of a lot of
reasons why Clinton should not be president.  Staining a blue dress from The
Gap is not one of them.  Enough is enough.
 
                                               Yours, MICHAEL MOORE