The Winds of Change

 

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Pinch Me ...a message from Michael Moore

Friends,

Who among us is not at a loss for words? Tears pour out. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. A stunning, whopping landslide of hope in a time of deep despair.

En Español: Pellízquenme …un mensaje de Michael Moore

In a nation that was founded on genocide and then built on the backs of slaves, it was an unexpected moment, shocking in its simplicity: Barack Obama, a good man, a black man, said he would bring change to Washington, and the majority of the country liked that idea. The racists were present throughout the campaign and in the voting booth. But they are no longer the majority, and we will see their flame of hate fizzle out in our lifetime.

There was another important "first" last night. Never before in our history has an avowed anti-war candidate been elected president during a time of war. I hope President-elect Obama remembers that as he considers expanding the war in Afghanistan. The faith we now have will be lost if he forgets the main issue on which he beat his fellow Dems in the primaries and then a great war hero in the general election: The people of America are tired of war. Sick and tired. And their voice was loud and clear yesterday.

It's been an inexcusable 44 years since a Democrat running for president has received even just 51% of the vote. That's because most Americans haven't really liked the Democrats. They see them as rarely having the guts to get the job done or stand up for the working people they say they support. Well, here's their chance. It has been handed to them, via the voting public, in the form of a man who is not a party hack, not a set-for-life Beltway bureaucrat. Will he now become one of them, or will he force them to be more like him? We pray for the latter.

But today we celebrate this triumph of decency over personal attack, of peace over war, of intelligence over a belief that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs just 6,000 years ago. What will it be like to have a smart president? Science, banished for eight years, will return. Imagine supporting our country's greatest minds as they seek to cure illness, discover new forms of energy, and work to save the planet. I know, pinch me.

We may, just possibly, also see a time of refreshing openness, enlightenment and creativity. The arts and the artists will not be seen as the enemy. Perhaps art will be explored in order to discover the greater truths. When FDR was ushered in with his landslide in 1932, what followed was Frank Capra and Preston Sturgis, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, Dorothea Lange and Orson Welles. All week long I have been inundated with media asking me, "gee, Mike, what will you do now that Bush is gone?" Are they kidding? What will it be like to work and create in an environment that nurtures and supports film and the arts, science and invention, and the freedom to be whatever you want to be? Watch a thousand flowers bloom! We've entered a new era, and if I could sum up our collective first thought of this new era, it is this: Anything Is Possible.

An African American has been elected President of the United States! Anything is possible! We can wrestle our economy out of the hands of the reckless rich and return it to the people. Anything is possible! Every citizen can be guaranteed health care. Anything is possible! We can stop melting the polar ice caps. Anything is possible! Those who have committed war crimes will be brought to justice. Anything is possible.

We really don't have much time. There is big work to do. But this is the week for all of us to revel in this great moment. Be humble about it. Do not treat the Republicans in your life the way they have treated you the past eight years. Show them the grace and goodness that Barack Obama exuded throughout the campaign. Though called every name in the book, he refused to lower himself to the gutter and sling the mud back. Can we follow his example? I know, it will be hard.

I want to thank everyone who gave of their time and resources to make this victory happen. It's been a long road, and huge damage has been done to this great country, not to mention to many of you who have lost your jobs, gone bankrupt from medical bills, or suffered through a loved one being shipped off to Iraq. We will now work to repair this damage, and it won't be easy.

But what a way to start! Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Wow. Seriously, wow.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MichaelMoore.com

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The above article is a wonderful way to open our Editorial Section. Yes you may say “but this is American” however it is much more than that.

It is a message, which as long as we never extinguish the flame of hope, hope for change will remain. It means that in the end, if the will of the people changes, so does the government whom is elected by the will of the people.

It is a message that in spite of the power of corporations and corporate greed, the ultimate choice is made by the public imposing its will.

Hope remains, however it comes as a two edged sword, the question of what edge of the sword will the President Elect use? Will he choose the will of the people who elected him, or will he bow to will of the corporate world?

For now let us pray that the President Elect will honor his commitment, and show Canadians how it can be done. If the American system of Workers Compensation becomes accountable for the crimes it has committed against humanity, most specifically it own people, we too will have hope that our Workers Compensation Board will be brought to justice.

Never forget that Canada followed the Americans into making the Workers Compensation Board into a system that reminds injured workers of what it must have been like to live under the oppression of Hitler, and to be able to do nothing about it.

Injured workers in both countries have been treated as property, disposable, with no rights to make any claims. Both countries impose a system of total denial on long term disability. Yes they both let a few through, to use as advertisements to mislead public opinion, however for the vast majority of injured workers, making the application for compensation, was the first step in ending life as we knew it. It was the beginning of the end, the end of our rights as a human being.

In the mean time, let us all pray that the winds of change may blow across Canada as well.

WCBCANADA
Editor