Michael Moore To Barack Obama: Open Letter, On The Occasion Of The Demise of GM

Moore implores Obama to, just this once, really be Rooseveltian:

...(A)s GM is "reorganized" by the federal government and the bankruptcy court, here is the plan I am asking (him) to implement for the good of the workers, the GM communities, and the nation as a whole. Twenty years ago when I made "Roger & Me," I tried to warn people about what was ahead for General Motors. Had the power structure and the punditocracy listened, maybe much of this could have been avoided. Based on my track record, I request an honest and sincere consideration of the following suggestions:

After delivering a list of 9 things that the Government, the Corporats, and the People could do to utilize the bones of GM to attack the climate crisis, including retooling to produce climate- and environment-friendly vehicles, mass transport, and other energy-efficient devices (pipe-dreams, of course, because Michael Moore is still fat), Moore concludes:

Please, please, please don't save GM so that a smaller version of it will simply do nothing more than build Chevys or Cadillacs. This is not a long-term solution. Don't throw bad money into a company whose tailpipe is malfunctioning, causing a strange odor to fill the car.

100 years ago this year, the founders of General Motors convinced the world to give up their horses and saddles and buggy whips to try a new form of transportation. Now it is time for us to say goodbye to the internal combustion engine. It seemed to serve us well for so long. We enjoyed the car hops at the A&W. We made out in the front -- and the back -- seat. We watched movies on large outdoor screens, went to the races at NASCAR tracks across the country, and saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time through the window down Hwy. 1. And now it's over. It's a new day and a new century. The President -- and the UAW -- must seize this moment and create a big batch of lemonade from this very sour and sad lemon.

Yesterday, the last surviving person from the Titanic disaster passed away. She escaped certain death that night and went on to live another 97 years.

So can we survive our own Titanic in all the Flint Michigans of this country. 60% of GM is ours. I think we can do a better job.

With a common purpose, a common goal, and a common ownership ("commons?" What a bizarre notion!), "we" could hardly do worse than the oligarchs who have forced the whole country to the brink of national bankruptcy.