Fact Check

Open Letter to George W. Bush

E-mail reproduces open letter from Michael Moore to President Bush regarding Hurricane Katrina.

David Mikkelson

Published Sept. 2, 2005

Claim:

Claim:   E-mail reproduces open letter from Michael Moore to President Bush regarding Hurricane Katrina.


Status:   True.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, 2005]




I've been seeing the below message passed around a lot on
myspace.com. Its probably being floated on other websites as well and
email.s Its an Open letter from Michael Moore to President Bush
regarding Hurricane Katrina. I haven't seen thise on the news yet (could
be my bad) but I just want to know if this letter from Michael Moore to
President Bush is authentic.

Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina
and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted.
Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you
need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man,
was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really
use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping
with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

[Rest of article here.]



Origins:   There have been many — and undoubtedly will be more — criticisms of various governmental agencies, from the President on downwards, over the failure to take proactive steps to head off the damage caused to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, or to provide adequate emergency services to residents of the storm-stricken Gulf Coast in the hurricane's aftermath.

One such criticism is excerpted above, an opinion piece by filmmaker Michael Moore entitled "Vacation is Over . . . an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush" which was published on his web site on 2 September 2005.

Last updated:   2 September 2005


By David Mikkelson

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.