Better Call In "SiCKO"
By Mark Groubert Sunday Jun 24, 2007 4:15pm
C&L Film of the Month/June
SiCKO : Written, produced and directed by Michael Moore---Scheduled for national release Friday June 29th
Film Review
By Mark Groubert
“Why is it that I’m considered controversial? What have I done? I made a movie about people in my hometown that suffered as a result of GM pulling out. I made another movie because a bunch of kids were killed at Columbine High School and I didn’t want that to happen again. And I made a movie because, early on I took a guess and told the American people from the stage of the Oscars that we were being lied to about weapons of mass destruction and I got booed. These days, I got a lot of Republicans stopping me on the street and apologizing to me. They now see I was trying to warn them the Emperor has no clothes. At this point, I’m very squarely in the middle of the mainstream majority.”
Michael Moore
America June 2007
SiCKO will make you sick – to your stomach.
To the bottom of your soul.
It is partisan proof, critic proof and bullet proof.
It is simply the truth.
And the truth, like the message in this, the fifth documentary by Michael Moore, is getting increasingly hard to swallow. SiCKO is indeed his bitterest cinematic pill to date. Watching people being given the medical equivalent of a death sentence by a bottom line driven bureaucracy may not fall under the heading of filmed entertainment.
But neither does Night and Fog.
We open on the carpenter who must choose between replacing two severed fingers: A middle finger for $60,000 or his ring finger for $12,000. Being financially strapped with no health insurance and as Moore points out “a romantic,” the patient ops for the discounted ring finger to be replaced.
We learn of the girl, unconscious in a car wreck, who was denied reimbursement benefits because she didn’t call to request permission for an ambulance, as her HMO requires.
We see a young man casually stitching up a huge gash in his own leg with thread to avoid another enormous medical bill.
But this is not just a film of individual horror stories.
Moore does not focus on the fifty million Americans who do not have any health insurance.
Instead he focuses on the millions who do.
With rare audio recordings from the infamous Nixon tapes, we actually hear President Nixon and chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman nefariously discuss the creation of private group health insurance. Haldeman tells Nixon he has been approached with the idea by Henry J. Kaiser, the powerful California industrialist, who, by the way is the same Kaiser who had mass-produced automobiles and later ship hulls for the government during WWII. (And ran Kaiser aluminum.) Kaiser had apparently come up with the idea of a profit driven, assembly-line health care treatment for humans.
How Fordian.
With Kaiser Permanente, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) are born.
SiCKO however, is really a film about comparative health care systems. As we visit systems around the world, the story is told in Moore’s humorous, guess-who’s-coming-to-dinner-in-your-face style. Canada, Great Britain, France and Cuba are all destinations on Moore’s health insurance walkabout. His search for a cash register in a London pharmacy is particularly amusing as the “cashier” he finally finds is there to simply reimburse Brits for transit to the hospital.
Moore’s sojourn to France is him at his best. Wining and dining with American expatriates, Moore, by playing his fun loving, know-nothing American schlub in Paris, allows the audience to learn (along with him) the benefits of health care and indeed, life in France. Free nannies, doctors who make house calls, child care for a buck, all add up to put France, home of the Freedom Fries, in the Number One slot among all nations in providing medical coverage.
Well, we Americans must be up there too. At least in the top ten. Twenty? We should be so lucky.
This from the World Health Organization (WHO) world health report in 2000:
The U.S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance, the report finds. The United Kingdom, which spends just six percent of GDP on health services, ranks 18th. Several small countries – San Marino, Andorra, Malta and Singapore are rated close behind second- placed Italy.
Try chanting “We’re Number Thirty-seven!” a few times and see how it sounds.
Concerning health care in foreign countries Moore remarked recently, “It was depressing because, as Americans, we kept thinking: we come from the richest country on earth, so why don’t we have free health care, too?”
{Moore’s quote, while well intentioned, may be off base. It depends who the “we” are. While indeed, we are still the richest nation on earth, 1% of our citizens (3 million people) now control nearly 50% of the nations’ wealth. The other 50% of the wealth is divided among 99% of the American public or 297 million folks.}
Overall, not as uproariously funny as previous Moore works, SiCKO does have some topnotch gonzo moments. Memorably, his “sea assault” on Guantanamo Bay with a boat load of 9/11 EMS workers and other health care victims. Like an old episode of TV Nation, Moore uses a bullhorn from the boat to announce his presence to the guard tower looming ominously above the prison camp. Supposedly filled with the world’s most dangerous terrorists, we see news clips relating to how the enemy combatants have the best health care in the world. With cameras rolling, Moore demands equal treatment for the heroes of 9/11. Fortunately he finds it, but not at the internationally condemned US prison hospital at Guantanamo Bay, but at a hospital in Havana just up the road.
In one of the most poignant moments of the film, an American woman with respiratory problems attempts to purchase a small breath device in a Cuban pharmacy. She has bankrupted herself in the States paying $120 per device twice a month. When told each is only 5 cents in this pharmacy, she is emotionally crushed – and so are we as an audience.
Yet, the viewer can only remain downbeat for so long, as Moore’s physical presence alone is enough to cheer you up. When he finally makes his presence on screen, which is over an hour into the film, you feel as if you are back in comfortable comedic hands.
It seems that, America loves big fat jolly men – in the movies, at least. They kinda make us feel, well, at home. Like that crazy uncle we all have. Or the brother-in-law who still lives like a college freshman.
Michael Moore, in cinematic terms, has become America’s new Bluto.
When John Belushi acted like that lovable, ignorant fat slob as a member of Delta House, we the audience, could still see the intelligence behind his eyes.
That’s why we loved him.
He was everyman.
He was the average dumb ass, overweight, good-natured American.
He was us.
And that’s why we love Michael Moore. He is the John Belushi of non-fiction cinema. The Fatty Arbuckle of American documentary film, if you will.
C’mon, isn’t he really John Candy in Stripes?
As his character Duey "Ox" Oxberger uttered, "You might have noticed that I've got a slight weight problem. I went to this doctor. He told me I swallow a lot of aggression... along with a lot of pizzas. Well, I didn't have the money for a weight loss program. Then I thought to myself, join the army... it's free. I'm going to walk out of here a lean mean fighting machine!"
Moore “sells” his films to the viewer by allowing us to see things through a schlub’s eyes. The Chaplinesque eyes of a loser. The pout of an Oliver Hardy. The grimace of a Lou Costello. The sympathy for a stooge named Curly.
We have natural empathy for Moore. It is the secret of his success. A good part of that derives from his humpty-dumpty, non-threatening, baseball hat wearing appearance. (Ever see Buster Keaton without his hat, folks?)
Don’t believe it? Take a look at The Last Party, for instance. It’s a progressive documentary where a good looking, suave Robert Downey, Jr. does some straight forward interviewing at the National Democratic Convention. There is no emotional resonance. We are distanced. Cinema 101.
Sure, Americans love to know things. We love to know sports scores. We love to know the weather. We love to know a lot of things. It’s who tells us and how, that is the question. That, my friends, we are picky about.
Just ask Katie Couric.
It is our strength and our weakness.
That is why we pick presidents who we would rather have a beer with (Bush) than one who will give us the straight truth (Carter). The secret to Clinton’s success by the way, was that he could give you the truth while having a beer with you.
Moore suggests that part of our problem is that Americans are completely ignorant of the world around them. “Overall, it reminded me about the importance of getting out of the house. About 80% of Americans don’t have a passport, so most of us don’t get to see the whole world and what’s going on. Ignorance is never a healthy thing – you can’t make the best decisions without having all the information.”
Democrats send their recently graduated daughters to Europe hoping for the best and fearing the worst.
Republicans keep their daughters home denouncing Jacques and Giovanni as godless, disease ridden commies.
Americans live in fear of the messenger, not the message. Whether it’s Mr. Haney, the snake oil salesman from Green Acres or Willy Loman from Death of A Salesman, we don’t like the huckster. Even if he can help us. The saying, we will cut off our nose, to spite our face is quintessentially American.
Sy Syms, the clothing store chain in New York, used to run television ads with the closing line, “The educated consumer is our best customer.” But when it comes to capitalism, the uneducated consumer is the best customer. (If one doubts that, just check how long it took consumer groups to get simple nutrition information on the back of canned foods.)
Sometimes we as Americans must be reminded that, as it is says beneath the statue of Emile Faber, founder of the fictional Faber College in National Lampoon’s Animal House – “Knowledge Is Good.”
Near the end of SiCKO Moore asks, “Who are we?”
Indeed, who are we?
What do we stand for as Americans?
We are clearly at the edge of the abyss as a nation and as a people.
Everyone senses it.
Most fear it.
Few talk about it.
Are we collectively John Belushi or John Kerry? Are we Al Bundy or Al Gore?
Are we George Bush or George Soros?
Whomever we are as a people we had better reach a consensus soon because brothers and sisters, we are dying in the streets of Compton as well as in the streets of Baghdad.
This battle for universal health care isn’t over. As Bluto said, “Nothing is over until we decide it is!”
Was it over when Bush bombed N. Korea? Hell no!
Forget it, he’s rolling,
And Michael Moore is rolling into a theatre near you this weekend with his best film to date. Regardless of your affiliation, whether you’re bi-partisan, bi-sexual or especially bi-polar, this is your kind of film. After the picture, stick your bandaged head out the window and yell, ‘I’m sick and tired and I ‘m not gonna take it anymore.’
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.“A majority of Los Angeles County supervisors said Friday that they are ready to vote next week to begin the process of closing Martin Luther King, Jr.- Harbor Hospital.”
LA Times Front Page 6/23/07
Reviewer’s Note:
Here are the two (here and here) most recent David Hiller-inspired hatchet jobs on Michael Moore by the L.A. Times. (For those unaware, Hiller, a close friend of Donald Rumsfeld, is the former Reagan Administration Justice Department official who has recently taken over as publisher of the L.A. Times) These articles followed one another within 24 hours. Even before a review of the actual film has appeared. The latter article by Times staffer Gina Piccalo concerning an anti-Michael Moore documentary is particularly slanderous and vicious. Please note her email address at end of the piece. C&L readers might want to let her know how they feel about her article.
A screenwriter/producer/journalist based in Hollywood, California, Mark Groubert is the Senior Film and Book Reviewer for CrooksandLiars.com. As a filmmaker he has produced numerous documentaries for HBO. Groubert is also the former editor of National Lampoon Magazine, MTV Magazine and The Weekly World News. In addition, he has written for the L.A. Weekly, L.A. CityBeat, Penthouse, High Times and other publications. He is currently at work on his memoirs.
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Great Glavin in a Glad Bag!
I have not seen movie as yet, however, a sneak preview of it was shown here
in Austin last night and my daughter and her husband went...they are NOT
actively involved in political matters, HOWEVER, after seeing the film, both
are expressing angry and great disappointment w/our failure to have a
uniform health care system here in States, as they WERE accustomed to
in Germany, before moving to the State. It is a "must see" film according
to them both...
Telling the truth has become taboo in this country.
Here is the truth, w and cheney are cowards that will never accept responsibility for their actions.
I can't wait to hear the reich-wingers defend the health care industry...once again, reich-wingers will sell out America and Americans to help their party and big business.
Western Medicine is by-and-large a SCAM.
When you go into the ICU, you are immediately hooked up to a sugar drip and they spend your entire stay there pouring WAY too much sugar into people and then bringing it back down with LOADS of INSULIN, which lowers survival rates because it suppresses the immune system, causes permanent kidney damage, and triggers type 2 diabetes in many. I had a doctor admit to me that Nestle is largely responsible, but he can't rock the boat. Nestle supplies the sugar AND the insulin.
There are machines now that measure blood sugar in real time, which would allow hospitals to thermostacally control your blood sugar by controlling the rate of delivery of sugar into the bloodstream. That way they could feed a patient without spiking the blood sugar and having to chase it with a shot or 2 of insulin.
I told the doctor about these machines and my idea. He got very uncomfortable and left the room.
Kinda Explains why so many of the politicos in Washington go out of their way to criticize France.
Don't look over there, America...Pay no attention to their great healthcare system and standard of living.
Wow- partisan speak already- and with such a nice non-partisan intro.
IF you think Reps are solely responsible for the situation- you must be >20 years old OR have the memory of a Reagan.
The Dems cashed in alongside the Reps. ALL of them are responsible.
"Ratings starved CNN
dumps Michael Moore for Hilton :
Yesterday, CNN proudly announced that it has scored the first post-jail interview with Paris Hilton. To make room for Paris on Wednesday, CNN canceled its interview with Michael Moore about his new health care documentary SiCKO. "
The dumbing down of America is now complete.
Geez.
Fatty Arbuckle? Maybe not the best choice there.
Unless you meant to imply an analogy to a man whose career was ruined by a rape trial.
I've seen the movie and it is gutwrenching. I don't tend to get emotional, but I found myself crying many times during this movie at the discrepancy between the US and the rest of the industrialized world. Its just sad the type and level of discourse we have in this country.
Doggiebobo, I heard the exact same thing from some friends who went to the DC screening . . . it's a must see. Based on the previews that I have seen and all the reviews, I can't wait to check it out this weekend.
On a related note, take a look at this article about a a couple from Michael Moore's hometown of Flint, MI who says Moore saved their family. The couple, who were in a $66,000 dispute with AETNA, shared their story in response to Michael’s call-to-action on YouTube, and within days received a letter from AETNA saying that everything was a “clerical mistake” and that they only owe the $500 co-pay! Well done Michael Moore.
Yeah, but Michael Moore is fat.
/conservative
It is a great flick...
It's 1 of the 5 Major Problems Facing the 21st Century Working Class American.
(in no particular order)
1. Election fraud
2. The healthcare fraud
3. Environmental collapse
4. Bi-Partisan Fascism.
5. Complicit televison, print, and electronic media
Benny at item 7...Not ALL Dems are equally as guility. According to M. Moore's
film(based solely upon what I have heard from those who have seen it), Hillary
Clinton did attempt to initiate and get a Universal Health Care Program passed
during Bill's term, but BIG Business/Phara/Drug Lobby groups shot it down. Not
implying it was "perfect" however, as best I recall, she at least tried....
moore has returned to his roots with this film.
while not as funny as roger and me, this film is more like his series "tv nation" than any of his other films.
and yes, moore does allow himself to be used as a propoganda tool by the cuban government, but it was a great tradeoff. he helped to make those who came with him feel better.
i never cry at movies....never....but i weeped throughout this one. i weeped, because i dont see the united states ever changing its system.
and remember, this movie is not about those that do not have health care...it is about those that do, and how the system is based on profit, rather than care.
there has to be a better way, but i dont believe i will see it in my lifetime.
oops...excuse my grammer...it should be wept....not weeped
i will never make a great reviewer....sorry
Wanna bet that the Rethugs will try to find a way to redefine the meaning of the 'truth' of this film? The energy barons and the drug lords are squarely in the pockets of the rethugs, and now have carte blanche authority to screw over the American people as they please. All this, while poor and middle-class uninsured people die in Amerika for basic medical care, such as the 12 year old who perished for the for the want of a $70 tooth extraction. Incredible! Yet, there is no end to the empty boasts of us being the richest country in the world, with the best medical system in the world, etc.,. Just another load of bull s*it being dumped on our collective heads, while the robber barons head to the bank with their pocket stuffed with their ill-gotten gains. Thanks Michael Moore, for publicly exposing our shame for all to see.
A new study released last week revealed that Americans' health care varies dramatically from state to state. It should come as no surprise that in general Southern states ranked at the bottom in almost every category. After all, whether the issue is health, education, working conditions, or virtually any indicator of social pathology, things are worst in precisely those states that voted for George W. Bush.
For the details, see:
"Health Care the Latest Red State Failure."
It is the drug companies that is exploiting the patients and not the doctors.
The doctors deserve their fees. We have to implement a better health care system. Or we may have to buy drugs from China or India for much cheaper rate.
The elderly in America are the ones bankrupted by prescription drugs.
I saw the movie and loved it. I have recommended it to many people.
If you are too broke to go see it at the theater then download it on one of the torrent sites. I don't care how much money this movie makes....
I just want to see a great demand in this for change / reform.
I saw this movie last week. It was pretty good.
It won't change shit.
The insurers will point to it as proof the system is working because they're making money for shareholders who choose to buy their stock and France, Canada and the UK are robbing taxpayers who should have a choice about being taxed but don't because they live in stalinist hellholes.
The AMA will argue its members are being denied fair compensation by the current system and a socialized system will only further subject them to further economic violence at the hands of stalinist hooligans.
The system won't changes until it completely crashes and burns, hospitals are abandoned and doctors are stuffing leaflets under windshield wipers in parking lots. The hospitals and practitioners are so hyper-entitled that any socialized medicine scheme will be robbed to complete bankruptcy in a week by enraged doctors and hospital managers using any criminal ploy to get the dollars they know they're worth.
.
If the enemy can carry out a successful coup, why can't we have a revolution?
Who on their team said, "No, it can't be done"?
In regards to Hillary - she does not get off easy. Moore is very rough on her for basically giving up on the issue. He also points out that for her silence Hillary, last year, was given the second highest amount of money from the health care industry. She was only second to rick santorum.
I was wondering who is the SICKO? The doctors, drug companies, or the lobbyists?
In my view, it is the drug companies and the lobbyists trying to bankrupt the citizens while they are sick.
And the drug companies?
They'll say they've never been able to sell their drugs at full price and they've never recouped their research investments on any drug.
They'll roll out accountants to prove it.
.
I'll see it when it comes here. Don't think I have been to a movie house since when I saw his last film. Some films are worth the agony of going to the theater and his always are.
Health insurance is a joke. We have a health savings acct. Last time my husband went to the doctor the lady at the desk asked him if he had insurance. He said no, so she handed him the bill. When he began to write the check on the health savings acct checkbook, she said, "That's insurance and I will have to change your bill. She did. He ended up paying more because she considered our acct insurance and therefore the bill was higher.
"C’mon, isn’t he really John Candy in Stripes?"
Not exactly... he directed John Candy in Canadian Bacon.
You have to wonder if the government is going to go after Moore for taking those people to Cuba.
Will they do anything? Are they thinking, "If we do press charges will more Americans go see his movie?", "If we charge him will that take the attention away from this movie?".
What will their "Sickco" strategy be in the week after it's opening?
PO'ed Patricia
In some states that is illegal: charging consumers differently from what the insurer would pay - which is always less because they have legions of telephone workers to call up the office and challenge every charges line by line. . .
.
You'll see people assassinated in the streets before you see the insurance industry dislodged from the ass of the U.S. Government.
Who's Mike giving the prostate exam to?
By now you all know that Michael Moore was bumped from Larry King this Wednesday in favor of Paris Hilton.
Sicko Bumped For Psycho
But did you also know that King’s network (CNN) is owned by the same parent company (Time Warner) as TMZ.com, the celebrity webloid that is hyping all things Paris. Note also that King is devoting tonight’s program to Paris as well with guest-host Harvey Levin, the managing editor of TMZ. That’s 40% of the program's airtime this week (so far) dedicated to this unmitigated tripe.
I'm glad CNN has their priorities straight.
pissed off patricia @ 28:
That's not insurance and you may have legal recourse (if it's worth it to you).
I highly recommend the movie, although it is true that Moore uses a lot of the same disingenuous tactics that have got him into trouble before. The truth just doesn't seem to cut it with MM.
Anyhow, I support Universal Healthcare, but only if it is done right. I encourage everyone to gather a list of necessary conditions under which they would support it, rather than just supporting it in any form, as that would likely leave us with a system worse than we have now.
Check out
http://secularskeptic.blogspot.com/2007/06/case-for-universal-healthcare...
for a good list (list is in part 2)
Mark @ News Corpse @ 34:
I did not know about the CNN / TMZ link. That tells you something right there. TMZ hypes the shit out of a non story and CNN gets an exclusive interview.
CNN sucks these days. They are such tools. The Michael Jackson trial was always interesting and news worthy because he was a great star back in the day and he is so eccentric that it was fascinating to watch. Paris Hilton has never done one goddamn thing worthwhile EVER. I really cannot believe what an insignificant thing this story is.
If the health care crises in this country got half the coverage of the Paris HIlton case....
I seen a screening of Sicko this weekend to a SOLD OUT audience and I can say that if this movie doesn't change the health care debate in America, then NOTHING will. This movie will make you laugh when Michael Moore gets sarcastic, but it will also make you cry when you HEAR and SEE the stories of everyday people who have literally lost everything (including their lives) due to this system. Whether it was propaganda or not, I had tears in my eyes when the Cuban firefighters honored the 9/11 heroes. Most importantly, it will make you EMBARASSED and UPSET that as one British contributor to the film stated: "It's only moral that if you have money to kill, then you have money to heal."
I don't want to give away too much of the movie, but we can literally trace the "FOR PROFIT" system we have now to a TAPED CONVERSATION that Richard Nixon had with one of his staff members. I mean I couldn't believe that for the last 20 years, we had a TAPED CONVERSATION of a U.S. President committing himself to a program that literally thrives from denying American citizens health care. I've seen the Hillary Clinton "Soprano's" ad at least 10x on TV, but it took Michael Moore to make a movie to be heard?
I'll let you guys debate the pros and cons of our health care system VERSUS the world, but this is all we need to know about it. The CIA has a term called "blowback", which is the unintended negative consequences of a intended action. Whether you like it or not, everything that is negatively happening to us in the Middle East is the blowback of us irresponsibily meddling in their political affairs since the 1950s. If a society will be judged on how it takes care of the lessor among us, then I fear the blowback we will receive from our "profit-driven" instead of "people-driven" actions.
Lastly, use common sense with this issue. Naturally there will be an increase in taxes to provide universal healthcare. But I GUARANTEE you will save more paying increased taxes then you are (or would be) paying monthly for a full coverage policy that has every opportunity to DENY you service. And like it has been said, if you have money to kill (war), then you have money to heal.
And like Michael Moore pointed out, we already have schools, police, firefighters, and libraries provided to us for free. Though there are flaws with each, do ANY of you question paying taxes for any of those services? Why aren't we protesting that those who go to public school, call the police, call the fire department, or check out a book should have to pay when they use it, so those of us who don't actively use those services shouldn't have to flip the bill? It doesn't make any sense right? So why would you have a problem with being provided with free healthcare? Sure, there will be flaws with the system. But I'd rather have SOME (or an opportunity) for health care than none of at all.
Run, don't walk, to SEE this movie!
Great movie, I think it's way better than Fahrenheit 9/11, for example. I hope it educates people so that there will be more of a push for universal health care. The only problem is he leaves it wide open so people can say "sure, France has universal health care but they're going bankrupt doing it" so we need to have someone show us how we can have universal health care and not go into debt. Maybe he should have focused more on that, especially when he was in Britain. (Or we can have someone else do a follow-up? :-) Please?)
I have seen this film, it is a devastating yet very entertaining indictment of the "evil doers" -- HMOs and big pharma and their congressional bedmates. What is most remarkable is that this film is not partisan, it simply demonstrates corruption behind our dysfunctional system.
You don't need to be partisan to do this, it's like shooting fish in a barrel.
We considered looking into the legal aspects but since the doctor is so very good, we decided to let it ride. The woman at the desk should have been fired based on her ignorance. I guess I can understand charging more for insured patrons since it does require more paper work, but with a health savings acct, you are paying them by check just as if you were writing them a personal check. They cash it and that's that.
carn @ 36:
I think healthy Americans will deeply resent paying universal health care to cover for obese people whom bring diseases on themselves. Obesity is an epidemic in this country and it is going to cost a whole lot of money in treatment. So any national health care has got to address this. Prevention has to come first if we do start something. Things like smoking, bad eating, excessive alcohol intake, etc. have got to be worked on with some kind of program.
I would like to see a big portion of the money for universal health care come from huge increases in taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. Also taxes from legalized marijuana :)
To lessen the cost you could also demand lower drug prices by having a shorter time period for generics to be produced. Now its like twenty years or something. We should make it five.
I also wouldn't mind certain unhealthy foods getting a special tax. And healthy foods getting a waiver from taxation. That would take a lot of effort to organize, but it's an idea to discourage Americans from eating shit.
jesus christ if you think our health cares sicko , wait untill you see whats in the amnisty bill, youll puke your guts out, its a crime waiting to be sprung on us, you have to see it to believe it,
#26 - After viewing the film, I think the answer to your question is that WE are the Sickos.
We allow ourselves to be brainwashed that we truly live in a THEM against US world. Hell, a new poll just came out and said 41% of the American people still believe there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11. The American people CONSISTENTLY vote and act against our own best interests. We allow abortion, gun rights, taxes, and gay marriage to weigh more on our political decisions and alliances than health care, income, education and the environment.
Today, THIS VERY MINUTE, both the Democrats and Republicans are allowing our sons and daughters to fight and die in Iraq because they want to wait until September to call the "surge" failed and this policy insane even though its obvious to the rest of the world now! We ALL know that we can make the necessary adjustments to save lives today, that we could've made three years ago, and that we will be forced to make three months from now or three years from now. Yet, we won't, and why?
Another person in the film stated the difference between the French and the Americans is this: "The French government fear the People, while the American People fear their goverment."
That's why the American People are the Sickos!
budda A 25:
Thanks for sharing info w/respect to Hillary, along with other politicians, being
"on the take" from Pharma/Drug/etc. as it relates to a universal health care plan.
Not too surprising, however, if one really is wanting some facts as to WHO is
receiving contributions from such entities, then go to www.opensecrets.org and
at top of page scroll to "Who Gives", then to "Industries" and then to "Pharmasecuitical"
and you will find that the Repigs are the Party receiving approx. 70 percent of all
contributions from those f....... rats..
jackson r tyree @ 44:
Yea, and some liberals fail to see how illegal immigration ties in with national health care. If we start a national system we are all going to have to pick up the illegals share while they get a free ride in our hospitals and with free prescriptions.
I'm liberal on most issues, but on immigration i'm as far right as pat buchanan. This has to be dealt with. A country cannot have strong social services without protected borders.
their will or cannot be national health care with the passahe of the amnisty bill, and thats not all ,its oughtright insanity insanity i tells yah!
So what???? Nothing we can do. The Govt gets paid by the insurance companies not to solve the crisis. Gotta have insurance. Can't drive, can't by a home, can't be seen by a doctor without it. Basically a protection racket. Nothin' anyone can do. Once they get the millions, they get everything else they want. Sickening.
passage
budda @ 47:
Oops! that was in response to budda's following statement:
Yea, and some liberals fail to see how illegal immigration ties in with national health care. If we start a national system we are all going to have to pick up the illegals share while they get a free ride in our hospitals and with free prescriptions.
i saw it this past saturday in philly (sneak preview), and, i must say, it was one of moore's best flicks to date.
if i were a fat cat working as CEO of one of the main war-profiteering companies i would be nervous--there is a lot of fat to be cut from the budget that would go to improving american's healthcare that normally goes to those that make a living (a fabuously wealthy living) pushing the country into war. missile defense? phhpt, scrap that POS, it will never work, start providing americans with health care.
Those of you who complain because universal health care will have to accommodate sick and obese people...
The HMOs are already shouldering this burden, if these folks have health insurance, so we are ALREADY paying for that.
Flush that red herring and come up with something better, if you can.
I can't imagine how to justify health insurance. It adds no value, it's just skimming a percentage of the money that passes through the hands of the insurance companies.
Other insurances are based on owned objects that people either have or do not have. Everyone has health needs that have nothing to do with what they own or how much money they have. I have no problem with car insurance or property insurance, but health insurance is a pretty stupid idea if you think about it for more than a few seconds.
Moore is hinting towards something much bigger than mere healthcare. He is questioning the driving ethic of individualism at the heart of American mythmaking. He questions the whole notion of privatization and unfettered capitalism, and questions whether the current American system really reflects who we are. I think Groubert gets to the heart of it when he quotes Moore as saying:
Pay close attention to the scene in which the wounded 9/11 workers are honoured by their Cuban compatriots, and genuinely embraced as brothers, and you will have some sense of how compassionate and subversive this film really is.
For years, Moore has been asking, "What if everything you have been told turns out not to be true?" About free trade, about the economy, about societal violence, about George Bush, about health care...
Moore is a rare iconoclast who dares to challenge accepted notions, national myths and sacred cows, and nothing is more essential to a healthy democracy.
On the June 22 broadcast of CBS News, Jeff Greenfield falsely claimed that not one Democrat or Republican supports universal health care, overlooking the fact that Congressman Kucinich has proposed a bill advocating a single payer health care system in this country. Greenfield also claimed that most Americans are somehow different than other people around the world who do have universal health care, that this type of health coverage is not for them, despite the fact that polls indicate just the opposite from what Greenfield has said.
I saw a sneak preview in Miami on Saturday. The audience gave it a standing ovation. The movie is truly a masterpiece. It's so wierd to have alot of the Republican operatives like gay journalist Drudge react with silence. Drudge tried to ignite some hatred of Moore early on. Then he tried to spread a rumor that the movie was free on the net and would fail. Now Drudge is totally silent. It's so funny to see Micheal Moore finally totally dumbfound his critics.
“It’s only moral that if you have money to kill, then you have money to heal.”
interesting point...the USA has unlimited funds to wage wars on foreign soil to keep us safe at home, but if you are sick, you can die in the street for all the Corporate Government cares...
I would rather live in a world with terrorism and have healthcare when needed than live in a world of certain illness without healthcare.
I've seen all of Moore's movies, and I find it fascinating that from a lot of people on the "right" all you hear is how he hates America, hates guns, is against our this and our that.
Then you ask and you realize that they have not seen the films, OR they are too stupid to understand them and need them "explained" by a right-wing talk radio dipshit.
Take Bowling for Columbine, for instance. This movie is NOT anti-gun at all. I find that it simply poses the question "why do we shoot each other?". As a gun owner, why should I have a problem with that?
I'm sure tons of regular working folks (mostly in the flyover states, so screw them anyway) will find this movie objectionable (via mind beams from Rush) even though they are getting screwed by this sick system that is freakin' broken.
A real eye-opener for me last year was when I became very ill in Buenos Aires two days before I was to come back to the U.S. I was staying in a decent hotel and realized that I was going to have to see a doctor. The hotel had one there in 20 minutes, at my bedside. He examined me, asked questions, advised me on what to do and not do, sent my friend downstairs to buy a couple of drugs to get me straightened out and left me feeling that I had been in very capable hands. Within a day I felt well enough to get myself organized to get out of there for the long trip back home. The cost to me for this house call: US$25...yes...twenty-five dollars, which was added to my hotel bill.
Since that happened, I have not gone a day without thinking about the 50 million or so in the U.S. with no access to healthcare and wondering what the hell our problem is here.
I feel that I must move abroad because being old here is a guarantee of awful things to come.
I do agree with the poster above who said that the only way this will probably be fixed is for it to crash and burn first.
We are on our own, it would seem.
55 Freaked-Out Canadian: Good post.
The 80% without passports have swallowed a lot of myths (Koolaid). They're still revved up on the good guys/bad guys thing from the Cold War, and those western movies of days gone by.
As a Canadian, I can't say our health care system has ever let me or anyone in my family down. And we spend far less, as a nation, on health care, per capita, than Americans do. My elderly parents pay a $2 charge per prescription. That way folks don't fill unneeed ones; the $2 is a deterrent. The pills themselves-- free. They've worked and paid taxes all their lives. Isn't that the least they can expect?? Good health, not living in fear of their health and medical bills they can't afford.
55 Freaked-Out Canadian Says:
For years, Moore has been asking, “What if everything you have been told turns out not to be true?” About free trade, about the economy, about societal violence, about George Bush, about health care…
Moore is a rare iconoclast who dares to challenge accepted notions, national myths and sacred cows, and nothing is more essential to a healthy democracy.
That is unless, of course, you question the events of 9/11...that would be just soooo wrong!
You capitalist stooges are giving Michael Moore enough money to keep him in Ho Hos and Ring Dings for the rest of his life.
Do you honestly think that chubsey ubsey is going to wait in a common ER with you riff raff?
I saw sicko already and it was fucking awesome...so blow me vinny....
Holy Band-Aid, Batman, the health care system is broken! And I need Moore to tell me this? All I need is to think about a woman dying in an LA ER due to lack of proper care and save money.
Our system is broken and will take a lot of money and political will to fix it. It is unfortunate both are in short supply now. If you think this film will have any effect, you are seriously mistaken. It will make people mad, but that anger will tempered with realization that we the people have less sway in the Congress than the lobbyists. It's money that matters, folks, and most of us don't have any. And because of that, we have no influence. Nothing will change. Nothing.
Let's see, Michael Moore has been making movies about what's going on in our country. All based on fact, not fiction. And what is the Republicans' mature response?
"Michael Moore is fat."
Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
I live in Australia. We have a world-class publicly funded healthcare system. We have a longer life expectancy than Americans. We have lower infant mortality. If you are really sick, you simply get looked after no matter who you are or how much money you have. Drugs are subsidised by the state to keep them affordable for all. If you are so poor you can't even afford that you'll be helped out.
For the horrors of the 'socialised' system described above, we pay per capita about half of what Americans pay for their healthcare. (And my friends who work as doctors have more money than they know what to do with.)
Wake up America. You are being royally had.
Israel has publicly funded universal healthcare.
Where do you think they get the money for that?
I haven't seen the movie mainly because it is a michael moore flick. He is natorious for distorting the facts and using ancidotal evidence as a basis for a piece.
From what I've heard from my roommate who watched it, all he uses is ancidotal evidence and no hard statistics or facts.
This is not meant to taken as a defense of our current healthcare system which is deplorable. It just is just a reminder that Moore is not making a documentary, but a very biased piece (which is what he usually does). If he used actual facts to back up the anicdotal evidence gathered by asking people quesitons, it would be a much better movie where facts are used in conjunction with real information. Don't believe something just it conforms to how you see the world. That makes you just as uninformed and rabid as the freepers.
i have seeen this movie and it is a masterpiece. Entertaining in the best way possible. Its Moores best. You walk out of the theater emabressed but extremeley enlightened.
"I saw sicko already and it was fucking awesome…so blow me vinny…."
Did Mommy give you money for popcorn a sodie pop too?
Fuckin' hipster doofuss!
Ozguy is right - Australia has a great healthcare system. I had both of my children in public hospitals, had great care and didn't pay a cent (and I don't have health insurance).
I'm not saying that the medical system is great - I reckon they treat us like guinea pigs and for the benefit of the pharmaceuticals with drugs instead of nourishment and advice - however, if we need medical treatment we don't have to mortgage our house. I would live in fear if I lived in the US - fear that a gall bladder operation could ruin me financially... that's just plain wrong.
And, yes, our doctors are doing well financially. We don't spend trillions on defence - although we spend more than enough. This war thing is really ridiculous. Was Russia ever going to invade America in the cold war (or ever?)... such rubbish.
I go to the States a lot - I was in Arizona last year and saw a young (mid-30's), strapping man and his lady walking down the street. Well, the guy was having trouble walking as both of his feet were missing and he was walking on stainless steel ball contraptions - it was horrible.... just one returned soldier and the grief he must be suffering. One gets the feeling that the war machine and the health industry must be in collusion as so many sick, mutilated, distressed men and women returning from the middle east who will need enormous amounts of medical care for who knows how long...
Sicko is the right word. I saw the movie - why are the Americans so asleep? (I've asked this question for ages... I think rather than the Cool Aid that some drink, it's something they put in the regular tap water). Why are SO MANY Americans so obese?
Michael Moore is a wonderful American hero.... two of your modern day heros, he and Al Gore, are both big men who've had too many cheeze whiz sandwiches. Why? I think it's fear. People get fat because of many reasons (stuffing themselves being the biggest reason, obviously) but I think they eat to stuff down their emotions. Obesity is a weird thing in a world were so many people are starving.
Bit of a rant from someone who lives on the other side of the world. I love America, but what the hell is it doing????
55 Freaked-Out Canadian Says:
For years, Moore has been asking, “What if everything you have been told turns out not to be true?” About free trade, about the economy, about societal violence, about George Bush, about health care…
Excellent point. He does so particularly well in a movie called "The Fever," which was made by HBO a few years back but is just now getting airplay on the channel this month. He plays a small part as a journalist--he's on screen for less than 10 min--but the entire film is about just what you've described. Plus, although his role is small, it's pretty pivotal, and he does a great job (seems his personal life lends a lot to the character). The DVD comes out next month, I hear. Check it out on IMDB.com. I highly reco it.
Mr. Anon @ 69:
Yeah, I'll think I will see the movie and form my own opinion. You? You've had your handed to you by your roomate, apparently. See it, so will I, then we can talk about anecdotal evidence and relative states of rabies breakouts amongst political parties and their constituents. If you don't see it, then I respectfully request that you keep your freeper-esque subterfuege and undermining tactics to yourself. If you are going to freely admit a bias of your own against a film maker and still another against a specific film by the same based on someone else's opinion, then we have nothing to talk about.
For V. Badabing:
What are you, 14? Grow up and go play outside or something. The adults are talking.
i havent seen michial moors film yet but !sure blow me to vinny!
fyi...the movie is on line
however, this isnt your normal, guy in the back of an theater in asia kinda thing
this is dvd quality
someone stole a dvd cut and put it on line, for the sole purpose to hurt the grosses
thing is....moores message will still get out there
so in the end, mike gets the last laff....oh, and hes still rich
My girlfriend has started to take a new medication for breast cancer “Arimedex” and was told that without medical insurance it would cost her $ 300.00 a month. She will have to take it for 5 years. I asked my sister to check how much it cost in Spain? The answer is less than ½ prices………
Mr. Anon
as the old saying goes...there are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics
statistics mean shit when it comes to peoples lives
go look at the congressional record to see what hmo's have done to health care
btw....f 9/11 was right on the money....do you need to see statistics to show that that is not the case??
Mr. Anon @ 69:
Well, Mr. Anon, your roomie was wrong about the statistics and facts and stuff. Moore uses lots and lots of them in this film. But maybe his sources are just a bunch of leftist pinko moonbats! Like this crazy leftwing site I found that actually claims that the United States has a higher infant mortality rate than Cuba!!!
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/20...
And then this commie group of friggin hippies goes on to say that the USA has a lower life expectancy than Bosnia!!
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/21...
That is the big problem with the internets and their tubez is that anyone can just put up facts on a website and expect Americans to believe them! God, how gullible do they think you are!
Thank heavens you have your roomie to sort through all this information and do your thinking for you!
"i havent seen michial moors film yet but !sure blow me to vinny!"
I hope you can understand spoken English.
You sure don't have a grasp on the written word.
PS
It's not a cartoon, so your mommy probably won't let you go.
Fuckin' illiterate hipster doofuss.
I was one of the lucky few who got into a sneak preview here in St. Louis last Saturday (BTW, the sneak previews sold out across the country.). A few notes to posters above:
1. "France is going bankrupt with it's health care system" If France is going bankrupt, it is n't the health care system at fault since the French aren't obese, don't eat crappy food, walk everywhere and have a much lower indcidence of heart disease and diabetes (also true of Canada and the UK).
The way we could implement a universal health care in this much larger, much more diverse and much sicker country is to pay the same amount we are paying now, which will give us a gold-plated Canadian system. Goodle Dr. Steffie Woolhandler of Physicians for Single Payer Health Care (I think that's the name of her group) who elaborates on this point. Canada, France and otyer universal systems do have some delay in treatement but they pay a lot less than we do per patient. WE keep our same level of cost and we get it all. We just chuck the insurers.
2. P.O.'d Patricia. You don't have to get the woman fired - talk to your doct or about it. I can tell you that 75% of the time when I question a bill, I win. Maybe I have to appeal but you have a good chance of winning - and no lawyer needed.
3. In answer to the critique of Moore's movies as too anecdotal - you're missing the point of Moore's films. The data are all in. We've known for years about the corruption and immorality of our health care system. Didn't change it, did it? You know what will? Votes. If those without health care voted their numbers (and they don't) we'd see change. I have watched a very apolitical co-worker whose attitude are extremely conservative evolve into truly awesome righteous anger at corporations and the health care industry (we work for a medical school).
Moore's movies provide the human face to the numbers. That's not a flaw or invalid - it's what most people relate to and it does get people riled up. The biggest problem is that there is such a counter-push that relies on ad hominems and pushes it precisely into numbers which *don't* inspire votes. he is trying to get people most at risk to *vote* for their own interests.
4. There was evidence above in this thread about another reason we don't have universal health care here - lingering distrust along racial and class lines. It took the form of anecdotal stories about immigrans getting free care at an ER. ER care ain't medical car, friend - it's palliative and it won't get you free medds - at the most, it will get you samples from drug company.
5. I have no idea whether or not this movie will make any changes, but you will recall that Bush's privatize social security initiative went absolutely nowhere. When people get pissed off about something, that means votes.
6. Finally, remember this. The health care profiteers don't just exploit us - they exploit other corporations - who would stand to save millions if there was universal health care. That way they wouldn't have to pay health care costs for their employees. In effect, they are subsidizing the health care industry. It is also becoming clear that we are at a distinct disadvantage, globally, that our workers don't have universal health care. Despite the race to the bottom nature of globalization in terms of working conditions and pay, when it comes to work that operates at a higher level of skill, nations that have a healthier work force are getting the bigger contracts. The health care industry is going to be standing increasingly alone on this.
The people who attended the screenings are, as you'd expect, already convinced of the issue - I wasn't surprised that the foyer was buzzing with excited conversations afterwards. I will be very interested to see what happens next weekend.
Milo
Mr. Anon @ 69:
Is that your non-biased opinion on a movie you haven't seen? Your obviously very well informed.
P.S. anicdotal is spelled anecdotal Genius.
Saw Sicko last night at AMC Lincoln Center, 68th & Broadway.
Sicko does not explain how to reverse 40 years of erosion to our healthcare system. It does not explain how much a single-payer system would cost. But the visceral impact of the film is clear. When we see doctors in London, Ontario, Havana, and Paris, treating patients for free, we should be furious. Sicko will infuriate you. Seeing a Cuban doctor patting an American saying, “It is going to be alright,” is both humbling and infuriating.
There are some contexts not shown. We see a British internist who earns $150,000 per year and lives in a $1 Million town house. But is he an exception or the rule?
We see Cuban doctors treat American exceptionally well, but surely the care the Americans received was a cut above what an average Cuban would have received.
On the other hand, we see ordinary Canadians and Britons explain why their systems are so precious. We see how their people are more productive and happy when they don’t have to worry about medical costs. We see that the French are not as nasty and as evil as we have recently been led to believe.
Moore hits a few out of the park. And the film made tonight’s audience of 1,000 (the largest auditorium at AMC Lincoln Center and one of the largest in the city) both cry and burst with spontaneous applause. It was really something.
It is a must see movie. Expect an Oscar nomination or two (best documentary, best editing).
When Moore reveals that he anonymously paid the $12,000 health care bill of a blogger critic’s wife, it is amazing. That guy is going to literally shit himself when he sees this movie. It is one of many ‘holy shit’ moments in the film.
@Vinny: that you can't tell you're being mocked is pure, unadulterated comedy. Nobody's going to take you seriously if all you have in your back pocket is, "He's fat."
Doggiebobo @ 15:
Unfortunately, Hillary is now supposed to be the largest beneficiary of healthcare industry money among presidential candidates. Thats not what I call a grassroots campaign.
@Vinny: that you can’t tell you’re being mocked is pure, unadulterated comedy. Nobody’s going to take you seriously if all you have in your back pocket is, “He’s fat.”
No, this does in a nutshell...
"Do you honestly think that chubsey ubsey is going to wait in a common ER with you riff raff?"
Sense the irony and hypocricy of the situation?
and please Michael Moore is not fat but... Gravitationally Inhanced.
Vinny Badabing @ 86:
Oy. VINNY:
You can't spell, you can't debate, and you haven't added anything to the dialogue. I'm guessing that you are bored teenager and would be better off going out and getting some exercise rather than acting like a troll. Trust me: this act of yours won't be cute in a few years when everybody you know is out dating and learning to snowboard and whatnot and you are still sitting there picking fights with strangers on the internet.
Anybody know Vinny's folks? Tell them to revoke his Tubes privileges and hand him a soccer ball or something. It will be a kindness.
And to support my point, I am literally going outside to get some sun; to play, if you will.
Vinny,
It's "dufus," Mr. "You-sure-don’t-have-a-grasp-on-the-written-word," and you need a semicolon between "cartoon" and "so." The sentence is formed with two independent clauses; so you need a conjunction or semicolon to separate them. One doesn't use a comma, as you did. Also, it would be "surely don't," not "sure don't," and don't call me Shirley.
I'm Vinny Badabing remember.
You are wrong on all counts.
Thanks for the lessons.
Did I spell chubsey ubsey right?
Hipster Doofuss!
I am really glad he focused on those with health insurance of some kind rather than those without. The reason is all you ever hear is that 50 million don't have insurance, which is true and horrible, but there tens of millions more who do have insurance but have what could politely be termed "crap" insurance with bad coverage and high premiums. So when Moore shows how bad it is for those who do have insurance most people can put 2+2 together and figure that it has to be even more horrific to have none. I can't wait to see the film. I have been studying our health care "system" for many years and this movie is going to expose it for what it is....the most expensive by far on the planet with terrible health indicators across the board. I love reading in the paper or online people talking about how something has to be done but they never go near the pink elephant in the corner called "single payer nation health care". They try and come up with all these completely idiotic half-ass ideas that aren't going to make the issue really go away. It would be hilarious if people's lives weren't at stake.
its okay vinny , ill understand if you dont blow me, its because im smarter then you isnt it? guess you dont blow your betters!
If national health is even attempted in the US, pharma, the AMA and the HMOs and insurers will throw lawyers at it for decades to jam it. They're swimming in money and don't care who dies. It just doesn't matter to them. People swimming in their own puss and blood? They're free to die and that's what America is all about - freedom - they'll tell the MSM who will thank them for reminding them of that fact.
.
sico comes out here on friday and i like millions of other folks will pay my money and watch it, never lost a dime on a good moore film!worth every penny!
sorry vince sicko
Every single person who booed Mike at the Oscars owes him a personal apology. So many stuck-up famous people booed him that night because it was the 'popular' thing to do, and now they all know he was completely right. He deserves individual, public apologies.
Henry J. Kaiser also gave us the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Saw it in DC over the weekend -- it received several ovations during the showing.
Sort of made you think that anyone who didn't want universal healthcare is an America-hater.
The bottom line is that enough people voted for Bush for him to successfully steal the elections. The older and more stale our crisis becomes, the more I blame my fellow Americans. A country only has so many resources and a decision was made: the American people decided they should fear non-existent WMDs in a country that had no missiles to deliver them more than they should fear ever getting old and sick. An insane judgment of priorities. Because dying from another attack is _more_ likely than getting old and/or sick? Insane Americans. It's time we started sticking our heads out of our collective asses and smelling some reality. We must _demand_ health care. But remember there are only so many resources. We must _at_the_same_time_ demand that we don't piss money down a rat hole in senseless wars and corporate welfare. Why do you think countries like Canada and France can _afford_ national health care? We need to demand that our country stop acting insanely and it begins by shaking that insanity out of our own minds.
And "demand" means doing what it takes. Means making it a _priority_ in each of our daily lives.
Moved from Canada (Quebec) to Wisconsin last year. Still surprised everyday.
I think socialized medicine is fabulous. Prescription drugs are 3-5 times the cost here. I also strongly believe there is a link between lower crime and better health care or a better social infrastructure. The benefit to me of poorer people having health care was in a healthier society. In Quebec even dental care is free for kids till 10 because it costs less to fill their cavities when they ar little and teach them oral care than try to fix it when they are 20 and it is a bigger medical problem. They save money by giving more care, not less.
Yes our taxes were higher in Quebec (much) but my son needed an ct scan for concussion this year and wow. Would have cost me 10 dollars to park at a Montreal hospital. That's it the parking is all I would have paid. Not here.
I knew I wasn't in Quebec when I saw the sign not to tip the valet parking at emerg. Between my co-pay and what insurance did not cover the bill I payed was first, a ton of paperwork which you just do not have to deal with for outpatient services to this level in Canada, and very expensive and we have insurance. This system you have now is not worth saving. Profits are off the map in the industry and corporations are making decisions about care rather than the doctors and researchers. We are here in the US temporarily (in Canada they call it the brain drain) and we will retire back in Canada because of the high cost of health insurance here.
I hope Mr Moore's next movie is on your incredibly high cost of education. How can the same degree cost so much more here in the US when much of the world is lowering the costs of higher education to the benefit of the entire society.
Then he can more on to the fraudulent car insurance business. In Quebec there is no fault insurance which works very well.
In the US why are people afraid to pay to benefit the whole society?
Anthony Lane has a very different review in the New Yorker this week, people should check it out. His point is basically that "Sicko" starts out strong and then resorts to cheap political stunts with no redeeming value or depth. Lane argues that instead he should have taken the real anger that the first part of the movie produces and use it as a starting point to look at real ideas--what works in France? what would work here? what do the Democratic candidates have to say about health care reform?
I think he kind of misses the point. Moore has never had ideas for how to change things, he's just very observant and an extremely good polemecist. He is able on a mass scale to take people who are perhaps more ignorant or apathetic than David Lane and piss them off enough that they get off their butts. And that ability, these days, is extremely valuable.
Let fury take the hour, anger can be power
D'you know that you can use it?
-the Clash
@Mister Suss:
Mr Lane does what many do when faced with criticism: throw a fit and demand the other do better.
That is not what Mr Moore has to do. Mr Moore has all the right to criticize without having to produce options, it is not his job.
If the engine fall off of my car, I do not have to be a mechanic in order to complain. Likewise I do not have to be an engineer to instead offer usable suggestions on how to make it not happen.
That is why there are specialists that should know that kind of stuff.
We, as people, have every right to complain all we want. Period.
It is called free speech.
People who pull that tactic are just as bad as those who flame Mr Moore.
Another country with national healthcare: Iraq.
We wrote it into their constitution.
We need a complete revolution against the globalist-military-industrial complex. We don't have so much time left. We are quickly being enslaved by sociopathic criminal elites and their evil suckilings, also known as the Bu$h maladministration. PLease G-D, let me see day when The People storm Washington to re-establish the Constitution and deliver righteous administration of justice at the end of rope for these Buggers of humanity.
Ozguy says : Wake up America. You are being royally had.
No shit.. too bad 90% of the American population are self-important asshats that only care about what new gadget to buy or what celebrity was arrested for DUI over the week. American society is rather pathetic... the land of the sheeple
It makes me so mad .. well I cant say here or I will then be under big brothers watchful eye and have all of my rights infringed upon. Oh, thats right, we dont have any rights, the PA made sure of that. ASSHATS!! every last one of them, House of Reps, Congress, NeoCon shrills etc etc all can go do hell, too bad it isnt a real place -- I'd buy them all an one-way ticket.
I have cancer. I have insurance. My savings is gone, as everything I did throughout my life to give me a good retirement was eaten up by medical bills. The insurance industry is so damn crooked. They get away with declining payment of bills by adding the phrase "above and beyond what is usual and customary" to my bills. That way, the treatment is paid at 65% instead of being treated as major medical. Appealing has done no good and the insurance commisioner in this state is republican and only cares about the insurance companies and could give a rip about his fellow citizens.
I wish I believed that sicko would make a difference in this country, but it won't. The insurance lobby will make damn sure of that.
It has gotten a little better now that I am on disability and medicare. But I do have to pay for a policy now that I didn't have before. So here I am, facing the last few years of my life broke and living on a fixed income that doesn't come close to covering my medical bills. It should not be this way, and would not be this way in this country if we actually elected people to represent US. But instead everyone in government is being bought off by the insurance industry. SAD! SAD! SAD!
Mark - it was John Ehrlichman, not H.R. Haldemann, who mentioned Edgar Kaiser's plan to Nixon back in '71. I know - both of those bastards have been dead for years and we can't tell them apart any better than when they were alive.
Vinny Badabing @ 89:
Is that your rendition of an argument? Why don't you go ahead and tell me how I'm incorrect instead of saying that I'm incorrect? Is it that you have no idea what you're taking about?
I don't know how to spell "chubsey ubsey" -- is that a word you came up with during "imagination time?"
SpinyNorman @ 9:
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, one of the most popular actors of his era, was forced to undergo three trials, resulting in two hung juries and an acquittal, because of the libelous accusations published in William Randolph Hearst's newspaper chain, following the death of Virginia Rappe.
As a result of the final trial Arbuckle was not only acquitted, but that acquittal came with a written apology from the jury that decided his case. The Arbuckle Trial is cited by many film historians as one of the great Hollywood tragedies, as well as a clear example from history of American yellow journalism.
If Mark Groubert’s intention was to equate the sort of media attack Michael Moore must withstand with every new documentary he releases to the media circus that the Hearst chain visited upon Fatty Arbuckle, then the choice was apt.
BennyP @ 7:
How's that Nader vote workiing out for you, Benny?
I live in Canada and although at times our systems is flawed, we are slowing gaining ground with our kiss-ass government to fix it. I would love to travel in the states but because of your health care I would not want to be caught sick down there. Here in Canada we come to realize that the American people as a whole are getting dumber based on the government control over all you think and do. They are breeding idiots down their and considering the whole world wants gun control and wants to stop war the American people and they people who represent you continue to cause war. Your young children fight for their country but come home to hopelessness and are treated like second class citizens. Your teachings breed patriotism without question and your fore father you know the guys who created a country of opportunities most likely would have given into the British and forgot all about independence. Just once it would be nice to see the American people be independent and give those people who are running your country a swift kick in the ass and take back what should be your in the first place. It's funny you kill the people who seem to want to better you as a nation yet allow complete and utter idiots to control you. Look no further then the death of the two Kennedy brother and Martin Luther King and the fact idiots like G. Bush and Charlton Heston (NRA) are allowed to live on this planet. Wake yourself's up or as we all say here in Canada the decline of the US is just around the corner.
DO SOMETHING, PEOPLE. WRITE YOUR CONGRESSFOLKS, right NOW! If they don't hear from you, they think we're all happy and content while they're living high. An uproar among us ALL is the only way we'll get this country back.
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