Wendell Potter Apologizes to Michael Moore For His Part to Discredit "Sicko"
If you missed any of this, be sure to watch both videos in this post. It's definitely some of the most spontaneous and revealing television I've seen in a very long time. Keith Olbermann brought together Michael Moore and Wendell Potter in a segment about how the health insurance industry mobilized to smear both Moore and "Sicko" ahead of its release, fearing it would get traction and start a "grass roots uprising" for single payer health insurance.
It's not that it's a surprise. We all know this is the standard tactic. But what comes through on these videos is how truly angry and passionate Moore is about this effort to discredit work that he viewed as essential to the debate. If memory serves me, they did succeed at marginalizing it, at least to the extent that it was not as relevant to the general debate as death panels were to become.
Partial transcript follows...
OLBERMANN: Let me jump in, Wendell. APCO, that PR film seems to contradict some of the remarks you made. APCO did not conduct research on Michael Moore's family. We did not suppress turnout for his movie. Explain what you know about the personal research that was done on Michael Moore and his family.
POTTER: I think whoever wrote that, I think, she was just protesting too much. The industry did an enormous amount of research on what we thought was going to be in the movie and on Michael Moore as a movie maker. I, myself did. I have seen every one of his movies, read all three of his books, seen all 24 episodes of "The Awful Truth." I know where you went to school. I know when you dropped out of college. I know who you are married to. I know a lot about you. Everybody in the industry knows a lot about you. We needed to know as much as we could, not that we necessarily were going to be using that if we didn't have to. One of the things that I was afraid about doing what I'm doing was that I would be attacked not by the industry directly by but its allies to try to attack my character and reputation. So that's what's goes on in a lot of the campaigns like this.
MOORE: When you were doing this research and this spying on myself and my family, what, I mean, to what ends, really? Obviously, they don't really want to have the debate on the issue, whether or not a for-profit health insurance system is what's really best for Americans?
POTTER: right.
MOORE: It seemed like their main goal was if people get in to see that film, we are doomed. We have got to make sure as few people see that film as possible. The way to do that is to smear Michael Moore, call him Anti -- American, say Anti-American and say he is not telling the truth. You said the other day that you guys were ready for Plan "B" if that failed, If the movie was getting too much traction, that it might be necessary to push me off a cliff, right?
>> what exactly did that mean?
POTTER: I was in that meeting and those words, indeed, were said. It was not literal, obviously. It meant we would do what we had to do to create ads and op-eds that we would get conservative pundits to place in newspapers with the whole objective of, as they call it, reframing the debate, to try to move the attention from them to you as a filmmaker.
here...
http://anythingadirondack.blogspot.com/2010/1...
the 9/11 responder settlement may never had rolled this far.
Saw 3D is going to open without a hitch while Sicko was fought against by big money
stealthhealth care.it's too late to buy back your soul, the damage has been done.
I can't speak for the cost of his soul, but it's a gutsy thing what he's doing now.
hahahahahahahahaahahaha.
no.
he hasn't risked any of the thirty pieces of silver he was paid.
What’s the point in even trying then? We rail against the establishment which is made up entirely of people like Potter. We ask them to reconsider, to rethink what they’re doing, for the sake of all involved. And when they do they get berated and insulted.
Potter is a small victory. He’s one that did reconsider. He was contrite, recognized that what he did was wrong, apologized, and is now trying for restitution. That is the criteria for forgiveness. He is not the industry, but he was someone in that industry that changed his mind. Should no one be allowed to “change sides”? Should no one reconsider? Should we forgive no one no matter what?
Accept this small victory, however small it may be. Say thank you. It’s not only gracious; it’s how you win more small victories.
what's the point in even trying?
gee... I don't know.
here's a question from me that maybe you could answer:
what's the point in a day late and a dollar short?
the damage has been done, Potter was there when he was needed to fuck us all over.
there is no absolution from me, there will be no forgiveness, if he was drowning I would throw water, if he was on fire, gasoline.
"Accept this small victory, however small it may be. Say thank you. It’s not only gracious; it’s how you win more small victories."
sir, you must be joking.
I don't thank someone for murder because they apologized after the fact.
"Anger, fear, aggression... the dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny"
:p
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
employed for crass consumerist advantage, the dumbing down of a generation this is.
nt
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
.
I'm Boycotting NewsCorp! Heres what not to buy: http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=news...
Absolution is not yours or mine to give. Thanks are not given for the crime. Forgiveness is a process.
You don’t forgive someone just because they say I’m sorry. We’ve seen this so many times before in the non-pologies. You forgive someone only after a series of steps they take including contrition, recognition, apology AND restitution.
I can happily forgive Potter if these steps are taken, though it’s not my place to do this either. We need many, many more people in the insurance industry to do what Potter is doing. Those are the small victories – one at time until there is enough to change that industry.
"Absolution is not yours or mine to give."
oh really?
so you believe that to be the province of your favorite sky god?
I'm delighted you are so drawn in by this latest episode of Punch and Judy.
Absolution is a theological term related to the sacrament of reconciliation. As such, it is the province of somebody’s sky God, but not you or me.
your understanding of the term is at best superficial.
as a concept created by man, and no, not entirely entwined in your (wrongful) idea that it is the sole province of mythical creatures, how, pray tell, do you contort this example to fit your preconceived notions:
"the jury's verdict of “not guilty” was absolution in the eyes of the law, but the verdict would always be “guilty” in the court of public opinion"
do you truly intend to let this conversation devolve into a matter of semantics?
It’s also a movie starring Richard Burton, so I guess context is important as well as semantics.
My assertion is this:
You can choose to forgive Potter or not. He meets my criteria for it. Berating and insulting him for his current actions (not past) serves no good purpose. That attitude will discourage others in his industry from doing what he is doing now – what I consider to be the right thing. That I consider what he’s doing now right should not be mistaken for agreeing with or condoning what he did in the past. But thanks are in order, not for what he did to Moore and Sicko, but for what he may do for others in his former position: convince them to change their minds as well.
for me to be 'berating and insulting his current actions' (big waaaah moment from you there, buddy), that's not my issue here.
all you have is conjecture of what might happen.
all I'm thinking about is the twenty years he spent knowingly pillaging us all, and the actual, real blood on his hands.
Fair enough, much damage has been done. If forgiveness is indeed a process, and part of the process is restitution, there is much for him to do in order to be forgiven. I’m glad he’s started, and yes, I’m looking to the future and hoping he continues.
And Pete, I get no satisfaction either way from what I think you are or are not doing. I do appreciate clarification to see if there is common ground.
actively doing the work of evil.
I guess it's a start, but as you said, forgiveness is a process, and what he has done so far elicits no impulse to forgive in my heart.
much the same way I have not yet, and doubt I ever will, forgive Mehlman.
regardless of the efficacy of his current cynical political machinations.
you can't erase decades of evil with a few pretty words, you can't bring the dead back with those words either.
Maybe you could reflect on your noted "impulse" and consider...
...In biblical times, the kidneys ("reins") were the seat of the emotions. "Reins" was used roughly then as "heart" is sometimes used today.
Study the symptoms not the virus...
"educating" me on something I have known for nigh on thirty years.
Your welcome.
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Well, Thor is a cool guy and wields a big arse hammer. While he looks intimidating riding his chariot and smashing his ban hammer of doom he's actualy a very gentile guy that likes to go to tea parties. Hey, he loves tea. And so do i. We are bros.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
and he is a pro cyclist by the name of Thor Hushvod, and he is one bad man on two wheels, let me tell ya.
Radix Omnium Malorum Avaritia
The real Thor drives a Chevrolet Volt.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
but he kills and eats the goats that pull his sky chariot whenever he gets hungry, which then forces them to be reborn, painfully, from the bones left behind.
BS, Thor is a kind and forgiving person, unlike YOU! Stop smearing Thor! Leave him alone!
He's cool and you are a pesky mortal. (and he loves animals) Why do you hate animals Pete Seattle?
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
Potter is doing the right things, now. In fact, he is going to pay quite a bit for changing sides. The right will smear him mercilessly. He knew it when he came out with the truth. Yet, he still did it.
Another thing: It's a larger victory because he is someone from the inside. He is someone who has credibility who can reveal what really went on, and what is continuing to go on. He is someone that we can point to and say, "See? What we have been saying is true."
I really don't care if people on the left don't want to forgive him. Just don't stop him from doing what is right. Don't do more to smear him and destroy his credibility just because you're mad at him for previously being an opponent. In other words, don't cut your nose to spite your face.
What we progressives have to do now is to keep the drumbeat going. Keep pointing at Potter as proof that the right and the Health Insurance Industry is lying to us everyday, and that they don't care about our health. That they would rather see us all die than for them to lose a dollar of profit. We should not let up.
I'm really doing a great job of smearing the poor bastard.
bad me, very bad.
"The right will smear him mercilessly."
oooh noes! that's going to really bum him out in his ivory tower!
what all you daisy chain wunderkind can't figure out is the damage has already been done.
Potter played his part to perfection and it worked.
nothing Potter does or says now is going to have any positive affect.
but hey, keep deluding yourself if that makes you happy, keep trying to unscramble an egg, let me know when you finally succeed.
I heard them say something about 4500 per year dying from the practices of the insurers. Coming out and admitting guilt now isn't going to do anything for those people. Sure, it's nice when they confess but so what, the damage is already done.
Did you accidentally leave off a zero when you said "I heard them say something about 4500 per year"
Just to be clear, if you play clip #1 again and listen carefully around the (4:50 mark) they cited 45,000.
PS. And here’s why. According to this study, “Health Insurance and Mortality in U.S. Adults” which was published two weeks ago, 44,789 Americans die every year because they have no health insurance.
Study the symptoms not the virus...
.
"thirty pieces of silver"
How much of that in real money? I'm sure the ferry cost a lot more these days.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
Potter profited much more than Judas.
forgiveness and redemption.
I am willing to forgive Wendell. what value is a man's reputation if he loses his soul. Wendell earns my trust and respect as he continues to expose that insurance scamdustry for what it is.
Some stuff you can't make up!
I'll be sure to be real contrite
if I ever find myself with my knife in your back.
You have made it clear that you won't ever forgive people like Potter and there is nothing they can do to redeem themselves. If you want to bear that burden of permanent and poisonous resentment, that's your privilege. Don't begrudge those of us however, that choose to relieve ourselves of this useless burden and concentrate on what is redemptive and useful. And beating other posters down with your sarcastic comments doesn't help either.
So spare us please by taking a break and coming back when you have something more positive to discuss.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
"So spare us please by taking a break and coming back when you have something more positive to discuss."
laughable.
I know it's hard to fathom from the deep rousing chant of forgiveness, but as I have already said, the damage has been done.
so please, take a break, and come back to us when you have found that your high minded ideals and forgiveness have gotten us single payer.
thanks.
You don't have to forgive Potter but you should at least listen to him and learn from an industry insider when he speaks about industry practices and his role in them, he may not be giving his ill gotten gains to the poor but he certainly is trying to bring light into the corporate practices of the medical industrial complex.Like the former Bush press secretary who decided to admit it was all a charade, the apology came too late to have any real impact. The damage was already done.
Radix Omnium Malorum Avaritia
but I can't pretend to have learned much, the practices Potter 'exposed' were well known for decades.
a lot of people here seem to not understand that Potter did what he did for twenty years, exploiting others for his own benefit.
now he's set and he can have his little road to Damascus moment...
I'm just supremely unimpressed.
Oh we understand what he did. Some people also understand that getting on countdown takes some courage. You obviously did not. Well, i give him some credit for it. You have your opinion, i have mine. I'll leave it at that.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
"the courage to get on countdown"
so, that's what counts as courage in these here times?
you can keep your Potter, and his "courage" to procure a new paycheck as the contrary media darling du jour, I'll stick to his actual, heroic victims, like Norma Rae.
Whatever. you believe whatever you want. laters.
THOR IS MY THUNDER GOD!
Edit: and he likes tea. 8)
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
his dad still only has one eye.
He seems unforgiving as well? ;-)
Study the symptoms not the virus...
He has humour for sure. :) Ragnarok on the other hand has no humour at all. It's all business for that d00d.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
What is a soul?
It's never to late to be honest, interesting opinion though... IMO. :-P
Study the symptoms not the virus...
That says it all about the ruthless nature of the corporations. Silkwood is the first example that come to mind for me. I have no doubt that Michael got the calls in the middle of the night. The strange looks from strangers at different places and events.
Thank you Wendell. I wonder how you get treated after changing sides and rejoining humanity. I am so grateful for you.
Some stuff you can't make up!
Michael Moore gave a VERY moving comment on democracynow.org this morning.
It's really worth a listen.
As usual Amy Goodman is on top of everything.
(and by the way Mrs. Palin ...THIS is what a journalist does...)Link here ...
I'm Boycotting NewsCorp! Heres what not to buy: http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=news...
last night on open thread. Of course there were more important stories today like O'Reilly and the Simpsons plus Limbaugh being outrages again. I thought this story was one of the most important of the last 24 hours but who am I?
What was the Simpsons about?
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
I wrote this last night before the open thread went up. So yes, it was an important story to me and to us. Sometimes things just get a little disconnected...
if they feared this movie would start a grassroots uprising. If the US health care system itself can't do that what chance does a movie have?
Hasa Diga Eebowai
got an apology from a former devious Health Care Official. Florida elected an unrepentant one Governor.
I belong to no organized political party -- I am a Democrat.
--Will Rogers
Jesus do?
Kudos to K.O. for staying out of the way. I really enjoyed being able to hear a dialogue between Moore and Potter without some talking head constantly interjecting.
I wish the ads would stay the fuck out. Fuck you ads DIAF!
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
I cut the cable last April... Thank you karoli & C&L's ♥
It takes great courage and restraint to keep from being disingenuous. This reminded me of a documentary by NOVA covering the somewhat recent (Intelligent design...formally known as creationism) / evolution) debate, and how far are Brothers & Sisters will go too protect their beliefs in certain matters... some obviously more then others.
The judge, a Bush appointee received "Death Threats" accordingly, (comparatively noting). If you've not seen it, and find yourself with some spare time... I'd highly recommend viewing it, to get a confirming view on just how far this primarily Conservative ideology will go, to get their message out there... Though many of you already know this. ;-)
Study the symptoms not the virus...
On Democracy Now Potter was saying (or was it Moore?) that the health insurance industry are/were very very worried about an uprising because of what they do. I'm telling you that there is going to be a revolution in this country but unfortunately things are going to have to get a lot worse before it happens. And it will get a lot worse. More and more people do not have food to eat. Some day people are going to figure out that they are paying over $1000 a month for heath care insurance that does not cover them.
And guess what? The Republicans are going to try to get rid of Elizabeth Warren. I wonder what the Teabaggers are going to say about that.
Getting rid of Elizebeth Warren might be the best thing for Elizebeth Warren.
She is pretty much under a gag order now, so being let go means she can tell the world what she knows.
I can see her going private-non profit with a consumer organization in the same way that Ralph Nader did. She has much to offer the working public.
'Talk to the hand'
And does Sanjay Gupta have any apologies for his fudgy accusations?
`Ya, that's a good question.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
This country is so fucked.
I wonder what Bristol Palin thinks about this...
Who fucking cares! Why?
Bite my shiny metal ass.
http://www.startalkradio.net/
was posted when I was distracted from my important duty of reading C&L. Sorry I missed the party when it was timely.
It is good to see Moore and Wendell Potter engage in a clever effort to publicize themselves by generating some outrage over this "smear" job associated with the targets of Moore's film trying to discredit his effort to discrediting them. I cannot believe people would do such a thing.
I know if I were the target of a film that threatened my industry by calling it "Sicko" I would simply hide under the covers until the whole thing blew over.
We all know industry learned no lessons when GM itself turned Ralph Nader into a rich hero instead of a momentary distraction by their heavy handed overreaction to "Unsafe at Any Speed."
We all know Michael Moore never attempts to use his films to discredit anyone individually or portray them in an unflattering light. As he himself says in the clip here
"All the facts in my films are always true." He is as good as the Pope and didn't even get picked by God.
You write "what comes through on these videos is how truly angry and passionate Moore is about this effort to discredit work that he viewed as essential to the debate." If Moore is upset three years later about something anyone with any intelligence knew was going on at the time the film was released he is one seriously deranged self righteous individual. Or he is a good actor engaged in the relentless self promotion associated with celebrity image making. I suspect both are at play.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Comments are closed on this entry