Kyle Smith of the New York Post writes a nice takedown of Michael Moore's new move "Sicko." The movie has not yet been released, so we don't yet know for sure whether, like previous Moore films, it will be premised on a lie. As Smith notes, "the central idea of 'Bowling for Columbine' -- that the killers were subconsciously driven to their actions by the presence of a weapons manufacturing plant in Littleton ---turned out to be not only conceptually insane but literally untrue." In fact, the plant did not make what Moore called "weapons of mass destruction" but rather space launch vehicles for TV satellites. Similarly, "Roger and Me" presented Moore as unable to secure an interview with the GM chief Roger Smith. But, this "was also a 90-minute lie: Moore did talk to Roger Smith, a fact revealed by Ralph Nader."
"Sicko" apparently is built around stories of people who got the run-around from insurance companies. Such stories should be enough easy to find, so perhaps Moore was able to resist his usual practice of making things up. However, as Smith's review shows, these sorts of anecdotes are beside the point when it comes to rational debate about health care, given the ease with which one can find similarly chilling anecdotes about the health case systems Moore extols -- those of Canada, France, and England. (For a great send-up of the Canadian system, watch the excellent film "Invasion of the Barbarians" by leftist director Denys Aracand).
Smith provides plenty of evidence that should make us pause before seeking to emulate the health care systems of Canada, France, and England (much less that of Cuba which also draws particular praise from Moore). That doesn't mean that our system can't be improved or even that, ultimately, we shouldn't borrow elements from the system of one or more of these countries. It just means that Moore's film, if Smith has desccribed it fairly, is irrelevant to serious debate about these matters.
Reader Comments ( Page 7 of 9)
91. Michael Moore might stimulate the medical community to try and find a cure for his mental illness, and his self-hating eating disorder.
Copy222 at 9:01PM on Jun 20th 2007
92. "...that doesn't mean that our system cannot be improved..."
Announcing this year's winner of the COMPLETELY OUT OF TOUCH AWARD...the envelope please:
The winner is...Paul Mirengoff!
MarkMcCauley at 8:25PM on Jun 20th 2007
93. I HAVE seen Sicko, and Mirengoff is right to be scared; he's just too cowardly to admit it. His fanciful interpretations of Bowling for Columbine and Roger & Me give him away.
Baldrz at 8:35PM on Jun 20th 2007
94. I should have stopped reading as soon as I saw "Power Line is the blog of attorneys...."
jim at 8:39PM on Jun 20th 2007
95. Moore is the butt ugly face of American liberalism. Personally, I can't tell if the guy is winking at me or walking on his hands.
Moore is clearly the ugliest of Americans, and liberals have made him rich and famous for his unAmerican rhetoric. Go figure?
UnAmerican rhetoric: Moore toured Europe on the constant theme that 'Americans are the stupidest people on the planet.'
I guess he was talking about 'liberals'.
If Moore said it was chocolate, liberals would eat dog shit ... and enjoy it.
Thomas J Gassett at 8:38PM on Jun 20th 2007
96. Roberta writes: "By circumstance, my husband went to a job that has no benefits. He is paid well, so we thought, no problem, we will go to a private group. NO!!! Seems I am on a "list" somewhere, and I have been turned down more than once, because I have Depression, Arthritis, and Fibromyalgia. We do not want Welfare. We want to pay our bills. What do you do Roberta when an insurance company says--no. Money does not matter, when I call a Dr., first ? is, what is your Insurance? You can hear the Receptionist suck in her breath, like, " another no pay". Should we have to move out of the country we were born in?"
Roberta - what a nice summation of the immorality of our government under Republican control. I'd just like to add that when you go to the doctor he probably charges you the "full price" rather than the discount price he charges for bulk business from an insurance company. When I had a one hour procedure, the "full price" was $44,000, and the price my insurance company paid for the procedure in full was $879 with just a 10% co-pay from me.
What's even more of a national disgrace is that your family, like most trapped in the insurance gap are HARD WORKING American citizens. If you were totally impoverished you would get medicaid, but since you're not and have seen how ruthlessly insurance companies say "NO" to any person they think is a money loser for them, the Republican Party and the right wing have left you in the cold.
Personally, I could not stand to condone the utter heartlessness of how the Republican Party is treating Roberta's family and 47 million other uninsured. I could not sleep at night. Folks, the only way we are going to stop the abomination and get national healthcare is if we vote Democrat. It happens to be the only party in this country that truly cares that the average American has a better life.
Phil at 9:01PM on Jun 20th 2007
97. Some of you all wish Michael Moore was irrelevant, but I know different. As a parent of a child who has been on a transplant list for 6 years and who has had many critical emergency room visits on top of the daily horrors of trying to survive .... the health care in this society is sicko ... real sicko. For profit medical care will never justly serve the people. Certain things should just not be for profit .... saving someone's life is the top of the list!!! Access to water is another or heat or basic food, and education.
Go see the film and judge for yourselves ... don't base it on Moores personality.
Victoria at 9:11PM on Jun 20th 2007
98. Tom writes: "Here's a short read of Akin Gump clients.Paul Mirengoof, the author of this blog)works for them. Micheal Moore may be opportunistic but this blogger is nothing but a tool! We used to call guys like this 'shills', 'tool' works pretty well too.
ABBOTT LABORATORIES
AETNA, INC
ALLIANCE OF AMERICAN INSURERS
ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND COMPANY
BECHTEL GROUP
HEALTHCARE LIABILITY REFORM COALITION
The list goes on and on."
Paul, that is incredibly sleazy. Given that your salary is likely in part a portion of the partnership draw based on overall volume of business, I see you've used your blog to make a few bucks on top of the the corpses of the 17,000 people who die from lack of health insurance each year. What a guy!
Phil at 9:12PM on Jun 20th 2007
99. insurance companies area bunch of con artist they go up every year on your policy you also have a large deductable and you can't retire you have to keep working just to pay the creeps and then they winn all these trips for ripping off the most people yes i hope michael moore gives the ass holes hell
mwatson at 10:48PM on Jun 20th 2007
100. I thought the movie was about fat boy Moore, after hearing the title.
David Vail at 10:54PM on Jun 20th 2007
101. Say what you want, Michael Moore is exposing this country for what it is degenerating into. A piece of shit thinly veiled as a democracy.
David at 11:13PM on Jun 20th 2007
102. Moore is a fat slob left wing punk.
People live in poverty because they do not work.
80 percent of people living in poverty work 800 hours a year or less.
Most families living in poverty are single parent families. Maybe if they would WORK more they might not be living on my tax dollars. It is a fact that if these people lived with the father of their children most would not be living in poverty. So I guess making bad choices like spreading your legs and having kids without a father and not working isn't their fault! You liberals sure do know a lot about nothing!!!!!!
By the way I am a libertarian not a republican.
chuck at 11:29PM on Jun 20th 2007
103. Michael Moore came to mind about a month ago, and I decided to order Fahrenheit 9/11 from Amazon. I watched it the other day for the second time. The first time I saw it was in the theatre back in the day. It struck me how in hindsight, the movie was completely relevant to today, and everything discussed in the movie was so right-on. I feel like Fahrenheit 9/ll should be reissued to the theatres again, because people will be wowed by it's accurate foretelling of a bad war. I'm really looking forward to Sicko because I have had nothing with problems with the issue of health insurance once my husband became critically ill with cancer a few years ago, and things have never been the same--financially or emotionally. Thank you for listening. Sincerely.
Kathy at 11:41PM on Jun 20th 2007
104. Moore needs to do a truthful documentary about the obese in America.
christi at 1:01AM on Jun 21st 2007
105. Interesting that AOL chose this obscure blogger to try to discredit Moore. I'm dismayed but not surprised. I'm expecting a lot worse. Did anyone see Michael Moore's appearance on "The View?" He was attacked unmercifully by all the well-off women who obviously resented the uninsured and their children, worried about having to pay more taxes for universal health care (but don't mind paying billions a month for the Iraq War) and could care less that a woman was allowed to bleed to death in an L. A. hospital recently. Mr. Moore patiently pointed out, to the "born-again" guest host, who was especially hostile toward the concept of universal health care, that Jesus taught that we will be judged on how we treat those who are the most helpless, the poorest, the most needy among us. To no avail.
Gramma Nadya Rossi at 2:20AM on Jun 21st 2007