We just saw Michael Moore’s Sicko tonight in St. Louis, and so were pleased to return to our current home base, to find RAW STORY’s video coverage of Moore’s long overdue smack down with Wolf Blitzer and CNN from earlier this afternoon.
Go watch it. If only for Moore’s taking Blitzer and his network to task for helping us into the endless and idiotic Iraq quagmire. (If you can’t watch the video, the tull text transcript is now posted here.)
“Just apologize to the American people and to the families of the troops for not doing your job four years ago,” Moore excoriated Blitzer after a “Reality Check” report on Sicko by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, which the filmmaker declared “so biased it’s unbelievable.”
“We wouldn’t be in this war if you had done your job. Come on. Just admit it. Just apologize to the American people,” he continued in just one choice selection of his rant against the CNN and the mainstream media failures that sent us into — and have kept us in — this mess. (After checking out the video, you can send your thoughts to CNN here.)
Thank you, Michael. Again.
As to the movie, go watch that too. We’d have more to say about it, but we’re still pondering it all. We had hoped to go with a couple of doctors (our cousins) so they could tell us what was “wrong” with the movie. But for some reason, they weren’t interested in going. We hope you will be. It was exceedingly eye-opening even if — despite all the kudos Moore has received for “his most mature film to date” — we think he pulled a few punches. Perhaps we preferred him when he was less mature, but maybe that’s just us.
But if that was any drawback to his film, and it really wasn’t, he made up for it — in spades — today with dead on-target ass-whooping to the hapless Wolf Blitzer and friends.
UPDATE 7/10/07: As promised, during his fracas with Blitzer, Moore has now posted a fact-filled refutation of Gupta’s so-called “Reality Check”. We’ll see if CNN and Blitzer, as promised, issues the appropriate apologies and corrections in light of it. Also, well worth reading in response to all of those MSM’ers who so diligently “fact check” when it comes to Moore’s film (hey, they need to hold “power” accountable, right? Might as well try to do it once every three years when a Michael Moore film comes out!) see James Clay Fuller’s “Commenting on the Commentaries” from Twin Cities Daily Planet. Finally, Moore appears for “Part 2” with Blitzer tonight at 7pm ET on CNN’s The Situation Room, and perhaps more notably, with Gupta himself on CNN’s Larry King Live tonight at 9pm ET. Someone feel like counting the number of commercials for Health Providers and Pharmaceutical Companies during those two hours alone on CNN, just for yucks?
LATER UPDATES: Video of Part 2 of the Moore/Blitzer interview, aired the next day, now posted here. Video of the Moore appearance with Gupta on Larry King Live now posted here.
Great reporting Brad! ;-P
Here’s my recap on all the madness, as well as my CNN note:
http://hiphopisread.blogspot.co...-pwns-cnn.html
Brad,
As you know I have been posting a JAMA article (below once again) for years, and a link to SICKO here on Bradblog for a week or so.
The only reason wolf bushie had him on was to try and debunk the messenger, because wolf bushie and crew are in denial of the shocking facts.
Scholars in the American Medical Association have already spilled the beans, however, several years ago.
Those medical scholars pointed out that medical industry friendly fire (“iatrogenic causes”) is catastrophic:
(JAMA Vol. 284, emphasis added). So the grand total of friendly fire from the medical realm is (225,000 + 199,000) 424,000 deaths each year.
Poor wolfie bushie who thinks the Paris Hilton story is the biggie. So Blitzer, where is the code yellow, orange, or red in the homeland security coloring book as americans are dying by the hundreds of thousands in homeland friendly fire?
Terrorists don’t come close to killing that many people in all the world, much less that many americans.
Something is fishy with wolf bushie. We need to declare independence from this MSM darkness in the land.
Moore was chiding the MSM for being brain dead:
Blitzer could only say they would report it “when we verify it”. Which is the standard we do not accept criticism from anywhere other than ourselves mentality.
The wolf bushie is narcissistic in other words.
It can NOT be just incompetence and distractions, right? When I drop a ball at work, there are consequences. But generally what we are seeing is no responsibility, no repurcussions.
Just think about how the liability laws have changed recently. Also think about people who are in foreclosure on their primary homes because of medical needs…didn’t they just tighten up on bankruptcy laws?
Disclaimer: These are not my views; but they are someone’s views…maybe the guy next living nextdoor to you…maybe the Resident of the United States.
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Maybe we are witnessing Eugenics at work:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
Lots of useless eaters out there, not contributing to society. No big losses with those people out of the picture, right? Do we really have enough resources for all of the people on the planet? – and their children? – and at the same time extend the life span of our older set of Americans through progressive medicine?
I’m college educated in my early 40’s; but who needs me when my job is downsized and is sent overseas? Then, survival of the fittest kicks in…either I need to figure out how to make more money, or I become a useless eater similar to some of my neighbors in the nearby low-income housing project.
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Perhaps it is American Auto-Genocide:
http://www.signs-of-the-times.o...ic.php?id=3869
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There has to be a reason why the powers-that-be keep slashing and cutting when the public good is concerned. Eugenics is as good a reason as any.
Brad,
Thank goodness we are not the only people who are not afraid to speak out concerning the foolhardy Iraq invasion and occupation, or the catastrophic Katrina healthcare “system”.
One US Attorney (not fired yet) is saying impeachment is a sensible thing to do:
(US Attorney John S. Koppel in the Denver Post, emphasis added). Spot on the money. Impeach Cheney now. Go HRes 333!
The figurehead newsreaders and pundits don’t do their own research. They’re either too busy or lazy. They rely on young interns to do it. These students and recent grads have little experience in the outside world, and thus have little idea when they’re lied to, and don’t know where to look for opposing information or verification. Thus, we get what we do. Thanks for bloggerdom and others to poke holes in the “news” but onced announced, it takes a lot of effort to debunk. Current example: Valerie Plame Wilson’s covert status.
Brad as a 9/11 responder horribly injured,an advocate who helps hundreds and thousands and now as the founder of the fealgood foundation which is the fore front leader in helping 9/11 responders,I just want to say Michael Moore gave Wolf Blitzers a live prime time ass-kicking.Moore continues to stick up for the less fortunate,and continues to make the once weak American,more and more PISSED OFF at our media and government.God bless this man for having the Abe Lincolns to stick up for the little people.John Feal
As someone who recently dealt with my elderly Mom having a stroke and being put in a home, I am more than aware how f*cked up our health care is in America.
I will now always suspect that Mr. Gupta has been bought and paid for by the drug makers, insurance companies, and greedy doctors.
Wolf Blitzer is a lost cause. He help lead this country into a war, and CNN responds by giving him more TV time.
Jack Jett
http://www.jackejett.com
Another hit for Michael Moore! We need more like him. Is that why * made cloning illegal?
Everything he said in that interview was spot on. Having dealt with the ‘medical system’ way too much in the last 2 years, I have to agree with everything he’s said. We have good, not great healthcare here in the USA as long as you can afford it. But don’t get anything uncommon because it won’t be covered. And don’t take too long to recover or you’ll get kicked out of the hospital regardless of your ability to pay.
Want proof? Just ask me.
I just want to say THANKS. I got rid of the Censored News Network (actually my TV) years ago. They don’t call it programming for nothing.
Who is this “Gupta” character, anyway? I guess I’ve been watching the REAL news for so long on Democracy NOW! on Free Speech TV and LINK-TV, I have no idea who “Gupta” is. Is he an actor, or something?
…sounds like some kind of disease…
“I have some bad news for you…your tests came back, and you have a case of: sanjaygupta!!!”
…or is this guy a “doctor”, along the lines of “doctor” Bill Frist???
Michael Moore looked a tad unhinged and rather unprofessional there, huffing and puffing about the MSM, and basically anyone and anything that doesn’t agree with him.
After dropping out of the University of Michigan-Flint (where he wrote for the student newspaper The Michigan Times) and working for a day at the General Motors plant, he founded the alternative weekly magazine The [Michigan]Voice.
In 1986, when Moore became the editor of Mother Jones, a liberal political magazine, he moved to California and The Michigan Voice was shut down.
Moore stayed at the magazine for only a short while, before working for Ralph Nader.
Paul Mulshine claimed to know the terms of Moore’s exit from Mother Jones Mulshine quoting Paul Berman, who stated that Moore had been fired following a series of clashes with people on the magazine’s staff, including a dispute over Moore’s refusal to publish an article by Berman that was critical of the Sandinistas’ human rights record.
Moore later sued Mother Jones for wrongful dismissal, seeking $2 million.
He finally accepted a settlement of $58,000 “” the amount of anticipated trial costs “” from the magazine’s insurance company
If thats all it takes to call yourself a journalist, one who cuts-and-pastes his idea of “Truth” as he sees fit to “save the planet”, spawning a blind and rote following of idolatrous clones hailing themselves Thinkers, then the US needs health care more desperately than even Moore knows.
Moore’s billigerent screechathon was infantile and most certainly won’t give us all free health care.
Sicko has the Decider nervous, he’s throwing out more privatization plans for healthcare in his big speech today.
Boy, the “Toadies” are out in force lately, they have deeep pockets ya know.
The controlled corporate mainstream media is being attacked by us, and is on the defensive, and is caught by us continually lying. Keep the pressure on them!
ABC is now saying, they would’ve reported on the GOP Senator if they knew about it…THAT’S A LIE!!!!!!!!!!! They said there were “no significant names on the list” whey THEY had exclusive access to it!
THEY ARE LYING! AND THEY KEEP LYING!
DO THEY THINK WE’RE STUPID????????????????????
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/A...rted_0710.html
…the GOP Senator Vitter, on the DC Madam’s list…
We can NOT keep letting these people LIE to us, without calling them on it!
THANK YOU, MICHAEL MOORE!
Brznski #13
Assuming arguendo that you are not the janitor for
SwiftSlow Boaters Anonymous, take note that we do not let a person’s minor mistakes erase his or her triumphs on behalf of the raging truth.Time for your nap sir.
Dredd #2-
I’ve been a fan of your comments on BradBlog for a long time now but I’m not sure what the relevance your comments in #2 have to the argument about universal healthcare. While the statistics you report are a sad commentary, I’m not sure how any of that would change with universal healthcare. These statistics also lack the context of any comparison with iatrogenic injury/deaths in other countries that do have universal healthcare.
Don’t get me wrong. As a physician I am certainly aware of what a broken system we have and I certainly think Michael Moore is doing a great service by speaking truth to power and helping bring this important issue to the forefront. I just think that, while it is an important issue on its own, throwing iatrogenic injury and deaths into the pot when speaking about universal healthcare serves only to confuse and side track what seem to be two independent issues that, while both important, have not been shown to be directly related.
The wolf in journalist sheep’s clothing should listen to the Surgeon General of the United States concerning the blue smoke the bushies have been blowing up his tight little arse:
(Yahoo News, emphasis added). That sounds like both faux snooze and blitzer’s bull seem to have missed something for years on end.
Wolf, I am sorry to have to say you are a shill fascist enabler of the downfall of democracy in america.
As a journalist you suck sir.
Brznski #13
Bill Gates, the second richest man in the world, a college dropout.
Then there’s Lincoln, he didn’t accomplish too much before his presidency.
Or Einstein, he got bad grades in his early years.
So no matter how great a person’s current achievements are, they don’t deserve credit if they had some hiccups along the way?
And I believe he provided ample proof to back up his claims. What’s your problem? Can’t a person speak out if they’re unhappy with the way their information has been slammed in the past? What would you do?
Steve #20
Thank you for speaking out and for commenting on my post #2. Speaking out is something we treasure on this blog, and I have tried to deal with constructive criticism in a humane manner. Sometimes I succeed. Welcome. 🙂
I agree with you that my post #2 dealing with what I call “friendly fire”, within the american medical system, is not directly related to universal health care.
In that light I would point out that it could even be a curse to give universal
coverageexposure to people when our current system kills and maims so many people.Imagine what some nations would think, for instance, if we said to them “you have been chosen to receive american democracy for free, just like Iraq”.
Free universal health care could be a curse under our current system. So we need to fix it before we spread it around.
Same with our democracy.
Ooooooooooooooch . . . . . without anesthesia Mikey rips’im !
Heeheheehheheheehheheehehehhehehehehee . . .
Notably, and blatantly, Brznski #13 doesn’t counter any of the substance of Moore’s film or its facts. FYI, personal attacks don’t really wash here, B.
Since Moore has truthfully represented himself as a documentary filmmaker and not a journalist, you got nuthin’.
“Blind and rote following of idolatrous clones”? Interesting tactic, that. You may be too smart and well-informed to be aware of this, but it is very UNpersuasive to pre-emptively insult people you are trying to persuade. Dump the personal attack model, and try addressing the substance with verifiable and linked sourcing, and maybe people will actually give a damn about what you say.
At least Moore is speaking out on the reality of what is happening to the average (i.e., not wealthy) American in our society. Whose side are YOU on, Brznski? Hmmmmm?
We need a new cable channel:
The Apology Channel.
And as all readers of The BradBlog know, there is plenty more to apologize for then just the illegal, immoral war. Stolen elections, and court packing, have brought us to where we are. Bill Clinton apologized several times for his indignant lying to a court presided over by Ken Starr and the rest of the thugs who went after his personal and private affairs.
Michael Moore went VERY easy on the congress. Although the terrible cost to seniors of the prescription drug bill was mentioned, nothing was said about Tom Delay, who passed that bill by threatening fellow legislators, well into the night. Something most Americans don’t know because of the tragic reporting failures of our media.
You go Mike!
DES, I think Brznski was riffing off Moore’s Wikipedia page.
I also think Moore’s picking up on the power of Bobby Kennedy’s Live Earth speech. People with brains, heart, and courage are standing up now because Congress very hopelessly won’t do it for us. If we want our country and a decent habitat in which to have it, we all need to get as adult and as no bullshit as Kennedy is, and Moore is. Instead of letting all these horrors turn them into gasping “liberals” who can’t fight, but only TALK about fighting, they are taking the lead. Moore creamed those miserable fucks at CNN. Bobby creamed those miserable fucks in the whole corporate media. Anybody trying to denigrate it isn’t on our side. Anybody trying to water it down isn’t on our side either, even if they think they are. That’s CERTAIN.
Did nobody note the irony of “Brznski’s” comments excoriating Moore by saying “If thats all it takes to call yourself a journalist, one who cuts-and-pastes his idea of ‘Truth’ as he sees fit”?
“Brznski’s” case, of course, was made by cutting and pasting someone else’s written arguments “against” Michael Moore.
Nope. No irony there at all 🙂
Gotta love the trolls. Can’t even make a comment without stabbing themselves in their own eyes. To think, folks like Blitzer are actually fooled by such numbskulls. (Which gives you an idea of where I place Blitzer on the totem-poll of dopes engaged in undermining our country via the sheer breadth of their indescribable idiocy.)
michael moore is a fat dumbass…that’s all there is to it. people like him are the terrorists in the nation.
Toadies also attack a persons physical attributes when the truth gets in the way.
I just yesterday watched “Bowling for Columbine” again and my theory is holding true so far, about when the Wingers get caught up in their own irony they cwy wike widdle babies.
The guy selling safe house shit on the movie, started crying and Moore said, “what’s the matter”?
{Ed Note: Working out of your Dallas office now, “Dr. Gupta”? –99}
Michael Moore was right on in letting the American people know how we are being killed through the denial of service. They do it because they know we are too lazy to vote or think for our selves. Every average AMERICAN HAS A HEALTHCARE HORROR STORY. But every one does not have a voter registration. Have we been brainwashed.
{Ed Note: Yer not being censored. If yer gonna use the man’s name and pretend email, you aren’t going to get to say anything is all, and you’re not posting anything until you cut it out. –99}
We admire you, Mr. Moore, I love your courage to stand up and speak the facts about the healthcare system and also the way this wonderful country is being dragged down by the corrupt government. If the top people can lie and miss behave what does one expect from the younger generation, the future of USA.
If Michael Moore bottled douche I’d buy it . . .
Micheal Moore = Paul Revere
I’m going to agree with the anti-Moore who said “Michael Moore looked a tad unhinged and rather unprofessional there, huffing and puffing about the MSM” to this limited extent.
I saw Moore on with Gupta. This kind of “debate” is just not Moore’s forte; he’s playing on the other guys field and they made him pay for it. Gupta used the oldest and cheapest TV debate device of talking over Moore and intruding into any silent moment that a person might use to gather their thoughts.
It rattled him. Moore did end up looking flustered and unprofessional.
Moore is right on the issues, hands down. He’s just not good in that TV format. He’d better served to send someone who shares his passion and vision and has a ready command of the facts as his deputy.
When asked about using a deputy, tell the truth. I’m a filmaker,not a debater.
Also, I love how people get all worked up when someone like Moore brings up a topic that the MSM refuses to broach. The mainstream media totally avoids any deep analysis of these important topics.
People who rise up and share their dissenting opinion (and provide real data) are true Americans.