MM is the best kind of patriot. Not, of course the Uber Patriot that has had it's day since the Bush Cabal stole their first election. The kind that fits under the category of "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism". No republic can survive without the ones of us who try to make things better. Humans are so corruptible. We need the idealists, we need the natterers and complainers who can hold up mirrors to our public behaviour and ask if this is what we truly intend. MM is certainly among the best of them. His dogged persistance his loud and very public questioning of our elected leaders are part of the vitality of our country.

Michael, you are like a breath of fresh air in Spring! Thank you for once again showing how king george and his criminals in crime screwed this once great country. Another good documentry is called "Hacking Democracy." It shows you how the presidential election was stolen in 2004. Good luck Mr. Moore! I have Farenheight 911 and can't wait to see this one.

I plan to buy a copy of SiCKO when it comes out on DVD, even if I have to buy it overseas! Michael Moore's previous body of work indicates that this new movie will be enlightening and entertaining. The public must keep a bright light shining on this whole issue. If Bush's govt tries to suppress the film's showing we should all raise a hue and cry.

I wish Mr. Moore would go after Yale's Skull & Bones secret society. I bought an audio CD of Kitty Kelley's book The Family from Goodwill and am listening to how three generations of Bushies (and many other Republican politicians) have been cultivated by Yale and S&B to be some of the most spurious and immoral WASP males on Earth. Talk about selling one's soul to get rich! This outfit apparently wrote the book.

Mr. Moore has always had the nerve and now the resources to fully expose the actions, motivations and results of a deeply flawed socio-political system that is skewed to provide those with wealth and power with more wealth and power. I commend him on his steadfastness and drive. All great nations are proud of folk heros like him. Thanks Mike

SMURFY, Needs a doctor to remove his head from his ASS.He must have money.Just a spoiled rich brat.

It may be that Moore actually has some fans in the US Treasury department. They've given "Sicko" millions of dollars worth of free press less than 2 weeks before it's premier showing.

There are many federal government employees who are very sick of the corrupt practices of the top politicians and corporate America - like us.

Have any of you heard of Aaron Russo's film "America, from Freedom to Fascism". If not go to www.FreedomtoFascism.com you can order the DVDs. We are distributing them into the community. He also is exposing the truth that Michael Moore is exposing. This is explosive.

I watched the GOP answer to Fahrenheit 911, it was called Fahrenhype 911.

I watched both movies back to back. As I watched Moore's documentary punch Dubya in the nose over and over again, I listed each damaging allegation one by one.

Then as I watched the GOP rebuttal movie: "Fahrenhype 911" I checked off each allegation that was successfully defended by Bush's supporters.

In the end, only 10 out of 50 allegations were answered. Worse yet, only 1 allegation out the ten they bothered to defend was successfully argued. That is to say, I was convinced that Michael Moore had it wrong.

The other 9 allegations that Moore's critics supposedly dimantled, were outright lies or matters of personal opinion (he said/she said stalemates).

At the end of the process I gave Moore's film a 94% A.

The GOP's defense of Dubya received an incredibly low 6% F
However, since the GOP cheated by lying, they get a zero.

(can you tell I am a teacher?)

My end analysis is that the GOP didn't care if they were right or wrong; it was only important to make the appearance that a counterpoint film was produced in order to muddy the waters.

Try it yourself. It's a hoot. Excellent lesson for a high school or college class.

speaking of health care, does everyone know about the FDA's planned assault on our supplements/vitamins/herbal remedies? Check it out soon -- i think there's only a few weeks left for public input -- or your next purchase of the foregoing commodities, including even something as innocuous as coconut oil (i kid you not) would require a prescription!!!

Big Pharma in your pocketbook again, with FDA backing, what else is new?

"I have only one question that disturbs me Mr. Moore - why in the hell are you a stock holder in HALLIBURTON?'

Perhaps one ought to ask:
Why is one a stockholder?

Since capital and labor have nothing in common, owning stock is against labor.

Oh, being self-rightious is such a lovely way to avoid the hard work of getting free universal healthcare and education for all.

We are all part of the same hypocrisy so let's get on with the struggle to get all workers our human rights.

Article: "I have no expectation that Moore is going to tell the truth about Cuba or health care," wrote Thompson, the subject of speculation about a possible presidential run. "I defend his right to do what he does, but Moore's talent for clever falsehoods has been too well documented."

Better: "I have no expectation that Bush is going to tell the truth about Cuba or health care," wrote Thompson, the subject of speculation about a possible presidential run. "I defend his right to do what he does, but Bush's talent for clever falsehoods has been too well documented."

Mr. Moore:

You have done many wonderful things in your career and I for one appreciate and respect the work you have done. You have made public the events of 9/11 though I personally believe Loose Change nailed it far better when it comes to the FACTS - but they were a follow up to what you had stared however they didn't have anything like the budget you acquired to produce your 9/11 work. They could use your help financially I am sure.

This vindictive mess that has been brought on you via the US Treasury Department is quite unfortunate, not to mention another waste of taxpayer money.

I have only one question that disturbs me Mr. Moore - why in the hell are you a stock holder in HALLIBURTON?

It's your right - but it seems a little bit greedy to think of you making excellent money off the War ON Iraq and the misfortunes in America life which are many via your documentaries - but why would you wish to gain profit from Halliburton? Is there something you would like to tell us,...

I am not questioning your talents - you are a smart man,... but WHY are you taking "Stock in America" via one of the most corrupt corporations this country has ever been haunted by since the days of the Bush family financing Adolf Hitler?

I could think of many more worthy stock investments or just simple project investments and/or charities you could invest in to help our failing America - but why the hell Halliburton?

Kudos to Michael Moore, you enriched our lives, uplifted our spirits and inspired us to greater acts of rebellion! Come to Seattle we're suffocating, we're up to our hips in $Billionnaires here and they are just a continual PITA. They continually subvert the political and intellectual enviroinment, poison the media, the church pulpits and the schools. TAX THE RICH. It's not just about money. It's about RICH PEOPLE i.e. there shouldn't be any! --Todd. retired CPA

Bush, as Nixon, uses his power to antagonize his enemies and opponents any way he can, which includes using the departments of our government to do so. as far as Fred thompson goes, i hope his cancer kills him before he can villify Moore's movie. what goes around, comes around. now it's Thompson's turn. too bad Bush and his band of thugs don't come down with the disease. that could be the best thing that happens to this country. they have no conscious of killing innocent women and children and one day it will come back there way. let Bush put his money where his mouth is and send his two daughters to Irag to fight for freedom and democracy for the Iragi people, cause we sure don't have democracy here. we have a dictator and a facist system, which is getting worse by the day, slowly heading for a communist society. Remember Bush and Thompson: What goes around comes around. and hopefully sooner than later your Karma will catch up with all of you crooked politicians.

This investigation should prove to be excellent grist for Michael Moore's NEXT movie. Every persecutorial action by the Bush Administration helps to maintain the continuity of Moore's excellent efforts to keep the public informed.

Cubans are the most educated and healthiest folks in the Americas, of course Castro is a true hero of the people on this planet
USA are arrogant,fat,ignorant sheeple
and of course Cuba is the first to arrive at disasters in Central America
always

"I have no expectation that cheney/bush is going to tell the truth about Cuba or health care," wrote Thompson, the subject of speculation about a possible presidential run. "I defend his right to lie, cheney/bush's talent for falsehoods has been too well documented."

It is not hard to understand how the German populace was lulled into complacency during the rise of the National Socialist movement. Americans have been conditioned to think only of our individual welfare, economic health and consumer desires, and to leave politics (and the accompanying repeat of history) to others who have economic interests in the rape of America. It is fitting that the fascists in the Bush Administration are creating a controversy over Moore's trip to a communist country. I'm waiting for the return of the House Unamerican Activities Committee...

The best way we can thank Michael Moore is by taking action ourselves. Participating in dialogue is one way that I can do this, but I feel that nothing will change unless those of us who are thinking and speaking to one another get up and do something. For example, one target is our pharmaceuticals industry. How can we get all of those drug-pushing ads off the TV? They are now hyping drugs to healthy baby boomers -- another burgeoning and potentially lucrative market. (By the way, check out the obscene bonuses drug reps receive for making new contacts.) How can we go after the AMA which has traditionally (going back many adinistrations), resisted any kind of universal health care? How can we pressure public schools to actively teach, provide AND support healthy lifestyles? Help me out here. Let's do something!

Remember when the US was always attacking the Soviet Union because of the lack of freedom to travel? Remember the big deal the US made out of Soviet Jews who wanted to immigrate to Israel? The Soviet Union was the evil empire because of its lack of freedoms. Well that was all bullshit. "Take down this wall..." and then the US builds one on the Mexican border. The USA has lost all credibility a long time ago. It isn't just Bush. Americans better take to the streets if their government goes ahead prosecuting Michael Moore for traveling to Cuba. The right wing in the US has dominated that country for far too long. Thank you Mr. Moore for being at least one American prepared to challenge THE evil empire. I can only hope your fellow Americans will actually back you in this fight. The lying filth that dominates American politics have to be exposed and pushed out of power. For the sake of America and the rest of the world.

Homeland Security Watching Cuba Travelers, Terrorists Free to Roam

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the branch of Homeland Security entrusted with tracking terrorist funding, reported that at the end of last year they had only four agents pursuing the assets of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, while almost two dozen were working on Cuba embargo violations.
"The Office of Foreign Assets Control said that between 1990 and 2003 it opened just 93 enforcement investigations…and collected just $9,425 in fines…since 1994" for terrorism financing. And yet, "OFAC opened 10,683 enforcement investigations since 1990 for possible violations…of the economic embargo against [Cuba], and collected more than $8 million in fines since 1994, mostly from people who sent money to, did business with or traveled to Cuba without permission," according to the Associated Press.
This tremendous disparity in OFAC funding represents the lengths to which the Bush Administration will go to cater to the right-wing exile community in Miami in hopes of securing Florida's 25 electoral votes.
"The magnitude of the discrepancy is just stunning…we're chasing old ladies on bicycle trips in Cuba when we should be concentrating on using a significant tool against shadowy terrorist organizations," commented William Delahunt (D-MA), in response to this disturbing misappropriation of Homeland Security funds.

Much needed documentary on healthcare.Congrats Mike Moore! We can learn more about healthcare by looking at other heathcare systems that work.

US Model for healthcare is dependent on Wall Street where the less care given for more dollars equal profits. It is the main reason that hospitals in poor neigborhoods have closed or become an outpatient facilty to push prescription drugs.

Most of Western Europe and Scandinavia have a government run healthcare system that works. What are we afraid of? making less $$$ on healthcare...greed!!!

It's funny isn't it how the Republican's noise machine always has such righeous indignation when a Democrat does something wrong, but always manages to overlook their own wrong doings! They have selective morals! They are hardly the ones to point a finger at anyone and say you are breaking the law! George Bush made it clear 7 to 8 years ago what he thought of the US and our laws! The more they indulge in nonsense like this, the more crediability they lose. Not that there is much left for them to lose! About all they are doing is giving Michael Moore much needed free publicity for his film (that in itself is invaluable)! I can't wait for "Sicko" to come out on DVD! I will be the first in the store to buy it.

it doesn't matter how you feel about Moore as a person, whether he's genius or blowhard or somewhere in between. This case is about SANCTIONS and EMBARGOES and how stupid they are. It's too bad that people's emotional reactions to Moore are going to cloud their minds and take away their ability to genuinely see what's at issue here.

The only people hurt by an embargo are the common folk.

Stan35 makes some excellent points as do you all. Michael always makes excellent points...Best of health to you, Mike.

Now, at the risk of hijacking this thread, is it surprising the US Government is taking an unusual interest in this extraordinary man? I don't think so for the following reasons:

Based on what I have read and from the historical trends since George Sr's reign (actually since the end of WWII), I have every expectation the US will become an acknowledged fascist nation in the next 20 months [Ike did warn us...watch for military-industrial (miliary weapons, pharmaceuticals, high tech companies and HMOs) supremacy--he might as well have added the super-rich oligarchy)]. Freedom of information, freedom to get a visa and visit a non-threatening nation like Cuba is not within the "permissable activities" of a dictatorship.

Have you noticed how the US govenment has taken over the States' obligation to protect their citizens? They did it by usurping the National Guard. No state can rise up now. And to insure they have full control, the neocons have developed the private mercenaries, Blackwater and Co who are George and Cheny's private army funded with taxpayer money...and showed up in NO to do National Guard duty...everything seems to be becoming US Government's including Moore's trip to Cuba...he was doing a humanitarian mission since our government has ignored the welfare of the Ground Zero workers.

Basically, King George and co know Americans don't give a shit...we ordinary people are so far in debt we can only work 2 and 3 jobs, pay the bills, watch TV and drink beer and go to bed to repeat the race tomorrow. No more thinking for us. And don't get me started on public schools and No Child Left Behind. What a travesty. Only someone like Michael has a tendency to galvanize people to think (horrors, can't have a "thinking" citizenry!).

In the meantime, if the Senate and House get their acts together and figure out how far our Consitutional rights have been eroded and if they ever do get mad and do it soon enough, then perhaps the fascists will have to try again another day. But in the meantime, George and co have an alternate plan. Have you heard about Paraguay?

You see, King George and his cronies and the Senate and the House all know they are culpable and knowledgeable and responsible for the war crimes commited by the invasion of Iraq and the perpetuation of war in Afghanistan. The Bush admin withdrew us from the World Court (to hide from the possibility of war crimes accusations?) and now the Bush family, father and son have bought land in Paraguay with big estates and, according to the South American news, have a contingent of 500 USA military personel on the estates. Paraguay doesn't have an extradition treaty with the USA or anyone else....sounds like Nazi war crimials protection to me. Don't forget that Prescott Bush was a noted Nazi sympathizer and supported the Nazi war effort after we, the USA, entered WWII. He did it through his banking connections...very interesting, is it not?

We are skewered. And we don't have a fair and impartial judicial system anymore to help. It was stealth bombed by the Christian right and the neocons a number of years ago. We must have Michael Moore. We must.

I hope we can continue this dialogue in the future.

Mr. Moore, don't sweat it....this admin will screw up the case against against you much everything else they put their "midas" touch on. This is the same admin that didn't allow Cuban MD's to assist our citizens after Katrina. You were booed during the Oscar broadcast in 2003, but history shows, you were right. You will win another oscar in 2008 and receive a standing ovation from the majority in attendance. Mr. Moore, like the late Molly Ivins, great Americans, who truly care about the U.S., Americans and the world we live in.

He's the most courageous film maker in the World today! The truth is, the American people's need for medicine is grossly overblown by slick advertizing, and what few medicinal drugs we actually do need can be produced and sold for a fraction of what the big pharmaceutical corporations are charging.

So, is Secretary of the Treasury Paulson the new J. Edgar Hoover? Harassing "enemies" of the administration, i.e., those bothersome free speech advocates. By the way, did your US Senator vote with Big Pharma this week to kill consumer purchases of less expensive prescription drugs from abroad? Better check......

God bless you, Mike. You're a great American. And you will have a place in history. We all owe you one for saying what so many of us have lacked the balls to say. Do not get discouraged or lose your perspective. Stay focused, stay honest, stay proud. My family and I love you and pray for you, all the way from where we live in Southeast Asia.

I don't doubt that Michael Moore's movie will show the greed of the pharmacuetical, insurance, and HMO's ir regard to how they garner excessive profits from illness.

My hope is that he will show how a single-payer sytem is the best solution for what ails our health care delivery system. We at Progressive Democrats of America, along with those at Health Care Now and Physicians for a National Health Plan back Rep. John Conyers' H.R. 676, a national single payer plan which is an expansion of Medicare for all.

(see: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h676:)

Medicare operates at a cost of about 2.9 percent of all the money taken in, while the health care system as it is now operating--with insurance, HMO's, and big Pharma corps milking the system for exhorbitant profits--operates around a 33%percent overhead cost. With the money saved in a single payer system, we can insure the 47 million (and growing) Americans who at present do not have insurance and give total coverage, from cradle to grave, just like other all other industrialized nations of the world give to their citizens (though their system are of many varieties.

We don't need Peter (the health care consumer) to pay Paul (insurance company) so that Paul can take a big chunk off the top for advertisement, CEO pay, and paperwork, and then have Paul Phillip (the health care provider). Let's just have Peter pay Phillip and take Paul out of the equation.

Facts:

18,000 people die in America each year due to lack of health care (a (11 every two months folks)

47 and growing uninsured in the richest nation the world has ever known

We pay over 6000 dollars for each American compared to other nations with Universal plans that pay a little over 3000 dollars, and yet we still have 47 million uninsured and another 50 million who are underinsured.

Almost 50% of all bankrupties are due to unpayable health care costs

We rank 37th of 191 countries for "overall health system performance," 72nd for "level of health," and first for "health expenditures per capita."

Don't fall for the Massachusetts Plan, or the one offered by Schwarzenegger in CA that will make everyone buy health insurance--that is just a giveaway to the insurance industry and they are the problem, not the solution.

The following is the edited text from a MarketPlace radio segment:

JAMIE COURT: Some of the biggest names on the Fortune 500 say they want market forces to fix the problem of high health care costs. So they support the government making every American buy health insurance.

The irony is that if insurers had made health insurance affordable and available, we wouldn't need the heavy hand of government to force individuals to buy policies.

The likes of Safeway, PepsiCo, General Mills and Pacific Gas and Electric don't have a plan to effectively rein in health care costs. They don't do anything about the inefficiency and profiteering of drugmakers or health insurers whose premiums have risen 250 percent more quickly than the rate of medical inflation.

That's probably because insurers Aetna, Cigna Healthcare, Pacificare and drugmaker Eli Lilly Co. are part of the Safeway coalition too.

If the employers don't want to pay premiums, fine. They should just admit the market doesn't work and turn the job over to the government by expanding Medicare. That's how it's done in the rest of the industrialized world, where there's far more efficiency.

Real universal health care means getting every patient access to doctors, hospitals and prescription drugs whenever they need it, so that sick patients don't get sicker. And that saves money.

Instead, these companies back turning government into a collections agent for private insurers. That leaves American citizens bearing the burden of big costs and high-deductible insurance policies that discourage early treatment.

That's not reform. It's a bailout for insurers and drug companies that refuse to be accountable for the high prices they charge and the paltry health care they provide.

Write your congressman and tell him or her, you want them to back H.R. 676 if they have not signed on, and thank them if they have and ask them to talk to their colleagues who haven't and get them to sign on.

Smurfy, your true (uncivil) libertarianism is showing when you foam at the keyboard about Moore and Cuba. Moore may be sophmoric at times but he continues to provide a great service as a humerous teller of truth and exposer of hypocrisy.

Cuba is in many ways more civilized and even more democratic than the US. Look how our civil liberties are legisltated away in the name of national security and consider that after being literally under seige much less embargoed since its founding, Cuba manages to provide basic rights and actual representation to its citizens, not to mention free healthcare.

I do not live in the USA and have free hospital care as a human entitlement in my country. We are allowed to travel, with the correct travel visa's, anywhere we wish. My country is nuclear free which makes us a "friend" of the USA not an "Allied Country". My point is this.. WHY HAVE THE PEOPLE OF THE USA NOT RISEN UP AND REGAINED THERE FREEDOMS THAT WERE WRITTEN INTO THEIR CONSTITUTION. Things that are taken for granted in my small unimportant country are now a privilege given with a license and a fee in the USA. I hope that all the people of the USA will wake from their slumber and listen to the wisdom of M Moore and the dozens of others before it is to late. Time is short. Within 2 years there may be an excuse for a declaration of martial law. Talk to each other. The USA is the dominant military and economic power in the world, if you fall, we all fall. The people of the USA are the only ones that can make the changes because its your Govt, your neocons, your religious fanatics, your military, your Rockefeller controlled pharmacutical companys, your DU weapons,your consumption of resources. If that is not enough, it will come about that based on an upcoming "terrorist" act, the USA will carpet bomb Iran within the remaining months of 2007 and bring about the collapse of western civilisation. Think I am mad. Please bear with me for a few months, then judge. When they declare Martial Law, you will know.

Moore is somewhere between lying and fake, a pretentious lard-arse who's primary skill is in pushing people's buttons.

As a person I hold him in nothing but contempt. Many of his ilk are simply ignorant, ill-informed, often well-meaning and sometimes just not thinking straight. But Moore is deliberate, willful and 100% culpable. Overall I wish progressives no harm, but that sick puppy would need more than a thick coat of blubber if he were to cross my path.

Having said all that, he's good at what he does, the button thing, and these are buttons that need pushing.

Not so much the medical care thing though. How long would Cuba supply "free" healthcare if swarmed by a few million Americans each day? A week? A month?

If America supplied "free" healthcare you'd get swarmed by South America - this is a major problem with healthcare, welfrare, etc. Either feed, clothe, house and care for the entire planet, or face "immigration problems" and their attending corruption, block-vote politics and gerrymandering.

One should also consider the brutality that funds Cuba's "free" healthcare but I digress.

To me the real issue is telling Americans who travel outside of America, where they are allowed to go. What business is that of your government?

I see no difference between such restrictions and the Berlin Wall.

S.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr...G(W)overnment.......
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr...great going Michael.

Michael devoted X film script and time for the Cuba sideshow. That's time that he didn't devote to expanding the conversation about America's healthcare non-system. Hundreds of hours are needed for a thorough expose, but it is feasible to shock and awe Americans into reality about access, cost, quality and safety.

There is nothing 'great' or 'prophetic' or 'heroic' or prudent about wasting a fraction of platform, opportunity, and resources on revealing that Cuba (and/or other nations) have universal healthcare systems accessible and affordable to all. People interviewed for this film by Michael's research staff know that they were more interested in sensationalizing the well-documented abuses, corruption, and profiteering of healthcare industry executives and shareholders than provoking thought and educating the public.

The fight is joined. Now Fred Thompson and other neo-cons will obscure the real issue --- the compelling need for a single-payer universal healthcare system --- and focus attention on Michael's trek to Cuba and perhaps, alleged illegality. There is an abundance of evidence ... infinitely more than what George Tenet needed to declare the case for the Iraq debacle a 'slam-dunk' --- to prove that our current healthcare non-system is a national disgrace. Michael didn't need Cuba.

When the film studios manifest the courage to truth-tell contemporaneously the stories of Darfur, America's healthcare morass, Iraq, etc. perhaps the general public will also be ready to leave 'American Idol', 'Wife Swap' and 'Nanny 911' etc. for more socially relevant thought pieces. They can throw in love interests, sex, and violence if they must, but it is beyond time for a Hollywood gut-check. Apparently, film-makers and producers doubt that Americans will pay the admission fees to explore societal values. I yield to their judgment ... they know what sells.

Meanwhile, the 2008 election is likely to yield a Democratic President, who will do the incremental dance in step with the unnecessary insurance industry, or a Republican President, who will sustain the current administration's unrelenting commitment to the healthcare market-based profit trough.

But by then, 'Sicko' will be out on DVD and Michael will or will not be an Oscar and/or Golden Globe Winner.

I pray to the Cosmic Universe that Moore takes on labor issues next- wait 'til he exposes that hornets' nest, because States are backing up industries that exploit the hell out of workers, right here in the USA, and all I can say is, god help you if you are a temporary worker and/or get hurt on the job even full time employees who are injured- especially those without unions, because should you need and deserve help, you are SOL and have a huge mindfuck awaiting you if you try to achieve even a small measure of justice. I'll be curious to see in "Sicko" if he mentions this aspect of lackluster medical care across the States for injured workers.

Mess with insurance companies and feel the wrath of the Son of a Bush!

Way to go MM!!! What do you bet is next? Two bits says the Bushies sic IRS on Moore next. Can you spell "retribution"?

Maybe Michael Moore ought to consider placing a copy of the film at Guantanamo Bay for safekeeping. We all know that US law doesn't apply there.

F**k the fines, and let the show begin!

Way to go, Michael Moore!

ike May 10th, 2007 5:25 pm

"Washington teems with a thousand industrial lobbyists.
In this pantheon of corporate muscle, no industry wields as much power as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA), a pressure group breathtaking for its deep pockets and aggression, even by the standards of US politics."

I hope people realize that the television commercials they see about the elderly drug plan that is urging us to prevent our government from negotiating drug prices is put on by PhRma. Check it out on the right lower corner of your television at the end of the commercial.

They spend $$Billions on advertising but are not willing to give the people a break on necessary drugs. I have some choice adjectives to describe the behavior of these SICKOs, don't you!

Chimpy's doing Michael Moore a favor. This is just more publicity for the film which will more than pay any fines they dump on him (or the legal costs of fighting them).

It has long been known that the Bush administration is ... Sick.. Sick...Sick.
Now that the Treasury Dept has provided publicity, worth millions of dollars, for Moore's latest film, we can add ...Stupid... Stupid ... Stupid.

have no expectation that Moore is going to tell the truth about Cuba or health care," wrote Thompson.

Well duh ; if you think Moore is lying about Cuba,then go and check it out yourself . I'm sure you wouldn't need Bush's permission first and most certainly Fidel would not refuse to let you critique the Cuban Health Care system . Cubans must be splitting a gut laughing at Fred Thompson's response.

Michael Moore is a great artist and a true patriot. He has done more for the average American working person than any politician of the last 50 years. He has exposed the hypocrisy and corruption of our corporate-controlled government, and has done so with incredible wit and humor. He's brilliant! Can't wait to see Sicko.

The US Treasury called off their investigation of Michael Moore's "Sicko" when they learned it wasn't just another unauthorized George W. Bush biography.

Michael is a prophetic hero in a time when they are very hard to come by.

Former Senator Fred Thompson seems to be motivated by a radical ideology as he rushes to the defense of big pharma with his "clever falsehoods" attack on Moore's credibility.

For 18 years Thompson was a lobbyist for clients such as General Electric and Westinghouse. Thanks to such lobbying, these monsters have ensured that hundreds of millions of Americans would spend decades wasting 49 watts of fossil energy for every watt of light consumed.

All along we were encouraged not to think about it or to pretend that everything was alright. Thompson was a key lobbyist pushing the S&L deregulation legislation (Garn - St Germain) largely responsible for the 1980s S&L crisis that cost US taxpayers $125 billion. As a Republican senator, 1994-2003, "Thompson consistently voted to cut education funding and increase military spending" according to the Washington Monthly.

Thompson's "clever falsehoods" accusation is so deeply hypocritical. The American people are up to their necks in "clever falsehoods" spewed by Republicans in service to their "special interest" masters.

BOYCOTT GASOLINE MAY 15

The pharmaceutical industry is out of control - I wonder if Moore's film will address the fact that many public univeristy chemistry research departments in the US are now wholly controlled by Big Pharma (public research creates privately held patents). Then there's the massive control they exert at the government level - the most powerful lobby in Washington is Big Pharma:

"USA: The Pharmaceutical Industry Stalks the Corridors of Power
by Julian Borger, The Guardian Unlimited
February 13th, 2001

Washington teems with a thousand industrial lobbyists. They cluster around the band of luxury offices and expensive restaurants which stretches from the White House to the Capitol building - a two-mile axis along which money and power are constantly traded.

In this pantheon of corporate muscle, no industry wields as much power as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA), a pressure group breathtaking for its deep pockets and aggression, even by the standards of US politics...

The combined worth of the world's top five drug companies is twice the combined GDP of all sub-Saharan Africa and their influence on the rules of world trade is many times stronger because they can bring their wealth to bear directly on the levers of western power...

...There are other examples of how the distinction between the interests of the pharmaceutical industry and the Bush presidency have blurred. There is a fast-spinning revolving door between government and the pharmaceutical industry. Mitch Daniels, the new director of the office of management and budget in the White House, was formerly the vice-president for strategy and policy at the pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lilly. Two members of the Bush transition team, Anne Marie Lynch and Bill Walters, are PhRMA members. Three others were seconded from big pharmaceutical firms.

"The PhRMA doesn't need to lobby," Democratic congressman Sherrod Brown said in a memo to staff last month. "The industry is in the White House already."

See the rest at http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=178

The Bush administration which includes all of it's neo con propagandists fear anyone who speaks out against them that speaks the truth.
Michael Moore has done it again with Sicko and you can count on the White House to issue their talking points garbage to the likes of Hannity, Beck and O'Reilly who are all fighting for space on Bush's ass to plant their next kiss.
Damn, the truth really hurts but comes with it's price.
Just wish there were more like Michael Moore in this world to tell it as it really is...

"The average fine inflicted by the US authorities turns around 9000 dollars. Others, as Ry Cooder (at the origin of the disc Buena Vista) bailed out of 250.000 dollars of fine. The sorrow envisaged by the US law envisages also 10 years of prison."
from,
Colombia: Letter Open to Jose Saramago, by James Petras - Counterpunch.
January 13, 2005, by CSP
(translated from French.)

poncho's right. The country is starting to wake up from it's neocon induced coma. I don't think they understand yet how pissed off people are at these right-wing pharma friendly corpirate conspirators.

Yeah, keep poking at M. Moore. The blowback is gonna singe their eyebrows off.

I loved reading every post above! I feel hope in the air!

Brilliant timing Michael!

Living with economic sanctions Cuba has advanced the field of medicine using "what works" instead of what makes money.

Remember when people attack your character feed their attack back. Does it fit?

[["I have no expectation that Moore is going to tell the truth about Cuba or health care," wrote Thompson, the subject of speculation about a possible presidential run. "I defend his right to do what he does, but Moore's talent for clever falsehoods has been too well documented."]]

and so it goes...

If they go after Moore, they'll have to go after the rescue workers he took with him to get treated as well.

No way they're gonna do that. These people got sick helping fellow Americans, their government didn't give them adequate care and then prosecutes them for seeking it? Even the Bushies don't hate Moore enough to make that mistake.

"In 2003, the New York Yankees paid the government $75,000 to settle a dispute that it conducted business in Cuba in violation of the embargo. No specifics were released about that case."

Legal precedents are wonderful to have when you're being railroaded by the government!

Does anyone remember when the Republican-led Congress tried to confiscate the funds that were given to 9/11 first responders? The money was to be used to treat them for ailments they might develop in the future after being exposed to all the harmful dusts and chemicals at the scene.

So, we have major conspirator against Cuban Government out of American justice system and major conspirator against American Government into American justice system! Bravo, Michael Moore! With the help of Decider you created the most laughable situation.

As professional comedian you know that nothing in the world is as lethal as laughter. Good job! Waiting to see SICKO even though I see tons of them everytime I turn my TV on.

ike wrote: "The PhRMA doesn't need to lobby," Democratic congressman Sherrod Brown said in a memo to staff last month. "The industry is in the White House already."

I'd like to add to Rep. Brown's memo: "and own at least half of the Democratic Congress also."

This article contains an error of fact. Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 911 grossed over $220 million worldwide, not the $100 million that AP reporter David Germain stated. See Box Office Mojo for details: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fahrenheit911.htm

So, the question in my mind is this: Is Germain a sloppy writer who is too loose with his facts? Or, more sinisterly, as with the sorts of tallies that I almost invariably see for peace marches across the country, did Germain deliberately lie in order to make Fahrenheit 911 appear to be less of a success than it actually is?

Sloppy or corrupt, Germain should provide his readers with an explanation, or else provide AP with his resignation.

Michael Moore is a big fat muckraking loudmouth and a gadfly on the state -- I can only wish we had more people like him.

Thank you Michael Moore. It's about time people realize the efforts that Cuba makes when it comes to health care. Cuba has a program that allows doctors to work in other countries. Cuba also had doctors ready to come to New Orleans to help, but they were denied by our government. The embargo is our country's way of making sure the capitalistic system stays intact.

Go to Moore's website to get a copy of the letter he received.

This office has no record that a specific license was issued authorizing you to engage in _______________________.

Fill in the blank: smoking or selling pot, certain medical procedures on your own body, protesting a government illegal action, travel to certain other countries, . . .

Whatever happened to: We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and *secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity* do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Now it's: ". . . secure the LICENSED blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity . . ." which isn't liberty at all.

Funny, I don't recall any government interference when Cheney's Halliburton was doing oil business with the embargoed Libya, Iran, and Iraq in the 1990s. Cheney's answer was that he didn't feel the government had the right to tell him and his company who it could do business with. Republicans launched a far-reaching investigation into the Clinton's 10-year-old, $50K Whitewater deal, yet let Cheney slip into the VP slot with no conflict-of-interest questions, and no inquiry into his multi-million $ dealings in countries forbidden by Federal law in the years immediately preceding his Vice Presidency.

Looking forward to Moore's latest effort, but nothing can beat the twenty minutes of a clueless Chimpy listening to kids read after being told the country he presided over was under attack...you just can't make that stuff up!

Sicko will make more money than Farenheiht 9/11 thanks to Faux News and the evil White House. Michael needs to write a thank you letter.....:o)

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU MICHAEL!

Thank God for Michael Moore! If only he could share his balls with more Americans, maybe this country could get back on the right track.

The present administration have taken a page out of the playbook of none other than the Holy Roman Empire, who controlled their vast empire - (the largest the world had ever known) - with two simple things: "bread and circuses".

Bread and circuses was how the Roman satirist Juvenal characterized the Roman Empire's imperial leadership's way of placating the masses, sedating them with plenty of cheap food and entertainment to keep them from thinking about more important issues like government misdeeds, corruption, high taxes and poor public services.

American Idol and home pizza delivery anyone?

Chimpy McFlightsuit and his many rich buddies hope you have a great night!

"...but Moore's talent for clever falsehoods has been too well documented."

Oh really Fred? Seems to me that the regressive right republicans' falsehoods are becoming too well-documented. Some are clever but all are terribly damaging to US.

Michael Moore, you are an American hero, an inspiration to us all. Thank you.

Of course I don't know if this information will be brought out in the film Sicko, but Cuba, the Godless commuist tyrany to the South, has a longer life expectancy and a lower infant mortality rate than the US. By the way, that is according to the CIA's fact book and not some propaganda release from Fidel.

Also Cuban medical schools train doctors in the specialty of disaster relief medicine (which makes sense given the contry's location in the heart of hurricane land).

Cuba offered to send medical teams to the US to assist with care of people in New Orleans after Katrina which was of course refused by the Bush adminnstration. Michael Moore's persona is that of an annoying sophmoric brat which makes him the perfect nemesis for our current President and his frat-boy sorority-girl adminstration.

I think it is very thoughtful of the Bush admin to provide all this free promotion--can't wait to see it.

jon
Connecting the dots: from human behaviors to ecosystem decline
http://StudentsForTheEarth.org

Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope with all my heart that the Bush Administration decides to actually go forward with some kind of lawsuit on Michael, and that he is faced with the reality of jail! Why? Because maybe if someone as journalistically important as Michael Moore ends up behind bars because he utilized the hospitality of Communist country our government doesn't approve of, the rest of us will sit up and take notice and eventually take it to the streets!

The time has come to blow the lid off of the constant hypocrisy, and economic tyranny that the health care system in this country represents. Off with the industry's head!

Michael Moore should be considered an American Icon. Although I don't agree with every thing he has published but his opinions have merit and should be seriously considered by every one. His Fahrenheit 9/11 in my opinion was the best documentary I ever seen.

I read this on the wire earlier this Morning. If the Government doesnt jail or levy a big fine on Moore then the doors will be open for people to slip across the border to Mexico or Canada and go to Cuba so it will be interesting. I think one is supposed to get some kind of license to go and I read a while back, to my surprise that the State Department had issued a couple thousand last year .

He's not just another comedian.

Just as a opened the link to this article FoxNews was already castigating Bold Mikey. What really should be asked is how these so called Christians can justify letting people go untreated for anything even if thgey did not work to clean up the mess of 9-11. And while we are at it can we stop calling the Trade Center Towers ground zero? Ground zero occured in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the US is the only nation to use nukes on people. Let's not lose sight of that reality.

PS. I have no doubt we'll eventually get to see the film, and that you'll probably garner many rewards for it. Thank you, George Bush, et. al; your efforts to suppress backfire once again. The controversy generated is worth millions in publicity.

Fascinating! Just when there exists a huge effort to normalize relations with Cuba, Moore brings the whole issue inadvertently to front & center. Thank you, Mr. Moore, for
being a keeper of the "light" of truth. Let it continue to shine and shine on forever.

I am so happy to see Michael do it again! Thank God one man still has the balls to take on the establishment! What they always leave out when putting his work down is he uses news footage that the others take. He just make a story out of them all, but the facts remain these are old news pieces strung together period. Some fancy stuff in between, but still just old footage. WE need a revolution, and it needs to be televised!

Michael Moore, you've done it again!

I can't wait for the whining of Hannity, Limbag and the other right-wing hacks on this!

Hey Mikey you go baby.

Yellow Horse

Ironic, isn't it when we KNOW who the SICKO is; and how in pointing to evil outside EVIL entered this nation's heart and soul, and made it SICKO, too.
Good luck Moore... they'll be soon coming after ANY who disagree with an off balance unitary executive, any and every totalitarian realm cannot countenance dissent or an opinion from those positioned to offer it on the basis of informed data, reason and compassion for the ideals this nation, as opposed to the smoke and mirrors version developed by Rove & co/Neon cons etc was founded to further. And what medicine shall be needed...

Well...the lying fascist hypocrites are in control, right? Reading all of the comments made so far it is interesting how astute the Common Dreams readers are. Moore is a brave man. His films are flash points for consciousness. I too question, though, any investment in a company like Haliburton. I think that needs explanation. Capitalism is an economic system. Capitalism, sans greed, does work because it creates individual pride of achievement. But Capitalism finds a home for abusers. Communism is a social system where the state owns everything. Communism can be just as corrupt as any other form of social organization as is seen from all the money scandals found in every Communist country. By virtue of how it operates, Communism is also an economic system. It is democracy that saves the day. Greedy vultures are found in every society. But democracy does not promote either the Capitalistic or Communistic form of economic theory. Democracy only cares about the will of the people, not government. Government is the handmaiden of the people. Democracy pledges and commissions many freedoms. Freedoms come with a price and that price is personal safety. That means people as a group have to agree to give up certain freedoms that would violate the safety of the people. Living in a society behooves its members to work to the benefit of all of its individuals through its laws and conventions. Laws and conventions are agreements, so it is government by agreement, that is, by an agreement among its people, not by surrender of its entitlements. The last six years have been amazingly repressive and entitlements have been whittled away by a fascistic mindset administration. In a democracy, the people, however, have the power to change their government. Michael Moore points this out with his poignantly social films. Yes, he is a gadfly, very much like that ancient Greek gadfly, Socrates. Who, if you are familiar with history, was put to death by a repressive government using fabricated charges of corrupting the youth, but in reality that government was afraid of his bringing consciousness of government corruption to his society. Think about it.