Had the good fortune to see this and savored every moment. Michael Moore is truly a "people's" man. You have to talk hard and fast to beat old Wolf; Sanjay took offense and got his feelings hurt, and Wolf couldn't get a word in edgewise. I get so tired of Blitzer asking guests to come on CNN, not to express their views, but to be challenged and interrupted. Polite one can not be, in dealing with Wolf Blitzer, it just gives him the upper hand. Thank you, Michael, for saying it all for all of us.

I was lucky enough to catch this live too ...ironic as it is, I was home sick.

Michal Moore is a heroic character and it was satsifying to see him say what many of us know to their lying faces.

Michael Moore for President, 2008!

What was most interesting was to watch Michael Moore turn the tables on Blitzer and suggest that they and not he were the incompetent ones in their reporting of health care and other news.

That if he and Gupta's reporting of the Iraqi war for instance was any example they weren't capable of finding out the truth on much of anything probably until after it was so obvious that anybody would know.

May the tide keep turning on the professional liars in our midst known as "journalists".

Sweet!

I really wish this man would run for President. I am beginning to believe that Michael Moore is the only living American of power, who is not a corporate/fundie sellout. How can America generate 200,000,000 Micheal Moores, because that is what the USA is going to have to do to survive.

Michael Moore will not run for president because he assumes (correctly in my opinion) that he would be killed as soon as it even looked like maybe he might have a chance of winning. Simple as that.

Michael, you're my hero buddy, the real deal. Keep learning, and keep preaching truth to those in power for as long as you can keep the microphone in hand.

It was good, it was good, it was real good. I was surprised CNN stuck around... But it was fun. Sanjay Gupta is a joke that ain't even funny and little Wolfie ... Oh well. But did I mention that is was good, it was good it was real good?

I didn't even understand Gupta's assertion--in taking 9/11 victims to Cuba for health care, Moore was somehow negligent because Cuba ranks #39 and the U.S. ranks higher at #37, and that Moore was trying to hide this fact..? It's obvious now that he wasn't hiding that...and why would he? The reality that these people received better care in Cuba's 'inferior' health care system only bolsters Moore's criticism of the American system. Of course our media banks on the lack of critical thinking skills of viewers.

Gupta admits America's system is badly broken, but doesn't hesistate to sabotage Moore's film with feckless arguments. Good job Sanjay, mission accomplished.

Go Mike!

CNN is corporate America's news voice. Faux is the Republican party news voice. So often they are the same, sometimes a little different. But neither is to be trusted or even really ever watched. I used the partental blocking on my Sat TV system to block all the corporate news/propaganda channels, and I've been much happier and better informed ever since!

I watched it on youtube, and Michael was brilliant! I hate cnn so much...

I watched it on Youtube, too. Michael Moore knew what he was talking about, and he never backed down. Wolf looked like the corporate suck-up that he is, and Dr. Gupta looked like his usual slick self. Would you really want that man performing any kind of surgery on you? Even ingrown toenail surgery? And you are totally right -- CNN does suck! That they actually employ the hateful Glen Beck is an outrage.

Incidentally, what happened to Soledad O'Brian and Miles O'Brian in the morning? They were good. This new "pseudo-Soledad" and the Dan Rather light (John Roberts) who are hosting now are . . . well, rather lame!

I was waiting for Wolf to rein Michael in, but it didn't happen (Michael reined in the Wolf!). Michael was so articulate and angry at the same time it was like watching a supernova or something - you just can't look away. One has to give credit to CNN - at least Blitzer and his producers - for having the guts to have Michael on live. I don't think any other CNN program would have done that. Witness pathetic Lou Dobbs' comments to Blitzer after the interview. Of course, CNN will pick apart Michael now that he is not on, now that he can't straighten out the conversations.

CNN showed guts? Or savvy marketing and public relations? News networks are preparing for the coming change of administration by slowly allowing more and more "dissenters" longer leashes and more appearances. A one-off Moore v Blitzer will be held up as proof of CNN balance, but MM laid out all the reasons why progressives should boycott CNN and their sponsors until they return to their original code of ethics.

On the Larry King Show, when Dr Gupta was debating Michael Moore, Dr. Gupta said that the mortality rate in Cuba is higher than in the US. This information reveals that Dr. Gupta does not have a good understanding of even the most basic public health terminology.

Dr. Gupta should have instead said that the life-expectancy rate is higher in the US (by less than one year) than it is in Cuba.

Mortality rate is a term that should be used for specific age groups when conducting comparisons across countries. The overall mortality rate is an extremely uninsightful way of comparing countries' health (as lots of old people can die in a "good health care country", and the mortality rate could therefore be worse in a "good" country than it is in a "bad" country...).

If Dr. Gupta would like to compare mortality rates between Cuba and the US, he would find that the most recent WHO statistics show that the mortality rate is higher in the US than it is in Cuba for the following age groups:

(cont'd from above)...following age groups: <1, 15-44, 50-54 and 60-69

these are the age groups where the US mortality rate exceeds the Cuban mortality rate:

distraught is correct.

Unfortunately, the neocons have perfected the art and science of buzzwords and sound bites. Just as the term "death tax" is certain to turn the brain dead electorate against inheritance taxes, using the term "mortality", rather than life expectancy will make to US appear superior in comparison.

neomunk is correct. Moore even understands this. Witness this excerpt from a live chat on Huffington Post:

Jonathan in Los Angeles: I would like to ask Mr. Moore... Have you ever thought about running for president?

MM: No. I would like to live.

Full transcript here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-moore/exclusive-huffpost-live-c_b_55659.html

Perhaps the finest media moment I have ever witnessed. Live long and prosper, sweet Michael.

Mr. Moore sure did clean their clocks. Maybe some Democrats could get some pionters from him on the fine art of winning arguments with jerks when all you have going for you is all the facts.

SICKO is a wonderful and long overdue film. Michael Moore is trying to bring back some basic humanity to our corrupt government, one laugh at a time.

I also do not watch any corporate media television, and saw the clip on "Democracy Now" which is carried here on my local cable access TV station at 8 AM and midnight.

That is my daily news show now; go to democracynow.org and get this TV program on your local cable access station. If I switch even for a few minutes over to CNN or Fox, I get sick. We don't need to watch baloney.

The themes of "Sicko" really hit home for me in the past 24-36 hours.

My father who is 62 (and a staunch life-long blue-collar Democrat, Archie Bunker's Earth-2 counterpart if there ever was such a thing) has been complaining on occasion of chest pains for the past 5 or more years. Granted he's no health nut. He likes steak, potatoes, and cigars. He is physically active however, lifting weights and working out on a punching bag regularly even at his age. But nonetheless he was having these chest pains.

Like many men, he was reluctant to go to the doctor. We would argue about it, and he wouldn't budge. We thought he was just trying to "hang tough" if you will.

Here, the main thing he was worried about was his job. He'd keep talking about something "cut-off insurance", a policy the railroad he works for or the union, offers for those who are unable to work for whatever reason. It basically pays you to stay home.

He didn't think he was yet eligible for cut-off insurance.

So he didn't go to the doctor. But he assured us that he would go once he was sure he had cut-off insurance. He didn't as he would say want to be "laid-up" and unable to work and therefore unable to pay the bills.

He'd had a company physical last year. He passed it with flying colors.

Last night, on his way home from work, he had a heart attack.

He's stable, and doing ok all things considered. But if and when he can return to work is a major question. And it's appearing that I could possibly become the new breadwinner in our household.

You'd think in the richest nation on Earth, a nation that prides itself so much on its decency and generosity, that no man or woman would have to worry about how they were going to make ends meet if they ever have a heart attack, a stroke, or a broken arm?

My dad, knowing that he had a possibly life-threatening condition deferred treatment because he didn't think his employer would cover him if he couldn't work. He can't just sit back and relax and get better. We kept trying to calm him down, but he doesn't think he can afford to calm down.

The first thing my dad said when we saw him in his hospital bed was "I waited too long."

I wanted to respond, "No dad, the system waited too long."

Hell, I can't even afford to take any time off to sit with him unless God forbid, he dies.

This is why I consider myself a progressive. I'm not an academic. I'm not some rebellious rich kid who's simply a big Bad Religion or Rage Against The Machine fan. I'm not someone who hates America, Christianity, whites, men, the human race, or whomever progressives shake their fists at. I don't drink lattes. I eat meat.

I'm just someone who feels as if he's being shafted in one way or another.

Conservatism has nothing to offer me. Libertarians laugh at people like me, leaving me on rolling on the ground choking on their dust.

Americans deserve a safety net. It is the moral and responsible thing to put one up.

Sometimes I think Mike is the only man left in that country with any balls at all.

And with the ability to speak a full sentence of factual, reality-based, non-spin truth.

Bush and his regime always fall back on this crazy, deluded idea that "history" will prove them right, and that their critics _ the majority of Americans _ are just too stupid.

Mike might be "quirky" and a bit of a showman, but so was Ben Franklin.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mike's picture is on our money in 50 years _ if our country survives Bush. It might not.

My family and I keep you in our prayers, Brother Mike. We love you. Rage on.

I loved seeing that miserable inflated toady Blitzer and pharma-shill Sanjay trying to cover their arses. MM repeated the performance on Larry King Live. I can recall an early unsold-out Larry King, but that guy is as long gone as Winter Soldier Kerry is.

Michael Moore was one of the few gutsy public figures who cried "Shame on you!" to Bush before all the world while the elites were still quaking at the thought of receiving the royal scowl.

I haven't seen Sicko yet, but it definitely looks interesting.

How's your old man doing now, iwarrior? I've been reluctant to visit the doctor at times too because I knew my HMO wasn't going to cover everything and would only swamp me with paperwork.

Your dad's experience reminded me of one of my friends whose dad had a heart attack several years ago. He was admitted into a hospital and his HMO skimped on the payments. Even after that experience, my friend, who traded in stocks during his spare time, told me that companies have a right to make a profit. Yes, they do, but I didn't understand why he told me this right after telling me that his dad was shafted by an HMO. I remembered thinking, "Well, one of them just factored out your dad from its bottom line to fatten it up!" His dad survived, though.

I don't know what else to say, iwarrior, except to hang on and be strong.

Dr. Gupta is quite a 'blinker' eh? As far as I could tell, Mr. Moore barely batted an eyelid.

Here's a CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) comedy spoof of Wolf Blitzer. It really captures the sense of the way "news" and news reporting is handled by CNN and in particular Blitzer. Too funny, too sad ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdPkQz9ILyc

CNN, like Faux Noose, provides an added bonus for its large corporate advertisers -- designing their programming to serve as a 24/7 infomercial for their benefactors. In the same way that advertising is by no means objective, the MSM can credibly be painted with the same brush.

The only purpose Gupta serves is that of exposing the current talking points advanced by the major health care companies and big pharma. Otherwise, his claims should be accorded with the same skepticism that one should maintain when the traveling medicine show comes to town.

For those who blindly believe that the corporate world can much more effectively manage our health care than any governmental agency, think of how wonderful our health care system would be today if the government had only had the foresight to hand over all operations to an efficient, upstanding company such as Enron.

Zell,

It seems to me that the Bush mantra that history will prove the Bush administration right is a knock off of the old "you will get your reward in heaven." If the con artist can continually sell apparently harmful policies with unverifiable promises regarding results or rewards to the gullible suckers, the con artist can get away with an awful lot.

Glad to hear Michael did so well. It's amazing what one can articulate after having first-hand experience and contact with the real issue. Maybe Congress and the Administration should listen those nurses, doctors, teachers, and soldiers who are literally and figuratively "in the trenches" to find solutions to the problems facing our nation instead of lobbyists, neo-cons, and other paid henchmen (hench-persons?).

Michael Moore: people's hero, now and forever.

Good for him! F*ck off CNN, go Mike!

Gupta has had plenty of opportunities on his useless "Daily Dose" segment on CNN to tell the truth about the abysmal conditions of the US healthcare system (Walter Reed, depleted uranium, etc. for that matter) but instead covers point-less topics like "is jogging really good for you" or "dark chocolate daily helps your heart" or something to that effect. If he is a real doctor who cares about people
and their lives he would use that forum for change...like Michael Moore has done with is movies. Nero-surgeon, journalist, entertainer, or whatever he purports to be, he in my opinion is merely a mouthpiece for insurance/pharmaceutical companies.

Use to work in a health food store, and was once asked by a regular customer what was the best thing he could do for his mental health. I replied, "don't watch CNN."