I'll try to find the set-up for this outburst, but I can guess, especially from Lou Dobbs' obnoxious comment at the end. Anyway, Moore tears Wolf Blitzer a new a-hole.
Update: Here's the hit-piece. It's patently (no pun intended) obvious what the good doctor is trying to do, so I'll make only one comment. The good doctor mentions that Cuba is ranked one or two slots below the US on the WHO ratings of national healthcare systems. Um, yeah, we know: you can see it in the film, even, when they show the list. The point however is painfully obvious (and thus requires flak to distract): compare the economic power of the US to Cuba -- should the healthcare systems be roughly equal? After 45-ish years of economic embargo by the US? This of course is alluded to after the brick is thrown. Sigh.
Another straw man: Moore never said, nor would anyone with two working neurons, that any other nation's healthcare system is "perfect." The point of SiCKO is not that Moore may have gotten a number wrong (but the order of magnitude correct) -- that's what I call "trivial," if it's even true, which I do not assume. The point is that our system of healthcare (sic[k]) is a national embarrassment based on the propaganda and lobbying of powerful industries who do not have the health of their consumers paramount -- profit is paramount. That's what corporations do; any actual benefits are epiphenomenal. Of course, after you have your medical and financial disaster, you're "free" to "choose" another provider -- unless you have no choice at your workplace (usual situation). And surely, the "competitor" will ignore pre-existing conditions! Please.
Here's Moore's rebuttal from his site, which, by the way, I've yet to read.
Update: Here's the hit-piece. It's patently (no pun intended) obvious what the good doctor is trying to do, so I'll make only one comment. The good doctor mentions that Cuba is ranked one or two slots below the US on the WHO ratings of national healthcare systems. Um, yeah, we know: you can see it in the film, even, when they show the list. The point however is painfully obvious (and thus requires flak to distract): compare the economic power of the US to Cuba -- should the healthcare systems be roughly equal? After 45-ish years of economic embargo by the US? This of course is alluded to after the brick is thrown. Sigh.
Another straw man: Moore never said, nor would anyone with two working neurons, that any other nation's healthcare system is "perfect." The point of SiCKO is not that Moore may have gotten a number wrong (but the order of magnitude correct) -- that's what I call "trivial," if it's even true, which I do not assume. The point is that our system of healthcare (sic[k]) is a national embarrassment based on the propaganda and lobbying of powerful industries who do not have the health of their consumers paramount -- profit is paramount. That's what corporations do; any actual benefits are epiphenomenal. Of course, after you have your medical and financial disaster, you're "free" to "choose" another provider -- unless you have no choice at your workplace (usual situation). And surely, the "competitor" will ignore pre-existing conditions! Please.
Here's Moore's rebuttal from his site, which, by the way, I've yet to read.