I WATCHED MICHAEL MOORE give CNNs newscaster, Wolf Blitzer, a virtual bitch-slap on live TV the other day (www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpKoN40K7mA). Why dont you tell the truth to the American public, Wolf? he asked. Why dont you tell the truth about whats going on in this country?
I hadnt seen anything so exciting on television since... well, never.
Moore was talking about his new documentary SiCKO, a scathing indictment of Americas healthcare system and health insurance industry, which Id seen just the day before. In it Moore points out that America, despite its great wealth, is ranked 37th in the world for quality of healthcare by the World Health Organisation. Did you know that America has
almost 47 million people without health insurance and 18 000 Americans die each year as a result?
At the end of the movie, Moore takes 9/11 rescue workers who are unable to afford healthcare to the US Guantanamo naval base, where, he has heard, the 9/11 evildoers are receiving world-class medical care courtesy of the US government. They are turned away, but outside the base get free treatment, compliments of the Cuban government...
All in all, SiCKO is an entertaining and satirical look at Americas failed healthcare system. It also confirms my own opinion that healthcare in the good ol US of A is a blatant money-making enterprise where even cancer is profitable. I was quite surprised to learn that CNN was going to interview Moore. Live, nogal. This had to be good, so I settled
down with a cup of tea.
Just before Moore was due to go on air, CNN ran a segment titled SiCKO reality check, wherein CNNs resident medical expert Dr Sanjay Gupta informed viewers: Moore asserts that Cuba spends $25 dollars per person (on healthcare). Not true. I nearly choked on my orange pekoe. What Moore said was that Cuba spends $251 per person on health care, not $25.
Gupta went on, (Moore says) the United States slipped to number 37 in the worlds healthcare systems. Its true. ... Moore brings a group of patients, including 9/11 workers, to Cuba and marvels at their free treatment and quality of care. But hold on that WHO list puts Cubas healthcare system even lower than the United States, coming in at No 39.
But wait a moment... Moore said that in the movie. It wasnt like he was trying to hide the fact. The point was that the healthcare system in an impoverished country ranks closely to Americas.
The rest of Guptas piece cast as much doubt as possible on a number of the statistics presented in SiCKO. It ended with an expert claiming that socialised medicine inevitably results in long and life-threatening waits for treatment... an expert with close ties to the for-profit medical industry... which CNN failed to disclose.
Moore was steaming. Youve fudged the facts to the American people about this issue and about the war, he countered. We wouldnt be in this war if youd done your job! Hot-damn! I did a cartwheel. Tea went flying.
Do you ever wonder why Americans seem to acquiesce to any argument favouring the free market or military intervention? Why so many Americans still believe that Iraqis were responsible for 9/11? Look no further.
CNN labels itself The most trusted name in news.
So, I didnt just dream that American mainstream media feed the people a steady diet of elevated danger levels, sex scandals and Whos the babys daddy? to distract them from whats really happening in the world. But in America an omnipresent corporate media serves corporate interests and to say it should be any different... well, you must hate
America. As author Saul Bellow once said, A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
After the debacle Michael Moore wrote an open letter to CNN: After what the public saw with your report on SiCKO, how can anyone believe anything you say on your network? Before the Internet, you could get away with it. Your victims had no way to show the viewers how you had misrepresented the truth. But now, we can post the truth backed up with evidence on the Web, for all to see.
And this is the beautiful thing about the Internet: It can sometimes deliver the truth to those who care enough to dig a little.
(www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/56681/)
We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance, says Moore. We dont know anything thats happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing.
I know a lot of Americans. Theyre pretty nice people. But your decisions are only as good as your information. I was in America only an hour when a businessman asked where Im from.
South Africa, I replied. Oh, which country? he asked. Azania, I replied, to which he nodded knowingly.
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