THANK YOU MICHAEL MOORE, For everything really, but especially for this:

[berni_mccoy]

Mr. Moore,

I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I think all of America does, or at least, will shortly. You are a true patriot. As a parent of two children with type-1 diabetes, I can relate to all the problems brought out in your movie, Sicko.

But I thank you, especially for this: destroying a favorite RW Term: Privatization. Conservatives have been bashing America over the head with this term for over a decade and have been slowly, but surely, trying to privatize everything, from Social Security to Education, from Healthcare to the Military. ANY THING they can get their hands on. And they use fear tactics like "It's YOUR money, do you really want it wasted on bureaucracy?" I have been so sick and tired of hearing that for so many years I can not tell you how much I truly hate that term.

Thanks to you and your great American movie, Sicko, they can no longer use that term.

Whenever they want to talk about privatization of Social Security, people will think about the disaster of privatized Healthcare.
Whenever they want to talk about privatizing Education, people will think about the disaster of privatized Healthcare.
Whenever they want to talk about privatizing the Military, people will think about the disaster of privatized Healthcare.
Whenever they want to talk about privatizing FEMA, people will think about the disaster of privatized Healthcare.
Whenever they want to talk about privatizing *ANYTHING*, well, you get the picture.

My conservative friends have applauded your movie, as our disaster of a healthcare system is truly a non-partisan issue, even though it was brought about through a partisan ideology. And now that it has been fully exposed, with the root cause of tying profit to an essential system, my conservative friends are re-thinking the whole privatization thing.

So thank you Mr. Moore. I believed in you for Fahrenheit 911 and for all the work you have done in the past. You have shown, quite eloquently, to all of America the problems with buying stock in a one-sided idea and have given America a bit of hope for doing the right thing.

[Hand]

1. Hear hear!

Michael Moore is a true American populist hero who goes beyond party and ideology--he's the right wing's worst nightmare, a smart, angry man with a genuine progressive vision and the money to make it happen. :toast: :applause:

[tblue37]

2. He is so great. I am always furious when people say he is the

left's version of Ann Coulter. She lies, calls names, and acts like an evil harpy. He tells the truth and shows deep compassion for those in need. He has repeatedly been proven right on the key issues of the day. She has consistently sided with those who have been shown to be wrong--both in terms of being evil and in terms of being delusional. Yet she is the one who gets most of the opportunities to spout her venom in the corporate media.

There is no similarity at all between them, much less equivalence!

[frogcycle]

19. oh, but you're wrong

he represents our basic values, and is not shy about tackling those who oppose them. His personality is consistent with the civilized and friendly way most of us want to deal with issues

she representst their basic values, and is not shy about tackling those who oppose them. Her
personality is consistent with the uncivilized and unfriendly way they want to deal with issues

they could not be more alike! two peas in a pod!

:rofl:

[TechBear_Seattle]

35. I don't think Mr. Moore would appreciate the comparison

I know that I would feel insulted if someone tried to liken me to the Old Nag. :hi:

[madokie]

20. what kind of people are you around to make such statements anyway

you're just funning us, right :eyes:

[tblue37]

21. I see such statements in blogs and hear them on TV all the time--

don't you?

[ourbluenation]

37. oh it's the auto reponse i hear on blogs and chat rooms often. nt

[bpeale]

41. and doesn't this do away with the saying...

"that you can't be rich & feel empathy for the poor"?

[speakclearly]

53. He's a great guy, but.......

I wish he would lose about 150 pounds. I am worried about his health. There seems to be no one to replace him if he dies of a heart attack! His weight also makes him more susceptible to diabetes! He could go blind or lose a leg or an arm to gangreen.

[tblue37]

54. Yes, we just lost the brilliant Steve Gilliard to similar health problems. (eom)

[Cha]

55. They can't stand the message so

they attack the messenger by comparing him with the worst thing they can think of..and, yeah, that would be the one of the ugliest hags in American media..ann coulter.

[HonorTheConstitution]

3. Yes, thank you Michael Moore and keep up to open the eyes of the American People

[snappyturtle]

4. Love your screen name....Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Not Me]

5. I just saw Sicko this past weekend...

(I have been really busy with other things) and one of the truths that comes through very powerfully is that universal health care is not an experiment. I can be, and IS being done in a number of other countries...both rich and poor.

I am so sick and tired (no pun intended) of people saying "Where are we going to get the money?"
May I suggest where we might get the first 13Billion each month?????

Seriously, it is perhaps his best work yet.

[candice]

47. Well, for starters, Halliburton could return its war booty.

[GliderGuider]

6. my favourite T-shirt

Gay Marriage
Doesn't Scare Me
But Privatization Does

It was a fundraiser for the Kenora NDP riding association. I bought two.

[mzmolly]

7. Berni that's an awesome thanks. May I join you?

Thank you Michael Moore.

I have a husband who's type 1 as well. He was diagnosed 30 years ago, and he's still kicking. ;)

[berni_mccoy]

10. Thank mzmolly! Please Do.

:kick:

[BornagainDUer]

8. Moore is really coming into his own! He will only get better

from here.

[sutz12]

9. As far as I'm concerned, privatize = privateer.

:shrug:

[Skittles]

11. what impresses me about Michael Moore is he goes after the big guns

I've grown very weary of hearing America's problems blamed on immigrants, gays, welfare mothers......these are not the people screwing up MY life

[antigop]

12. It's the CORPORATIONS that are screwing up my life. n/t

[Skittles]

16. yes

when I hear reports about hookers I think to myself, street whores have much more integrity than corporate whores :o

[ckimmy57]

38. Thank you Skittles

For giving me a good laugh this morning. No truer words have been spoken.:rofl:

[PoconoPragmatist]

50. I'll Second THAT!!

As a member of a particularly hated, feared, and misunderstood minority group...who has suffered legal discrimination at the hands of corporate America to the tune of being now two years unemployed, and to the tune that I have foever given up on the job market and corporate america, and decided, instead, to return to school to learn a new skill, and then launch my own business where I work from home, and thus, never agin have to deal with the fact that a large portion of society has it's collective head up it's collective ASS, or I wouldn't be treated so unfairly in the workforce!!

[Faygo Kid]

13. Thanks to a Great American. Plus, he's smart enough to live in northern lower Michigan.

Ah, the Traverse City area (actually, Bellaire for Michael, I think). Plus, I happen to have nothing but good memories of Flint. The man gets it right in his personal life, as well. Check it out: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/13/travel/escapes/13american.html. Saw him there last September, and hope to see him again this September, as well. Another decade, and it's retirement time there (I hope).

[JDPriestly]

14. Thank you Michael Moore

You are the bravest man in America. You speak confront power with truth in images everyone understands.

[U4ikLefty]

15. Ahhh, Michael Moore....now here is someone "I'm Proud Of"!!!

FYI, he he

[bonito]

17. K&R! n/t

[defendandprotect]

18. Love you, Mike -- + thank you for bringing sanity into our lives -- !!!!

And for all the great, great movies --
When can we buy SICKO -- ???

[mcg]

22. Privatization = Fascism

'...
Ehrlichman reassures Nixon that
"all the incentives are toward less medical care ...
because the less care they give 'em, the more money they make."

...

A fourth to a third is siphoned off the top for paperwork and profits for the private insurers, compared with less than 5 percent for Canada or our own Medicare, a publicly run program.

...'

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9874

In 1996...
Annual Compensation...
Stephen Wiggins, CEO, Oxford Health Plans, Inc. $29,061,599
Wilson Taylor, Chairman and CEO, CIGNA Corporation $11,568,410
David Snow, Executive Vice President, Oxford Health Plans, Inc. $10,403,451
Robert Smoler, Executive Vice President, Oxford Health Plans, Inc. $10,085,972
:
Unexercised Stock Option Packages...
Stephen Wiggins, CEO, Oxford Health Plans, Inc. $82,799,000
William McGuire, CEO, United HealthCare Corporation $50,042,237
David Snow, Executive Vice President, Oxford Health Plans, Inc. $23,888,000
William Sullivan, President, Oxford Health Plans, Inc. $20,408,000
Alan Hoops, President and CEO, PacifiCare Health Systems, Inc. $15,338,120
Robert Smoler, Executive Vice President, Oxford Health Plans, Inc. $14,015,000
Wilson Taylor, Chairman and CEO, CIGNA Corporation $12,057,758
:

http://www.harp.org/hmoexecs.htm

How many people have died because of their obscene greed?

[DeeDeeNY]

36. Those numbers really are obscene NT

[PoconoPragmatist]

51. Worse

The pro-private folks keep saying...IT'S YOUR MONEY...do you want it to go to the bureaucracy?

I say...IT'S YOUR MONEY...do you want it to disappear into the pockets of the already-wealthy, so that you get substandard healthcare, and denied treatment for something small, which will therefore become large and eventually kill? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?? Well, then, go private. Attach profit to an essential service that should be a basic human right - not a privilege afforded only to the ELITE.

Edwards/Moore '08!!!

[KAT119]

23. Well Put and Thank You...K&R!!

[NanceGreggs]

24. WELL SAID!!!

K & R for a great piece!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

25. I've loved him ever since "Roger and Me".

[Swagman]

26. we have socialized medicine in Australia and I can tell you that

private corporations will fight tooth and nail to prevent health care for all in the USA.

The reason: once it's it in -no political party can ever get rid of it because it's too popular. Any political party in Australia which has declared it will dismantle socialized medicine has been ditched or never elected. That includes the current rat bag PM John Howard who has a pathological hate of our public health care system and has attempted to strangle it with endless cuts-but now realizes it's there to stay and has finally given up.

During the recent trade deal between the USA and Australia- US drug companies fought tooth and nail to get leverage over the system we have where Medicare ( the government body) negotiates to purchase huge quantities of drugs at low prices thus providing all Aussies with subsidized medicines.

A great post berni_mccoy and you are correct-Michael Moore has done the USA a great service with Sicko I think this is the beginning of a big change
for US citizens.

[Douglas Carpenter]

27. bravo!! k&r

[Pooka Fey]

28. Yes! Thank you, Mr. Moore. You are my hero. n/t

[annabanana]

29. Privatization = Theft.

In every instance it represents the privatization of the profit only.. ALL the liabilities are left firmly in the public sphere. It is, practically speaking, risk-free capitalistic stealing.

[B Calm]

30. Republicans have screwed up everything! They keep this country

from advancing to new and better ideas. Their answer to everything is corporatism.

[PoconoPragmatist]

52. Not Quite

Their answer for everything is corporatism...only when they and their cronies can control and usurp most of the cash flow into their own sick, greedy pockets!! Fuck the consumer!! Never has the phrase "caveat emptor" been more appropriate!! Welcome to "the owndership society!!" Have ya figgered it out yet?

In case ya haven't, lemme fill ya in....the owndership society is about the wealthy owning the rest of us...and the rest of us being good little obedient slaves, and liking it. Fuck the 13th Amendment.

[Ian_rd]

31. In the new era of Bush Republicanism, the only thing that changes is the spin

They'll just find a new word to use in place of "privatization" with the exact same goals in mind. Because they, more than any other group in the world, have masterfully meshed the concepts of corporate marketing and political manipulation. It's all about branding. Now that the brand Privatization(R) is out of style, they'll simply find a new brand for their same old pair of jeans. Maybe they'll start calling it "awesomization" or "freedomization."

What's that? You oppose the freedomization of our seniors' social security? Wow you must hate seniors AND freedom!

The new brand will be amplified to critical mass across cable news and talk radio until the brand is imprinted in the minds of a majority of Americans. And one day, just maybe, they'll declare victory when their children's health premiums go through the roof after their coverage is "freedomized." Because, golly, it was so much worse before, wasn't it?

[brg5001]

39. Exactly! Catapult the propaganda!

While living in Decatur, Georgia, I had a chance to visit the Atlanta History Museum. There was a KKK recruitment flyer which emphasized the importance of maintaining "Christian" values. It was distributed back in the 1930's outide of Atlanta.

When "scientific creationism" got blown out of court, they came back with "intelligent design."

The "domino theory" won't fly anymore, so now we have to "fight them over there so we won't have to face them here", because of course THEY are in control...but we're winning...or something.

We're winning but we're losing and must remain fearful. America is great but it's going down the tubes. War is a last resort but it's always the first choice. God is in control but we've got to help "him" control everything by replacing judges with ideologues. Democracy is always the best choice but only if extremists like Hamas don't win the election, or as long as there's enough freedom for Wall Street to operate, as in China, where we call our involvement "constructive engagement." But Cuba is a horrible dictatorship and constructive engagement won't work there...ever...no way...unh uh.

"Freedomization" is definitely coming soon! Great post.

[rndmprsn]

32. Amen! K+R

[rndmprsn]

33. this is how BAD our system is...

a good friend, who is from south korea, had to get some dental work done...two teeth pulled and (forget what they're called) bridge/denture to "replace" said teeth...

so rather than do it here...he flew back to south korea (where they have national health) took a two week vacation and had his dental work done there and STILL spent LESS than just getting it done here!

[Imagevision]

34. Moore: "CNN keeping them honest" -who's keeping CNN honest??...

[The Count]

40. Absolutely! From healthcare, to army, to education - the grand theft by the rich

is coated in this euphemism "privatization". When you here it, recall De Souza's words:
"Republican politics is "about class. Republicans are the party of winners, Democrats are the party of losers." (read thieves and victims)

[Highway61]

42. I salute him!

I saw Sicko...as a nurse, he was so on the money...I left in tears. I did not realize how many died from being denied.
I remember years ago when Hubert Humphrey was dying from bladder cancer my father and I got into a huge heated argument about "a cure for cancer". I said it would never be cured...too much money to be made to find a cure. My famous quote was "How much would you pay to save your own life?" Think about it... The ultimate money maker.....and here we are. He's been gone now some 20 years. I know he knows.

[redqueen]

43. Yes. Thanks. Sad that some STILL won't fight for single payer coverage,

despite your best efforts.

:nuke:

[GenDem]

44. Michael Moore is an incredible human being.

I've seen all of his movies and he finds a way to make each one better than the last.

Sicko was such an eye opener. There wasn't a dry eye in the theater that I saw it in.

I just know that this movie and it's incredible insight is going to make the kind of impact we need to change to universal care for all. I may be too optimistic.

[tickingfuture]

45. Thank you Michael Moore,

Michael, I met you a while ago and thought then, as I do now,
why are you different from most Americans. You are not alone
but you are by far the most exposed. You have the courage, the
balls and the drive to stand up for your countrymen. You tell
it like it is and I am hoping that your example will show the
American people that the more involved they become in the
running of the country so that checks and balances will
prevail and the outcome will be a country to be proud of
instead of what it is now. Shame The almighty dollar is not
the power that drives this country it is the people. We the
people, for the people by the people. Good on you showing the
european way running the policy the less liking it is that
there will be the take over of the greed mongers we have seen
in recent years. 

[candice]

46. Michael Moore is a Living Treasure

...if this country can ever return to being of, by, and for the people instead of sold-out to the corporation, he will directly responsible.

We need to question TV ads. These 30-second snipes that are so profitable to the few companies that control "the people's" airwaves that we have a Congress of whores who have to start getting funds from the moment they get elected.

[On the Road]

48. Really Hoping "Sicko" is a Watershed Event

Moore really knows how to change people's viewpoint once he gets their attention.

[ooglymoogly]

49. MM how to profoundly thank you......Let me count the ways

way to many to list. you are a national treasure.