An Insight Into Michael Moore

This nation, at least in Canada, seems to be made up of the same people who bash Bush and the United States in general; support Taliban Jack;
think Al Gore & Sushi are the Messiah and that everyone owes them a living.












A NATION OF SICKO FANCIERS

By Jordan Michael Smith Should I stay or should I go? That 1982 Clash song describes my sentiments upon the release of Michael Moore's new movie, Sicko. Let me be blunt. I despise Michael Moore. I hate his love for tyrannies. I hate his laxity with the facts. And, most of all, I hate his fake populism. Moore has based his reputation on being an ordinary guy, an "of the people" man. But you can't be of the people when you hate the people. Here is what he told a British newspaper about his fellow Americans: "They are possibly the dumbest people on the planet ... We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We don't know anything that's happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing." On Sept. 12, 2001, he wrote, "if someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who didn't vote for him," implying that had the hijackers slaughtered Republican civilians, they might have been more justified. Roused rabble None of this is to say that a rich individual cannot be populist or left-wing. FDR roused the rabble and would go back to swim at his fancy Warm Springs facility, and there was never a contradiction between the two. But an FDR, Moore is not. Despite Moore's phoniness, Sicko chooses a wise target. The film is about America's health care system, or lack of one, more precisely. Forty-five million Americans go without health care insurance, which essentially means they go without health care. In addition to that staggering number, millions go underinsured, and increasing restrictions on coverage affect those most in need: The disabled, the elderly, diabetics, and the like. The individuals living these statistics could make for a devastating documentary, but this being Michael Moore, he goes beyond where the facts lead into where the tyrannies begin. In Sicko, in search of better care than America gives, Moore goes to ... Cuba? Fidel Castro's Cuba? The last communist dictatorship in the Western hemisphere? Sigh. He had to do it. In Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore's previous film, he portrayed Saddam Hussein's Iraq as a kite-flying paradise. In his bestselling book Stupid White Men, he wrote an open letter to the late terrorist Yasser Arafat, apologizing to him on behalf of America. So perhaps it's no surprise that he finds another tyrant to look up to. But it's still disappointing. Achievements of Cuba's health care system appear to be real: They are some of the few achievements the communist regime can boast of. But in Sicko, Moore goes to Cuba to get health care for ailing 9/11 Ground Zero responders. He succeeds. But in real life, visitors to Cuba have to pay a massive amount if they get ill. Moore doesn't need Cuba to make his point. America's high-priced, low-quality system speaks for itself. It's difficult to conclude anything other than that the man just has a fondness for anyone who hates America. Best audience And when one sees a Moore film, one is contributing to the Moore empire. As Rich Lowry, White House correspondent for National Review, revealed in his 2005 book, The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy, Canada is Moore's best audience. Without us, Fahrenheit 9/11 would have made significantly less than it did. Fueling Moore's love for dictatorships and terrorists? Or fueling an overdue examination of America's sad health care system? If I stay, it could be trouble. If I go, it could be double. www.jordanmichaelsmith.com