Michael Moore rebuts CNN on Sicko, calls for apology

Last week night, Michael Moore appeared on Wolf Blitzer's CNN show, The Situation Room, to talk about his stirring new movie, Sicko. Blitzer opened the segment with a taped "debunking" that purported to show that Moore "fudged the facts" in the movie. Moore has posted a point-by-point rebuttal to the debunking, showing that CNN was just shilling for the HMOs (a significant advertiser to the network). He's calling on fans of the movie to write to CNN and demand an apology.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN: "(Moore says) the United States slipped to number 37 in the world's health care systems. It's 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 Cuba's health care system even lower than the United States, coming in at #39."

THE TRUTH:

* "But hold on?" 'SiCKO' clearly shows the WHO list, with the United States at number #37, and Cuba at #39. Right up on the screen in big five-foot letters. It's even in the trailer! CNN should have its reporter see his eye doctor. The movie isn't hiding from this fact. Just the opposite.

* The fact that the healthcare system in an impoverished nation crippled by our decades-old blockade (including medical supplies and drugs) ranks so closely to ours is more an indictment of the American system than the Cuban system.

* Although Cuba ranks lower overall than the United States, it still has a lower infant mortality rate and longer life span.

Link

See also:
BlueCross's internal talking points memo for Sicko
MoveOn needs help handing out action-fliers at Sicko screenings
Sicko inspires grassroots action in Dallas cinema
Moore's "Sicko" leaks onto P2P
Google to HMOs: pay us and we'll defuse "Sicko"
More on Google vs Sicko

Update: Many have written in to point out that the video of Moore taking Blitzer apart isn't on this page — here's a youtube of it