So I watched "Sicko" tonight.......

[FORD]

Yeah, sue me MPAA. I managed to get a hold of a copy of Michael Moore's "Sicko" today and I watched it tonight with intentions of posting my full review.

The thing is, I can't. Because anything I say will give away too much of the story, and this story is one that MUST be seen in order to fully realize the impact that it is having on our country.

Mark my words, this movie will piss you off. It will depress you. It may send some of you so deeply into denial that your heads will have to be surgically removed from your asses, and then you might take a more personal stake in the whole thing anyway.

Hopefully, it will make you think. And ask yourself, and later others, some damn serious questions.

See the damn movie. No excuses. The one thing you will definitely NOT be, is bored.

[wham bam will rock]

I've seen several clips, Ford.

Unfortunately, a large segment of the population will blow this movie off because of the 'liberal bias', as some put it, of Moore's work.

People SHOULD BE up in arms over the health care system in this country. It is one of the most costly and one of the worst of all civilized, industrialized nations.

The system is a corporation more interested in profits than actually helping people.

If it takes a 'liberal bias' to point out the vast inadequacies of our system, then so be it. This needs to be done.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to break the habits of any 'big business' when they are reaping millions or billions in profits and have most of Washington DC bought and paid for (especially, the pharmaceutical companies)

Along a similar vein, I suggest you or anyone else, if you haven't seen it already, take the time to rent and watch "Maxed Out". A great documentary about credit and credit card debt in the States.

[FORD]

If the "liberal bias" is a sticking point for some of our Busheep friends, they should know that FAUX News gave the movie a positive review.

[jimmy812]

Everyone knows that the health care system sucks in this country. I'm not sure I need Michael Moore telling me that. I know that this movie will upset me, depress me, and make me think, but I'm not sure I want to be depressed and upset right now. I hope the movie has an impact on things (in a positive way), but I'm not rushing out to see it.

[JCJanko]

I partake in many alternative methods of health care, and I also vehemently defended Dr. Burzynski on these boards. I am not a fan of how the government regulates health care.

However, here are some thoughts:

-Health care is not a right, it is a privilege, like driving a car.
-I don't care what Michael Moore is spinning now, he is a proven liar and I don't need him to hate the pharmaceutical industry. You'd have to be Helen Keller in a deep cave not to hate it already (or making money off of it).
-Didn't Fidel Castro almost die from his "brilliant" socialized medicine from a routine surgery?
http://www.haciendapub.com/surgneuro15.html
DISCLAIMER: I cannot verify this website, but since we're talking about Michael Moore, it has to be just as reliable.
-Nothing in this movie will change my mind about our health care system, partly because Moore is a proven liar, and partly because he is a propagandist. It's a shame because there are some real facts in his movies that everyone should know, but they are overshadowed by total bullshit (with the exception of Bowling for Columbine, which was BS from start to finish, including the title of the movie. He refuses to admit that simple FACT).
-NOBODY can be denied health care in this country, even illegals. Just about anyone can get a job where health insurance is offered. I have only gone one year without health insurance my entire life, and that was by choice.
-If it's "Faux" News, why the hell do I care what it says?
-When discussing universal health care, make sure to compare sizes and diversity of the populations. It seems the US gets compared to a lot of tiny nations in the way the government works. Also, different races have different ailments, so health care is easier if everyone is the same race.
-Only a pure communist nut would want the government to decide who lives and who dies, and that is EXACTLY what is happening in nations with socialized medicine. Does Moore explain that? Bet he doesn't.
http://www.israelated.com/node/7820
Another unverified website, but the point is simple: the government will ration the health care as it deems fit. That's insane...for sane people.

Basically, I want to make decisions for myself, pay for myself, and live or die by my own choice, NOT some politician's budget or whim. It's sad that the same people that say Bush led us to war based on lies are willing to let him decide their health's fate.

Priceless.

[FORD]

If your house was on fire, who would you rather call?

The "socialized" fire department who exists today.

or the Halliburton owned privatized fire department which would make sure there weren't any billionaires or corporations who needed their services first, before they eventually got around to you.

By then, of course, your house would be a pile of ashes. But they would bill you anyway.

You want Blackwater thugs replacing the "socialized" military, and trust the defense of this country to those bastards? (Cheney and Rummy do.)

Of course any sane person would say "no" to both of those examples, because privatizing them and making them for-profit industries would destroy the very reason for their existence.

And that is EXACTLY what has happened to health care, once it became a "for profit" industry. And we are ALL paying for it, one way or another

[willy4pres]

Hmmm, so this is about the health care system?

I actually used to like Michael Moore back in the day but have been turned off the last ten years or so because he's become such a political nut. I do love it when he used to go after big business though. I don't mind anyone going after the government, lord knows it needs it sometimes. But to lie about it in order to get you point across makes you no better then the people your fighting against. It's not a war, the ends do not justify the means.

Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a Michael Moore argument thread, ill check the movie out.

[Viking]

The Democrats answer to everything. Higher taxes. I can't wait until we get a system like the one Mr. Moore wants.

They (Communists/Socialists) will take over without ever firing a single shot.

[FORD]

The Democrats answer to everything. Higher taxes. I can't wait until we get a system like the one Mr. Moore wants.

They (Communists/Socialists) will take over without ever firing a single shot.

Shelve your preconceptions and see the movie. Then if you want to go back to the right wing mythology, do so.

[extreme red roth]

I know he is a movie-maker, but a lot of what he pawns off as non-fiction is completely false or at least based on 1/2 truths.

For example, Faranheit 9-1-1 was full of inconsistencies that were proven to be just that, 1/2 truths or complete falsehoods. He spins as bad as Fox news, Ford. The thing of it is, President Bush has screwed up enough, and there is enough evidence to prove our handling of the middle east has been incorrect for several decades. Why not make an interesting movie about that, based on fact. I'd watch.

I wish there were better documentary film makers out there making more honest films, regardless of their political affiliation. Maybe there are...but none get the press of Moore. O well.

I'll see the movie. I just wish a piece of my brain won't be saying - that can't be true, can it?

[Yesterdays]

I love Michael Moore. In fact, I think I love Michael Moore more than his movies. I love the fact that he lays out the facts with his sense of humor, so one is hearing these horrific things and is not spending all one's time recoiling instead of listening. I love the fact that he has the nerve to pull the stunts he does without flinching. Humor is one of the reasons his documentaries are so effective.

His notoriety is actually the other key to his effectiveness. I don't think many other documentary film makers would have the clout to take on the industries he confronts. Sure he's upfront and in-your-face with his position on matters. But don't most documentarians have an agenda?

There are many good documentary film makers out there. Can't remember the name of the man who made the Walmart expose film or the name of the guy who went on a "McDonald's diet" and showed his audience how sick he got. But maybe that's the point. Michael Moore has insinuated himself into our consciousness, love him or hate him.

[muffdiver]

Have ya seen his cartoon on the history of the U.S.A.?

[Yesterdays]

Have ya seen his cartoon on the history of the U.S.A.?

Not sure what you're talking about. Was it part of a movie or on his TV show, the Awful Truth? I've seen all of those.

[Axxman300]

There are many good documentary film makers out there. Can't remember the name of the man who made the Walmart expose film or the name of the guy who went on a "McDonald's diet" and showed his audience how sick he got.

That was a really sorry "Documentary", ABC's 20/20 blew it out of the water and found six people who'd managed to lose weight eating at McDonalds.

The problem or issue here is that Moore isn't telling us anything we don't already know. The problem with the healthcare industry is that it's dysfunctional in almost every level and aspect and branch. If it were any other kind of industry it would have failed a long time ago.

You cannot point to only one or two factors and lay the blame. Insurance companies, hospital management, doctors, nurses, malpractice lawyers, pharmacuticle companies and PATIENTS are all equally at fault for the mess we're in. Anybody who tells you otherwise is a lobbyist for one of those groups.

You can trace high medical prices to two primary forces - the HMO and Malpractice Lawyers. The HMO's control prices by simply not paying for some things and refusing to pay full price for others. The Malpractice lawyer's of the world have made everything more expensive in medicine. I'm not saying that quacks shouldn't be held accountable but Medical Malpractice is now a billion dollar industry, and we all pay for it. From these two eliments, the cost of healthcare spirals upwards and outwards. Hospitals, doctors and Pharmacuticle companies all have to factor in Malpractice into their costs and profit margens and the have to jack up prices to recover for what the insurance companies won't pay for.

There is no simple answer or solution, it would take an independant commision three or four years to sort out all of the bullshit and devise a solution.

Anybody who tells you otherwise is a lair.

Notice I didn't drag politics into this. My mother worked in pre-billing for a private hospital and thus I had a unique view of the healthcare industry. Politicians are stupid, if they try to fix it they will fuck it up, just as they've fucked up every other time they've stuck their snouts into healthcare.

[Yesterdays]

But though we know all these facts, isn't the point of a good documentary to focus attention on a problem so something can be done about it? What, in recent years, has been done to prevent the very things you bring up in your extremely articulate post?