SiCKO’s 4th Anniversary – Heaven Can Wait, Wall Street Needs a Protest

[marmar]

June 14th, 2011 4:11 PM
SiCKO’s 4th Anniversary – Heaven Can Wait, Wall Street Needs a Protest

By Donna Smith


We were on an airplane returning from the NYC Ziegfeld Theater premiere of Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary film, SiCKO, and I told my husband that if the plane went down and we died, I would now feel just fine about that. Our story, so like so many millions of other American stories, had been recorded and shared. Our sordid financial failures had been aired in the film for all to know, and we had lived to see the day when at least some people spread the blame for our demise across a U.S. healthcare system designed to bleed us dry. We were freer than we had been in 20 years.

It wasn’t as if I wanted to die – no suicidal wishes here. I just knew that the road ahead wasn’t necessarily any less difficult, and I was growing tired of the struggle. Ending on an up note seemed not so bad in comparison to spending another decade or two fighting a healthcare system that really dislikes working class patients and makes it difficult to secure care.

So these four years later – almost to the day -- am I still feeling like there would have been a sort of restful content if the plane went down? Absolutely. Yes. I am absolutely OK with this struggle against healthcare corporate greed coming to an end soon. My story of healthcare doom and gloom won’t be a historical footnote until we make it one. Americans are suffering and dying in alarming numbers because corporate America hasn’t profited enough yet – and the candidates they fund won’t stand up to them or for us.

I’ve been fighting with others to see the end of the corporate welfare state – there is no one more entitled than corporate America. No one strips working folks bare of their dreams like those who manufactured them. And in the corporate healthcare world in America, the only dreams many think are worth having are of money and profits and more money and more profits. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/sickos-4th-anniversary

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[defendandprotect]

3. Been wondering myself what he's going to do ... not happy with Obama, obviously ...

but like many other liberals outside of the party if they have any ideas --

any vision - of making any kind of a break in the party -- Koch/DLC influence on

one side -- vs what might be left of the old ideals -- they're not saying.

Is there a YET in there ... ? I don't know --

Anyone willing to guess?

[Taverner]

4. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother reading the news anymore

Our enemies are fighting us

Our "friends" are fighting us

And when someone comes along who isn't fighting us, they get "airplaned," redistricted out or get scandalized out.

[defendandprotect]

7. RW war on anything left of democracy -- or the New Deal -- will rage on ....

Corporate fascism is on fire right now, imo --

Too many people are still trying to figure out what's wrong based on examining

their own lives -- where they think they failed, their kids, whatever.

Has to be understood from the highest perspectives --

And those helping to pull off the successive heists know they've gotten away

with it and are eating up more and more of government --

We've already had at least one CIA president - Poppy --

and of course his son - Who thinks they're willing to give it up now -- ?

And, how restrained is the DOJ and how much control do they have over it now -- ?

Amy Goodman had Sy Hersh on her show one night last week --

Hersh made a point of trying to tell us that the "structure" that Cheney put in

place sitll existed.

These are times that call for a break out -- an intelligent one.

[lonestarnot]

9. They theive right in front of our faces and no one does a damn thing about it. And not just small

amounts, but billions. Our lives and families lives mean nothing to them.

[Taverner]

11. I think most families cannot conceptualize 1 billion dollars

Many reasons why, but 1 million/1 billion is hard to visualize

Some of us are more used to three digit numbers I guess

[lonestarnot]

12. Well how bout homelessness then?

[defendandprotect]

15. And does anyone think that there is still trust in our journalists?

Because despite the fact that we read over and again on DU that the

corporate-press lies -- I never see anyone drawing the conclusion that

the corporate-press are active players in corporate/fascism --

or is it all only now a CIA corporate press?


Are there still people sitting in front of the TVs confident that if there

was anything truly wrong that the TV anchor would let them know?

[defendandprotect]

14. Exactly -- but there is still the New Deal based trust in government ....

and our corporate press sure hasn't been giving the public any vision

of what's wrong -- or how to fix it!!

[defendandprotect]

2. They did everything they could to suppress the movie -- and think they were fairly successful...

My library probably has 4 copies of "The Fokers" and one copy of SICKO!!

Don't think it's ever been shown on TV except for "pay" TV --

[Taverner]

5. I remember when it first came out, you had to travel to Oakland to the Grand Lake Theater to see it

[defendandprotect]

8. Have you ever seen it playing on "non-pay" TV ... I haven't --

I think Michael Moore made a lot of copies available however -- maybe you

can even see it on youTube? Not sure -- Hula?

[Taverner]

10. It made its way onto the internet quite nicely

Getting a torrent is pretty easy, and was the week before it was released

[defendandprotect]

13. Actually ...

I don't know what you mean by "torrent" --

but glad to hear that it was available -- !!

[flvegan]

6. Michael Moore is not unfamiliar with a Wall Street protest

He and Rage Against the Machine did a pretty nice (albeit brief) job 10 years ago or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO_FVVHXEjM