Like a toddler that didn’t get its way, propagandist Michael Moore pitched a hissy fit for more than 10 minutes on CNN's “The Situation Room.”
“That report was so biased, I can’t imagine what pharmaceutical company ads coming up right after our break here. But why don’t you tell the truth,” Moore lashed out in the live July 9 interview. Apparently in Moore’s vocabulary, biased means it doesn’t agree with Moore’s views.
Moore was given time to rebut CNN medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s report that questioned “SiCKO’s” accuracy. Gupta’s “Reality Check” pointed out several flaws with the movie including Cuba’s ranking of 39 by the World Health Organization (falling behind the U.S.), how much the U.S. and Cuba spend per person on healthcare, and the truth about wait times just to name a few.
Gupta’s criticism of “SiCKO” wasn’t exactly harsh.
“But no matter how much Moore fudged the facts, and he did fudge some facts there’s one everyone agrees on. The system here should be far better,” Gupta said.
Moore responded angrily practically shouting at Blitzer, “For me to have to sit here and listen again to more crap about socialized medicine or how the Canadians have it—you know—worse than us. All the statistics show that we have it far worse health care than these other industrialized countries. We’re the only ones that don’t have it free and universal.”
With indignation, Moore accused CNN of not telling the truth and not practicing good journalism and demanded an apology from the network. While Moore claimed he was a journalist when he made a trip to Cuba for the filming of his movie, he has made living off of advocacy journalism.
One tenet of ethical journalism according to the Society of Professional Journalists, since Moore claims that as his profession, is to “Seek the Truth and Report It.” Apparently Moore ignored that when he made his movie.
“Why no interviews with insurance company executives?” asked Chuck Barney in an interview with Moore last month. “I didn’t feel the need,” replied Moore. “They already have their forum. We all know their story, and it’s told over and over and over in the media. But you never hear the other side.”
Still Moore accused CNN of being liars. “I mean, I wish CNN and the other mainstream media would just for once tell the truth about what is going on in this country – whether it is with health care, I don’t care what it is. I mean, you guys have such a poor track record,” Moore continued to rant.
Ironic, considering CNN’s cheerleading for the “SiCKO” movie. Review after review, many in the mainstream media praised the film.
“I just wonder when the American people are going to turn off their TV sets and stop listening to this stuff,” quipped Moore. Good thing for Moore they didn’t or his movie might not have held on to the ninth place position in the box office standings, bringing in $11.5 million in the last two week.
“He’s more of a left-winged promoter than Hugo Chavez for crying out loud,” said CNN’s Lou Dobbs following the Blitzer interview. “He has to love profit. What’s he talking about?”
Moore told CNN viewers that he would debunk Gupta’s “Reality Check” on his own Web site.
On the site, Moore responds to Gupta’s charge about “fudging” facts: “This is libel. There is not a single fact that is ‘fudged’ in the film.”
If Gupta’s statements were libelous, Moore would have to show Gupta maliciously attacked Moore and his reputation was damaged. But, that would prove difficult based on the success of Moore’s movie.
