MSNBC's Olbermann Gives Thanks to Michael Moore

     Michael Moore and MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann should form a mutual admiration society.

     The filmmaker, who got sidetracked with his praise for Olbermann’s “incredible” war commentaries, went on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” to discuss “SiCKO” and his recent [1]dispute with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

     “[I] think what really got me going in terms of the other day [his spat with CNN] is that I just, I just feel Keith – and – and of course you talk about this all the time on – on your show, and your commentaries have been incredible about the war – that here we are, we’re in the fifth year of this thing and, and I've seen very few media outlets issue an apology for not doing the job that they should have done,” Moore said in his July 12 appearance.

     Olbermann also had no qualms about letting his viewers know how much he supports Moore. In the interview tease, Olbermann said national health insurance is a topic again “thanks to Michael Moore’s movie ‘SiCKO.’”

     “You just used a great phrase here that – that we seem to be distracted by – by nitpicking,” said Olbermann. “This is the way things like … should there be universal health care. These are the way these things get – get sidetracked. Isn’t it?”

      Moore agreed, blaming the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries for “doing a great job of getting us sidetracked.” He also called company profits, losses for the American people.

     “We lose literally hundreds of billions of dollars every year because of all the administrative costs, the red tape, the profit that the companies have to make. That's why our whole system is so expensive, why it costs so much and we can do this a - a heck of a lot cheaper and it would cover everyone,” said Moore.

      His statement ignored the fact that government bureaucracy is notorious for “administrative costs” and “red tape,” but Olbermann didn’t bring that up.

     Olbermann did ask Moore how universal health insurance could be obtained politically – since Rep. Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate with a non-profit single payer plan. Moore said that the people must “demand it.”

     Moore also told Olbermann that he wasn’t going to give up until CNN issued him an apology for its “inaccuracies” that led to his spat with Blitzer and Gupta. [2]Moore and Gupta sparred on CNN’s July 10 “Larry King Live” program.

     Olbermann did not question any of the statistics from Moore’s film that were fact-checked by CNN preceding Moore’s interview on July 9. Instead he offered a final note of praise, “The new movie is ‘SiCKO.’ Its maker is Michael Moore. Great luck with the latest project and great thanks for your time tonight sir.”