Until the last month or so, I have not appeared on a single national TV show for nearly 2 and 1/2 years. After the attacks I had to endure three years ago, from a media intent on questioning my patriotism because I dared to speak out against the war when none in the media would, I decided I had had enough and would simply concentrate on making my next film. I had no desire to participate in networks that were complicit in the war because of their refusal the challenge the commander in chief.

Yeah, I’d stay away from TV too if I was routinely being shown to be a deceptive propagandist. And that darned conservative media. They never give any time to people who were against the war; or filmed anti-war crowds of dozens as if they were thousands; or spent an unseemly amount of time on Mike’s personal inspiration, Cindy Sheehan. But Wolf Blitzer hasn’t called for Bush’s impeachment, so I guess that makes him part of the Right Wing Propaganda Machine.

THAT’S the only thing we should be talking about. How profit and greed are killing our fellow Americans. How profit and private insurance have to be removed from our health care system.

That would be the profits that motivate the creation of anti-retrovirals, cheap insulin, non-invasive diagnostics (think MRIs) and laprocopes.

Damned profits!

Somebody should send a crew to Canada to find out why they live longer than we do, and why no Canadian has ever gone bankrupt because of medical bills.

Being less obese, getting more exercise, not shooting each other and having fewer car accidents might account for the two year difference. I’m not sure what would account for our 8.10 WHO responsiveness index against Canada’s 6.98. Canada is closer to Uraguary in responsiveness than they are to us.

And all of the media should start saying how much it costs to go to a doctor in these other top industrialized countries: Nothing. Zip. It’s FREE. Don’t patronize Americans by saying, “Well, it’s not free—they pay for it with taxes!” Yes, we know that. Just like we know that we drive down a city street for FREE—even though we paid for that street with our taxes. The street is FREE, the book at the library is FREE, if your house catches on fire, the fire department will come and put it out for FREE, and if someone snatches your purse, the police officer will chase down the culprit and bring your purse back to you—AND HE WON’T CHARGE YOU A DIME FROM THAT PURSE!

These are all free services, collectively socialized and paid for with our tax dollars. To argue that health care—a life and death issue for many—should not be considered in the same league is ludicrous and archaic. And trust me, once you add up what you pay for out-of-pocket in premiums, deductibles, co-pays, overpriced medicines, and treatments that aren’t covered (not to mention all the other things we pay for like college education, day care and other services that many countries provide for at little or no cost), we, as Americans, are paying far more than the Canadians or Brits or French are paying in taxes. We just don’t call these things taxes, but that’s exactly what they are.

I quoted this in full, including Moore’s shouting, because I don’t think I can do justice to it. First, taxes are involuntary, Mike. I didn’t raise my marginal rate this high. And my one-month old has had no voice in the crushing taxes she will be forced to pay to finance Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. If a sheep is eaten by three wolves, is that voluntary because it was outvoted?

Second, you can’t get “a dime from that purse” when the purse is empty in the first place.

Third, the ignorance of basic economics astounds me.  As a rich guy, Moore knows that the rich pay most of our taxes.  There are four ways money gets spent and the least efficient is when you spend one person’s money on another person.

Mike is again buying into the “socialized medicine is efficient” nonsense.  The only way it can be efficient is to ration care and force people to die.  I’m preparing a massive analysis of the WHO report on my own website, which link I’ll to from here.  Suffice it to say, the evidence that a socialized system gives you better “bang for your buck” is, um, zero.

See you all when I’m back on CNN tomorrow—where the discussion will be not be about whose statistics are right, but rather about the guy without insurance who died while I was writing this letter.

And Moorewatch will be waiting.

P.S. Oh… I forgot to tell you about Paris Hilton. Apparently cooped up for too long at home since getting out of jail, she decided to head out for a night on the town. But where does she go? Clubbing? Cruising down the Strip? No! She and her sister decide to go see “Sicko.” Now THAT’S news! So, no more bad words about Paris Hilton!

Well, that does seem about the intellectual calibre of Michael’s audience. Maybe he’s found a muse to replace Cindy Sheehan.