Sicko

I watched the Michael Moore documentary Sicko over the weekend. Its basically a send-up of America's health care system done in Moore's sarcastic style. If you haven't seen it give it a look. If, after viewing it, you still think a "for profit" health care system is the best alternative for our great country, then at the very least you should forfeit your rights to complain about "corrupt politicians". Because that, simply, can be the only explanation why our current health care system sucks so bad and why other countries, even Cuba, mock it.

Good health, in the greatest and most prosperous country in the world, should not be a privilege of the wealthy and we should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing a system wherein hospitals dump those who cannot pay onto the sidewalk.

All the while CEO's of health insurance providers get 100 million dollar golden parachutes.

Such a shame.

Moore pointed out the terrorist prisoners getting all their health-care provided for free. These are individuals that may go to the electric chair for their heinous crimes yet they get screened for cancer, treated for hyper-tension and high cholesterol and benefit from a wide range of medical services that some of our own law-abiding, tax-paying citizens can't? Actually, those that suffer terribly from their work at ground zero can't get proper medical care and are slowly dying. But the asshole terrorists that at the very least supported it, can? Am I missing something? WHO in their right mind thinks this is all right? Shouldn't we be taking care of our own first and foremost?

We have billions and billions of dollars to kill people in far away lands but we can't scrape up the funds to heal our sick? That to me, my friends, is disgusting.

Then there's the Michael Moore bashers. Seems to me, all he does is point out his view on things and presents it in an entertaining way. I'm sure plenty of his facts can be disputed and the debate is fine. I try to be open to other views. Of course, I was already a proponent of universal health care, so he was preaching to the choir, but I don't see how anyone with any kind of gentle spirit cannot be enlightened by this film. Or his others, for that matter.

Some call Moore "un-American". I'm not sure at what point questioning the way we do things, or disagreeing with our policies or politicians became un-American. Seems to me, the right to question authority, the right the protest, the right to present an alternate view is about as American as it gets. THAT, is democracy at its best.

As long as the masses go along with the company line and label those that don't drink the Kool-Aid as un-American then there is no impetus for change. So there won't be. The rich can keep getting richer as our babies die because some bottom-line driven executive thinks that a particular procedure isn't necessary or the poor mother erred in taking her to an "out of network" hospital and the baby died in transit to the "in network" location.

My wife said yesterday at dinner, "I can't get that movie out of my head." Neither can I. So much of it was very disheartening and eye-opening.

I'm a proud American. But I'm not always proud of how we do things. In fact, I feel rather disgusted. Give the movie a look. I would like to know if its possible to feel otherwise.