I must admit I was of two minds with respect to my stance on the WikiLeaks story. The leaked classified State Department cable that provide supposedly anecdotal comments from Cubans on their healthcare system as well as an outright lie about the reception of Michael Moore’s Sicko all but changed my mind.
Here we have a government entity actually providing likely bogus information to try to influence Americans because of the fear the government and the Oligarchy had of the realities of our healthcare system’s failures relative to one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.
Now I am of the belief that these leaks will show the corrupt nature of our supposed government by the people’s involvement with the plutocrats to change, modify, or mislead the narrative in this case relative to healthcare. I now wonder about many other policies. Inasmuch as I understood the collusion, I would not have assumed it to be at this level. This is actually quite scary as it shows the degree with which our government is infiltrated by propagandist that simply cannot be believed.
After all, the war in Iraq was likely fought for the financial benefit of our military industrial complex whose profits are enjoyed by a few. It is time to unravel the collusion between government and the bastions of finance, oligarchs, and plutocrats in this country. Just maybe given enough exposure the middle class will rise up, search for the real boogey man and start electing those who really have their interest at heart.
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://books.egbertowillies.com – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies
¡Viva WikiLeaks! Sicko Was Not Banned in Cuba Michael Moore
Oscar and Emmy-winning director
Posted: December 18, 2010 11:31 AM
Yesterday WikiLeaks did an amazing thing and released a classified State Department cable that dealt, in part, with me and my film, ‘Sicko.’
It is a stunning look at the Orwellian nature of how bureaucrats for the State spin their lies and try to recreate reality (I assume to placate their bosses and tell them what they want to hear).
The date is January 31, 2008. It is just days after ‘Sicko’ has been nominated for an Oscar as Best Documentary. This must have sent someone reeling in Bush’s State Department (his Treasury Department had already notified me they were investigating what laws I might have broken in taking three 9/11 first responders to Cuba to get them the health care they had been denied in the United States).
Former health insurance executive Wendell Potter recently revealed that the insurance industry — which had decided to spend millions to go after me and, if necessary, "push Michael Moore off a cliff" — had begun working with anti-Castro Cubans in Miami in order to have them speak out and smear my film.
So, on January 31, 2008, a State Department official stationed in Havana took a made up story and sent it back to his HQ in Washington. Here’s what they concocted:
XXXXXXXXXXXX stated that Cuban authorities have banned Michael Moore’s documentary, "Sicko," as being subversive. Although the film’s intent is to discredit the U.S. healthcare system by highlighting the excellence of the Cuban system, he said the regime knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them.
Sounds convincing, eh?! There’s only one problem — ‘Sicko’ had just been playing in Cuban theaters. Then the entire nation of Cuba was shown the film on national television on April 25, 2008! The Cubans embraced the film so much so it became one of those rare American movies that received a theatrical distribution in Cuba. I personally ensured that a 35mm print got to the Film Institute in Havana. Screenings of ‘Sicko’ were set up in towns all across the country.
Michael Moore: ¡Viva WikiLeaks! Sicko Was Not Banned in Cuba