Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Proper use of a cigar

I love this clip.

Background: Michael Moore's reputation as an honest filmmaker has been in debate for some time. His latest project is examining health care in Cuba. Potential presidential candidate Fred Thompson (former US Senator, practicing lawyer, member of the team that investigated Watergate, helped bring down former Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton and, currently, actor) took exception to Mr. Moore's glowing reports of the Castro's health care system. Michael Moore challenged him to a debate

I feel obligated to forewarn you that I was the winner of the 1971-72 Detroit Free Press Debate Award for the state of Michigan. Drudge Report
Thompson answers with this stinging 40 second piece courtesy Breibart TV.




America is looking for leadership. We're tired of wimpy, go-along-to-get-along, spaghetti spined, policy wonks who are unable to say yes or no and mean it as 'serious' presidential candidates. Fred seems to be using his acting skills every bit as well as Ronald Reagan did with the Iranian's during his 1980 campaign. He knows how to hit back quickly and use Moore's own medium (video) in order to make the point very clear. Additionally, unlike Bill Clinton, Fred knows the proper use of a cigar.

2 comments:

Buckley said...

Speaking as a Democrat, please don't nominate this guy. Seriously, he's too conservative for me, but I like Fred personally. Anyone who's a "reluctant politician" like him can't be all bad.

Tom

William said...

Although Fred Thompson fears a debate with Michael Moore over US healthcare, he sees fit to insult Moore's multiple award-winning works in a recent NRO article:

"Simply calling his movies documentaries rather than works of fiction, I think, may be the biggest fiction of all. " - Fred Thompson

If anyone was ever the subject of demagoguery by wingnuts, it's Michael Moore. You see, that's a normal reaction by wingnuts ... if they don't like the truth, they try to suppress it and swiftboat the messenger. Compared with left wing blogs, have you noticed how many conservative bloggers moderate and delete comments by fellow bloggers that offer contrary opinions? (i.e. Bob Krumm, Terry Frank, Mark Rose, etc... ) They live in a world of denial and self-supporting sycophantic rhetoric. When some bursts their 'Rush Limbaugh fantasy bubble,' they shut them out and if they can't, they smear them; hence the new verb, 'swiftboat.'

Thompson has become the fantasy candidate that conservatives are desperately clinging to. His clever video response to Michael Moore won instant praise from his faithful. Moore was undoubtedly pleased with the publicity as it will help his new documentary on US healthcare: SICKO. But why would Thompson see fit to insult Moore then smuggly hide behind his desk with Cuban cigar, refusing to debate healthcare issues with Moore? Here's why - Michael Moore was right about Iraq and 2 new studies show, he's right about US healthcare: it's the most expensive in the world and the least effective among wealthy nations, and it's gotten more expensive and corrupt under the Bush Administration.

U.S. health system scorecard issued by the Commonwealth Fund Commission:

"Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries. Compared with five other nations—Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom—the U.S. health care system ranks last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives. The U.S. is the only country in the study without universal health insurance coverage, partly accounting for its poor performance on access, equity, and health outcomes."