Jul 10 2007
Michael Moore Slams CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and the Corporate Media
BY PATRICE GREANVILLE
“Just apologize to the American people and to the families of the troops for not doing your job four years ago. We wouldn’t be in this war if you had done your job. Come on. Just admit it. Just apologize to the American people.” — Michael Moore, live on The Situation Room (7/9/07)
That was the discomfiting challenge thrown repeatedly at the feet of Wolf Blitzer by Michael Moore last night, 9 July 2007, in what will likely go down in the pathetic annals of American mass communications as a moment of rare candor and truth.
In a truly unprecedented, unscripted interview, Michael Moore ripped into Wolf Blitzer’s and CNN’s facade of evenhanded professionalism in connection with the developing national debate on healthcare. Visibly filled with righteous anger, Moore insisted, as he has all along, that health is one area where there ought to be no disagreement about the inapropriateness of having for-profit insurers and the sleazy Big Pharma cartel regulate access to treatment and medications. Socialized medicine is the solution, argued Moore, and even fellow capitalist nations have recognized that much. This, of course is a bit too much for the corporate media, accustomed not only to shill for a rotten status quo, but profiting handsomely from the big advertising and p.r. dollars spent by insurance companies and the drug companies to promote their wares and legitimacy. Still, if this is a harbinger, the day of recknoning may be finally approaching. (Moore was obviously wise to the media’s charming game of recording full interviews and later cutting anything “controversial” or “offensive” to their commercial sponsors. And man, did he also slam that big suckass, the “grateful immigrant doctor” Sanjay Gupta, that CNN is constantly trotting out, for all his sneaky service to the Empire.)
Watch Moore’s tirade here on Cyrano’s Journal CJTV:
https://bestcyrano.org/moore.CNN7907.htm
After watching the videos, be sure to check out Michael Moore’s “SiCKO Truth Squad Sets CNN Straight”
Reaction in other sites
The effect of the interview was electrifying and soon the net was pulsing with excited commentary. Besides our own CJtv, ALTERNET was among the first to offer the video online, along with YouTube and other video archives. Under the headline, Michael Moore Rips Wolf Blitzer on CNN: “Why Don’t You Tell the American People the Truth”, Adam Howard, PEEK’s editor, proceeded to sum up the multifarious media distortions in their treatment of Moore’s work. Said Howard, “We all love to see Wolf Blitzer (who tirelessly defends CNN medical ‘expert’ Sanjay Gupta) taken down a peg, but the video [posted on the site] is really about the whole mainstream media getting called out on their bullshit, which makes it so much more satisfying. Naturally smug bigots like Lou Dobbs act amused by what they consider Moore’s ‘act’. Little do they know, they’re the ones making asses out of themselves day in and day out.”
Howard certainly captured the growing combative mood among the public, not just the left, after decades—eons—of cynical indifference, constant lies and exploitation. Except for the deranged legions on the right, Moore’s broadside has received wide acclaim in practically all sensible quarters. Lest we forget, SiCKO once again reminds us of the sheer power of the audiovisual medium—cinema and television—a medium which, in 2007, still remains almost totally in the hands of antisocial corporate hands. The corporate media retain the power to induce people to accept, endorse, re-evaluate or reject specific notions—many to their own detriment. Anyone can imagine what a different world, as Moore keeps saying, this would be if these media people—especially the heavily career-minded top ranks, not to mention the media tycoons themselves—had been merely doing their duty, instead of shilling for the corporate elites who profit handsomely from their prostitution. As Che once intoned, to bring the empire to its knees we need one heroic Vietnam, two Vietnams, three Vietnams…in our immediate turf we might say, “One Moore, two Moores, many Moores” to finally start changing the course of this nation toward authentic democracy.
Patrice Greanville is Cyrano’s Journal’s editor in chief.
For a complete rebuttal of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s take on SiCKO and healthcare, check this factsheet at Michael Moore’s web: ‘SiCKO’ Truth Squad Sets CNN Straight’ (http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article_10017.php)
RELATED MATERIAL: COMMENTING ON THE COMMENTARIES, a worthwhile overview of the debate.
NOTE: Moore is supposed to do a second interview with Blitzer on July 10. We hope to be able to feature that segment as soon as it becomes available.
When will you understand that America can not be fixed or to use the term, “reformed”?
There’s no remedy to the terminal disease that afflicts the USA.
Let the Empire collapse so the Republic can live and breathe again!
True change is always revolutionary, not the kind advocated by liberals, who are merely interested in “reforms”—cosmetic adaptations that leave the raging cancer underneath untouched… But social change doesn’t happen automatically, just because a system is “rotten”. Modern socioeconomic systems do not “collapse” of their own. They necessitate concerted, intelligent and courageous action to make it happen. And what we need is an democratic republic, not just a republic. Republics—as ancient Greece and Rome demonstrated—can be aristocratic and plutocratic. That’s far from the prescription we need now, or at any time. With all its faults—and I can see them as well as you—a genuine democracy is the best we can aspire to in political governance, unless we’re thinking of enlightened despots, kings, “strong men” or other political options which have shown themselves to be worse than the disease.—P. Greanville
Michael Moore shows his mettle once again; Articulate, knowledgeable, meaningful. The most relevant fact from any that hate Moore, is that almost in every case, the ones I have the displeasure of listening to, haven’t even seen one of his films.
They just buy their hate wholesale from faux and limpdick, and don’t bother to even try to learn for their selves.
Long Live Michael Moore!
So the same Michael Moore who somehow missed the facts in his acclaimed documentary that the best of Israel-based airport security agencies missed a bunch of Third World people who seized a handful of planes (even though these peoples are noted for their lack of plumbing in their homelands) and that the FBI bagged 5 Israelis with a bunch of cash and explosive residue who leaped for joy in New Jersey is demanding accountibility from America’s elected officials. What courage!
If you ever wondered why they had to dumb down the education system, there’s your answer. You need that kind of roofie sneak before you can launch that kind of depravity.
In the simplest possible terms, I’ll tell you what’s wrong with the health care system. Okay, you know the kid across the street who mows your lawn? Let’s say he won’t cut your grass unless you sign on to have him dig the hole for your small swimming pool. Let’s also say that when you go to the ice cream truck, that guy wont sell you a cone at the going rate unless you agree to buy your Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys off him. And so on and so on.
There’s the basic services that everybody’s going to need sooner or later and then there’s the serious stuff. That’s all intertwined by insurance, whether it’s malpractice or private health care. That sends prices through the roof. Here in Canada, they get at the government teat and we all pay through our taxes for it and we don’t get a say at how many immigrants will be allowed in to take advantage of it (until it totally collapses.) Half of everything the ordinary person gets goes straight to the taxman and we still pay more for everything than Americans because of the hidden taxes.
Although it sounds cruel, someone who didn’t care less in school (and unfortunately, that’d include me) doesn’t deserve a fully subsidized triple bypass surgery. That should be for someone who actually served 5 years or more in the forces, not for lifelong drug addicts. Sad and ugly, but true.
Attn Ms Greanville: History lesson needed here. Democratic/Republic is an oxymoron. They are diametricly opposed. The Greeks and Romans were the original republican style of government. They evolved into democracies, then folded. The term democracy was first used in this country by FDR(real name Rosenfelt). Nowhere in our Constitution,Declaration of Idependence or any other writings will you find the word democracy. It is not a coincidence. They knew the difference. The word that appears often in their writings and Constitution is “God”. As this once great nation further turns its back on Him,it will be increasingly hard to recover. Nothing science or man can do will “fix” the world w/o His guidence.
Clearly Moore in his rant has exposed the truth when it comes to the self-serving mainstream media. Will it change any thing? My guess would be no, for as long as the corporate world is pulling the strings, people will neither see, or hear the real truth. One only has to refer to the most recent deception regarding the North American Union where the corporate world proposes the unification of the United States, Canada and Mexico with little or no comment from media and less from our respective governments. In Canada we have socialized medicine, it’s not perfect and we all pay for it through our taxes but we all get generally get the same quality of care no matter what our station in life is and we don’t end up destitute because we can’t pay our medical cost. There are those of us whose values transcend the introduction of the proposed Amero and value sovereignty and nationhood above corporate subservience. I trust that there are those in the United States and Mexico that hold the same views.
Thanks Michael, for standing up against the CNN propoganda machine. I tend to agree with the comment that stated there is no cure for the terminal illness in America, other than total reconstruction, from within individual communities and this time with NO Federal government (obviously, our constitution wasn’t perfect, they tried to control the power of the federal branch, but obviously this monster wouldn’t be held).
The problem with healthcare (my profession, for insurance company, btw) isn’t lack of resources in America, there’s plenty of health care for everyone, and there’s enough money to pay for it (especially once you get the various mafioso’s hands out of the pot.) The problem is the 21st century caste system, that dictates who should be rewarded and who should be tossed to the dumpster. In Bushzarro world, that number is rising by the second. Got coverage?
Michael was correct to point out to Wolf that he and CNN had failed the American Public by not asking the tough questions for the last five years about the war in Iraq. The media watch dogs have failed us miserably. That is their JOB! The media have all failed to meet the low standards they set for themselves in bowing to this administration and the complacent war profiteers that keep the war machine going.
Michael was correct to point out that 911 begat the Patriot Act which begat the War Powers Act which resulted in the preemptive invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, two sovereign nations who did not attack the USA. That is the ultimate war crime; Crimes Against Peace. Abu Ghraib solidified Crimes Against Humanity.
As Bush/Cheney et al are guilty of war crimes, so is the complacent media propaganda arm of this administration.
President Truman appointed Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson as the lead prosecutor during the Nuremberg International War Crimes Tribunal in 1945. Jackson’s opening remarks to the Jury included: “The standards by which we judge these defendant’s today are the standards by which we shall be judged tomorrow.”
Then we hanged them.
Tomorrow is today!
CNN, are you listening?
Start here: http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id472.html
Well. And how about the fact that Wolf Blitzer is a card carrying pro Israel Zionist?
Nevermind about your tonsillitis….just wait till you see what these arseholes are going to do to your kids! Just look what they’ve done to the muslims of the world.
I say: Death to the STATE of Israel (not the occupants..they can go find somewhere else to live..afterall it is what they wanted the Palestinians to do) and once that is completely gone from the mind of humanity we MIGHT get back to knowing the difference between right and wrong and lies and truth.
Thank you Micheal Moore! Keep after them, especially Worf Blitzer. (I’d like to “shock and awe” him)
As a military family, I have been telling those old farts what liars they are since August of 2002.
Hello folks,
The mainstream media, and their corporate overlords, are quite willing to be publically taken to the woodshed by Michael Moore, Keith Olberman, Al Gore and any other populist as long as it means that YOU think they’re getting their comeuppance.
Watch the interview with Wolf Blitzer. He patiently, if uncomfortably, takes Moore’s tirade. He doesn’t argue any more than necessary - and is careful not to amp up the emotional energy - and avoids openly capitulating to any of Moore’s points. When Moore has run out of gas, Wolf says, “What Democratic candidate do you think would do best on health care issues?” Instantly, Moore is a kitten. He’s waxing rhapsodic about Hillary Clinton, saying her universal health care plan was torpedoed in 1993. What?! That plan was never meant to succeed. HMOs managing employer-provided health care? This was a plan?!
Clinton put on that charade in 1993 for two reasons. First, her husband had campaigned on the issue in ‘92 and they wanted to look populist. Second, it gave Hillary face time pretending she was the bleeding heart liberal she most decidedly is NOT. The insurance industry loves Hillary. She effectively ensured that the nation’s attempt to deal with the issue was put on the back burner for 14 years. To date, she’s received $781,112 from her erstwhile “enemies”.
So is Michael Moore a shill? I don’t think so. I think he just desperately wants to be a “player”, and he hasn’t yet figured out that he is not playing ball with the big boys. They are using him - and Olberman - for their own purposes: 1) to provide cathartic release for liberal angst so it doesn’t get channeled in directions they can’t control, and 2) to reassure complacent, shallow citizens that they’re getting “balanced news” in a “free society”.
We’ve got to wake up to how sophisticated mass psychological manipulation techniques are in this country or we’re sunk, folks.
I’ll let those with eyes and ears in on a little secret. Some people’s philosophies are “comfort the afflicted (unless there’s something they got you want, e.g., Muslims, Germans, French, etc.) and afflict the comfortable (unless they’re kosher.)”
Quick quiz here. Ignoring the fact that Columbine 1999 would’ve been America’s greatest terrorist act had those bombs made by very literate and very violent kids exploded properly is:
a) comforting the afflicted, or
b) afflicting the comfortable, or possibly,
c) in the interest of quelling armed draft riots after what’s to come. (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
Media courtesans take a bow, give themselves a standing ovation…
World Press Freedom in the Eyes & Ears of the Beholder
by Trish Schuh May 26, 2007
UNITED NATIONS- On the 14th Anniversary of World Press Freedom Day celebrated in May, UNESCO hosted an event for journalists called “Press Freedom, Safety of Journalists and Impunity.” Under Article 1 of its Constitution, UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom.
United Nations Correspondent Association President Tuyet J. Nguyen spoke about the life-threatening danger faced by journalists covering such war zones as Rwanda and Iraq where the media is controlled by special interests or armed political parties.
Mr. Georges Malbrunot of France’s neocon Le Figaro spoke of newsgathering under various “vicious surveillance” states- all Arab- and starting with Syria. In contrast, Malbrunot’s embedding with American forces in Iraq was “not a bad solution”, but opened embeddees to paranoid Arab charges of being “a spy…Its one of the major blames addressed to the foreign press today… Of course this blame is 99.9% wrong, but in the minds of these people who suffer from “conspiracy theory” this accusation is serious” and can cost a journalist his life. “There is alot of work to do to convince these groups that the journalist is not a spy.” Malbrunot added that it is the work of Muslim Imams, scholars, leaders etc to persuade their Muslim flock of this fact… “Only then will the fate of the global war against terror be dramatically changed.”
This writer asked the panel if journalists themselves could ever be partly responsible for such suspicions? Citing CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who admitted spending his earlier summers working for the CIA: “Doesn’t this kind of moonlighting put other journalists at risk?”
No response from the panel.
Representing half a million media professionals around the world on behalf of the International Federation of Journalists was Judith Matloff, a Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and a member of the International News Safety Institute. Professor Matloff implored the international community to uphold UN Security Council Resolution 1738 which prohibits the killing and targeting of media, and protects free speech and freedom of the press globally.
In a followup conversation by telephone on May 25, I asked Prof Matloff for her opinion on how UNSCR 1738 applies to Lebanon’s Al Manar TV and the LMG communications network- Lebanese media outlets bombed by Israel during the 2006 war, and officially censored as a “terrorist organization” by the US Congress?
Regarding this unprecedented, landmark free speech/censorship law, Ivy League academic Matloff said she was “unfamiliar with these situations” and refused to comment on Middle East issues. “I am an Africa specialist”.
But wasn’t free speech protected equally around the world under Res 1738? In the Middle East, as well as in Africa? Being a media expert, could she comment on what a law equating the media with “terrorism” could mean for freedom of the press? Concurrent with Bush’s admitted deliberate bombing of Al Jazeera in Afghanistan and Iraq?
“I never heard of that,” Matloff said.
With her credentials, shouldn’t such Katrina-scale censorship have caught her eye?
Or perhaps she could assess how the MSM’s advocacy of falsehoods promoted an illegal war in Iraq? “The New York Times has apologized,” she said, referring to a full page ‘mea culpa ad’. But isn’t the NYT repeating the same misleading tactics to promote a next war in Iran?
With this and similar questions, Matloff responded like a true press “pro”: avoiding ethical implications, defending her product- the status quo, and referring most answers to “other supervisors” or experts. Her refrain of “I don’t know”, “don’t remember”, “can’t comment” captured the essence of a White House Press Briefing.
As a trainer of America’s next generation of government “privatized propaganda contractors,” (tomorrow’s ‘Mercenary Press’) Matloff diverted the subject, passed the buck, and expertly earned her tenure…
On Press Freedom Day I spoke briefly to New York Times correspondent Warren Hoge about the media, Iraq and World Press Freedom Day.
Q: Its World Press Freedom Day and I just wanted to ask if you have any comments about The New York Times and their reporting in the runup to the Iraq War, and if you feel any kind of responsibility?
A: I can’t talk about that- we’ve already said everything about that to be said in the paper, and I really don’t want to add to it. I mean, The New York Times- more than most newspapers- has absolutely admitted what we thought was faulty and what was not. There’s just nothing I can add to that at all. And I certainly don’t want to talk about that on
Press Freedom Day when our thoughts are with Alan Johnston and other journalists that are being killed.
Q: Well my thoughts are also with the Iraqis. There are half a million dead- thanks in part to
your newspaper-
A: Oh come on.
Q: Your newspaper was one of the primary advocates for the war-
A: Oh come on, I can’t talk to you-
Q: Your newspaper was primary- yes it was- Judith Miller got a security clearance from Donald Rumsfeld, sir-
A: The New York Times is not responsible for any dead Iraqis. I won’t listen to that-
Q: None of the other American journalists but Judith Miller from your paper got a security
clearance from the US Defense Secretary himself. How is this different from working for the government?
A: You are are defiling Press Freedom Day- Shut up! This is about Press Freedom, this is not about defiling the Press. We’ve just come back from a demonstration for Alan Johnston for journalists being killed and that’s what this day is about- Press Freedom.
Perhaps BBC World News Editor Jon Williams best summarized the outcome of shutting up the press: “We must not stand by and allow the intimidation of journalists- wherever it happens. If we do, we will pay a heavy price… There will be no eyes or ears telling us what’s going on. We won’t have the insight from those able to make sense of it.”
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BTW, I’m still wondering how a NATO truck got to Littleton, Colorado on such short notice for just another school rampage. Their bomb-sniffing dogs are that good, maybe? Okay, would you believe that Eric Harris was a Russian spy being watched by FBI agents who didn’t want to blow their cover? Ah yes, the old paddywagon that transforms into a specialized NATO trick…… (sliding door closes on my nose, LOL.)
Sick
As the country western song has it, ‘Im sick and tired of being sick and tired’.
Michael Moore’s new film, Sicko, has, naturally, elicited a barrage of criticism in the mainstream press. Watching the Wolf Blitzer interview — and Dr. Gupta’s fatuous mealy mouthed faux rebuttal, I am struck — gob smacked — at the emptiness of the defenses for US Health Care.
The US, it is said, has great emergency health care…and it does, but its also costly. My ex wife became very sick while we lived in London several years ago — and was rushed to ICU, and spent a week there, and another week in regular hospital. Total cost (for non citizens) was ZERO. The fact is, she would have died in the US.
France, it is argued, has high taxes ….. and thats why they have such great health care….and that’s why Health Care *professionals* in the US say that, actually, it isn’t free, because its paid for by taxes. No, health care in France is better….and it IS better….because there is a general understanding that the government must provide care for its citizens. The tax money goes to health care and not war. Now, I know statistics will suggest the US *does* in fact spend more on health care…..and if thats true, it only reinforces how corrupt the system is.
The US has abyssmal statistics regarding child health, and infant mortality. This points to the obvious lack of concern for human beings by the US government. There is little interest in corporate owned media, nor in corporate owned politics, for *preventitive* medicine. Here is a link to infant mortality:
http://www.pww.org/article/view/4801/1/203/
That Cuba surpasses the US…..and this with an embargo from the world’s richest country, and in general a third world economy, speaks to how a culture that puts people ahead of profit can achieve stunning results. Norway and Sweden rank high, as does France. Niger and Mali rank very low — so one might, and should conclude that poverty plays a rather large role. The US is rich, but it has the highest inequality between rich and poor in the world. Now, Im not a huge believer in statistics; and a quick Google will yield all manner of right wing indignation about *how* infant mortality stats, and poverty stats are compiled. I’m sure thats true, up to a point. But anyone who has lived in Europe (or Cuba for that matter) will attest; universal free health care makes for a decidedly higher quality of life.
Here is a nice piece to remind you of US poverty trends:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12201
Whatever his shortcomings, Moore has gotten his message out regards Health Care. The real bottom line is that in Cuba, and in France, and in Norway, and in the former Soviet Union, if you got sick you could go to a doctor. And you didn’t pay. In the US you need to pay a lot….and even then often you don’t really get cared for.
Here is Mike Davis interviewed by Tom Englehardt:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10251
More reminders.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=108&ItemID=13269
It’s high time the grotesque little men, the Wolf Blitzers, get bitch slapped. There is a liberal conceit Ive spoken of before, regarding *being reasonable*, and it often takes the form of not wanting to make scenes or appear uncivil. Its high time to get uncivil…..and we can thank Moore for his appearance on CNN …. would that it happened more (sic).
John Steppling
Senior Editor, Voxpop, Arts & Culture
Cyrano’s Journal
I am from Norway myself and what’s M.Moore is telling is absolutely the thruth to the American people. You are runned by the corporate America and that’s it. In Norway we pay more taxes as well, but we are never left out in the cold or runned out of any hospital or let down in any way. Our system works perfectly. Everyone has a reliable Healtcare system. Good luck to you (if you get sick I mean). Cheers Morre it was an excellent movie. Every country should have a guy just like you!
Bravo to Michael Moore for stirring up this controversy & getting the debate into the public! That is the first step in dealing with the serious issue of the underinsured, uninsured, and even those families with above-average incomes who become financially devastated when a medical crisis hits.
Those could describe any one of us (well, except for the mega-rich, the executives in corporations, and members of Congress… they never need worry about such trivial matters as healthcare for themselves & their loved ones!)
We don’t have insurance at all (including for our 4 young children), and just hope & pray no serious emergency hits. At times when our income is low enough, we can get state Medicaid. But then our income shoots up for a couple of months & we are required to report that - our Medicaid is then canceled. After that, we can’t apply again for another year or so, even if our income drops again a few months later. So it is a roller coaster ride. And this is in a state with one of the best Medicaid systems in the US. (Isn’t it expensive to pay people to keep reviewing paperwork over & over?)
We have turned to herbal medicine and the inexpensive homeopathy and aromatherapy alternatives. Why don’t insurers turn to these easy & cheap alternatives for some minor conditions? Wouldn’t it help their big concern of expenses? Yes! However, they only care about profits and million-dollar incomes for their CEOs, and sharing scratches on the back with their Big Pharma buddies.
These natural medicine alternatives have helped us with ear infections, influenza, bladder infections, cuts & wounds, and a number of other minor conditions. This has greatly reduced our dependence on Dr. visits and antibiotics, and saved us the cost of co-pays or paying full price when we have no coverage. Maybe if more Americans self-treated for certain conditions, we would be less dependent on “them” to take care of us, and they would be FORCED to change their systems.
Something to think about.
Thanks, Mr. Moore, for another great film.
I wanted to reply to some comments about our taxes, and not wanting higher taxes in the US than we already have… and the comments that countries with socialized medicine pay higher taxes.
Do some research as to where our tax money actually goes. A HUGE amount goes to military spending for these inhumane wars, and to line the pockets of elite shareholders of companies that are part of the military-industrial complex.
Americans CAN afford universal health care! We could lower taxes in amazing amounts if we stopped giving US$ billions every year to foreign countries and if we put an end to all those financial incentives to the Halliburtons & their ilk. Stop giving corporations like Walmart such huge tax breaks that they pay zero in taxes and/or get money back! Then we could easily afford universal health care on top of the tax cuts.
If it wasn’t a money-making operation, why are the HMOs so financially successful, paying millions to their CEOs & executives? Take out the profits, the cost of all those administrative positions for the reams of paperwork (in particular to deny claims), and the actual expenses come way down.
It is not gold everything that shines. On paper everything works just fine. Mr. Moore you should do some real research about Norway before you make fool of yourself.
Maybe we do not pay on the counter for health services (we do - 30 dollars for every doc. visit) but everything cost one way or another. How would you like to pay 40-50% taxes on you earnings directly as we do? How would you like to forget about ” disposable income”? How would you like to spend 75 to 85% of your income just to service taxes, living expenses and political ambitions?
Then again about health system - we say - have a little money saved, if something happens, just go to Germany to private clinics or someone will kill you around here.
Do you know why Norwegians are healthy? Because all sick people are already dead waiting for help. Norway has approx. 310 000 industrial workers. Last year number of people on welfare went to 320 000, first time in history more then industrial workers.
That means that every single worker has to earn at least twice as much - to feed his family and to feed one that won’t work. So much about socialism and “brave Michael”.