Poor No Moore

[Neil D]

June 8, 2007 - Jim Kenefick, 36, is the founder of Moorewatch.com, one of the Web's most visited anti-Michael Moore sites. So imagine Kenefick's surprise when he received a friendly voice mail last month—from Moore himself, calling from the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his agitprop documentary “Sicko.” The lefty filmmaker had two things to tell his cybercritic. First, he wanted Kenefick to know that he and his Web site appear prominently (albeit anonymously) in “Sicko,” his soon-to-be-released attack on the American health-care industry. In the film, Moore shows several of Kenefick’s blog posts where he pleads for money to keep MooreWatch.com alive because his wife's medical bills (Kenefick says she has a neurological disorder) have almost bankrupted him. He is saved at the last minute when a mysterious donor sends a $12,000 check, enough to keep the site going and pay insurance premiums for a year—which brought Moore to his second point. Before the world found out from his film, the filmmaker wanted his nemesis to know: he was Kenefick’s guardian angel. Kenefick spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Tony Dokoupil about his unwitting stardom and new opinion of Michael Moore.

NEWSWEEK: Have you seen the film?

Jim Kenefick: I’ve only seen some promotional stills and the clips, but I plan to see it.

How were you approached about the $12,000 gift?

On May 1, 2006, I received an anonymous e-mail from a “Nora Lavelle”—who is absolutely a Google ghost ... I can’t verify her existence anywhere online, so who knows if she’s real—and the e-mail said: “I know an Angel who wants to pay for at least some of your wife’s care so that the site doesn’t go down.” I was skeptical, of course. But I also thought you never know. I joked with her that I’ve always wanted a guardian angel.

Then what happened?

The person wrote back to clarify how much my [health-insurance] premiums were. A month or so later a checklike document for $12,000 arrives from one of those anonymous third-party check companies. My first thought was that this was some kind of scam—the kind where you cash the check and then suddenly the person calls asking for like $8,000 back. But the check cleared, and I felt this immense wave of relief.

Where is Michael Moore in your mind at that moment?

Nowhere. At first, I thought it was a well-heeled friend of mine, but not Michael Moore. Then some things started clicking. I happened to notice the bank that guaranteed the funds had like five locations around Moore’s Dog Eat Dog headquarters, several more locations around his New York apartment and then still more around his hometown in Michigan. All this was obvious from Google Maps, which I clicked on innocently after searching the bank name online. I still wasn’t jumping to any conclusions.

When did you know it was Moore?

On May 10th or so of this year, I get this e-mail from someone with a famous name—I won’t say who, just in case they really were who they claimed—saying: “What if, just what if, Michael Moore sent you a check for your family’s medical bills????? you should immediately prepare a quick unpredictable response.” And I have to say that I did. I felt played. I felt like, Oh f---. I can’t believe he would do this. I regret the tone and content of my response, but I felt betrayed, if that’s even the right word. A few weeks later Moore himself called me from Cannes saying that the film was about to premiere and he wanted me to know that he was my “guardian angel.” The sound file is right there on my Web site.

Has Moore’s gift changed your opinion of him?

Look, I don’t oppose Moore as a human being, or even on all of his positions, and I don’t know where I stand on health-care reform. Nor do I presume to be so intelligent as to know how to solve this monumental issue. My issue with Moore is an issue with how he goes about doing things. He gives people quick peeks, juxtaposing images that stir people up but don’t give them enough information to make judgments for themselves. He’s harming the big picture with his chicanery—with his ridiculous, malicious, dishonest and deceitful way of doing things. I haven’t seen “Sicko,” but it sounds like more of the same. I’m not saying that anyone in his film is faking or exaggerating their medical problems, but how can anyone know that? Medical records are sealed by law. Moore’s got people who can say or do anything and no one can check the facts. The American doctors and health-insurance companies he attacks have no voice either because they’re restricted by law from discussing medical cases. It’s the perfect Michael Moore situation.

But has the gift changed your life?

Oh, yes. Let me clear about this. I’m grateful to Michael Moore. I’ve said this about nine times on my Web site: "Thank you Michael Moore." Your gift took a huge burden off my shoulders. But I still don’t like your style.

Why do you think he decided to help you?

It’s in his interest for the site to stay running. Moore’s publicity depends on us and others like us. I think he understands that.

If you had known it was Michael Moore giving you the money, would you have accepted it?

I think so. It's obviously not a problem for him that Moorewatch exists, which is kind of commendable if you think about it. He seemed genuinely interested in keeping us online. I can handle the heat generated by being used in the movie as some kind of "gotcha" moment, and in the end, that $12,000 made our lives a little easier. In the end it reduced the stress on my wife, and taking away even one of her worries—in this case it made it possible for us to pay off everything faster than we'd planned—is worth a lot. Besides, Mike's not the devil or anything. It's not like Joe Stalin made me an offer! He's a guy who sees value in us being out there, analyzing his work and asking questions.

Just in case you want the link

[Neil D]

Quote:

A booster shot for 'Sicko'

BY GEORGE RUSH AND JOANNA RUSH MOLLOY

DAILY NEWS GOSSIP COLUMNISTS

Tuesday, June 12th 2007, 4:00 AM

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Michael Moore

'Knocked Up' cutie Paul Rudd hit the 'Evan Almighty' premiere in Universal City.

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Elton John

Director Michael Moore would hate the White House for trying to put him in jail - if he weren't so grateful to it.

Milking a controversy like a farm boy working a Holstein, Moore held a press conference yesterday to denounce the Treasury Department for probing whether he violated the U.S. trade embargo by taking 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba while shooting his film "Sicko."

"We're going to fight this," declared Moore, who staged the media opportunity with mogul Harvey Weinstein at the Manhattan offices of attorney David Boies. "Today" anchor "Matt Lauer was down [in Cuba] last week, and I haven't heard of his impending arrest."

Boies has filed a Freedom of Information request to determine whether members of the Republican National Committee influenced the Treasury Department's decision to investigate, reports The News' Joe Gould.

"We want to find out who's behind this," said Moore.

Weinstein, a diehard Democrat, said he'd gone through "back channels" to "Republican contacts and friends," who told him the Bushies hoped to score political points in Florida.

"'Kicking Michael's ass' - which is the quote - would show the anti-Castro people that they were tough on Michael," Weinstein said he was told.

Moore admitted that Harvey and his brother, Bob, couldn't buy better hype. At one point, said Moore, the Weinsteins called "Mr. Bush and asked him to start investigating before we were at Cannes.

"If [the Republicans] were smart, they would have waited until long after we released the movie, but that assumes that they're smart."

Showing his gift for drama, Moore said he'd hidden a print of his film in Canada - should the government try to confiscate it.

Despite the potential jail penalties, Moore said "it hasn't gotten that creeped out here yet. The Constitution of the United States is on our side."

[Neil D]

Michael Moore's visit stirs up California capital

By Mike Zapler

MediaNews Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Michael Moore came to the Capitol on Tuesday and seemed to succeed on two fronts: promoting his new documentary on the ills of the American health care system, and rallying for a proposal to do away with health insurance companies and create a system in which government pays all medical bills, no questions asked.

But much less certain after his testimony in the Legislature and first-in-the-nation screening of his latest movie, "Sicko," was whether the award-winning but polarizing filmmaker will succeed in moving along the debate over health care reform in California. That debate is nearing a critical phase this summer.

Moore blames insurance companies for many of the problems with America's health care system. He sees them, in short, as greedy, profit-driven enterprises that would rather save a dollar than someone's life.

"Their primary goal is to make as much money as possible," Moore said at a briefing with Democratic lawmakers. "They have to be removed from the process."

But the filmmaker's prescription - creating a so-called single-payer universal health system like those in Canada, Britain and France - is far to the left of what Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders here have in mind. Rather than eliminate insurers from the system, they would regulate them more aggressively.

Appearing together at a news conference Tuesday morning, Moore and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nu`ñez, D-Los Angeles, papered over those differences. Nu`ñez has supported SB 840, a single-payer health care bill, in the past but realizes it will almost certainly be vetoed, as it was last year.

"We're not going to let the perfect get in the way of the possible," Nu`ñez said, after lavishing praise on Moore.

But those details took a back seat Tuesday to Moore. Dressed in his trademark jeans and tennis shoes but donning a sportscoat for the occasion, the creator of "Roger and Me" and Oscar-winner "Bowling for Columbine" drew a gaggle of TV cameras and reporters throughout the day. His film was shown twice at a downtown theater - once for an adoring assembly of nurses, mostly members of the California Nurses Association, and then later in the evening for lawmakers. Schwarzenegger did not attend either screening - a spokeswoman said he was not invited and had "no immediate plans" to see it.

In the film, set to open June 29, Moore strays somewhat from the confrontational storytelling style of some of his earlier documentaries. Instead of chasing down HMO and pharmaceutical company CEOs, Moore makes his point telling the stories of people who watched loved ones die or were forced into bankruptcy because health insurers and hospitals denied care.

In one anecdote, a Los Angeles woman recounts how her 18-month-old daughter came down with a high fever one night in 1993. The baby was rushed to a hospital that was not part of the mother's insurance network. The girl was denied treatment and died before she reached a different hospital.

Moore interviews another man who had the top of two fingers severed in an accident. His insurance company tells him it will cost $60,000 to reattach his middle finger, and $12,000 for the other finger. Unable to afford both fingers, he decides to go without his middle finger.

Moore then travels to four countries with universal, government-provided health care - Canada, Britain, France and finally Cuba.

In perhaps the movie's most controversial part, Moore highlights several rescue workers who contracted ailments volunteering at ground zero after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The workers can't get treatment in the United States. So Moore takes them on a boat to Cuba, where they get full medical attention.

Moore's films have galvanized liberals while rankling conservatives, who accuse him of distorting facts and omitting those that don't serve his purpose.

"`I believe it's simply liberal propaganda," said Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Westlake Village, who has not seen the movie and doesn't intend to.

Moore hopes the movie will prod the public to demand an overhaul of America's health care system. Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, the author of the bill to create a single-payer system in California, said Moore's movie comes at a time of mounting dissatisfaction with the current health system.

"Your work," Kuehl told Moore, "is going to be extremely important to this whole movement."

[Dr. Shane]

Micheal Moore is basically the Rush Limbaugh of the left. He comes off well, is easy to listen to but beware, full of a lot of SPIN.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

(sorry)

I've always thought that Michael Moore reminded me of someone. I finally figured out who. It's Alvin the Chipmunk...

[Gail]

I've always thought that Michael Moore reminded me of someone. I finally figured out who. It's Alvin the Chipmunk...

LOL

[phkrause]

Ditto that

[Amelia]

I thought those two guys look remarkably alike.