Coming next Friday...John Stossel disemboweles Michael Moore!

On next Friday (9/14) on ABC's "20/20," John Stossel is going to arrange all the corporate-sponsored evidence he can to prove that Michael Moore is, in that traditional Southern phrase, "a lying sack of shit." He's going to prove that the American health care system is the best in the world, that corporate profits are the best thing on earth, and who cares if you poor suckers get sick and die?

I'm sure Moore's words will be edited out of context, Stossel will lie, and there goes any momentum for health care reform in this country. Even in the five-minute preview run on 9/7, Stossel said that Moore was advocating "socialized" medicine and ran a bunch of Communist-propaganda footage like the May Day parades in Red Square. Obviously proving that the big guy's name is Mikhail Moorski.

When is somebody going to call out Stossel for the corporate shill he is?

Another neocon who thinks he can prove the Democrats are full of shit. Really, these clowns are a dime a dozen these days. NEXT!!!

my friend was watching this while we were talking on the phone, he mentioned the story, but didn't mention who was doing it, now that I know WHO's behind it, well... that's all that needs said. asshat.

yeah - our medical care and insurance situation in this country is just GREAT.... effing GREAT!

....that gas-price gouging is a GOOD thing! :eyes: :mad:

Do not underestimate the Dark Side of Stossel. It's time somebody got in this jerk's face and let him know, publicly and in front of an audience, what a Republican media whore he is.

Doctor David Schultz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SACE1tPEcbc

I NEVER get tired of watching that video.

sounds like fun...

Is John Stossel a total idiot or just a half wit?

We've not watched a thing on that network. They are ALL butt-sucking propaganda poodles - every single one.

Whenever I read one of these "no hope, we're all screwed" posts, I see someone polishing his rifle and plotting where he is going to set up his sniper's nest. Especially when they start using words like "Amerika" and other Weather Underground propaganda phrases from forty years ago.

If you have something else in mind besides putting a bullet in someone's head, tom_paine, I think you'd better explain yourself. Even the head you're targeting is your own.

And I have been using the term Amerika since Old America died on 12/12/2000. If that was a reliable indicator of violence, then I would have been in jail or dead long ago.

No, I am not intending on targeting anybody with a bullet nor any other kind of violence, nor am I contemplating suicide.

I do appreciate your concern, but if you have been on the boards, DU and others, you will notice my comments are tepid compared with many others.

Words are just that. Words.

ON EDIT: You are entitled to your opinion of the term "Amerika", but I am quite comfortable with it. When I refer to the Old American Repubic (1776-200, RIP) I always spell it with a 'c', because that what was, what it's memory is today. I only use Amerika to decsribe post-democracy Amerika which we live in today.

And I do sort of resent you lumping my use of it in there with Weather Underground propaganda.

And it was used by people who killed students at American universities, with bombs, because they were more attached to ideology than to humanity. The word "Amerika" was also picked up by the 1970's radical press that wanted to prove how they were tough enough to plant bombs, too, but just didn't do it.

The word "Amerika" indicates that there is no hope, that politics has failed, and that the only thing left is to get a gun and start Killing The Pigs. If you use that word in your writing, you associate yourself with them. If you didn't know that before, know it now.

And this is important. As former Weather Underground member Brian Flanagan said, "When you feel you have right on your side, you can do some pretty horrific things." That goes for progressives as much as the Bushies.

In fact, one might say it is a word in which various gradiations of meaning exist.

In other words, Amerika, as I use it, refers to the post-Constitutional Amerika, ok I already told you that.

And now that I do know, yes, there can be no question that my meaning is somewhat related to theirs. And I won't back down from that.

Allow me to explain. You said:

The word "Amerika" indicates that there is no hope, that politics has failed, and that the only thing left is to get a gun and start Killing The Pigs. If you use that word in your writing, you associate yourself with them. If you didn't know that before, know it now.

Fine. That is not my meaning. But my meaning is not all that far away.

My meaning of Amerika is a nation, not so far gone as what the Weathermen were describing, but UNQUESTIONABLY a nation on it's way to that condition, if these trends remain unreversed.

You may say there is no difference in meanings, but the key difference is that we are not there yet, and there is still an abundance of hope. We are only 40% there and these trends may yet be reversed, and half of DUers revealed in retrospect to have been melodramatic and overrwrought.

I would much prefer that outcome. I think you will find very few DUers with the Weathermen Mentality that you mention.

Therefore, my use of Amerika infers the DANGER of that condition, NOT that we are already there.

And I will not stop using it in just that way, nor will I worry about being associated with the murderous sub-faction of the Weathermen. ESPECIALLY since in six years at DU, you are the first and only person to react in this way to the word Amerika, which I have used roughly 50,000 times since coming to DU.

So, yes, my meaning IS tangentially related to the Weathermen's, but different in the key area that they assumed there was no hope. I know there is.

This line of yours is particularly true, As former Weather Underground member Brian Flanagan said, "When you feel you have right on your side, you can do some pretty horrific things." That goes for progressives as much as the Bushies.

Anyone fighting monsters, to paraphrase Nietzsche, must be on guard of becoming a monster temselves.

This, too, is true always.

Now, I have explained myself more than enough. I'm done, and I care not a whit if you think my use of Amerika means I am advocating violence, since I am obviously NOT advocating anything of the sort.

Thank you for the interesting exchange of ideas and views.

Top 20 in this time between summer and the new broadcast schedule...

About 4.8 million watch that infotainment...

You GREATLY over-estimate Stossel's influence.

IMHO.

now I know why.

You call that "no influence?" Look at the damage Rush Limbaugh did, and he was too ugly and stupid to make it on TV. Stossel has good on-air appearance, making him much more persuasive and dangerous. This underestimating the enemy is typical of progressives, which is why they lose so often.

I never said he has "no influence."

I said the OP was greatly over-estimating his influence by suggesting that his propaganda could stop any momentum for health care reform.

The ordinary citizens out there who watch this will say, "Oh, that Moore's just a hippie liar!" and go about their business. They won't write their congressmen or vote for anyone who makes health care a priority, because John Stossel says it's okay. By the time they find out - when they get sick - it'll be too late and they'll die.

Lesson: Every time the corporate media cut you down - cut them back. When Stossel brings a knife, you bring a gun. When he puts one of yours in Walter Reed Hospital and tells you that health care is hunky-dory, you film one of his cameramen who wound up in the morgue because ABC didn't provide health care.

That's the Chicago way. And until Democrats learn they have to fight as angrily and unforgivingly as Republicans, they'll continue to lose elections, just as they're about to lose 2008.

But to assume that one piece of corporate propaganda is going arrest the CLEAR trend that the American people are showing towards wanting universal care is just silly.

We can check the polls on the issue a few months down the line. I suspect they'll continue to be heading in the right direction.

The American people, despite pretty devastating occasional evidence to the contrary, aren't stupid. They see what the rest of the civilized world is getting and benefiting from.

You don't have to be a genius to realize that the ice cream your neighbor is eating just might taste better than the bowl of shit you've got. We're there. The people of this country are on board. All that's left is breaking down the wall against change constructed by the health care loan sharks and their corrupt political allies.

Long, hard, work no doubt. And yeah, beating down corporate scum like Stossel is part of it.

You have to hammer them every time they step up to attack your principles. Every time.

Kerry ignored the Swift Boaters - whether his DLC advisors told him to, or whether he decided to do it on his own, he did. And he allowed this "minor irritation" to completely undermine his campaign.

You have to make it absolutely clear, even to the dumbest Americans (and there are a lot of them) that you will not stand for attacks on progressive principles or candidates. And...this is a point of finesse that's inapplicable right now because no Democrat is willing to defend him or herself...but you make it clear why you are fighting those attacks.

You must make it clear you're not doing it for yourself or saving your candidate. You are doing it in the name of the Constitution, in the name of the rights of every American. The Republicans have wrapped themselves in the flag. It's not their flag, it's everyone's. Patriotism and love of country are not theirs exclusively. It's everybody's. And until the progressives and Democratic candidates decide to take back the mantle of democracy from the people who kidnapped it - and with all the anger and indignity that they have received - nothing will get done.

There's a lot of anger here on DU. But your parents taught you how to swallow your anger and let your ulcers build, because of "political correctness." Posts here show that you drink too much, drug yourself too much, and succumb to despair. To hell with that. Scream in their faces. Show your anger. DO something!

Most people believe reality is whatever they see others believing reality is. When ALL they see is schmucks like Stossel with no counter, they follow the path of least resistance.

Of course, part of the problem is that counters are put out, but there aren't as many distribution centers, i.e. media, to get them to those who need it. For example, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), has been doing outstanding counters to Stossel, filled with actual facts (I know that's redundant, that's what happens listening to Bush speak for six years).

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=19&media_outlet_id=19

:grr:

Corporate whore all the way. We all need to email them and threaten and carry through with a boycott of ABC immediately after they air it. Then go after the sponsors of the show. It's the only thing that gets their greedy attention. Need to watch the commercials to find out who sponsored the show then go after them. I'm in.

From Wikipedia:In 1984, while filming a segment on professional wrestling, Stossel told wrestler David Schults that he thought wrestling was fake. Yelling "You think this is fake?", Schults assaulted Stossel, slapping him and knocking him to the ground twice. Stossel sued, claiming long-term hearing loss, and won a settlement. Schults maintains that he attacked Stossel because Vince McMahon, the head of the WWF, wanted him to
(snip)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stossel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Video:

Dr. D slaps John Stossel
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=828223391486008640&q=wrestler+slapped+John+Stossel&total=8&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

...could we get him near Stossel? If he became deaf in both ears, he would probably lose his job and discover how all the neocon propaganda he promoted was a lie.

No, I don't want to see him in physical danger; that's way too easy. I want him humiliated. I want his pants pulled down before a national audience to show the Republican diaper he's wearing.

:kick: :kick: :kick:

Sounds like the best in the world alright!

You're one of those whiners who don't realize how wonderful Bush and Big Business are for this country. Stossel is also a global warming "debunker" and someone who promotes every thing Wal-Mart ever did. I'll bet he's putting together a report saying how lead paint on kiddie toys is actually beneficial.

Maybe John can help me find affordable health care for my uninsured family members.

He knows he can't win this argument.

The curious thing is that Moore isn't saying anything about it. Did he get...there's no other real word for it...ass-raped by Stossel in the interview? And is afraid to say anything about it, because any PR to Moore is good PR?

For one thing, Moore only does live interviews with corporate media types, because he doesn't want to be edited. Stossel wouldn't want to interview Moore anyway, because he knows Moore would rip off his head and shit down his neck.

It aired at the tail end of 20/20. Two-camera shoot, over each other's shoulders, showing each other's faces. They were close enough for Stossel to stab Moore through the heart, physically as well as verbally.

What I'm waiting for is Moore's response. He could do a lot by talking now about the lies Stossel promoted. But I think his need to publicize himself is outstripping his better judgment.

Maybe they spent the weekend putting their heads together in the Dominican Republic? I guess he will also tell us BigOil is good and there's no such thing as Global Warming.

I refuse to watch him or 20/20.

He has a major problem with teachers
and their unions, also.

Did you know that according to Stossel, the genius,
education does not need any more funding for improvements?

:puke:

What a lying jerk.

fixture on 20/20.

I wish they would show him the nearest exit.
He cheapens the show.

But of course leave out the fact that Calgary couple's stay in a Great Falls, MT. hospital was paid for by the provincial government. They always leave that little factoid out.

Another aspect he'll mention is that the Calgary hospital "couldn't handle such a birth". Well, no they couldn't, but only at that particular time. There were several beds that were taken up by other unexpected premature births. And a neonatal ICU doesn't just keep 4 beds available in case of quadruplets, whether it's a private OR public hospital.

Also, Calgary is in the middle of an oil boom, which have left MANY resources strained - and not just for health care. Housing is also in very short supply and is being described as a crisis.

Stossel better be careful or Michael will ruin his reputation just like he tore up Dr Gupta (not sure about spelling on that name)

I am sure he will pounce.

The only entities that the American Health care system works for are the Insurance Companies and the politicans who get their pockets stuffed to NOT reform the system.
Insurance Companies are not PEOPLE and should never be treated as if they are.

both examining for the record (again) Moore's absolute facts - as they speak for themselves, which Stossel and the MSM want to destroy.... the corporate adoring Stossel, always prefers to do a hit piece on progressives.....corporations will back-slap and reward Stossel handsomely....Hey, and the yachts, the exclusive parties are worth convincing ones soul your doing it all, not for money & exposure but for truth...Stossel's ideology, hatred & greed shine on obviously and ever so brightly.

"In those specials and his regular "Give Me a Break" column on 20/20, Stossel expresses his politics through story topics like Chilean Social Security (totally privatized, and for Stossel the way to go, despite the loss of benefits to millions of Chileans), government regulation (which Stossel regards as thuggish paternalism), tort lawyers (ambulance-chasing bloodsuckers), environmental education (green "scaremongers" terrifying innocent schoolchildren), chemical sensitivity (pushed by whiny hypochondriacs exploited by greedy doctors), greed (a good thing for the economy), risk (the distorted creation of "junk science"), Erin Brockovich (all wet about PG&E), disabled Americans (a powerful lobby that's costing business billions), product liability (crackpot lawsuits), school-bus seatbelts (a waste of money) and an hourlong special, loaded with spurious statistical data, claiming that by any measure of social or economic strength America is "Number One."

and

"From the beginning, Stossel has had his detractors. Lowell Bergman, who left ABC in 1983 to join CBS's 60 Minutes, recalls, "I was Stossel's first producer at ABC. They sent him to me while I was working on a CIA story in Mexico. They parachuted him in to be my correspondent. He was a maniac, a know-nothing who wanted to impose himself on the story, without having a clue what it was about. When we got back to New York, I wouldn't let him into the editing room."

from 'A Tefon Correspondent' Jan 7, 2002, The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020107/dowie/2

No one who was espousing views counter to Stossel would be allowed to have specials or as much access to the public as he gets. Why? Because the powers that be want you to know that 'Greed is good'-one of his specials.

Interestingly, the only figure who had a voice contrary to corporate America and was allowed on TV was Michael Moore. He had a show called 'TV nation', which while getting high ratings for it's time slot, was mysteriously cancelled.

He considers himself a libertarian, and among libertarians, he's considered something of a rock star. But the right use him for their deregulartory purposes as well. So he's on TV because his views are politically expedient to the powerful, he creates controversy, and because "Stossel's most impressive Q-ratings are found among the all-important commercial demographic group of middle-aged, middle-class, mid-American women, who recognize him immediately and find him "attractive," "honest" and "open."

because unlike so many other situations, a lot of people have had negative personal experiences with the health care system.

Moore didn't have any difficulty finding people to tell their horror stories on film -- in fact he had the opposite problem of being inundated with such stories and only being able to focus on a tiny fraction.

My parents are in their 70s. I was at the hospital with them when they tried to tell my mom they were releasing my dad and she would have to take him home. It was 11pm, he had suffered a stroke and gone to Mercy Hospital in Cadillac, MI and was in a coma-like state. That is to say, unconscious with periodic episodes of eye-fluttering and unable to speak or respond.

Mom pointed out the obvious: that there was no way for us to physically move an unconsious person. Her repeated point blank refusal resulted finally in him getting a bed.
And my parents have "good" insurance. My dad retired from GM when the benefits were excellent.

Stossel can drone on with his wingnut talking points until hell freezes over and it's not going to convince people against their own perceptions of reality.
It will go over about as well as all the happy talk about how great the economy is. People who are getting laid off, working more hours for less money, with nothing left over after gassing up the car and putting a few groceries in the cupboard, aren't buying it.

I think enough Americans have dealt with enough of their own health insurance nightmares that they won't fall for lying media stooge stossel's corporate paid pack of lies. Or so I hope, anyway.

actually presenting his argument. When you compare it to the way their treat government claims, it's particularly ludicrous.

I think just about all of the corporate media's "investigative journalism" energies are devoted to playing semantic games that make uncomfortable facts seem like myths.

stossel and abc should fell the wrath of the internet -- and stossel has now made himself the topic of conversation.

the right always wants to take on the messenger rather than the message -- and there are times when that tactic should also be embraced by the left and this is one of them.

stossel should treated like the garbage -- and taken out to the the trash.

David Sirota said it, just spreading the word.