http://ran.org/media_center/news_article/?uid=4738

http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2007/78/moral.html

Transcript from Democracy Now, July 11th, 2007.

MICHAEL MOORE: Why don’t you tell the truth to the American people? I mean, I wish that CNN and the other mainstream media would just for once tell the truth about what’s going on in this country, whether it’s with healthcare — I don’t care what it is. I mean, you guys have such a poor track record. And for me to come on here and have to listen to that kind of crap.

I mean, seriously, I haven’t been on your show now for three years. The last time I was on, you ran a similar piece about Fahrenheit 9/11, saying, “Oh, this can’t be true, what he’s saying about the war, how it’s going to be a quagmire, the weapons of mass destruction.” You know, and why don’t you start off, actually, with my first appearance back here on your show in three years and maybe apologize to me for saying that three years ago, because it turned out everything I said in Fahrenheit was true. Everything has come to happen, everything I said. I mean, I took you in that film to Walter Reed Hospital, and it took three years before you or any of the rest of the mainstream media would go to Walter Reed Hospital and see what was happening to our troops.

So for me to have to sit here and listen again to more crap about socialized medicine or how the Canadians have it, you know, worse than us, and all this — all the statistics show that we have far worse healthcare than these other industrialized countries. We’re the only ones that don’t have it free and universal.

And there’s a — you said that Germany was the only one that was better than us in terms of wait times. The Commonwealth Fund last year showed, of the top six countries, we were second to last, next to Canada. It showed that Britain, for instance, 71% of the British public, when they call to see a doctor, get to see the doctor that day or the next day. It’s 69% in Germany. It’s 66% in Australia.

And you’re the ones who are fudging the facts. You fudged the facts to the American people now for I don’t know how long about this issue, about the war. And I’m just curious, when are you going to just stand there and apologize to the American people for not bringing the truth to them that isn’t sponsored by some major corporation? I mean, I’ll sit here for as long as it takes, if you can do that for me.

WOLF BLITZER: Alright, well, just to be — in fairness, we had a lot of commercials for SiCKO that we’ve been running on CNN, as well, so, you know, we have commercials. This is a business, obviously, but let’s talk a little bit about one of the –

MICHAEL MOORE: You have a nightly medical report. You have something called The Daily Dose. I watch CNN. You have it every day, The Daily Dose, sponsored by fill-in-the-blank. And you are funded by these people day in and day out. Don’t even compare that to my movie being out for a couple of weeks and a couple of rinky-dink ads for fifteen seconds.

WOLF BLITZER: No, I would say that — I don’t know if you’re familiar with –

MICHAEL MOORE: Come on! Come on, Wolf!

WOLF BLITZER: No, no, no. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s record, but I would stack up his record on medical issues with virtually anyone in the business.

MICHAEL MOORE: Alright, so when I now put on my website, as I will do tonight, how his facts were wrong about the $7,000 that we spend, it’s actually — I’ve read one report now, it’s even more than $7,000 that we spend per person each year in this country. I’m going to put the real facts up there on my website so people can see what he just said was absolutely wrong.

WOLF BLITZER: Well, if we get that confirmed, obviously, we’ll correct the record. Sanjay — but I’m just saying .–

MICHAEL MOORE: Oh, you will?

WOLF BLITZER: Obviously.

MICHAEL MOORE: You’ll be getting it.

WOLF BLITZER: Sanjay Gupta is not only a doctor and a neurosurgeon, but he’s also an excellent, excellent journalist. Look, I saw the film, and it’s a powerful, powerful –

MICHAEL MOORE: Yeah, I saw Dr. Sanjay Gupta over there embedded with the troops at the beginning of the war. He and the others of you in the mainstream media refused to ask our leaders the hard questions and demand the honest answers. And that’s why we’re in this war. We’re in the fifth year of this war, because you and CNN, Dr. Gupta, you didn’t do your jobs back then, and now here we are in this mess.

What if you had actually done the job on that? That’s why anybody who hears anything of what you say now about universal healthcare should question what you’re saying, what you’re putting out there. You didn’t do the job for us with the war. You’re not doing it with this issue. And I just wonder when the American people are going to turn off their TV sets and quit listening to this stuff.

WOLF BLITZER: Sanjay Gupta did an excellent job covering that war. He was with the Navy’s medical doctors, and he went in and risked his life, and he actually started to perform some neurosurgery on the scene. It was –

MICHAEL MOORE: You have to ask the questions.

WOLF BLITZER: Look –

MICHAEL MOORE: Why are we here? That’s the question. Why are we here in this war? Where’s the weapons of mass destruction? Why didn’t you — why did it take you so long, Wolf, to finally take on Vice President Cheney? It took you to 2007 before you made the man mad at you.

WOLF BLITZER: Those are fair questions.

MICHAEL MOORE: I mean, four years!

WOLF BLITZER: Look, let’s talk a little –

MICHAEL MOORE: Where were you?

I bring terrible news that Dave Brophy, member of the Winnipeg Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement, member of the New Socialist Group, and dear friend, has suddenly died. I first met Dave at a political study group in Winnipeg in the summer of 2004. He had been a supporter of the blockade against clearcutting in Grassy Narrows territory since its inception in December 2002. He was clearly outraged by injustices that he had witnessed in building solidarity with the Anishinaabe people of Grassy Narrows, and was struggling to come to grips with what history and theory can teach about strategies for social change that could address oppression and environmental destruction. He came to the conclusion that the system of profit and competition that is capitalism is the root of these destructive forms. His knowledge of indigenous communal traditions inspired him to fight for an alternative society.
 
Dave’s dedication to both activist movement building and the battle of ideas was remarkable in a milieu where it has been the fashion to adopt radicalism as individual lifestyle choice rather than a collective way of making history. Dave was an outstanding and passionate organizer, always willing take on the thankless behind the scenes tasks. For this he was much appreciated by his women comrades. If he believed in a political event, he would work tirelessly to making it a rousing success regardless of whether others were able to help. One of his great successes was the Winnipeg launch of Sheila Wilmot’s book Taking Responsibility, Taking Direction: White Anti-Racism in Canada on April 29, 2006. Dave was determined to use the book as an occasion to carve out a space for discussion and debate about strategies for building solidarity – so he single-handedly raised funds to bring Wilmot to Winnipeg, and postered the entire city to promote the event. His hard work paid off; more than fifty people packed the room, and there was a lively discussion that built new bonds of trust and solidarity among a unique mix of anti-racists. This was a critical counterpoint to the increasing racism being stirred up by the media and police under cover of an anti-crime campaign in the city. Dave was highly respected by many indigenous activists in the city, who knew they could always rely on his support when needed.
 
I very much regret that Dave was not able to attend a Wasáse gathering. This new radical indigenous movement was a dream come true for Dave, who recognized that true solidarity in the battle for indigenous self-determination is only possible under the leadership of a radical indigenous movement. And he was very much honoured that Taiaiake Alfred invited him to mentor other young solidarity activists at the founding gathering of the Wasáse movement. Dave would have been a strong champion of the strategic discussions now taking place among Wasáse members and supporters about anarchist and socialist strategies for addressing oppression, since such discussions would shed light on his own political experiments.
 
Most importantly, Dave wanted to bring together his political life and his personal life. He was conscious of his positioning as a white person and a man, and made special efforts to practice respect for others. As a friend, he was generous to a fault. I’ve been wishing that I could recruit him to work with me in the Northwest Territories, where I knew that he’d be instantly liked by my indigenous collaborators for his humility, sense of humour, and willingness to work hard – physically and intellectually. It is rare to find a non-indigenous person who has such an ability to bridge cultural and social divides.
 
Dave was wrestling with dark demons in the months before his death. The lonely burden of building radical movements during this period of apathy, quiescence and despair was often too much to bear. He was one of those countless people in Manitoba – and in Canada – who fell through the cracks of the underfunded social welfare system. This is despite his great capacities and talents. He was excessively modest, so I had to learn about several of his achievements from his mother. He was an outstanding basketball player and athlete; he played guitar; he was an accomplished academic who had recently completed his Masters Degree based on fieldwork with indigenous communities in Peru. He had hoped to return to Peru to present the results of his research to the communities.
 
This is a time for mourning the loss of a great comrade whose candle burned too bright and too brief. But it is also a time for those of us who share his politics to renew our commitment to building the kind of radical resistance and solidarity that Dave dreamed of – the kind of collective resistance that can lead to revolution. In this way we will keep alive Dave’s memory, and the memory of countless other victims of this brutal capitalist system.

This photo of Dave preparing signs for the Winnipeg Caledonia protest is from The Drum.

Dave’s three-part series of articles about Indigenous struggle in what is now known as Northwestern Ontario can be found online. The first article, in the Feb/March/April 2005 issue of New Socialist Magazine, provided some history of the relationship between the Anishinaabe and the Canadian state during the years leading up to and following the signing of Treaty 3 in 1873, including the Canadian state’s violations of the agreement and the state-led campaign to destroy the Anishinaabe’s indigenous economy.

The second article, in the May/June 2005 issue of NS, examined how the Canadian state continues to undermine the livelihoods of the Anishinaabe and the political factors that are shaping Grassy Narrows’ present fight for their lands.

The final article, in the July/August issue of NS, looked at the Friends of Grassy Narrows, the group now called Winnipeg Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement, which works in solidarity with the Anishinaabe.

A summary of Dave’s  Masters research in the rural Indigenous community of Choquecancha in the region of Cuzco, Peru entitled North-South, First World-Fourth World Engagement: Working towards Solidarity is posted on the University of Manitoba Environmental Conservation Laboratory site.

Dave’s article on the Seventh Generation Earth Day Walk: Celebrating Mother Earth and Her Caretakers and Protectors that took place on April 22 was published online by Winnipeg Indymedia.

His article analyzing the politics of the recent Assembly of First Nations Day of Action June 29th: Day of Action or Launching Pad for Sustained Campaign of Political Confrontation? was published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Manitoba office) Youth Voices.

http://www.alternet.org/stories/50366/

Just a quick excerpt from Bill Moyers speach to the opening of the National Conference on Media Reform in Memphis.

An electric speech and essential understanding.

Full speech here @ democracynow.org.

“The other story of America that says, free speech is not just corporate speech. That news is not just what officials tell us. And we are not just chattel in the fields living the boss man’s story. This is the great gift of the digital revolution, and you must never, never let them take it away from you. The Internet, cell phones and digital cameras that can transmit images over the Internet makes possible a nation of story tellers, every citizen a Tom Payne.”