Cannes is smacking its lips in anticipation of filmmaker and provocateur Michael Moore’s latest jeremiad against the US administration, which receives its premiere at the film festival today. Sicko, a documentary tackling the state of American healthcare, focuses on the pharmaceutical giants, and particularly on health insurers.

The film has already caused Moore - who won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2004 with Fahrenheit 911 - to clash with the American authorities. Now, according to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Company is behind the film, the US government is attempting to impound the negative.

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“I broke US law and they want to come after me for it, Wahhhh!  Pity me because I’m being persecuted for knowingly and willfully committing an illegal act.“

I never understood that thing in american passports with all the restrictions on were you can’t go. In my dutch passport is simply states: valid for all countries of the world.

That’s because the US has a trade/visitation embargo on Cuba.  Something to do with Castro nationalizing so many US properties and monies when he came to power.  It’s not uncommon in the world.

But it is so contradictory to the “land of the free” thing. Never understood why the US would be angry about human rights in the USSR and using the argument that people couldn’t travel freely.

In non of the European passports you see restrictions like that.

We can travel freely in the U.S., land of the free being the land known as the U.S.

“America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you’ve lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn’t belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don’t care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve.”

-Tom Morello

Slender Loris - 24 May 2007 10:03 AM

“America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you’ve lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn’t belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don’t care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve.”

-Tom Morello

I just vomited a little in my mouth.

Charybdis - 24 May 2007 08:58 AM

“I broke US law and they want to come after me for it, Wahhhh!  Pity me because I’m being persecuted for knowingly and willfully committing an illegal act.“

Seriously.

There’s nothing new or odd about restricting travel to hostile countries.  I’m not sure why this is such a surprise to you.  We may not be engaged in continuous military activities against certain countries, like North Korea, but we may still be considering them belligerents and thus don’t want any aid going to them through private citizens.

And note that travel isn’t prohibited, it’s restricted.  That means we can’t just fly to Cuba on vacation (and spend tourist dollars there), but we can apply for permits to travel for family or humanitarian reasons.  This would even apply to North Korea if they didn’t automatically forbid all US/US Allies from crossing their borders.

The issue with Moore is that he failed to receive approval before going.  Not that he was likely to get it, but that doesn’t make his actions any less illegal.

Stargazer - 24 May 2007 10:21 AM

Slender Loris - 24 May 2007 10:03 AM

“America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you’ve lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn’t belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don’t care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve.”

-Tom Morello

I just vomited a little in my mouth.

Yeah, I’m not sure what he thinks the alternative is.  Not everybody can be, or wants to be, self-sufficient.  Part of creating a civilization and society is working together, and not just for yourself.

Tom Morrello and the rest of Rage Against the Machine are very anti-american. I just thought it was an interesting quote having (little, but something) to do with the ‘land of the free’.

I’m freeer. I can visit my enemies. Which makes assasination attempts much easier if we wished.