This is a partial transcript from “Hannity & Colmes,” May 10, 2007, that has been edited for clarity.
ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Well, Michael Moore’s in trouble tonight. The controversial filmmaker is facing a Treasury Department probe for taking Ground Zero workers to Cuba to make a point about how bad the U.S. health care system is for his new film called “Sicko.” Joining us now, radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa, Newsday columnist, FOX News contributor Ellis Henican.
Now, you can’t tell me, Curtis Sliwa, that the Bush Treasury Department going after Michael Moore for doing what he has done isn’t politically motivated. Come on.
CURTIS SLIWA, RADIO HOST: What do you mean, politically motivated?
COLMES: Want me to say it again?
SLIWA: Michael Moore is like a beached whale. He comes up to shore outside of Havana, could be Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea.” Come on, Michael Moore, the total hypocrite. Remember, he attacked Halliburton, he owned Halliburton stock. Attacked gun owners, had a gun.
(CROSSTALK)
SLIWA: I’ll bet you he’s not getting medical care in Cuba when his very (INAUDIBLE) the cadaver in formaldehyde, the bearded one behind the sugarcane curtain, Fidel Castro, that’s great medical treatment. Every day Hugo Chavez promises us, oh, he’s going to rise from the dead. You watch.
COLMES: That’s very funny. You’re very entertaining, and I think you’re very, very good on the radio. However, you totally ignored the point that the Bush Treasury Department, clearly, Ellis Henican, is going after Michael Moore because of a political point of view. That’s what’s going on here.
ELLIS HENICAN, NEWSDAY: You know, you may be right about the motive, but let’s talk about the effect. This is the biggest gift that Michael Moore ever had. Can you imagine better publicity? The movie, guys, opens in a week in Cannes and then in theaters across America next month. What could be better than some dim-witted bureaucrat sitting in the Treasury Department saying, “Well, let me see. Maybe he didn’t file the right form.”
Michael Moore should be so lucky that some of those Treasury guys go to his house and walk him out in handcuffs. That movie will sell millions of tickets.
COLMES: By the way, what this film is about is how health care among 9/11 rescue workers, there was a lie told to the American public about how safe the air was in New York City, and the EPA, the Bush administration’s EPA, apparently did not give accurate information about whether it was OK to breathe that air and as a result, many rescue workers became deathly ill.
SLIWA: Well actually, at the time her empress, Christine Todd “Witless,” you are correct, wasn’t necessarily being totally upfront with the information, but we’ve had the Scientologists and Tom Cruise cleansing blood of 9/11 workers. But they did it here, terra firma U.S. of A. Why does Michael Moore go to Cuba? You know what he’s doing. He’s talking about Cuba has better medical treatment than the United States.
(CROSSTALK)
COLMES: Are you familiar with satire? Have you ever heard of satire, Curtis? Do you know what satire is? Michael Moore is a comedian. He does funny, satirical movies to make political points. Are you familiar with that concept?
SLIWA: Wait a second. I remember when he was director of “Canadian Bacon.” Remember, with John Candy, and he actually was in a cameo appearance, said, “I can’t wait until we put the American back in North America.” He’s anything but American. He hates America!
SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: There’s a broader point here. He brought about 10 ailing 9/11 rescue workers to get medical treatment in Cuba. There’s a serious point to all of this.
HENICAN: There is. Those people need the help, is the serious point.
HANNITY: Well, we have the greatest medical system in the world right here in America, which is why people in socialist systems flock to America to get American care from American doctors because of American advanced technology.
HENICAN: Sean…
HANNITY: Hang on. Let me finish my point. What Michael Moore is doing, he’s using these guys. He will slice and dice and edit this thing to make America look bad, because he’s using it for propaganda purposes, and thus using those workers for his propaganda film.
HENICAN: Here is the tragedy that I’d like to get you guys to focus on. There are truly millions and millions of Americans today who don’t have health insurance, who aren’t getting the decent treatment that you’re just praising, and sadly, that large group…
HANNITY: There’s not a hospital in this country that won’t take treatment for somebody.
HENICAN: Sadly, we have reported over and over again, in Newsday and elsewhere, that that group includes first responders from 9/11. If they’re not being treated, they should go around the world to get treated. Whatever it takes.
HANNITY: This is a separate issue. What he is doing, Curtis Sliwa, is he is allowing these workers to be used as a propaganda piece for this movie that wants to make a point that American health care system — because he wants socialized medicine. He is using those workers.
SLIWA: But Sean, in typical Michael Moore form, he himself though, won’t get medical treatment in Cuba. If he could lose the 500 pounds, I might acknowledge that they have great medical treatment there.
HENICAN: Let me get this straight. Those 9/11 first responders are so dumb and witless, they have no idea what they’re doing? They don’t know where they’re going? They don’t know what they’re getting? They don’t know what kind of medical treatment…
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: If he really wanted to help them, Ellis, then he could go out and raise money, but he’s not doing that. He’s using this to further advance his film and make it a propaganda film. Now look, Curtis, you’ve been to Cuba.
SLIWA: Oh, yes.
HENICAN: Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
HANNITY: But you went there legally. You had approval when you went on your trip.
SLIWA: Sure. Yes, establishment, believe it or not, Fidel Castro was accepting religion, a Greek Orthodox church. And I asked the question, how many Greek Orthodox are here in Cuba? You’re either Catholic, a few Jews, or that’s it.
HANNITY: But there’s one other point, Curtis, is that we look at people, for example, that need emergency heart surgery from Canada. They flock to the U.S. People from other countries, England, elsewhere, that have heart problems, cancer issues; they come to the United States. This is the country with the best medical care.
SLIWA: And not only that, some of those who hate Jews and Hindu doctors in the Middle East, when they have a little heart palpitation, first thing they do is come to the United States. Don’t let them know that a Jew or a Hindu was operating on me.
HENICAN: You guys, wouldn’t it be nice, while we’re giving that care to international people who flock here, that we took care of our own poor kids and our own working-class people without health insurance?
HANNITY: One question. Would you go to Cuba for health care over the U.S.?
HENICAN: I am very happy with my doctor, but I’m telling you, a lot of people aren’t.
(CROSSTALK)
COLMES: We’ve got to go. And by the way, all the predictions of the movie, no one has seen it. So you don’t know exactly how he cut it or what he did. And this is great publicity for him. Thanks for being with us, both of you.
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