The lame debate over Michael Moore's "Sicko"

My friend and former Spinsanity co-editor Ben Fritz and I have written a new column for the site on the debate over Michael Moore's "Sicko." Here's how it begins:

The mainstream media has started fact-checking Michael Moore one movie too late.

As veteran fact-checkers of Michael Moore, we should be taking a victory lap in the wake of "Sicko." The liberal icon's latest film has been aggressively fact-checked by major outlets including CNN's Sanjay Gupta, the Associated Press, and USA Today.

However, the media has decided to pounce on Moore just when he seems to be addressing his problems with accuracy. As a result, they have little to say -- indeed, the weakness of the criticism makes Moore look thoughtful and careful with his facts by comparison.

Please make sure to read the whole thing.

Comments

[ambivalentmaybe]

I'm not a big fan of Moore, but this just sounds like sour grapes on your part--you couldn't get from the media jury a conviction against Moore for dissembling in his previous movies, but you're determined to try him again on the same charge even though you were unable (darn it!) to find new evidence of the crime in his new movie. Bah. This is less fact-checking than a vendetta. It would have been far more sensible to just credit Moore for a movie that you give, however grudgingly, your stamp of approval.