Obama supporters organize free showings of ‘Sicko’

By Michael Levine / Garden Island

LIHU‘E, HI — With the debate about health care reform raging in Washington and soon to reach far and wide as members of Congress return to their districts for the August recess, a group of Kauaians are supporting President Barack Obama’s proposal by showing a film about the perils of the American health care system.

“Sicko,” a 2007 documentary written, directed and produced by Michael Moore, “makes clear that the (health care) crisis doesn’t only affect the 47 million uninsured citizens — millions of others who dutifully pay their premiums often get strangled by bureaucratic red tape as well,” according to Moore’s Web site, www.michaelmoore.com.

The film will be screened for free in five locations across the island over six days by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee and a continuation of the Obama for America initiative that helped sweep Obama into office last year.

The first showing was scheduled for Friday at 5:45 p.m. at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center, according to a flyer. Subsequent screenings will be held today at 6 p.m. at Mana ‘Ohana (formerly Green Garden) in Hanapepe, 2:45 p.m. Sunday at the Kapa‘a Neighborhood Center, 5:45 p.m. Monday at the Lihu‘e Neighborhood Center, and 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Waimea Neighborhood Center.

Each showing will be followed by a public discussion on “what can be done to create a fair and effective health care system,” the flyer says.

In an e-mail, former Kaua‘i for Obama Steering Committee member Michael Ceurvorst wrote that “No one has all the answers. We have a lot of questions, concerns and values to mesh. We hope our ‘ohana will share personal experiences, articulate their principles, and insist on greater affordability, greater coverage, more transparent individual choices.”