Not quite back

Updated We're actually not quite back at things around here, so you'll have to wait a day or so before you get to be reminded more thoroughly of the fact that the oh so dramatic, "defiant" vote in the House to fund the Iraq occupation for just two months was actually an idea tossed out here over six weeks ago.

But for the moment, I couldn't resist making mention of this, from AP for Thursday:

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore is under investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department for taking ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for a segment in his upcoming health-care documentary "Sicko"....

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control notified Moore in a letter dated May 2 that it was conducting a civil investigation for possible violations of the U.S. trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba. ...

In February, Moore took about 10 ailing workers from the Ground Zero rescue effort in Manhattan for treatment in Cuba, said a person working with the filmmaker on the release of "Sicko." ...

After receiving the letter, Moore arranged to place a copy of the film in a "safe house" outside the country to protect it from government interference, said the person working on the release of the film.

It's ironic that this happens just as The Nation had an issue with several articles about Cuba, including some indicating a softening of attitude within the Cuban-American community. (And yes, nitpickers, the word "ironic" is used correctly here in the sense of an unexpected, expressive conjunction.)

But I have to say that what immediately popped into my head when I read about Moore was this:

William Worthy isn't worthy to enter our door
Went down to Cuba, he's not American anymore
But somehow it is strange to hear the State Department say
You are living in the free world, in the free world you must stay

- Refrain from the Ballad of William Worthy by Phil Ochs.

The more things change....

Updated with the news that Michael Moore has responded via an open letter. Thanks to Tim at DemLeftInfoasis for the tip.