Boycott launched of CBS' 'Reagans'

Worldnetdaily ^ | 10/28/03 | Armed civilian

[Armed Civilian]

An upcoming CBS miniseries that reportedly casts former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy in a negative light has prompted a boycott. A former chief of staff to a U.S. congressman has teamed with colleagues to set up a website urging television viewers not to watch the two-part series and boycott its advertisers for 30 days during the peak of the holiday shopping season.

James Brolin, Judy Davis as Ronald and Nancy Reagan in CBS miniseries

"This time, Hollywood has gone too far," said Mike Paranzino. "What cruelty must lie in the hearts of CBS executives to smear the Reagans while Nancy Reagan copes every day with her husband's devastating Alzheimer's disease. The vast majority of Americans respects the Reagans and will find CBS' dishonest tale revolting."

The miniseries, set for airing next month, includes scenes of Reagan cursing at his staff and his wife slapping her daughter, according to script excerpts published by the DrudgeReport.

Other scenes, according to Drudge, show the former president declaring he is the anti-Christ and, in response to AIDS, stating, "They that live in sin shall die in sin" – though there is no record of him saying such things.

The reports, coupled with one published by the New York Times, increases speculation among Reagan supporters it will be a politically charged hatchet job disguised as entertainment.

It already has been denounced by Michael Reagan, the former president's adopted son and radio talk-show host.

"It's horrendous, it's absolutely horrendous," said Michael Reagan after viewing eight minutes of excerpts of the film. "They paint my father as a buffoon," he told talk-show host Sean Hannity. "They also have my dad taking God's name in vain in an angry, angry way. ... They have him calling another person in anger an S.O.B. I've never seen my Dad that angry and I've never heard him use the 'G-D' word in my life," Reagan complained.

Boycotter Paranzino said companies have "every right to finance this TV show's hate speech, and Americans have every right to punish those companies that support this cultural pollution."

Paranzino told WorldNetDaily he realizes boycotts of networks usually have little impact, and so he intentionally narrowed his effort.

"It's designed to say you can watch 'Everybody Love's Raymond,'" the popular CBS show, he said, "but you can defeat the left here simply by not watching this series and making the network and its sponsors pay a price."

Since launching his site yesterday, he's received a strong response, he said, including e-mails from people who say they're willing to go beyond his focused effort and boycott the entire network.

"There is a lot of anger out there," Paranzino told WND. "Doctors, lawyers, retirees, homemakers – people are just furious at this obvious smear."

A woman from the East Coast, for example, forwarded him her letter to CBS executives, which said:

Well, now it is payback because, not only will I and every person I can personally touch through my vast Internet connections, no longer frequent your vile programming, those who contribute to the distribution of this despicable excuse for viewing through their advertising, will be boycotted, not for thirty (30) days, but, forever. One man said he will "never watch CBS again because of their intention to broadcast the Reagan smear movie."

Another said: "I will boycott everyone and everything associated with this disgrace."

A Texas couple wrote: "We eagerly await the publication of the sponsors of this tripe. Count us in!!"

A retired U.S. Air Force colonel also signed on to the campaign.

Paranzino said sponsors of the program have not been announced and might remain unknown or undetermined until just prior to the airing.

Elsewhere around the Internet, contributors to message boards are urging a boycott of advertisers of other CBS programs.

Some commentators expect the controversy to boost the ratings of the series, but Paranzino disagrees.

"Sure, a little controversy sometimes helps, but there is a sense out there that CBS has crossed a line," he said. "These people are such cowards. They couldn't beat Ronald Reagan at the ballot box and they never forgave him for standing up to the Soviets, so now, as Alzheimer's disease ravages him in his 90s, they decide to pick on him and his wife. For that spineless cruelty, they will pay a financial price."

The miniseries will be broadcast during "sweeps week" when garnering high ratings will allow networks to charge higher rates for advertising.

Paranzino is a political consultant who worked for former Rep. Matt Salmon, a Republican from Arizona, and served as press secretary for the presidential exploratory committee of Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and research director for the 1994 campaign of Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz.

[Fledermaus]

Until we know the sponsors of this crap, it will be hard to boycott them along with CBS. So I guess SOMEONE is going to have to watch to write them down! ;-)

I'm going to tape it for that purpose alone and immediately start writing, calling, e-mailing,cancelling any service I already have, and boycotting any product advertised.

Now, convincing my wife to stop watching CBS soap operas will be difficult.

[Roberts]

The website is worthy of mention:

http://www.boycottcbs.com/

[ex-Texan]

*BUMP* !

[FairOpinion]

The website is worthy of mention:

http://www.boycottcbs.com/

===

Thanks for mentioning it.

They promise to post a list of advertisers too.

I am all in favor of warning ALL major companies advertising on CBS that if they don't put pressure on CBS to NOT show this disgusting slanderous movie, we'll boycott them, even if they advertise on other CBS shows.

CBS CAN be influenced by their advertisers.


http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,8690,00.html

CBS Tidies Up for Advertiser

by Marcus Errico
Aug 17, 2001, 3:35 PM PT

Procter & Gamble makes the world a shinier, happier place. Now, thanks to the maker of Tide, Cascade and Head & Shoulders, CBS is cleaning up its act.

CBS pulled a rerun of Family Law Monday after Procter & Gamble deemed the episode too controversial for its family-friendly image and decided not to advertise on the drama.

The network--mired in an industry-wide advertising slump and desperate for ad dollars--decided to bump the episode (in which a young child uses his mother's handgun to kill a sibling) and replace it with a less controversial show (about spousal abuse) that Procter & Gamble approved of.

[onyx]

When we get the list of sponsors, the FReep campaign must commence immediately.

[des]

nielson families...who the hell are they, anyway? How many are there? What is on opposite this program?

[poet]

I've been boycotting the alphabet stations for more than 20 years except in rare instances.

[Dajjal]

BTTT

[Cyclops08]

Boycottcbs.com, I signed up!

[Savage Beast]

"...in response to AIDS, stating, 'They that live in sin shall die in sin' – though there is no record of him saying such things."

Any attribution to President Reagan of such malice--or even indifference--to the victims of this horrible disease is inconscionable, unfair, and inexcusable--and it must not go unchallenged.

[Savage Beast]

This might be a good reason to boycott CBS, but it's certainly not the only reason. I haven't watched anything on CBS in years.

[Savage Beast]

Thanks, Stella. I (obviously) didn't know this. Your appraisal is a good one, and I appreciate your telling me all this. ~SB

[jonalvy44]

http://www.pabaah.com has been very active in this battle...

[mewzilla]

Don't forget letting your local affiliates and advertisers know how you feel. They'll feel the heat before the network will. And what's the deal with Hallmark? Is their entertainnment division producing this dreck?

[xzins]

I saw on one site where Budweiser is mentioned as a sponsor.

I like Bud, but I respect President Reagan a whole lot more.

I've been thinking of what some of those specialty beers taste like, anyway.

Just because I boycott a brand doesn't mean I have to do without.

[CSM]

"Paranzino said sponsors of the program have not been announced and might remain unknown or undetermined until just prior to the airing."

More evidence of their sneakiness. They don't even have the guts to stand up and be counted! I can't wait for the list!

[Reagan Renaissance]

The "left" has been engaged in an undeclared war against the "right" since the sixties. The "left" has been losing but the right has not been winning. After the "right" botched the impeachment proceedings, the "right" moved farther left, but the left has kept losing anyway.

The "left" realizes that they must lose the battle of ideas since theirs are completely and totally wrong. But the left is very proficient at winning the battle for the hearts and souls of the majority. Discrediting the effective leaders of the right has been a very effective technique for the left. They got Newt and his chosen successor with a single bullet fired at the same time. Then they found a bullet for Bob Bennet and more recently one for Rush. The Republican victory of 1994 has had a large part of the leadership legs kicked out from under it.

The foundation of the Repulican Revolution and victory for the right was laid by Ronald Reagan. If the left is to have any chance of success, they must discredit Reagan and destroy Reagan's image in the heart and soul of the public. This is a very important battle ground. CBS and the other major networks all belong on the ash-heap of history beside the Soviet Union.

I would encourage every Freeper to support the boycott against CBS if they air a slanderous series directed against Reagan. And I would encourage every Freeper to boycott every sponsor if the series proves to be as slanderous as indicated by the articles coming out about it. I would also encourage every Freeper to watch the series itself so that we can all be better informed in order to appropriately engage the enemies of freedom. Major promised support now has real chance to ensure that a slanderous report directed against Reagan will not be aired. This is a battle that we could win before their opening shot is fired. More likely, at best it will only delay the timing and maybe the place where the battle will actually be fought. If we win the "war of words", we can win the battle for freedom with ballots.

[N. Theknow]

Why I no longer drink A-B products.