Posted on 11/04/2003 1:23:06 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
CBS refuses to reveal which scholars or authorities on Ronald Reagan were consulted by the producers and scriptwriters of the two-part miniseries “The Reagans.” The fictitious hatchet job, originally scheduled for Nov. 16 and 18, stirred such a storm of protest that it has now been canceled and shifted to the cable outlet Showtime. In announcing that it was yanking the program, CBS stated, “The producers have sources to verify each scene in the script.” But when asked by NewsMax to name the “sources,” the network balked. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any comment on that,” CBS spokeswoman Nancy Carr said. “No comment,” she repeated when asked again if the network could cite any “source” for the script. Michael Reagan has stated that the film’s creators did not contact any family members. NewsMax then contacted Lou Cannon on the assumption that any responsible network claiming to have “sources” to verify each scene in the film would surely want to talk to a respected journalist, not an acolyte, who knows Reagan better than anyone outside of the family and inner circle, having written three books about him. Cannon, widely recognized as the foremost authority on Ronald Reagan, having covered him all throughout his political career, told NewsMax he heard not one word from any writer or filmmaker of "The Reagans." Cannon declined to speak in general terms about the film until he has seen it. But he was willing to discuss his reactions to two widely publicized quotes put into the mouth of the actor playing the 40th president: James Brolin, husband of Reagan-hating Democrat operative Barbra Streisand. The first quote portrays Reagan as being totally calloused toward AIDS victims. “Worse than unfair,” in Cannon’s view. “Ronald Reagan campaigned in 1978 - when he was out of office - against a ballot initiative in California that would have discriminated against homosexual teachers. There were a lot of people [advisers] who didn’t want him to get involved in this,” Cannon told us. “They said stay out of it, but he became involved in it, and he campaigned against it, and he beat it.” In his book “President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime,” Cannon opined that the president could have picked up on the AIDS problem more quickly than he did. “But to put into Ronald Reagan’s mouth words of bigotry that he would never have uttered is really - I find it offensive.” Cannon also took issue with the reported portrayal of Reagan as a willing participant in Hollywood’s so-called “blacklist” when congressional hearings were documenting the Communist Party’s attempt to take over the movie industry. Historians have recorded that Reagan, the president of the Screen Actors Guild, won praise from both sides for his fairness in defending those who were innocent and weeding them out from those who clearly were under the Communist Party's discipline. Cannon says he’s even wondered if selective releases of the damaging quotes were a deliberate attempt by CBS to test the public reaction before going ahead with airing the miniseries, though he quickly adds he has no evidence of that. NewsMax also discussed with Cannon his latest book, “Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power.” Cannon describes Reagan as “decent, unassuming, a person who acted from convictions, although those convictions changed over the years. He was never poll-driven. [Reagan was] a person who treated ordinary people - people he met on the street or people who cleaned out his office or who had essentially menial jobs - with the same kind of courtesy he reserved for heads of state.” None of Cannon’s perspective was deemed worthy of input as far as the Viacom miniseries' producers and writers were concerned.
I think Bwa Bwa and her satanic minions made the whole thing up.
I think it's called communist propaganda.
I think it was designed to belittle one of the greatest presidents of all time.
I think it didn't fly.
I think it's hilarious it failed! LOL.
-PJ
Nah, they know better than anybody.
The dialogue was juvenile...
The music was awful....
If shown, it would have been the FINAL death blow to See BS.....I almost wished they had......but, the Nightly News with Dan Rather is giving it a death by a thousand cuts. Too Bad...:)
Jim Beam
Johnny Walker
Mary Jane
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