Posted on 09/07/2006 4:03:18 PM PDT by WmShirerAdmirer
ABC's upcoming miniseries "The Path to 9/11" is generating a firestorm among members of the Clinton administration, who claim the two-part, made-for-TV film is filled with factual errors and lies.
Three members of the administration former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, former National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger and Clinton aide Bruce Lindsey, who now heads the Clinton Foundation have sent letters to Walt Disney Company, parent of ABC, demanding that it re-edit or pull the five-hour film, scheduled for air Sunday and Monday nights without commercial interruption.
Albright, who is featured prominently in the film, wrote a letter to Disney chief Robert A. Iger, complaining that she had requested a copy of the film, but that ABC had not given her one, according to a New York Times report.
Albright wrote that she had been told by people who had seen the film that it depicts scenes that never happened, events that never took place, decisions that were never made and conversations that never occurred.
It asserts as fact things that are not fact, she wrote, according to the Times.
Albright specifically objected to a scene that showed her insisting on warning the Pakistani government before an airstrike on Afghanistan, and that she was the one who made the warning.
"The scene as explained to me is false and defamatory," she said.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, ABC said, "No one has seen the final version of the film, because the editing process is not yet complete, so criticisms of film specifics are premature and irresponsible."
"For dramatic and narrative purposes, the movie contains fictionalized scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue, and time compression," ABC said in its statement. "We hope viewers will watch the entire broadcast of the finished film before forming
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(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
While our Commander-in-Heat was getting his "Lewinsky," our nation became in deep peril. His legacy is trash. He's a disgrace. Too bad we're still talking about him, and only after he approves of what we say. What a bunch of sickos!
They should take his whole miserable time in office and just shove it in his face. I'm still waiting for his "wife" to get a big fat pie in her face. But why waste a pie?
TV Movie Miffs Dems
An ABC made-for-TV movie, "The Path to 9/11," has riled the Democratic Party. Democratic National Committee Executive Director, Tom McMahon, blasted the movie, which he has not yet seen, as a bald-faced attempt to slander Democrats and revise history right before Americans vote in a major election. This film would have us believe that Bill Clinton irresponsibly dallied with an intern while the terrorist threat mounted. This kind of misinformation is a cheap, callous political trick designed to divert attention from Bush Administration failures. As Katie Couric pointed out on the CBS Evening News, the war with the terrorists STARTED on 9/11. McMahon observed. Bill Clinton was long out of office on that day and cannot be blamed for these attacks.
Clinton spokesman, Jay Carson, issued a statement questioning the film's depiction of Clinton's record and suggesting that it wasn't a "serious treatment" of the facts. The film says nothing about healthcare, Carson said. Yet, implementing a nationalized healthcare system was a major focus of the Clinton Administration. Further, President Clinton never dallied with an intern. He was mentoring Ms. Lewinski, helping her learn the skills she needed to succeed in politics.
Former Clinton Administration Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, said that although she had requested a copy of the film, ABC had not given her one. But, Ms. Albright said, she has been told by people who have seen it that it It asserts as fact things that are not fact. For one, it depicts me as a decrepit hag and blithering idiot.
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the films contention that terrorists attacked America during the Clinton years as ludicrous. This film shows terrorists bombing the World Trade Center in 1993, Pelosi said. Whoever heard of such a thing? The film even has these alleged terrorists bombing embassies in Africa and, get this, a U.S. Naval vessel. Its like a global jihad or something. I know movies often take liberties with the truth for dramatic purposes, but this film goes beyond the realm of credibility into pure fantasy.
In a letter to the ABC television network, the Democratic senate leadership--Harry Reid (Nev), Dick Durbin (Ill), Debbie Stabenow (Mich), Charles Schumer (NY), and Byron Dorgan (ND)threatened to revoke the companys broadcast license once Democrats take back control of Congress. The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest, the senators wrote. Congress is the judge of whether the public interest has been served. May we remind you that polls show our Party will regain control of Congress in this Novembers election. You would do well to consider this as you weigh how to edit this film or whether to air it at all.
read more...
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
Here's what I got from the "cry-babies"...............:
The Democratic Party:
Dear Paulus,
Does a major national broadcast network want to stain itself by presenting an irresponsible, slanderous, fraudulent, "docu-drama" to the American public? Not if you and I have the last word -- but either way, we're about to find out. The ABC television network -- a cog in the Walt Disney empire -- unleashed a promotional blitz in the last week for a new "docudrama" called "The Path to 9/11". ABC has thrown its corporate might behind the two-night production, and bills it as a public service: a TV event, to quote the ABC tagline, "based on the 9/11 Commission Report". That's false. "The Path to 9/11" is actually a bald-faced attempt to slander Democrats and revise history right before Americans vote in a major election. The miniseries, which was put together by right-wing conservative writers, relies on the old GOP playbook of using terrorism to scare Americans. "The Path to 9/11" mocks the truth and dishonors the memory of 9/11 victims to serve a cheap, callous political agenda. It irresponsibly misrepresents the facts and completely distorts the truth. ABC/Disney executives need to hear from the public and understand that their abuse of the public trust comes with a cost. Tell Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger to keep this right-wing propaganda off the air -- we'll deliver your message: http://www.democrats.org/pathto911 This story is breaking quickly. The bias of the "docudrama" only became known when ABC began circulating previews recently. Less than two weeks ago, 9/11 Commission member Richard Ben-Veniste confronted a lead writer of "The Path to 9/11" after watching the first half of the miniseries at a screening, but most of what we know amounts to bits and pieces because ABC chose to screen the miniseries to conservative bloggers and right-wing media outlets exclusively. Almost none of the Democrats portrayed in the film have even been asked for their thoughts. But we still know enough, thanks to news accounts and crack research, to fact check "The Path to 9/11" as a biased, irresponsible mess. Here's what you need to know: * Richard Clarke -- the counterterrorism czar for the Clinton administration, now himself a consultant to ABC News -- describes a key scene in "The Path to 9/11" as "180 degrees from what happened." In the scene, a CIA field agent places a phone call to get the go ahead to kill Osama Bin Laden, then in his sights, only to have a senior Clinton administration official refuse and hang up the phone. Sandy Berger, President Clinton's National Security Advisor, called the same scene "a total fabrication. It did not happen." And Roger Cressey, a top Bush and Clinton counterterrorism official, said it was "something straight out of Disney and fantasyland. It's factually wrong. And that's shameful." * Another scene revives the old right-wing myth that press reporting made it impossible to track Osama bin Laden, accusing the Washington Post of blowing the secret that American intelligence tracked his satellite phone calls. In reality, responsibility for that blunder -- contrary to "The Path to 9/11" -- rests with none other than the arch-conservative Washington Times. * The former National Security Council head of counterterrorism says that President Clinton "approved every request made of him by the CIA and the U.S. military involving using force against bin Laden and al-Qaeda," and the 9/11 report says the CIA had full authority from President Clinton to strike Bin Laden. Yet chief "Path to 9/11" scriptwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh, a friend of Rush Limbaugh, says the miniseries shows how President Clinton had "frequent opportunities in the '90s to stop Bin Laden in his tracks -- but lacked the will to do so." * ABC asked only the Republican co-chair of the 9/11 Commission, Tom Kean, Sr., to advise the makers of "The Path to 9/11". The producers optioned two books, one written by a Bush administration political appointee, as the basis of the screenplay -- yet bill the miniseries as "based on the 9/11 Commission Report." This is a picture of bias -- a conservative attempt to rewrite the history of September 11 to blame Democrats, just in time for the election. Tell Walt Disney president Robert Iger that you hold his company responsible -- and that this community demands that ABC tell the truth: http://www.democrats.org/pathto911 ABC is trying to use of the airwaves -- airwaves owned by you and me, and loaned to broadcasters as a public trust -- to slander Democrats and sell a slanderous, irresponsible fraud to the American people, and they're shamefully doing it just weeks away from Election Day. The Walt Disney Corporation could have given Americans an honest look at September 11. Instead, the company abandoned its duty to the truth -- and embraced the fiction known as "The Path to 9/11." But ABC isn't the only company pushing this gross revision of history. ABC has enlisted the reputable education and children's entertainment company Scholastic, Inc. to send 100,000 letters to high school teachers, urging them to show students "The Path to 9/11". Scholastic has also created a discussion guide for teachers to use to encourage students and their families to watch this irresponsible fraud and then discuss it in school. The discussion guide does not in any way point out the concerns and criticisms that have been raised about the validity and accuracy of the film. We've got to stop this now. ABC/Disney must face an accountability moment. You can ratchet up the pressure on ABC by sending your own letter to Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger -- tell him to keep this propaganda off their air. http://www.democrats.org/pathto911 We'll keep you up to date as this story evolves. Thank you, Tom Tom McMahon Executive Director Democratic National Committee
Note: this topic is from 9/07/2006. Thanks WmShirerAdmirer.
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