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Senate Democratic leadership threatens Disney with legal and legislative sanctions
americablog.blogspot.com ^ | September 07, 2006 | John in DC

Posted on 09/07/2006 4:12:34 PM PDT by Mo1


Senate Democratic leadership threatens Disney with legal and legislative sanctions

by John in DC - 9/07/2006 06:02:00 PM

This letter was sent today by the entire Democratic leadership of the US Senate. This letter is such a major shot across the bow of Disney, it's not even funny. It is FILLED with veiled threats, both legal and legislative, against Disney. US Senators don't make threats like this, especially the entire Democratic leadership en masse, unless they mean it. Disney is in serious trouble.

Read it, then read my analysis of it below:
September 7, 2006

Mr. Robert A. Iger
President and CEO
The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank CA 91521

Dear Mr. Iger,

We write with serious concerns about the planned upcoming broadcast of The Path to 9/11 mini-series on September 10 and 11. Countless reports from experts on 9/11 who have viewed the program indicate numerous and serious inaccuracies that will undoubtedly serve to misinform the American people about the tragic events surrounding the terrible attacks of that day. Furthermore, the manner in which this program has been developed, funded, and advertised suggests a partisan bent unbecoming of a major company like Disney and a major and well respected news organization like ABC. We therefore urge you to cancel this broadcast to cease Disney’s plans to use it as a teaching tool in schools across America through Scholastic. Presenting such deeply flawed and factually inaccurate misinformation to the American public and to children would be a gross miscarriage of your corporate and civic responsibility to the law, to your shareholders, and to the nation.

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. Nowhere is this public interest obligation more apparent than in the duty of broadcasters to serve the civic needs of a democracy by promoting an open and accurate discussion of political ideas and events.

Disney and ABC claim this program to be based on the 9/11 Commission Report and are using that assertion as part of the promotional campaign for it. The 9/11 Commission is the most respected American authority on the 9/11 attacks, and association with it carries a special responsibility. Indeed, the very events themselves on 9/11, so tragic as they were, demand extreme care by any who attempt to use those events as part of an entertainment or educational program. To quote Steve McPhereson, president of ABC Entertainment, “When you take on the responsibility of telling the story behind such an important event, it is absolutely critical that you get it right.”

Unfortunately, it appears Disney and ABC got it totally wrong.

Despite claims by your network’s representatives that The Path to 9/11 is based on the report of the 9/11 Commission, 9/11 Commissioners themselves, as well as other experts on the issues, disagree.

Richard Ben-Veniste, speaking for himself and fellow 9/11 Commissioners who recently viewed the program, said, “As we were watching, we were trying to think how they could have misinterpreted the 9/11 Commission’s findings the way that they had.” [“9/11 Miniseries Is Criticized as Inaccurate and Biased,” New York Times, September 6, 2006]

Richard Clarke, the former counter-terrorism czar, and a national security advisor to ABC has described the program as “deeply flawed” and said of the program’s depiction of a Clinton official hanging up on an intelligence agent, “It’s 180 degrees from what happened.” [“9/11 Miniseries Is Criticized as Inaccurate and Biased,” New York Times, September 6, 2006]

Reports suggest that an FBI agent who worked on 9/11 and served as a consultant to ABC on this program quit halfway through because, “he thought they were making things up.” [MSNBC, September 7, 2006]

Even Thomas Kean, who serves as a paid consultant to the miniseries, has admitted that scenes in the film are fictionalized. [“9/11 Miniseries Is Criticized as Inaccurate and Biased,” New York Times, September 6, 2006]

That Disney would seek to broadcast an admittedly and proven false recounting of the events of 9/11 raises serious questions about the motivations of its creators and those who approved the deeply flawed program. Finally, that Disney plans to air commercial-free a program that reportedly cost it $40 million to produce serves to add fuel to these concerns.

These concerns are made all the more pressing by the political leaning of and the public statements made by the writer/producer of this miniseries, Mr. Cyrus Nowrasteh, in promoting this miniseries across conservative blogs and talk shows.

Frankly, that ABC and Disney would consider airing a program that could be construed as right-wing political propaganda on such a grave and important event involving the security of our nation is a discredit both to the Disney brand and to the legacy of honesty built at ABC by honorable individuals from David Brinkley to Peter Jennings. Furthermore, that Disney would seek to use Scholastic to promote this misguided programming to American children as a substitute for factual information is a disgrace.

As 9/11 Commission member Jamie Gorelick said, “It is critically important to the safety of our nation that our citizens, and particularly our school children, understand what actually happened and why – so that we can proceed from a common understanding of what went wrong and act with unity to make our country safer.”

Should Disney allow this programming to proceed as planned, the factual record, millions of viewers, countless schoolchildren, and the reputation of Disney as a corporation worthy of the trust of the American people and the United States Congress will be deeply damaged. We urge you, after full consideration of the facts, to uphold your responsibilities as a respected member of American society and as a beneficiary of the free use of the public airwaves to cancel this factually inaccurate and deeply misguided program. We look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Sincerely,

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid
Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Senator Charles Schumer
Senator Byron Dorgan
The Senate Democratic leadership just threatened Disney's broadcast license. Not the use of the word "trustee" at the beginning of the letter and "trust" at the end. This is nothing less than an implicit threat that if Disney tries to meddle in the US elections on behalf of the Republicans, they will pay a very serious price when the Democrats get back in power, or even before.

This raises the stakes incredibly for Disney.



TOPICS: Breaking News; Business/Economy; Government; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: 109th; 1stamendment; 2ndamendment; 911; abc; abcbestrong; abledanger; abuseofpower; americanhaters; antiamericanhaters; arkancide; assclowns; balsawoodliberals; benedictarnolds; bergertheftofdocs; binclintonalot; bjclinton; bluedress; boohoo; bookburners; brownshirts; callfbi; cantstandthetruth; castrolovers; censorship; cheaters; chinesecampaignmoney; clinton; clintonhitlist; clintonistas; clintonlegacy; clintonoids; communists; crimedimwitparty; crybabies; democratcensors; democratgestapo; democrats; demofascists; demosocialists; demseattheirown; dimwitscry; dimwitthreats; dirtyrats; disbarred; disney; enemywithin; fascists; fraud; freespeech; gaydaysatdisney; gestapo; gflowers; gorelickmemo; gorelickwall; gramsci; hatefuldimwits; heilhitler; hitler; impeached; intimidation; islamofascism; jfkjrkilledbyhill; jimguytucker; lawsuit; letbinladengo; liars; mao; monica; monicasdress; monicastain; mussolini; nationalsocialists; nazis; notruth; ovalofficestain; pathto911; paulajones; perjury; pinkocommies; popcorn; putsomeiceonit; rapedjuanita; repealmccainfeingold; roselawfirmrecords; sandyburglar; scumbags; sept11; september10thrats; sinkmeister; slickwillie; ss; stabenow; stalin; stalinists; thefinalsolution; thosecrazyrats; thosedirtyrats; toodangfunny; truthhurts; truthiskryptonite; unamerican; waronterror; whileclintonslept; whitewater; whokilledfoster; whokilledjfkjr; whoshotjr; wordsfailme
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To: mainepatsfan

I wonder if there's anyone in their caucus screaming that this is nuts?

___________

I bet so. It'll be interesting to see who shows up on the talk shows and who doesn't.


1,021 posted on 09/07/2006 8:10:19 PM PDT by conservativepoet
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To: freedumb2003

I know we're on the same page, and the same side... I don't mean to sound comative. I'd just rather be correctly quoted.


1,022 posted on 09/07/2006 8:10:50 PM PDT by Fudd Fan ("The purpose of the UN is to ensure that the U.S. never wins another war." -HonestConservative)
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To: conservativepoet

Not anyone up for reelection in a red state.


1,023 posted on 09/07/2006 8:11:13 PM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan
I wonder if there's anyone in their caucus screaming that this is nuts?

Doubtful - anyone who did that would be instantly "Liebermaned."

1,024 posted on 09/07/2006 8:11:27 PM PDT by CFC__VRWC (AIDS, abortion, euthanasia - Don't liberals just kill ya?)
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comative = combative

durn fingies


1,025 posted on 09/07/2006 8:12:34 PM PDT by Fudd Fan ("The purpose of the UN is to ensure that the U.S. never wins another war." -HonestConservative)
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To: darkangel82

As angry as I am with the Republicans, I'm going to vote this November anyway. This little episode should give you a hint of just what's to come if these fascists win in November.


1,026 posted on 09/07/2006 8:13:21 PM PDT by Uncle Vlad (You cannot protect the peoples' civil liberties if you refuse to protect the people.)
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To: SoCalPol

Well I *ping*ed 'em all! lol


1,027 posted on 09/07/2006 8:13:25 PM PDT by Fudd Fan ("The purpose of the UN is to ensure that the U.S. never wins another war." -HonestConservative)
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To: SE Mom
......Should Disney allow this programming to proceed as planned, the factual record, millions of viewers, countless schoolchildren, and the reputation of Disney as a corporation worthy of the trust of the American people and the United States Congress will be deeply damaged. We urge you, after full consideration of the facts, to uphold your responsibilities as a respected member of American society and as a beneficiary of the free use of the public airwaves to cancel this factually inaccurate and deeply misguided program. We look forward to hearing back from you soon.

This is so very, very sad. The Democrat party used to stand for something other than lying, cheating, and stealing. They used to be AGAINST traitors and enemies of the U.S.A. (foreign AND domestic). They used to be FOR God, decency, principles, and the strength of our nation. It's sad.....but also alarming. We can't turn our back on these people. We can't allow them to run this Nation.....PERIOD!!!!

1,028 posted on 09/07/2006 8:13:31 PM PDT by Just Lori (VOTE!.............Your freedom depends on YOU!)
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To: Fudd Fan
. I'd just rather be correctly quoted.

Good policy, especially here on FR :)

1,029 posted on 09/07/2006 8:13:47 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (the war on poverty should include health club memberships for the morbidly poor)
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To: Bullish

"Senator Byron Dorgan...These Rats are as bad as the Mullahs of Iran."

Speaking of censorship and mullahs - Dorgan, Durbin and Kerry successfully censored (redacted) 100 pages of the Barrett Report which would have spilled the beans on the Bent One's pressure on govt. agencies in the Cisneros investigation. Did our Republican stalwarts write letters about that or prevent its happening?


1,030 posted on 09/07/2006 8:14:50 PM PDT by SisBoombah
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To: Uncle Vlad

I'm not happy with them either. I will be voting for them however, no other choice.


1,031 posted on 09/07/2006 8:15:10 PM PDT by darkangel82 (Higher visibility leads to greater zottability.)
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To: freedumb2003

a-HA, we must have had a couple of posters-in-common! lol


1,032 posted on 09/07/2006 8:15:23 PM PDT by Fudd Fan ("The purpose of the UN is to ensure that the U.S. never wins another war." -HonestConservative)
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To: hipaatwo

Also from the DUmp


I'm still only halfway through this thread, so I don't know if anyone went to DU to check google bomb news

To counteract the effects the ABC 9-11 movie could have on the midterm elections, I recommend this course of action:

The night of, and the morning after, people will be hitting the internet looking for information on the events as depicted in this movie.

Our biggest opportunity will be to have nearly identical blog posts waiting, then submit them to be found internet wide the morning after the movie. Google and Technorati will pick up on these posts quickly. We can make these entries dominate the first several pages of the search engines.

MAKE SURE THE POST TITLE HAS THE TITLE OF THE MOVIE IN IT!

Get every Democratic friendly blog on board as possible... you e-mail the ones you know, they'll e-mail the ones they know, etc. Make SURE these blogs are on the Technorati network and have also been submitted to Google's blog search.

For one day, change the title of your blog to the title of the movie.

Agree on a clear, detailed, and sourced body of information -- I've seen several examples on DU lately disputing what is in the movie. Media Matters has one. One was posted today on DU by Richard Clarke.

Everyone post it. Right after the movie is over or the next morning at the latest.

MAKE SURE THE POST TITLE HAS THE TITLE OF THE MOVIE IN IT!

DU JOURNALS WILL ALSO WORK! They're indexed in Technorati! To use DU journals for this, the admins will need to allow a forum for everyone who want to to post and almost identical post with facts concerning intelligence failures leading up to 9/11.

MAKE SURE THE POST TITLE HAS THE TITLE OF THE MOVIE IN IT!

Sample info:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...


1,033 posted on 09/07/2006 8:15:24 PM PDT by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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To: SuziQ
If there are 9/11 Commission members who object to this series, and I'm assuming that in addition to Richard Ben Veniste, that the group also includes Jamie "The Wall" Gorelick, then they need to present the EVIDENCE that the producers of this series lied in their presentation of events. This blustering of Democrat Senators and opinion pieces in the form of news reports in the NYT ain't gonna cut it.

There is no proof. The fact of the matter is the writer of "Path to 9/11" interviewed many of the same people the 9/11 commission staffers did. The commission can't survive a side by side comparison of the one on one interviews.

1,034 posted on 09/07/2006 8:15:34 PM PDT by gov_bean_ counter ( I am sitting under my cone of silence, inside a copper wire cage wearing a tin foil hat...)
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To: Mo1
Quick, pull up the draw bridge! The crazy Senate Demolibs are going to storm Cinderella's Castle!

Walt Disney Company has many, many liberals within its ranks, which makes this even more fun to watch. Move over Goofy, you have been replaced by the Demonocratic members of the Senate.
1,035 posted on 09/07/2006 8:16:11 PM PDT by NorseWood
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To: tapatio

Scholastic has NEA affiliations, I believe.


1,036 posted on 09/07/2006 8:16:58 PM PDT by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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To: darkangel82

Yup. We can start purging the RINOs after the election.


1,037 posted on 09/07/2006 8:17:14 PM PDT by Uncle Vlad (You cannot protect the peoples' civil liberties if you refuse to protect the people.)
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To: Txsleuth
"You need to keep that post....and just like with the freepathon...post it on all threads until the election."

Agree, but smaller font would be greatly appreciated.

1,038 posted on 09/07/2006 8:18:10 PM PDT by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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To: Fudd Fan

You have done your work for the party for the whole year just today.


1,039 posted on 09/07/2006 8:18:44 PM PDT by SoCalPol (We Need A Border Fence Now)
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To: Uncle Vlad

That's why I keep my GOP registration, for primaries.


1,040 posted on 09/07/2006 8:18:44 PM PDT by darkangel82 (Higher visibility leads to greater zottability.)
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