Posted on 09/08/2006 12:10:14 PM PDT by forty_years
"Liberals" are urging ABC to censor its planned mini-series, "The Path To 911," stating, "Accounts of advance screenings indicate that this program places primary responsibility for the attacks of 9/11 on the Clinton administration while whitewashing the failures of the Bush administration." Our Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press..." I don't see an exemption made for "advance screenings" by leftists. Remind you of the Islamist reaction to the Danish cartoons? Birds of a feather... If the Left doesn't like it, then it doesn't get shown? Is this what we've come to as a society?
Please explain, what is "liberal" about censoring a TV show? Such condescension towards the American people -- the Left's assumption being that Americans are too stupid to decide for themselves what happened on 911. Should the media only dish out negative coverage of Bush, but not of Clinton? Please contact ABC and urge them politely to go ahead with "The Path To 911." Here's a sample letter:
I urge you to resist calls to censor your special, "The Path To 911." Please air the mini-series as-is, and let the American people decide for themselves. 911 was a great tragedy. The last thing our country needs is less information about the event. Thank you.
ABC on-line comment form:
http://abc.go.com/site/contactus.html
ABC general comments, including telephone comment line:
77 West 66th Street New York, NY 10023
General Information 212-456-7777 (comment line)
Network News desk 212-456-2700
212-456-4866 (fax) or 212-456-2795 (fax)
Email: netaudr@abc.com
Robert Iger, President
Web: www.abc.com
Democrat for Censorship
No, he's using it right now in a very irresponsible fashion - a fashion which is a veiled threat to other people's freedom of speech.
As another poster pointed out, the Senate minority leader is now threatening their broadcaster's license.
Awful fair minded of you to be cautious here...you sound like a tepid moderate.
Personally, notwithstanding the liberal bias of ABC, I will not be watching the show...
Two reasons:
It has already characterized itself as "fictionalized."
If it is redacted to suit the dims, that in and of itself makes it a lie.
And I stand by mine.
IB4TZ!
Having NOT sent emails to CBS on the Reagan bio, I had absolutely NO problem telling Mickey Mouse and his friends not to cave.
Might I suggest "Dereliction of Duty" by Lt. Col. "Buzz" Patterson for the true story of Clinton and bin Laden. The man was ONLY carrying the nuclear football for about 2 or 3 years in the mid-90s.
million says they cave..ABC is in bed with the Liberal Dems ..We all know that ..It's fine ot slander Bush day in day out .But , His Highness Klinton..NEVER...He will rewrite his own history and the sheep will follow.
Thanks for the info. I just sent them my email. I urge everyone to do the same.
Wonderful thing about a free country. Ain't it?
No argument from me.
While our elected representatives are not involved, I hope that our founding charter represents most citizens' sentiments — at least that Congress represents the people, and by extension, most people oppose censorship of the free flow of ideas, Right or Left.
Calvin...i read that post and others in your past, albeit a short one...and I think you are well-reasoned, even-tempered, and concise...while I don't agree with the hands-off abortion sect of the Libertarian click (which you apparently don't either), I believe this country would be well off if the federal government was concerned with the issues they were tasked to handle rather than insinuating themselves into every aspect of american lives.
Welcome.
Thank you for you kind words.
It depends on how much pressure can be brought by advertisers. After all, it's all about ratings, ratings = money.
The "controversy" is a huge draw; but if the threat of having satan breath down their neck is greater, than, yes, they may cave.
"Buzz" Patterson... the colonel who carreied the 'nuke-football' for 3 years under Clinton... said there were 3 times on his watch that Clinton passed on bagging bin Laden. FURTHER... he said there was a total of 8 times... that he passed on grabbing him during his two terms in office.
Calvin Coolidge....member since 9-3-06....
No, because ABC is showing Path to 9/11 without commercials. And I don't think ABC's advertisers in general would be spooked.
"It does actually sound like this film has some serious shortcomings in accuracy."
How's this for accuracy?
"Regarding the scene, it was never clear to my officers or myself who canceled the operation. It is true that Clarke was bad-mouthing it. What I don't think people know, however, is that the Agency had thoroughly reviewed the plan and had approved its execution at the highest level -- that is, at the level of DCI Tenet and his immediate subordinates. (NB: At Tenet's direction, JSOC commanders at Fort Bragg also reviewed the plan. They approved it, said they could not do better, and built two sand-table mock-ups of the bin Laden's compound for us to use in preparing the operation.) My officers and I were told that the plan had been sent to Clarke and the NSC for approval. The next thing we knew, the Chief of CT at CIA told us that the plan had been canceled because civilians might get killed, there was not a hundred percent chance that we would get bin Laden, and that if bin Laden was killed in the capture effort the CIA might get accused of assassination. The implication to us at the time was that the NSC canceled the operation, but Tenet later claimed he did it himself. I don't know what the full truth is on this issue. Interestingly, after our east Africa embassies were bombed on 7 August 98, Clarke ordered us to immediately revive the capture plan, but of course by then the chance had been well and truly lost."
- Michael F. Scheuer, a 22-year veteran with the CIA, created and served as the chief of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center.
Your a day late and a dollar short. But keep trying.
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