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Dems Cry Foul Over Anti-Kerry Film
CBS2 Chicago ^ | October 11, 2004 | AP

Posted on 10/11/2004 1:13:07 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

WASHINGTON (AP) The Democratic Party and 18 senators are objecting to a broadcasting company's plan to air on 62 TV stations a critical documentary about John Kerry's anti-war activities after he returned home from Vietnam three decades ago.

Sinclair Broadcast Group has asked its television stations -- many of them in competitive states in the presidential election -- to pre-empt regular programming to run the documentary as part of an hourlong program two weeks before the Nov. 2 election.

Based near Baltimore, the company owns or manages affiliates of major broadcast networks in several states, including Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. Among its affiliates are WPGH, a Fox station, and WCWB, a WB station, in Pittsburgh.

Mark Hyman, a vice president of corporate relations for Sinclair who also is a conservative commentator for the company, said Monday the show would contain some or all of the 42-minute film as well as a panel discussion of some sort. He said final details had not been worked out.

The documentary, called "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," chronicles Kerry's 1971 testimony before Congress and links him to activist and actress Jane Fonda. It includes interviews with Vietnam prisoners of war and their wives who claim that Kerry's testimony -- filled with "lurid fantasies of butchery in Vietnam" on the part of U.S. troops -- demeaned them and led their captors to hold them longer.

The Democratic National Committee planned to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday contending that Sinclair's airing of the film should be considered an illegal in-kind contribution to President Bush's campaign. Also, 18 Democratic senators sent a letter to the Federal Communication Commission asking that it investigate whether Sinclair's plan was an improper use of public airwaves.

However, Sinclair's Hyman said, "The documentary is just a part of a special news event that we're putting together. We've invited one person to be a guest. That's Senator John Kerry." The company posted a note on its Web site Monday afternoon urging people to call Kerry's headquarters to urge his participation.

Chad Clanton, a Kerry campaign spokesman, said, "Everything is on the table but it's hard to take an offer seriously from a group with such a fierce partisan agenda, a group that's clearly not interested in the truth."

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said the company was acting as a mouthpiece for the Republican Party rather than a legitimate news outlet.

"In this election cycle, they have put their money where their right-wing mouths are," he said. "Sinclair's owners aren't interested in news. They're interested in pro-Bush propaganda."

Campaign finance records show that the company's executives have donated thousands of dollars to Bush's campaign. In April, the company was in the news for refusing to run a "Nightline" show in which hundreds of names of American troops killed in Iraq were read by ABC anchor Ted Koppel.

Hyman called the allegations about the documentary "absolutely absurd."

"Would they suggest that our reporting a car bomb in Iraq is an in-kind contribution to the Kerry campaign? Would they suggest that our reporting on job losses is an in-kind contribution to the Kerry campaign?" he said. "It's the news. It is what it is. We're reporting the news."

Carlton Sherwood, a Vietnam veteran and former journalist who made the film, said Monday that he felt the media had not explored the period of Kerry's life after he returned from Vietnam, including when he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee alleging atrocities in Vietnam.

"For 33 years, we've been saying that how Kerry portrayed us was utterly false. It was purgatory of the worst kind. It was slander," Sherwood said. "But no one wanted to talk about it. Everybody ran for cover."

Sherwood, based in Harrisburg, Pa., said the film took six weeks to make, and Sinclair contacted him last month upon the film's completion. He said he was told last week of the company's plans to run it, and that the company was not compensating him for the film.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: antikerryfilm; antiwar; election; film; kerry; stolenhonor; vietnam
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To: rintense

LIBERALS have already shown Moore's propaganda hit piece in schools.

The MSM has pushed it and promoted it.

Moore is hoping for an Academy Award.

I mean, really!


41 posted on 10/11/2004 1:33:48 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: SandRat

What are they crying about ? Kerry said that he was PROUD of what he has done. If he so proud of his senate testimony, I would think he would want it out there and covered right before an election.

Put it out there for the world to see over and over again.


42 posted on 10/11/2004 1:34:09 PM PDT by OldGuard (W04)
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To: DrDavid

Bump!


43 posted on 10/11/2004 1:34:35 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Nick Danger
<<<<<<<<<<<<"Ha ha ha! This is the same dumb thing Kerry did when the Swift Vet ads started. They are going to make a bigger deal of this than it ever would have been otherwise, and millions of people will go out of their way now to watch it. I love it when my enemies destroy themselves!">>>>>>>>>>

Yours was my initial thought, too, when I first heard the news early this morning. My step took on a sudden burst of energy, relishing as I walked the "foul play sirens" we'd be hearing all week.

Bring it on, and let the play begin!

Best as always . . . Penny


44 posted on 10/11/2004 1:36:08 PM PDT by Penny ((Proud member of the Free Republic Negligee Brigade for Truth and Justice!))
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To: OldGuard

Kerry can sue if he feels it's slander.

I'm sure he can find a lawyer to represent him.


45 posted on 10/11/2004 1:36:42 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: DrDavid
Terry McAuliffe is a common thug. Period!
The Democrats thought they were being cute when they organized Fat Tubby Moore's lies and disinformation filled piece of anti-Bush Goebbels-like propaganda, didn't they?
Well two can play at that game.
The chickens have come home to roost for the Democratic Party hate-mongers. They are going to have to lie down and take it.
Am I enjoying their pain? You bet!
46 posted on 10/11/2004 1:40:07 PM PDT by KwasiOwusu
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

This old infantryman's heart would weep with joy were this to really come to pass.
After thirty years of waiting in vain for a measure of justice, I don't dare hope.


47 posted on 10/11/2004 1:40:35 PM PDT by shagbark
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To: OldGuard
They just don't like being told that the Emperor has no new clothes and having it broadcast around the country and world, especially from the VRWC (Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy).
48 posted on 10/11/2004 1:40:44 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

This Democratic cryfest brought to you by.......All the Little Peasants that want Truth In Advertising!!!!!!

C'est la Gar!.......Bush in 04'!

49 posted on 10/11/2004 1:40:49 PM PDT by thingumbob (Kerry/Edwards are sKerry/Leftwards)
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To: DSBull

50 posted on 10/11/2004 1:42:42 PM PDT by No Blue States
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To: shagbark

51 posted on 10/11/2004 1:44:37 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: shagbark

You need to contact members of any veterans group that you may belong and ask them to contact Sinclair to thank them for showing this newsworthy film.


52 posted on 10/11/2004 1:45:53 PM PDT by ArmedNReady (George Bush has Wood for the Democrats)
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To: ArmedNReady

Here's the email I sent:

I've purchased and watched this documentary and will be proud to watch it again on television. It was a tremendous endeavor on the part of Carlton Sherwood both journalistically and personally.

I think it shows the important role John Kerry played in our Nation's history during that particular period. He, himself, has said that he was proud of his actions when he returned from Vietnam and protested the war...proud of his testimony in front of the Senate.

He should have no problem, then, with this documentary being shown to the public.

Thank you for your reporting,


53 posted on 10/11/2004 1:53:23 PM PDT by serpentineshel
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To: fanningp

Thanks.


54 posted on 10/11/2004 1:53:42 PM PDT by planekT
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Personally, I don't think either Farenheit 9/11 or Stolen Honour should be allowed on TV before this election.

Both in their own way are a special form of propaganda and I believe democracy is not well served by either.


55 posted on 10/11/2004 1:54:50 PM PDT by Mac017 (NZer)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"The Democratic National Committee planned to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday contending that Sinclair's airing of the film should be considered an illegal in-kind contribution to President Bush's campaign. Also, 18 Democratic senators sent a letter to the Federal Communication Commission asking that it investigate whether Sinclair's plan was an improper use of public airwaves."

The fascists on the Left must be worried. You can always tell, you know, when they call on the government to censor free speech.

Liberals are seething ideological fanatics who care nothing for rights. They care about power.

56 posted on 10/11/2004 1:57:47 PM PDT by Reactionary
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"The Democratic National Committee planned to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday contending that Sinclair's airing of the film should be considered an illegal in-kind contribution to President Bush's campaign. Also, 18 Democratic senators sent a letter to the Federal Communication Commission asking that it investigate whether Sinclair's plan was an improper use of public airwaves."

The fascists on the Left must be worried. You can always tell, you know, when they call on the government to censor free speech.

Liberals are seething ideological fanatics who care nothing for rights. They care about power.

57 posted on 10/11/2004 1:58:28 PM PDT by Reactionary
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I love the sound of democrats whining in the morning. It sounds... it sounds like victory.


58 posted on 10/11/2004 2:00:31 PM PDT by Zon
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To: Mac017
"Personally, I don't think either Fahrenheit 9/11 or Stolen Honor should be allowed on TV before this election." How do you propose to undo the damage of over $100 million worth of anti-Bush box office propaganda done by Fahrenheit 911? Or Dan Rather's fraudulent smear against President Bush in his phoney "60 Minutes" piece? The Democrats have been at it at least for the past 2 years, and you now ask for a level plague on both houses? No way, Jose! This movie WILL be shown on TV, 18 Democratic senators or not!
59 posted on 10/11/2004 2:01:15 PM PDT by KwasiOwusu
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Don't forget Dan Forger's 1988 "documentary, The Wall Within, which supposedly detailed 5 or 6 "Vietnam veterans", who described the "atrocities" that they committed in Vietnam. B.G.Burkett,no,not that Burkett, co-author of Stolen Honor, totally debunked Forger's story by proving that 5 of the 6 had never been to Vietnam, and the 1 that had never saw any combat. When confronted with the facts, Forger said,"we stand by our story".
Why was this "documentary" shown in 1988? When was GHWB running for President?


60 posted on 10/11/2004 2:02:20 PM PDT by Bob from De (Scaramouche = Cowardly Braggart.......fits perfectly!)
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