Posted on 09/21/2001 9:09:50 PM PDT by quimby
Politically Incorrect Pulled From ABC Reprinted from NewsMax.com
ABC Station Yanks Maher Program
Wes Vernon Friday, Sept. 21, 2001
ABC's affiliate in the nation's capitol has decided to take "Politically Incorrect" off its air. WJLA-TV in Washington says host Bill Maher's remarks were "insensitive." Maher had made the statement that the U.S. was "cowardly" in lobbing missiles at Kosovo thousands of miles away. The remark came in an interview with Dinesh D'Souza, who had said that whatever else the despicable terrorists were, a willingness to sacrifice their lives to commit their murderous act Sept. 11 did not show cowardice.
In a statement issued by WJLA-TV's President and General Manager Christopher Pike, the station declared it was "also offended by the insensitive remarks made by host Bill Maher on ABC's Politically Incorrect this week."
The bottom line, where this leading outlet in the Washington is concerned, is that "As a result of these comments, and although we are contractually obligated to air Politically Incorrect, WJLA will substitute a replacement program in this time period [effective immediately]. … We have also passed along our concern to ABC."
The statement made no mention of whether the ban would be lifted after the uproar subsides. And attempts by NewsMax.com to get a clarification were unsuccessful.
When an affiliate of a network cancels a program over a controversy such as this, it becomes an economic battle between a corporation and its customer. And sometimes the economics can be high-stakes. The larger the market, the more money that is involved.
"Although we are strong defenders of the right to free speech," Pike’s statement continued, "Mr. Maher’s ill-timed comments demonstrated a lack of feeling for the victims of this tragedy" in "this time of great sorrow."
With certain caveats, Maher received a measure of sympathy from unexpected quarters. Both Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, on their shows Thursday, acknowledged Maher's explanation that he did not mean to imply that it was the military that was "cowardly."
Limbaugh accepted that, while agreeing the choice of Maher's wording was poor. The talk show host criticized the "Politically Incorrect" host for using the non-specific term "we."
"We" were not cowardly, the radio talker told his huge audience.
He went on to recall that at the time President Clinton ordered missile firing on Kosovo in 1999, he himself was critical of the action. He had said it raised questions as to whether the presidential directive was issued to "distract attention from what was then going on in Washington, D.C." – a clear reference to the fact that at the time, allegations of rape were then swirling around the then-president, who had just survived an impeachment attempt.
In that sense, Limbaugh said, he could actually agree with Maher if the TV host meant that Clinton, and "only [that] one man" was cowardly. He noted that this was perhaps the "one and only time" he had ever tended to agree with Maher.
Of course, Limbaugh added, the "Politically Incorrect" emcee couldn't bring himself to utter a critical word of "his god, Clinton."
That exact comment was made later on Fox News Channel's "The O’Reilly Factor," where Maher appeared as an interviewee. O'Reilly accepted Maher's explanation of not meaning to implicate the military, though he did note that the timing for Maher's poor wording could not have come at a worse time.
The fact that a station right in the capitol of this nation has yanked "Politically Incorrect" has made other cancellations more likely, depending on what action is taken by the Disney-owned network to make amends.
Looks like he has been sufficiently FREEPED.
Great job, Americans!
1 Posted on 09/21/2001 15:12:39 PDT by I_Publius
Today, at least 2 more sponsors, Chevy and Quiznos annouced they were dropping mahre.
Sponsor contactlist here:
Maher had made the statement that the U.S. was "cowardly" in lobbing missiles at Kosovo thousands of miles away.
I don't see the problem with this. It WAS cowardly to target the civilian population of Yugoslavia from 25,000 feet. They did not attack us, they did not threaten us. We had no business bombing them. Bombing the television stations and hospitals and trains carrying civilians of a country that never meant us any harm is an act of treachery. The coward, however, was not the military man but rather his leaders, up to the top.
ZipLock said they hadn't sponsored him nationally.
How to convince the network of Peter (Terminally Snooty) Jennings and Ellen (Grimmest "Comic" Going) DeGeneres to drop Bill Weasel's Political Colorectal--that is the question.
In-frigging-credible. We know who the enemy is, at least. THey should hope that we don't have war in our streets, in the US. I wonder what their "news" would be then...because war in US streets, IMO, is possible. What would they do then?
Thanks for the info. Ziploc is not on the latest list.
Talk about cutting off one's nose to spite one's face!
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