Posted on 02/20/2003 1:49:40 PM PST by MattGarrett
Martin Sheen Tops Anti-War TV Spot Thu Feb 20, 3:13 AM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters/Variety TV to My Yahoo!
By Pamela McClintock
WASHINGTON (Variety) - Wielding his presidential-like appeal, actor Martin Sheen (news) headlines a TV ad debuting in Los Angeles and the nation's capital on Thursday urging Americans to join a Feb. 26 "virtual march" on Washington to oppose a war with Iraq.
Reuters Photo
AP Photo Slideshow: Martin Sheen Tops Anti-War TV Spot
Celebrities Join Anti-War Movement (Reuters Video)
Sheen -- who plays fictional U.S. President Jed Bartlet on NBC's "The West Wing (news - web sites)" -- was one of several celebrities joining a long list of church leaders and other activists in announcing the campaign at a Wednesday press conference in Los Angeles.
The umbrella coalition Artists United to Win Without War wants citizens to deluge the nation's capital with e-mails, faxes and phone calls.
Groups emerging in recent weeks to advocate a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis have had a difficult time buying national air time for anti-war spots. CNN and other networks say they are reluctant to air any advocacy ads, regardless of the issue.
To get around the skittish networks, groups are buying up time from local cable companies. Sheen's ad will appear on both CNN and Fox News Channel in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The spot will continue running throughout the next week.
Win Without War, headed up by former Capitol Hill lawmaker Tom Andrews, is hoping to buy time in other local markets.
"This virtual march on Washington will allow every American opposed to the war to stand up and be counted, by calling, faxing and e-mailing the U.S. Senate and the White House," Sheen says in the ad.
For years, there were strict federal regulations governing advocacy ads, with networks required to give equal time to the other side. Although those rules have been all but erased from the books, networks are still wary about airing such spots nationally.
Other celebrities flanking Sheen at Wednesday's press briefing included Janeane Garofalo (news) and Mike Farrell (news). Organizations on hand included the National Council of Churches, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, Greenpeace, NAACP and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
If the Dems cave in here, the right wing will steamroller us on every issue, gutting environmental protections, giving enormous new tax breaks to the rich while the economy tanks, and eviscerating our civil rights.
Who knew?
Go here to this thread for more instructions on how to sign up for a time slot and "help out"! Plus, cool links for the counter-FREEP...
After you set up the Freep, make sure to go to "Citizens against Celebrity Pundits" for more Freepy goodness... do your part to IMPEACH PRESIDENT BARTLETT!!
Sadly, many don't. To make my point, I was watching a special about "Gilligan's Island." Many people seriously wrote in wondering why the coast guard couldn't just rescue those poor people. They thought it was real.
Yikes.
Always figured he had a thing for camels...
He wasn't smart enough to get them off island, was he?
the Powell's weren't filthy rich? On my. I think I'm gonna go cry now. My illusion has been shattered.
As Mrs. Howell would say, "Now, there! There!"
Fun movie.
Must be standing on a huge box, silly little marty tops in at about 5'2".
Stars and Gripes Forever.
Tomorrow's Headlines: Outraged US Citizens Seek Rope and Vengence on Looney Hollywood Marxists Posing as Fellow Citizens!
Frederick The Great: Diplomacy, without the credible threat of force, is a like a concert without music!
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