The folks at Think Progress and Eschaton are reporting that ABC is not only refusing to provide advance copies of "The Path to 9/11" mini-series to progressive bloggers like yours truly, but to–jaw drop–President Clinton , Sandy Berger and Madeleine Albright.
Oh, they can get it to Rush Limbaugh, and a host of right-wing blogs two weeks before air date, but the Mickey Mouse network wants us to believe that they can’t make copies available for the former leader of the free world?
Charles Gibson and the rest of ABC News! Where are you in all of this? What do you make of what ABC Entertainment is doing to your rep?
Charlie, ABC is airing a fictionalized account of 9/11, that directly contradicts the 9/11 Commission Report on which it claims to be based. ABC politicized this project in all manner of ways, including sending preview copies to right-wing partisans, while exluding left-wing partisans. Your network claims this is a non-partisan public service, yet it is written and directed by avowed conservatives and is being fronted by only the Republican co-chair of the 9/11 Commission.
What part of this is fair or professional?
Should the former President and Secretary of State of this nation be denied a request by a television network that is supposed to serve the American people, and that uses our public airwaves? Look at what Madeleine Albright has to say:
While I have requested a copy of the broadcast, I have yet to receive one. I have been informed by some who had been given the right to view the broadcast that the drama depicts scenes that never happened, events that never took place, decisions that were never made and conversations that never occurred; it asserts as fact things that are not fact.
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asswipes
Jennifer!
BILL!
No surprise…ABC is trying to be the Faux News of Broadcast TV.
Boston Globe ran a softball report on the movie today with no mention of the controversy.
Clinton, Berger, Albright and Ben-Veniste ought to have their lawyers stop this before it airs. What can we do?
klyde—
I just called my son’s high school about this. Wasn’t able to reach anyone right now, lunch hour I guess. Are they going to show it? If so, are they going to provide a forum for people to correct inaccuracies?
Remember, anyone who is thinking that the press needs to be asking these questions can respectfully ask that they do hitting the”spotlight” link at the end of each post, and selecting either national or your own local media.
I think this satisfactorily falls under the category of “outrageous.” Smear a guy — the former President of the United States — and then refuse to let him have access to it so he can’t defend himself.
But crazy-assed wingnuts? No problem.
Oh, if Peter Jennings could see this– he’d be fighting mad– Charles Gibson is a willing wimp.
OT– CNN reporting that ABC says that bushco is giving Geneva Convention protections to CIA detainees.
too little, too late.
Jane Hamsher @
6
Just did it. Felt good.
We should make sure ABC is thought of as the Faux News of broadcast TV with its declining market share. No one who wants truth from their news should watch any ABC news programs again. If possible, set your TIVO for programs that run opposite ABC News programming (apparently the ratings services can and do count TIVO recordings) to hurt their market share.
Watching it right now !! Really.
wish I could get it to you.
Christy, Mary4, anylawyer
‘malice’, no? Anybody setting up a defense fund? Where can I donate?
I listed at the end of the last thread but please folks…
call george mitchell — he is on the disney board. His # is 212-335-4500 and his assistant is Ann Unger – 212-335-4601
Katie Couric might also be interested in this story, to take on the competition at ABC and to build up the “serious news” chops for the CBS Evening News.
here is the link to the disney board –
http://corporate.disney.go.com…..ctors.html
Has anyone else noticed that while the Path to 9/11 site is back up and ostensibly accepting comments (you can type ‘em and enter ‘em), those comments are not actually posting?
angie @ 7
Yeah, that’ll make me forget Gonzalez’s memos. In a pig’s eye!
Time to start calling companies that advertize during this mini-series and let them know their products are considered “non-existent” in your household. Anyone have a listing??
Hubris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Arrogance!!!!!!!!!!!!
and f–k–g scary.
I have been having a great time with spotlighting!
If the spotlight people happen to read this — I am hoping that they will soon include info on local npr affiliate stations. For example, I would like to spotlight this story to Brian Lehrer (I am emailing him anyway) because this is such a huge story for NYers.
Its good to harass ABC, but even better to spur other media outlets to cover the story critically.
helen @
10
why can’t you? Rip a copy, or in the interest of getting it to people who really need to see it, send what you’ve got. I bet Jennifer Nix and everyone at FDL would swoon and be eternally in your debt.
Jane Hamsher @
6
Thanks Jane.
I was unaware until yesterday, my fault, how easy Spotlight makes it to find local media.
Took me two minutes to Spotlight my ABC affiliate. FWIW, here’s the note I sent.
They’re just a huge fucking corporation, and they will do what they think is in their best interests. If they think that airing outright lies is that, they’ll do it. Just as another corporation in a different line of work would dump toxins in the drinking water if it boosted their bottom line for the next quarter. This is what businesses do.
I can tell you what would absolutely get the full and undivided attention of ABC-Disney corporate to this matter:
A giant pile of Disney DVDs delivered and piled up in the headquarters parking lot, with notes attached from the former owners, indicating that their families will no longer purchase any Disney entertainment whatsoever at any time, including from prominent sub-brands like Pixar. Permanent irrevocable boycott.
That would effectuate rapid change (as in the instant firing of Iger and anyone below him in the corporate hierarchy who had anything to do with the “Path” greenlighting).
Will it ever happen? No, it won’t, not a chance of it, because American progressives are mainly spineless consumerist suburbanites at heart, ones who can’t bear the thought that the kids might wail at not being able to see the latest Mouse dreck over and over.
wrong side of the Atlantic. By the time UPS or anybody got it to you, it’d have been aired.
drinksforall @
17
According to Variety, yesterday, they can’t find any sponsors. It will be shown “without commercial interruption.”
I saw Charlie Gibson on Charlie Rose a couple of weeks ago. He’s not going to do anything to rock his boat. But we need to spotlight it nevertheless, far and wide. Can’t seem to find the local SF ABC affiliate contact.
Unbelievable. As low-class as this operation is becoming, I am starting to think Dan Gerstein is advising these chuckleheads.
If nothing else, refusing the requests of a former president and a former Secretary of State is just rude and disrespectful. Wonder if they would refuse the same request by Bubba’s new best friend, Bush 41? Or how about the effect of this headline: “Clinton and Albright attend Preview of 9/11 Film at Home of George H.W. Bush.” Wouldn’t that be a hoot?
Maybe someone should ask for “equal time” from the network, for rebuttal.
Hello, America – this is the mindset of the people who have the power and want to hold onto it.
As an accompaniment to Teddy’s “Had Enough,” I would like to add:
=====================================
Mad as Hell and Not Going To Take it Anymore!!
=====================================
OT – raw story headline – Rove email in leak case withheld for a year,
office printout shows… Developing….
timewarp @
19
:-)
To find you local NPR stations do the following:
1) Uncheck “Print”
2) Check “Radio”
3) Check “Regional”
4) Enter a two-letter state code
5) press “Update”
6) select targets
7) press “Next”
And continue as normal.
If you want to see even more contacts you can all click “more>>” to see expanded options and then check “All”.
Absolutely!
Funny that ABC got the scoop on bushco’s “change of heart” toward all of these detainees…
tinfoil working nicely.
spotlighting is great.
Wonder if we can expand it to movie/tv critics?
I’ve been spotlighting this to the tribune but it only goes down to tempo editor when i would like to send it to the tribune tv writer. he is likely to review the damn show, would be nice to spot light these stories to tv critics at all the major papers, wires, etc.
drinksforall @ 17
Part of the insidious nature of this travesty is that there are no advertisers. They are running it without commercial support.
Anyone know how many hours this series is? How many minutes of paid revenue this show will forego?
Peterr @ 13
Peterr has a good point. CBS could pump her fluff and get payback on the Dan Rather fiasco at the same time. Reiterating, we need to go around ABC and Disney, rather than through or against them. ABC and Disney have been gaming their response to this for weeks. We need to surround them, not go up against their prepared positions.
Where’s George Patton when you really need him?
Maybe Bill can borrow Poppy and Bar’s copy. (Well, actually I’d bet they don’t have one either.)
You know, even if parents (or teachers) explain the dishonesty of this production, the kids who have this knowledge are left with the sad understanding that their government is a sham. This is the best case scenario. At least during Nixon’s time we got some justice on the heels of the revelations and were able to patch back together some faith in our democracy because of the Watergate hearings.
Now? What do the kids have? Nothing but corruption with no end in sight. The lucky ones have parents who will tell them the truth. The others will be fully propagandized for who knows how long?
The fact that this film is being broadcast with no commercials is such an unusual occurrence it has been annointed with gravitas and import right out of the starting gate, even if it is called a “docudrama”. There’s no getting around the fact that presentation speaks volumes.
Great post Jennifer, thanks.
I mentioned this last thread, Clinton is in a terrible postion here. Even for him to deny the obvious and calculated lies, gives Rove/Disney/ABC a standing they do not deserve.
This is an opportuntity for all of us to support the big Dawg, so there’s no need for him to speak. Every elected Democrate, national, state, and local, should denounce this, so Bill doesn’t have to say a word.
If they don’t, it hurts Bill’s ability to campaign with them in the Fall.
Where is Steve Jobs on this?
I am willing to mail my ipod (mashed with a hammer)
back to Apple.
I haven’t had anything to do with Disney
for years so I don’t have anything to send back to them. Didn’t let my kids participate either.
What’s up with #22?
ABC advertisers — great strategy. Why not start targeting their “normal” or heavy regular advertisers?
Anyone know who they are or have a list or watch a lot of ABC?
I widely checked the Internets — bittorrents and all that — “The Path to 9/11″ isnt available yet …
6 hours of it, meta.
I’ve contacted several people at ABC and have sent an e-mail to George Mitchell, Chairman of the Board at Disney. So far I’ve only gotten canned “we got your message,but can’t read it” types of canned responses.
I believe the real way to make an impact is to contact the sponsors. I understand that ABC is running the “docuspin” without sponsors, but they do have regular corporate sponsors. I found that several of these corporations sponsor several ABC primetime Programs. List of sponsors by program via (very ironically):
Parents TV.org
Just a short list of sponsors of several programs: Cingular, Ford, Home Depot, Dominos…
How great is FireDogLake? Even Somerby, toughest critic in blogosphere, thinks you are doing great.
marquer, watch your mouth.
We helped Ned kick Joe’s ass.
Quit running us down and use all that anger to Spotlight your local media on this.
OT, if you had read some of the prior posts, you’d know that Disney/ABC stands to LOSE $40,000,000 on this. They can’t find any advertisers. We’re focussed on Disney/ABC management and we need the help of Disney/ABC shareholders to pressure them.
*ilson46201 @ 36
I have been looking too with no luck.
Interesting back to back timing of the release of the Corn/Issakoff book and ABC’s hitpiece. Up at Raw Story http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0906.html they have the newest revelations. The release of this book which is bound to cause great political harm is now being offset by a movie treat for America.
helen @
10
why can’t you? Rip a copy, or in the interest of getting it to people who really need to see it, send what you’ve got. I bet Jennifer Nix and everyone at FDL would swoon and be eternally in your debt.John Casper @ 33
I beg to differ on this one. One of the reasons I feel the democratic party has fallen out of favor in past years is because too many times someone was afraid to call bullshit on something the other side put out. the fact is, it’s already out there. To stay silent is ALSO to give credence to whatever argument they put forth. It’s time to speak up. And loudly.
Mary McCurnin @
34
Don’t want to belabor what may be common knowledge, but Steve Jobs is on the Disney board, and is possibly the bigges single shareholder of Disney Corp., having sold Pixar to Disney for $7 billion. I should add he was also a major (if not majority) shareholder in Pixar. So Steve is as good a pressure point as you can get, better than Mitchell who is chairman.
meta @
31
According to Editor and Publisher, it’s 4.5 hours.
helen @ 23
*ilson46201.. maybe if you offered to pay for the overnighting costs, Helen will send it to you.
orangejumpsuit @ 44
Holy freakin’ crap.
An alternative way to remember and mourn the loss of life on 9/11 is offered by “Women In Black, Baltimore”:
a “Peace Path” has been organized for Baltimore, Maryland from 4 to 6 PM that evening.
Women In Black, Baltimore is part of the international organization ” …to advocate for peace, justice, and an end to violence worldwide.”
http://www.peacepath911.com
It’s not a march, but a gathering to line Charles St. (the main north-south road in Baltimore) from the Harbor to the city’s beltway.
I hope many Philadelphia and DC readers will find the time to attend.
See Ya,
From the DisneyABCTV website: advertisers include AT&T, Cingular, Ford, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever’s Suave, Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures, among others.
Any chance ABC Affiliate KGO in the Bay Area could be added to Spotlight?
Thanks!
Remember the propagandists and punish them. Calling the production a docudrama gives legal cover, but it does not change the immorality. Remember those who lie and turn your back. Remember those who distort the truth of 9/11 dishonor the victims. When this administration gasps it’s last…..remember the corrupt media outlets and make them pay for their dishonor. Disney gives fantasy a bad name. There is no whimsy, no beauty or higher truth conveyed in this corrupt presentation. Remember, it is an opportunistic campaign ploy set upon the backs of victims of 9/11, meant to deceive the American public. Remember this abomination, punish them. Shun them – turn your back – shut them down. They think it will blow over, you will forget……never forget………they are trying to steal your history and nation. They are offering the proverbial poison apple, don’t bite!
mike @
15
Yeah we noticed.
Kind of like the Republican-sponsored Diebold voting machines. You can vote for whoever you want, but your vote isn’t tallied.
For those who want to take more action, I’ve put up a list of ABC advertisers with their contact info on my blog.
Cheers
Tom Kean is, was, and always will be a whore.
Furthermore, that 9/11 commission report is a whitewash.
OT, can anyone load joe2006.com? it was up all morning, now it seems to have gone down.
Late last night whilst searching for Air America, up popped one of the shouters on RW radio – John Ziegler (?).
He was mad as hell and yelling his head off that ABC had caved in to a request from President Clinton who had “forced” ABC to edit, to some degree, their docudrama in the Sandy Berger scene prior to 9/11.
He continued yelling that Republicans would never agree to carry out this sort of censorship (he’d obviously “forgotten” the CBS Reagan docudrama!) Then ranting that “this is censorship by the Democrats and this man Sandy Berger was caught stealing documents from the National Archives”.
anjinsan @ 55
TRex and Kobe were playing tug-of-war and broke it again. Notify the authorities!
grandmatoo @
38
THANK you! Wonderful resource! I’m thinking about a “form” letter, saying what I think about ABC and encouraging them to pull any advertising on that Network…since we’re all going to boycott it anyway :)
Don’t forget to send a quick note to the protectors of the public airwaves
http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html
If they have time to investigate every nipple slip they can investigate this…
Mark Steckel, FWIW.
I apologize if this has been brought up before.
On the FOCUS page, sometimes, after I add my comment, I see the PREVIEW button at the bottom of my screen and hit it. The problem is, twice, I have forgotten to go below the PREVIEW button and put in my contact information.
When I hit the back button, my comment is gone.
Thank you so much. This is such a great tool.
John Casper @ 24
If there are no sponsors for this piece, why not contact major sponsors for ABC’s OTHER shows? [how about the news?] Ask them to cancel their advertising with ABC if this thing is broadcast. Tell them that if they don’t, we will boycott their products.
Benjamin Lybrand @ 53
Thanks very much
meta, 47
Here’s more:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/n…..sney_x.htm
(1/24/2006)
While Mark is getting ABC-owned KGO-TV 7 into spotlight:
KGO-TV 7 in San Francisco has an annoying “fill out the form” on their website to contact them, and you have to use a pull-down menu to get it to the correct person. But I hope this helps while Mark is working on adding it to the Spotlight feature:
GO HERE to contact ABC/San Francisco
KGO
900 Front St
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 478-3810
mahaleela @
50
ABC vs the Big Dog. This should be fun to watch.
mahaleela @ 57
it looks fine to me – it’s just such a hoot. The latest post – all four lines of it – is really funny – and the comments even funnier.
Clearly, these people do NOT understand the toobz, or the concept of blogging. Really, it’s just pitiful.
Hit the regular, general advertisers anyway. Tell them there will be fallout from this ABC peice even if they don’t advertise on it.
anjinsan @
46
I don’t know where exactly Helen is, but FedEx says it’d cost 50-75 pounds (let’s call it $100) to overnight it from London to California. I’ll volunteer to pay half of the freight. Anyone else game?
Birdman @ 59
Nice catch, thanks.
orangejumpsuit, thanks for reminding me about all these details.
ABC/Disney have bullet-proofed themselves. No advertisers, in-house distribution channels for their video and brainwashing school materials. Next, we’ll see the live action dolls being given out wiith the quarter-pounder with cheese.
Yeah, whoever went ahead and thought that all these media mergers and acquisitions were such a great idea paved the way to the grand monopoly.
Anne @ 65
Maybe I’ve been banned. Someone got me into the comments anyway. I still get 404 Not Found whenever I refresh Joe2006. And you’re right. They’re getting killed over there. I’ve been participating in comments for almost two hours now. The General even stopped by to dispense some of his wisdom.
wow, they took this right from Hitler’s playbook prepping for the invasion of Poland in, cough cough, self defense.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0906.html
As part of an aggressive prewar covert action program–codenamed Anabasis (after an ancient text about a botched invasion of Babylon)–the CIA was authorized by the White House in the winter of 2002 to blow up targets in Iraq and engage in “direct action” (an agency euphemism for assassination) to weaken Saddam’s regime and to prepare for his ouster by the U.S. military. For Anabasis, the agency smuggled Iraqi exiles to a top-secret site in the Nevada desert and trained them in sabotage and explosives. The Iraqi force, known as the Scorpions, was being trained to seize an isolated Iraqi military post-in order to create a provocation that could trigger a war with Iraq.
chimpy’s on teevee. opens with 9/11 – “we watched the twin towers collapse before our eyes”
Jacqrat @ 64
Many thanks to you and Mark for your efforts. I’ve been Googling to try and find email contact links for a way in. Their website IS tedious and (so far) I’ve only found news anchors listed there, no management or editors.
meta @ 31
Maybe we could contact the advertisers on the shows immediately preceding and following the program.
Bobby St. Chomsky @ 53
Has the full 9/11 commission report ever seen the light of day? I remember parts of it were held back as a “courtesy” to the Bush campaign so as not to affect the election. I won’t even bother bitching about the sheer immorality of that decision.
But I’m wondering, has the full, un-redacted report ever been released, distributed and disseminated for the public? And if not, these people have the nerve to use the “911 commission report” as a source of this tv show?
In a surprising turnaround today, a major star at Disney has come out against ABC’s controversial 911 “documentary”. The star whom we will refer to as MM asked that his name not be used. “They own me,” he said reflecting the fear that so many at Disney have expressed if they are seen to break step with management. From the interview,
Great work JNix et. al. to keep hammering away at this absurd propaganda.
one thing: I know some folks are are mad and brainstorming some protests, but smashing your ipod and piling up your disney dvds isn’t going to do anything. Ya already bought ‘em. Apple, Disney, etc. could give a hoot about you now. JUST DON’T BUY ANY MORE.
Mark Re: Spotlight
I tried to edit my Spotlight message to delete two people I had not meant to send it to. Spotlight advised me to use the Back button on my Web browser to make any changes. When I did that, I lost my message.
Can that instruction on Spotlight be changed?
Everybody thinks *ilson is a big money bags now – since he’s been shelling out the big bucks for the URLs… :)
John Casper @ 59
Which browser/OS are you using? Also, planning to add an “edit” button so the back arrow btn is not required.
yw :-)
OT, but a leetle taste of the elevated discourse by Lieberman supporters at http://www.joe2006.com, courtesy of the comments section of the Cup o’ Joementum blog:
Courtesy of:
GoGoJoe | Homepage | 09.06.06 – 1:28 pm | #
With “friends” like these, who needs enemies?
I would be interested in knowing two things: first, does ABC plan to use this program as “children’s educational programming” to qualify for its FCC requirement to renew its broadcast license? The Scholastic tie-in seems to imply that it does.
Second, would ABC turn down Howard Dean as the head of the Democratic Central Committee to preview the program to determine whether the program might qualify as “generic campaign activity” under Federal Election Commission rules as a communication that promotes or opposes a political party? Whether the program libels anybody is a separate matter. I’m concerned about how citizens can oppose propaganda or if our laws have any check on a ruling political party’s use of it by obtaining a possible in-kind contribution from a major broadcasting corporation.
OMG Lieberman’s site is fucking hilarious!
Benjamin at #53: Thanks for the link and for the Sponsor Contact Form that you posted there! I’ll be e-mailing some of them.
For all that hard work, I think you should be spared the further torture of watching more ABC primetime–As I mentioned in #39, I googled and found that Parenttv.org has a page listing TV programs and their sponsors:
TV Program Lists And Sponsors
I did a quick check there and found Ford, Dominos, Cingular, Kohl’s were listed for several shows.
twolf1 live-blogging Fartacus’ speechifying… Woo Hoo – I do so love the color commentary.
:-)
Dr. Bong @ 86
sadly i am on deadline. not a good place to be for live blogging :(
The shrub is lying live right now. Nice Polite Republicans isn’t carrying it. We wont have to hear the BS until the evening news.
John Ziegler is a former RW pundit here in Louisville. He left for L.A. during his sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former girlfriend of his, as well as a local news anchor.
Nice guy .
I do not know how to post links, so I hope this works.
http://www.johnziegler.com/editorial.php?e=180
chimpy is trying to justifying gitmo because every person there wants to murder americans (like that 79 year old man?)
mediadailynews reports that the path to 911 blog is back on line.
why not stop by to let them know how you feel?
.
.
Hugh @ 77
Mickey himself? Way cool!
oops…the nice guy comment was snark. Just wanted to clarify.
If it is correct that ABC plans to broadcast this thing without any “sponsors,” that means one of two things:
(1) That there are one or more secret sponsors (RNC? Wealthy wingnuts?) who are underwriting this, which may be a violation of federal election law or at least be required to be reported; or
(2) Sponsors of ABC’s other programs are, in effect, subsidizing ABC’s costs to produce and air this thing, because they are contributing to ABC’s bottom line. Thus, the logic of contacting or boycotting sponsors of other ABC programs.
neurophius @ 93
*gasp* The Richard Mellon Scaife Foundation! Hey, seriously, whatever happened to that guy? Did he lose interest when people in power stopped getting blowjobs?
Time to go after local advertisers of ABC News affiliates.
Take names, kick ass, set up a database.
OT – Connecticut is under attack by Joe Bush
orangejumpsuit @ 92
Mickey himself? Way cool!
wait ’till you hear what his dog Pluto has to say. He’s already pissed about the demotion he got last week…
curiousgeorge @ 68
Rip it, cut it into smaller chunks, share it via BitTorrent. Cake.
Franken talking about this now, with Brock.
OT,
Looks like Bartcop is a fan.
Quotes
“In the coming days, I’ll deliver a series of speeches describing the nature of
our enemy in the war on terror and our strategy to prevail in this long war.”
— Dubya, Link
“We have a strategy? Really?!?
Could we start using it?”
–Christy Hardin Smith, Link
http://www.bartcop.com/
Kurt @ 99
“Rip it, cut it into smaller chunks, share it via BitTorrent. Cake.”
Some people just don’t know how. besides, how long does seeding take?
Kentucky Woman #93
Clarification unnecessary – just needed to listen for 5 mins!
twolf1
Bush speaking is like watching someone have a psychotic break. He doesn’t answer criticisms. He just goes off into the blue. Everybody at Gitmo is a murderer (except many aren’t). He talks about “questioning” but it’s clear he’s talking about torture. He takes one guy at Gitmo and then uses that as a jumping off point to talk about the CIA detainees. Then he gives another of his famous laundry lists of people and all the “good” info we have gotten from them. He fails to mention all the bad information and lies. He fails to mention that the information potential of those held at Gitmo was exhausted years ago.
Now denies torture. Brings up McCain’s anti-torture bill. Fails to mention his signing statement that laughed at it.
Talks about renditions as returning detainees to their home countries as if it were a good thing and not for torture.
11 CIA detainees have been transferred to Gitmo.
To further demonstrate Gerstein’s FUBAR-ness, they have two, repeat, two joe2006 sites up, both different. In all mercifulness, they should put both of them to sleep.
http://www.joe2006.com/
http://joe2006.com/
wrt to the stoopid speech, wtf are these clowns giving him an ovation for?
ChimpTV – saying that 14 (or 11?) terrist prisoners in cia custody transferred to gitmo gets him a standing ovation
ChimpTV wtf – after saying how these guys are terrorists, they hate america, want to kill americans, bombed the Cole and on and on, he says they will be presumed innocent
Firstname.Lastname@abc.com is the email format for their reporters… now to find the TV management names…
Valari Dobson Staab
President and general manager, KGO-TV, ABC-7
mahaleela @ 74
Many thanks to you and Mark for your efforts. I’ve been Googling to try and find email contact links for a way in. Their website IS tedious and (so far) I’ve only found news anchors listed there, no management or editors.
OT – Bush coughing up his tortured ghost detainees – some at least
Lovely. Now we get to see Congress write law around validating the torture.
Showering with peroxide wouldn’t be enough.
chimp says these terraists are going to be “presumed innocent” and will be treated better than they treated others.
lord. help. us.
Blair is going down.
twolf1 @ 107
It’s all such a farce.
Bush says he is sending to Congress a bill to set up military courts for the CIA detainees now transferred to Gitmo.
Says that he wants to transfer all the other Gitmo detainees back to their home countries but stupid countries won’t take them. So it’s their fault.
Now making Gitmo sound like a Club Med.
anjinsan @ 101
I have no idea how long seeding would take, but I’m sure it’s less time than UPS shipping. I would keep my computer online to help seeding and distribution for as long as needed.
I can’t help with how to use the software to prepare the avi files (or whatever), but I’m sure someone here has the know-how and could talk the video-holder through it.
Pardon me. Sharkbabe, this one is for you.
Fuck Mickey!
ChimpTV – “the current transfer means that there are now no terrists in the CIA program”
Where is chimpy speaking? Who is his audience?
curiousgeorge @ 68
I’ll gladly chip in. Half if necessary, but I won’t object if others want to jump in and lower the share price a bit.
twolf1– but he doesn’t preclude there being more in CIA detention in the “future”.
Jennifer, Jane — can I suggest that you post an update to your story, linking to Glenn Greenwald’s post today. That way, any spotlighting will send both your post and, indirectly, a link to Glenn’s closely related story. Glenn’s blog doesn’t have spotlight, but we can extend its reach.
In his post, “Republicans and Islamic Terrorism during the Clinton Presidency,” Glenn Greenwald provides repeated quotes showing Republicans never raised any concern that Clinton was not doing enough to deal with OBL and terrorism threats. In fact, their attention was elsewhere and sometimes accused Clinton of being too agressive.
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot…..html#links
don’t forget the scrumptious Lemon Chicken at Gitmo ! Maybe Christy could get Duncan Hunter to stop by Saturday morning and share the recipe ?
Now chimp is condemning the war crimes act– here we go.
twolf1 @ 117
Living?
Is he mentioning anything about family that has been held “in custody?”
How does anyone with a baseline of anything normal in their system work for Bush/Cheney/Gonzales? I don’t understand.
angie @ 119
or random people they “just dont like” currently in custody
twolf1: yer gonna miss yer deadline…
:-)
Re:transfer of serious prisoners. Everyone gets the plan, right. The President will ask, “who wants to give these guys access to evidence and a fair trial? Vote for secret trials or you will be bombing the Cole.”
As for 1939 — if this is just like fighting Hitler, where is the gas rationing? the victory gardens? the metal and paper recycling?
The draft?
You know, if we are fighting the ultimate threat (hitler, stalin, slavery whatEVER) why aren’t we, well, fighting?
Dr. Bong @ 125
the ‘puter is churning some stuff out now so i have a few mins until the hamsters get tired and stop ;)
ChimpTV – “the men and women that protect us shouldnt have to worry about lawsuits by terrists”
SCOTUS has impaired our ability to try detainees using military kangaroo courts and has undermined the CIA’s program of secret prisons, torture, and renditions. Bad SCOTUS. Bad.
Common Article 3 of Geneva Conventions is too vague. Silly, silly, Conventions. And places our brave torturers at risk of prosecution for their patriotic torturing. [Wipes tear from eye]
scarecrow @ 120
I would *love* to have Glenn’s blog Unclaimed Territory include the Spotlight link. Glenn’s writing is just amazing and more people need to read his stuff.
Redshift @ 119
I think Helen is long gone, so it’s a moot point now.
Benjamin Lybrand @
53
Hey, ‘pups, I just went through all the links presented here (c’mon, give the blogger a break, he watched TWO HOURS of According to Jim and then harvested all the advertisers’ contact pages off the web!!)
It took me about 30 minutes to contact all of them, paste in my letter of complaint about their association with ABC, and finish up. Highly recommended.
Mary4 @ 11:19 am (#124) – I think the upshot here is that Bush has now publicly confessed to another crime, and once again he won’t be held accountable.
From Hugh at #104:
“Now denies torture. Brings up McCain’s anti-torture bill. Fails to mention his signing statement that laughed at it.”
Shall we count the number of “journalists” who “remember” to bring up that pesky little fact?
Cafferty’s on vacation this week – he would have been our only hope…
Speech over – shorter chimpy – My friends and I should be above the law.
he just winked at somebody. Meta– I think he’s at the WH and I have seen Lugar, Sessions, and Hastert in the audience.
Another point that went by rather quickly is that prisoners would be treated according to the “new” military field manual which just so happens to have come out today. Wonder what Rumsfeld put in there.
orangejumpsuit @
105
The comments over there are um, not exactly supportive. Lots of things in the vein of “I’m a Conn. voter, and I wish you would respect our wishes and drop out.” Interestingly, there is nothing there on Joe’s position on Iraq. Nothing. Which lots of the commentators have asked about. It is, in fact, as crummy as Katherine Harris’s website. It’s pathetic and sad.
Don’t forget that ABC is the same network whose affiliates were too scared to air an unedited version of “Saving Private Ryan”.
Because, you know, soldiers will only say “nice” words like “fiddlesticks” and “p’shaw” when they’re being fired upon by the enemy.
twolf1 @ 90
It’s an extension of the eternal basis of conservative “tough on crime” philosophy — assume every suspect is guilty, and you can justify almost anything.
I mean, it’s not like they’ve made any mistakes before, right?
immanentize @ 11:20 am (#127) You know, if we are fighting the ultimate threat (hitler, stalin, slavery whatEVER) why aren’t we, well, fighting?
I think you’re being too literal-minded about “fighting”. No one in our current administration actually does any fighting when they talk about fighting, do they?
Mark Steckel
I assume it would also work if each of us placed the link into our own “comment” on the spotlight? Haven’t tried it, but does that work? I just thought this one was so close to what Jennifer was talking about that they should be spotlighted together.
cleter @ 137
There is a section on Iraq. Click the issues tab at the top of the main page, and then scroll down. Way down. All the way down.
SpaceCowboy @ 138
Bull-fucking-shit !
Kurt @
115
100% agreed that there are other ways to get it over the pond besides FedEx or UPS. If Helen (or a friend) can do it that way, cool. But one way or the other, let’s do this ASAP. That’s the important thing here.
BTW to Helen – curious as to how you got your advance copy?
twolf1 @ 135
With subtext: of course we’re safer since 9/11 — but be afraid!
anjinsan @ 143
I wonder if that’s new. ‘Cause there were a fair number of comments about the lack. I can see why he would want to bury it way down on the bottom.
Hugh @ 136
Hugh — the last report I saw (yesterday’s NYT??)was that the manual was edited so that there will be three additional “interrogation measures” that we can use on terrorists that can’t be used on normal prisoners of war. I’ll try to find the story.
was this linked here before:
Kean on Key Scene from Path to 9/11: ‘I Don’t Think The Facts Are Clear,’ ‘It Could Have Happened Any Number of Ways’
anjinsan @
131
not sure I believed her anyway…
scarecrow @ 140
Spotlight only forwards the blog post, not the comments. Spotlight links for a post on a *supported* blog can be insterted into comments w/o problem. I have already implemented support for Glenn’s blog.
The format of a Spotlight link is:
http://www.thespotlightproject…..PERMALINK
Its a great idea!
Bush’s speech was an exercise in misdirection and ass covering. He whined about how the Supreme Court wanted him to obey the laws and our treaty obligations as if that is some kind of bad thing. Takes Hamdan as a personal affront.
He makes it seem like he was always for trying the bad guys, something that he has avoided doing for so long, not to mention how difficult any real prosecution would be now after all this Administration has so befouled the issues by its misconduct.
Also he wants to immunize his Administration from future possible charges of war crimes by saying he’s doing it for all those brave soldiers and CIA agents out there. For anyone who seriously believes Bush I have 2 words for them: Valerie Plame.
new from Think Progress:
Congress members have written to ABC asking them to fix the inaccuracies!
Did I miss something? Did we repeal the Geneva Convention? Are treaties and stuff optional now? If laws are all optional now, I’m going on some kind of crime spree. I have some bills. Can I print my own money now? Shoot my neighbor? Steal a car? What are the limits? Are we living in some kind of anarchy?
When I saw the title I thought you would be writing about Allen stealing Durbin’s veterans bill, changing a word and a number, and introducing it as his own…after asking Durbin if he could go right in front of him.
I’ve been off the board for a while, did we already discuss this? Thx.
Here’s the part of the letter I sent to ABC and my local station that wasn’t boilerplate:
In the local letter, I also said that I thought their broadcast area includes many people who lived through these events up close, and would be equally horrified at this portrayal. I am still nail-spitting angry about this bit of slime.
Twolf1 at #73: Chimpy said “We watched the twin towers collapse before our eyes”…
What I want to know is: Who removed these “16 words” from the speech?: “…instead of doing our jobs and preventing the whole thing from happening in the first place…”
Cleter @ 146
It was there last night. But the site’s been going up and down more than a yo-yo. Nevertheless, it’s awfully telling that Joe’s position on Iraq is so far down the issues section. Iraq and the Economy are the two biggest reasons for bucking the status quo, and apparently Joe is too chickenshit to be bold about his stance regarding Iraq.
cleter @ 154
IOKIYAR
For what it’s worth. The original letter had html references, including some to FDL posts. Used some fo the comments to put my letter together to properly express my outrage:
Dear Scholastic,
As a person someone who is keenly interested in education—having young children in my family–I reviewed your student resource sheets for the ABC 9/11 docudrama that is set to air this September. I have found the resources problematic. Here are just a few examples.
For instance, in student resource sheet one, there are descriptions of Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Islam, Pakistan, etc. Conspicuously absent is Saudi Arabia. This is a large omission since the much of the manpower and financing of Al Qaeda reportedly stems from Saudi Arabia. It is misleading, because may give children the impression that all these countries were involved in 9/11– except Saudi Arabia.
I find the description of Iraq problematic. Why does the description omit the controversial nature of the Bush Administration’s allegations of WMD?
Perhaps most troubling of all is the assertion that Afghanistan “continues to grow more independent and stable under the transitional democratic leadership.” Volumes of articles from New York Times to the world over contradict this assertion. Ex: Tomgram: Ann Jones on the Road to Taliban Land. I would be outraged if children in my family came home thinking that a war-torn country, the heroin center of the world, is anywhere near stable and independent. It is a mockery of democracy to say so.
Classroom Discussion and Debate, Part I: The second question is asked in a loaded manner. It heaps bias in favor of racial profiling, since this man had a foreign accent and it appears that the authorities had no other evidence to pull him over other than he “seemed nervous,” and yet lo and behold he was a terrorist. In a country where the Civil Rights era has been something of a necessity, I find the discussion of whether it’s correct to search and detain based on the evidence of nervousness and a foreign accent, quite nauseating and a gross distortion of the debate over war on terrorism v. civil rights. Should this one case be used as a justification for the violation of the rights of hundreds of thousands of people?
On Student Resource Sheet 2, I believe the Department of Homeland Security was created by an act of Congress and not as you say, by Bush. From the archives of CNN: Bush initially resisted the idea of a new department, which had been championed primarily by Democrats in the wake of the attacks. But Bush embraced the concept in June and used the issue effectively on the campaign trail this past fall, criticizing Democrats who differed with him over the issue of labor rights within the new department.
On the Path to 9/11, Part 2, “Debate it,” I do think it is wise to conflate this miniseries with the actual 9/11 Commission report. There is a huge controversy over reported bias and inaccuracies in the film. In it’s defense Thomas Kean has reportedly replied: “ABC is making it plain that it’s not just based on the report,” that it is based on multiple interviews, reports and articles about the events in question. And, folks, we are apparently meant to keep in mind that in a miniseries of this sort, you must have composite characters and scenes that may or may not have happened. Perhaps our children would be better served by debating another question: what is the difference between fictionalized history and a documentary? Highlight the difference between the account of the events leading up to 9/11 detailed in the 9/11 Commission Report and the account given by this film. Find examples such as:
Richard Clarke former counter-terrorism adviser and an on-air consultant to ABC News, said he was particularly shocked by a scene in which it seemed Clinton officials simply hung up the phone on an agent awaiting orders in the field. “It’s 180 degrees from what happened,” he said. “So, yeah, I think you would have to describe that as deeply flawed.” …
“As we were watching, we were trying to think how they could have misinterpreted the 9/11 commission’s finding the way that they had,” Mr. Ben-Veniste said. “They gave the impression that Clinton had not given the green light to an operation that had been cleared by the C.I.A. to kill bin Laden . . .”
In sum, I have always had a great respect for publishers of educational materials, your house included. However your association with the ABC 9/11 production has thrown my faith into doubt. Judging by the controversy, the reports and the materials posted on your website, the whole affair appears to be nothing but gratuitous partisan infotainment at best, and not the quality education I expect any of my young family members to receive. I now believe your titles merit closer scrutiny before purchase.
Sincerely XX
trueblue @ 153
http://atrios.blogspot.com/200…..1217041438
Linky: George Allen steals Durbin’s amendment and calls it his own
GOP: Greed. Oil. Plagiarism.
cleter @ 154
Of course not, you’re not the President.
I have received no response from ABC or my local station, BTW.
Teddy @ 11:32 and others
Well if someone does happen to have access to the video, and would be willing to share, let us know…we have plenty of willing and able bodies here to help distribute it via BitTorrent, or whatever.
Redshift @ 163
What if I forge a note from the President saying I can do all this stuff? It’s ok then right?
I don’t know if this is true or not. I believe it was posted by a friend on an ABC message board using a nic that I’m not familiar with. Can someone here follow up?
Just a little note about acquiring the ABC video. It is most likely illegal for anyone that has a copy to hand out or even worse rip and transfer over the intertoobz. That being said, maybe setting up a transfer should be done via email so it’s not out in the open like this.
if it hits usenet, it’ll hit bittorrents fast
Not sure if I’ve seen this anywhere else yet:
http://stevegilliard.blogspot……tball.html
Steve has a loooooong list of contact info in a post today.
immanentize @ 127
MOre than that even, Imman. It’s “who wants to make Americans criminals or “war criminals” over these guys? Whatever we did – who is going to stand up and say there should be reprucussions? Not if we did it to “those people.”
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the Press still reports GITMO as a “those horrible terrorists” situation.
We have tossed Arar and al-Masri, at least for now, because it’s a “secret” if we torture “those people”
Who is game to put a CIA or other agent in jail over a terrorist? One that the President said to torture?
Even one who was nuts, like Zubaydah. BC the President said, “Make me look good.”
It about as sad, depressing and stomach churning at you will get.
Jane will have conniptions if she finds we are talking about film piracy (of sorts)
egregious @ 155
I don’t know if it has already been discussed here as I have been away too, but it’s a humdinger and was posted on by kos yesterday.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/5/18123/86371
Did I go into moderation or disappear?
People, hit them where they live. Let’s get a boycott of “Grey’s Anatomy” going. They are banking on that to make a splash on Thursday nights. I was planning to watch it, but not any more.
Never mind – sorry
mahaleela @
50
Ahhh – AT&T among the sponsors of this faux docu-drama – why am I not surprised one whit? They sully everything they touch including professional golf in Pebble Beach here on the Monterey coast.
Surely someone can get a leaked copy – this is getting just too creepy friends.
*ilson46201 @ 171
I don’t see where the piracy is. ABC is offering this for free via iTunes as well as aired commercial free on the telly. With that in mind, what difference does it make to obtain advance copies?
Mary4 — I see your response to immanentize at 171
That vague Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions:
If you are detained in a conflict, no torture, period. What’s vague about that?
tommy yum @ 84
It really is, isn’t it – funny and pathetic. I still can’t believe they tried to make something out of a partial Ned quote, without thinking that anyone would bother to get the rest of it.
From what I have read of the comments, there is very little in the way of Joe support, no attempt by anyone on the site to answer any of the very legitimate questions that have been asked, nothing.
This will have to go down as the Worst Campaign Team Ever.
It does make me giggle though, which is always a good thing.
*ilson46201 @ 172
Is it really piracy if it’s already been handed out to other parties? It’s either been made public or not.
And speaking of situational ethics, I think this wrong is deserving of discovery. Nobody wants to watch this for enjoyment or to make money on it. There could be an argument made for fair use.
hmmmmm… Tom DeLay’s New Cause: Conservative Takeover Of ‘Dancing With The Stars’
Cujo359 @ 133
Yes. How do you hold him accountable without lining up a lot of other people who didn’t have much choice?
Fuckers in DOJ.
Mary4 – We need a comprehensive post on this mess. *hint*
egregious @ 166
Then IOKIYAR!
twolf1 @ 166
They’ve already said they are making the video available for free to everyone, after it airs. We are not talking about distributing pirated in theater movies (which I am totally opposed to).
This has already been made freely available to the radical right…we are talking about simply screening something that is being given away (but only to people in the correct political party).
SharonW @ 182
Did people that received legal copies from ABC have to sign non-disclosure statements?
Anne @ 181
how are you guys getting into it? I even opened up IE, thinking it would do the trick. But sadly, it appears that I am missing out on all the fun.
Here is the url I am using: joe2006.com/blog.asp. Is that right? btw – there is no link from his main site page. 707!
Hugh @180
“(b) taking of hostages;”
That one has been tossed out too. Family members have been taken hostage (excuse me, that should be “into custody” whatever that is supposed to mean) and used for leverage.
Anne @ 181
It may be that the principal purpose of Joe’s blog is to attract “rabid, venemous” comments, which would then be used as part of the “Joe’s a victim of the nasty Lamonsters” campaign. If you must visit, visit with that in mind. CT Bob is giving the same advice.
Eureka – I’m way to angry/sad/mad right now. Fingers shaking angry. Pick a fight with someone angry.
I’m going to try to calm down.
Redshift @ 11:34 am (#155) – I also said that I thought their broadcast area includes many people who lived through these events up close, and would be equally horrified at this portrayal.
Until now, I hadn’t even noticed the timing. You’re right, there are almost certainly people who have ties to that area no matter where you live in this country. I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania. One of my step-siblings was working less than a mile from the WTC. Another had just recently quit his EMS job in eastern PA – if he hadn’t, he might well have been called there. NYC is by far the largest city in the country, and I bet all of us have relationships there once or twice removed if not direct.
The folks reponsible for this travesty just went from worthless hacks to worthless human beings in my mind.
if you want to jump into the comments at Joe2006, here you go:
http://www.haloscan.com/commen…..9/?a=26533
My limited search skills don’t find a pdf or html of the new army field manual (FM 2-22.3). Just an announcement here.
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read…..d_key=9525
Redshift @ 186
The “note” should take the form of a “signing statement.”
timewarp:
http://www.joe2006.com/
I just emailed my concerns to all of the sponsors at ABC listed on http://birdoblog.birdobot.com/disney_propaganda. I wouldn’t have most of that crap in my house anyway.
twolf1 @ 188
I have no idea. However, I still think an educational purposes fair use argument could be made.
Kurt >”…Well if someone does happen to have access to the video, and would be willing to share…”
Just a hint to the wise
This close to the election I would be very sensitive to possible “agent provocateurs” trying to get someone somewhere (particularly “bloggers”) to do something that could become a big FOX noiseline (news headline) to paint/slur the non-ReThuglicians with
REMEMBER that swift boating isn`t just for the “elite insiders” anymore; the intertubes can be used by any and all
Just a word to the wise, nothing personal
“…The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power…” – Henry Wallace
angie @
197
Thanks Angie, but when I go to that url, I get the old site with no link to the blog! I thought it might be a firefox problem (it wouldn’t surprise me if the Lie bermans could only handle a PC IE format, so I opened up IE with the same result. I am not on a mac.
Big mystery!
OT kind of – Wyclef Jean” - President Bush needs to smoke marijuana . . . [Bleep] Bush!”
Yes, it’s the mindful, purposeful emotional and political manipulation of the American public at a time of national mourning that is morally reprehensible. And then to thrust this sham upon the nation’s children is just beyond shame. Add in the “no advertisers” into the mix, along with their in-house distribution channels, you get pandering propaganda of the highest order. That anyone with a conscience could be affiliated with that network is beyond me.
I wonder if ABC isn’t giving out new copies of their “documentary” because they are busy making last minute edits to deflect criticism.
angie @ 197
angie, This site is definitely worthy of satire. Glanced at the part where he claims he didn’t squash universal health care, and then . . . *wretch*.
BTW. I think Scholastic needs some special lovin attention. ATTN all soccer moms and dads.
Kurt @ 11:59am (#186)
While it’s true that they are saying they’ll give it away free, it’s still their copyright and they can do with it as they want (provided the use they put it to isn’t illegal, of course). If they want to release it next week, then that’s when it’s legal to get a free copy from an authorized source (which might be anyone – that depends on the terms of the license). Until then, I think they’d be within their rights to sue anyone who distributed the video without their permission.
Mary4 – So am I (must pet my cat and take a walk soon). I am hoping for a good post at some point for heavy spotlight use.) I really want to get this out to our favorite (Blue American) candidates as well.
And while we’re at it:
Senate rejects limits on cluster bombs
Which you can kind of understand, seeing as Israel has already violated them and there are no rules for how many civilians GWB is allowed to maim and kill.
Well why not – Ted Stevens says it protects us when we bomb civilian targets.
daCascadian @ 200
Well, the funny thing is that the message about usenet is sitting on one of ABC’s message boards right now putting it before many, many eyes and their normally quick-to-delete censors haven’t touched it. :)
In fact, much to my surprise, the entire thread on the subject hasn’t been deleted yet. The moderators must be taking an afternoon nap.
Sharon W et al @ 194
Cold water on your fair use argument. If blogs which take advertising make entertainment media available for download, it’s probably a violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Admittedly this is my interpretation based on negotiating software & media contracts, and I’m not an entertainment copyright lawyer, but I think the law is sufficiently clear in this area so as to preclude fair use on blogs. Blogs that don’t have ads, much safer, but still in a gray area.
But–if an individual, say a student with a university account, preferably one taking a broadcast journalism class, wanted to download it and share it with friends for study purposes, this would scrupulously fall under “fair use.” It would not matter if said individual shared files with bloggers who took ad money, since the original intent was for topical study or research.
Cujo359 @ 204
Lol, I would LOVE for them to sue Democrats trying to view this, when they provide it freely to radical Republican groups. As they say, “let’s kick it up a notch!” :)
Democrats have been timid and scared for too long. We gotta fight them folks.
as a moderator, I brought up the point it isn’t available anywhere online…
OT – rawstory has transcript of Dear Reader’s speech-
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0906.html
Durbin on the Senate floor now calling for Rummy’s firing.
From the article you linked to Mary4, this is appalling:
Mary4 @ 208
Oh my god. My heart just stopped.
MarcLord @ 210
That is strictly how I intended it. I never meant to imply that this blog should do anything. :)
cleter @ 154
Yes – six years of OLC opinions and DOJ lawyers scurrying around insuring Bush his place in the criminals who laugh with impugnity Hall of Fame.
Nope – but how do you enforce them when you won’t submit to international court jurisdiction and the person violating them runs the Dept of Justice and DOJ signs off on memos ok’ing whatever he wants?
new thread
*ilson if anything I’ve posted has made you the least bit uncomfortable please feel free to delete any reference.
Anyone interested in the info that doesn’t have it, feel free to email me at sharon_wct AT yahoo, etc.
US to Investigate Misuse of Cluster Bombs by Israel
Guess they can pull the curtain on that act.
I just sent this off to my (old) hometown local newspaper, similar ones will go to any town where I have young relatives. I am *such* a slow writer, like Dorothy Parker (I think) said, I never write five words but I change seven. Was somebody looking for me upthread?
“Democracies don’t attack other democracies” — how does having Israel as a neighbor make Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution feel any safer?
Mary4 @ 208
And via Raw Story:
“The amendment, written by Feinstein and cosponsored by Leahy had wide support from Democrats though some, including Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) voted to defeat it.”
If it walks like a duck…!
OT to Kimba1970 —
I’m reading to catch up and just ran into you on the last thread — WELCOME BACK!
Now about those recipes you’ve been promising us . . . fork ‘em over, cara!
Oh, and Kimba –
WELCOME, LITTLE LUCA, you darlin’ boy!
Another response from an ABC rep. This time from a local affiliate.
mui @160, possibly you mean you DON’T think it’s wise to conflate…?
Mad Dogs @ 222
just one more reason that I will never vote for President Hillary Clinton.
Could you translate this into simple english a non-techie can follow please ?
I’m at home and have no sophisticated s/w. If someone can post a clear set of instructions on my thread at European Tribune I’ll see if I can do it tomorrow at work.
http://www.eurotrib.com/?op=di…..5749/52989
It’s being broadcast on the BBC. No embargo on who sees the preview copies here and I have a friend
Well, we know that ABC, Disney and their advertisers don’t really care what we think about their fraudulent programming.
However, they might care (because many of the people we’re writing to probably don’t even know) that ABC is sending it to schools – to be taught to children!
I made a huge point of that in all my e-mails – that ABC will most likely be sued by parents for submitting their children to FAKE HISTORY – PROPGANDA AND LIES – DISGUISED AS EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL.
Parents are not going to take kindly to this sort of manipulation of our education system and they’d better KEEP IT AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN!
Anyway, I don’t know if it will matter, but I’d think that Disney has a reputation with children to protect.
egregious @ 224
Oh! *blush* The lnkage and format is gone here to . . . I feel so silly. How did I miss that one?
The irony is (if this hasn’t already been mentioned)… if ABC wasn’t running this commercial free and distributing materials to school kids, they might have a leg to stand on. We’d still be protesting the content but the propaganda effort wouldn’t appear to be so blatent.
They’ve gone too far.
Helen–
There is a new post and most people are over there. I have reposted your comment in the new thread.
Just in case you are wondering why there is no response here. See the Marcy Wheeler post.
Jenny from the Blog @ 229
I agree, but I also think it was strategic on their part. Specifically, by showing it w/o advertisements, it removes our ability to target the advertisers as easily. Thus it gives ABC more room to maneuver w/o repercussions.
mui @ 230
Don’t worry. If they understand the word conflate, they will get the gist of your argument.
Thank You Helen. I did read somewhere that it was being broadcast this week in the UK but couldn’t locate where I read that at.
Even if we can’t get the whole movie it would be fabulous if you can find someone to at least edit the excerpts of the scenes in question that are being reported as total fabrication, mostly from Part I.
Please repost your latest info on the new thread upstairs?
This is a response I got back from News 10 Sacramento (ABC):
Hello,
The movie is based on findings from the 9/11 commission and is not meant to lay blame, but rather to outline events leading up to the tragedy. Individuals at our station from both sides of the political fence have watched the movie and did not feel that it was accusatory nor did they feel that it was defamatory to one particular political party. Since the movie has not aired, websites that are blogging opinions are entirely based on premature assumptions. Below is ABC’s statement concerning the film:
Statement from an ABC Spokesperson
The Path to 9/11 is a dramatization, not a documentary, drawn from a variety of sources, including the 9/11 commission report, other published materials and from personal interviews. The events that lead to 9/11 originally sparked great debate, so it’s not surprising that a movie surrounding those events has revived the debate. The attacks were a pivotal moment in our history that should never be forgotten and it’s fitting that the discussion continues.
The following disclaimer will air throughout the movie:
“The following movie is a dramatization that is drawn from a variety of sources including the 9/11 Commission Report and other published materials, and from personal interviews. The movie is not a documentary. For dramatic and narrative purposes, the movie contains fictionalized scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue, as well as time compression.”
Please be assured that we are logging all viewer comments and they will be shared with ABC.
Russell Postell
President & General Manager
News10 Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto
This is my response:
If the movie is “fair” why did Richard Clarke, former White House counter-terrorism official, now an ABC News consultant state that there were many factual errors? And if the movie draws on the 9/11 commission report why have two of the commissioners stated that this made for tv movie is NOT consistent with the facts of the commission? “The movie contains fictionalized scenes”-why would fiction be regarded as a credible way to discuss the events of 9/11 particularly in light of the fact that teaching aids are being handed out to school children relating to this piece of fiction? And if this movie is nonpartisan why were only neocon bloggers and reviewers allowed a previewing? And why can’t Bill Clinton get a copy?
Mark Steckel @ 232
Very true. But as it stands now, all we have to say to make our point is: “Why are there no advertisers? When’s the last time a made-for-tv fiction/docudrama had no advertisers? Could it be to fool you into thinking it’s a truthful chronicle of events?”
Like that. Justathought.
marquer, watch your mouth.
Boy, I’ve heard something along those lines before. Where was it again? Could it have been a White House press briefing?
And that’s why — there was an earlier question about has the President said anything to people in his own party — they’re reminders to all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do. This is not a time for remarks like that; there never is.
Remember, criticism equals disloyalty!
OT, if you had read some of the prior posts, you’d know that Disney/ABC stands to LOSE $40,000,000 on this.
Pop question: what percentage of the revenue of a Fortune 100 firm like Disney is $40M?
Second pop question: how much is Republican regulatory goodwill worth to a huge media combine like Disney?
We’re focussed on Disney/ABC management and we need the help of Disney/ABC shareholders to pressure them.
Sure. And I can tell you (having been around things like institutional investor meetings in the past) that big shareholders don’t give one flying fuck whether or not what the company does is actively illegal, immoral, and damaging to society as a whole. Shitfire, those people still buy tobacco stocks. They still buy shares in horrible polluters like Freeport-McMoran. The only thing which will reliably cause big insitutional shareholders to stand up and shout with alarm is a falling stock price.
And the fastest way to make the Disney-ABC stock price take a serious tumble would be to mount a truly determined consumer boycott of their highest-margin premium business segment. That is, far and away, the Disney entertainment division. ABC News is tiny by comparison.
But to mount a successful broad-based boycott of Disney would take iron in the spine which it is clear that contemporary “progressives” utterly lack. Their forebears took on company goons in vicious, frequently lethal street fights. They endured lockouts to the point of actual malnutrition. But today, suggest that someone choose to do without “Toy Story”, and you’re close to the point of internal mutiny.
If I were a Republican plutocrat (or Pluto-crat at Disney) I would be laughing my ass off at the indiscipline and ineffectuality of my leftist opponents.
Mary McC @237 – that is a very powerful and pithy response.
Hillary Freakin’ Clinton needs to explain her vote rejecting the limiting of cluster bombs. This is yet another outrage!!
meta @ 236
Hear hear!
But we’ll get another round of people scolding us for being mean to poor Hillary if we complain about it.
Jenny from the Blog @ 235
Absolutely agree. (Sorry, I should have been more clear initially. Speculating on ABC’s actions/motivatins and how we should respond are two diff issues.)
scarecrow @
191
Thanks for such sage counsel. Just posted encouraging words that he demand a copy of the ABC 9/11 mini-series is made available to former Pres. Clinton and himself of course.
Kurt @ 242
then let them explain her vote while they scold us.
she’s a warmonger and an avid supporter of the neocon agenda.
OT– Kerry on cspan2.
marquer @ 239
Hmmm…you’re not? Could’ve fooled some folks.
You sure you’re at the right place? I think you might be happier back home.
twolf1 @ 73
Some may have done; Bush, as I recall, was looking dazed with a children’s book in his hands. Come to think of it, that’s a pretty good metaphor for his executive style in general.
twolf1 @ 149
However, by all accounts, it did not happen the way ABC’s cartoon shows it. That’s what counts, Kean, you ignorant slut.
EvilDrPuma @ 247
Chimpy’s always had a helluva imagination. Thought he was the lone holdout at the Alamo too! *g*
Help! Help! Calling any mod! *ilson, is that you?
I cut-and-pasted at 221, could someone pls remove the, um, e-mail address two personal names nr the bottom? Please?
Thanks! OMG, I can’t believe I did that…
Mark 241:
We’re on the same page. :)
HotFlash @
250
Dear mod — thank you! Could you incognify my dad’s name too? Thanks! What a dummy I am…
meta @ 70
It began with deregulation during the Reagan years.
helen @
23
Stuff’n’Nonsense! DHL would have it here (anywhere) within 24 hours. I know. I used them all the time
Thanks Jane – just sent spotlight to local ABC management. Asked them to show Disney movies instead, a preferable fantasy.
The Repugnant Party would be totally screwed without Clinton. How else could they explain anything that isn’t perfect in their world?
Helen, I did a search of the BBC site, hoping to find the program in downloadable form. I didn’t find that, but what I did find was that what you saw was apparently the first of at least two parts. Part Two will be aired on Sept. 11, according to the page I read. I don’t see a listing for a part three, so perhaps the U.K. will be spared two hours of agony.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/li….._59499_120
THIS IS GOING TO MAKE ONE HELL OF A MASSIVE SLANDER LAWSUIT.
Just think about it.
That’s why they’re admitting it is a “FICTION” and not fact by calling it a Dramamentory.
They’re trying to avoid the lawsuits with that thin veil of a fairy tale.
Today, I wrote my local paper Kansas City Star about this issue. Called the local affiliate and they read me the new disclaimer that was issued yesterday and will be shown a number of times during the movie. I also called my local school board and suggested that they advise any teachers planning on recommending Path to 9-11 and using the study guides need to make sure the students understand that this is not a factual account of happenings. Then I called Scholastic who provided the study guides. Their website depicts this as a “miniseries that details the historic events leading up to 9-11″. I read to them the quote from Kean in Jennifer’s post of yesterday–”And, folks, we are apparently meant to keep in mind that in a miniseries of this sort, you must have composite characters and scenes that may or may not have happened.” They recommended I send my concerns to news@scholastic.com. When asked who checks these comments, she said well, someone does but did not know whose responsibility it is. In my comments I left the following:
I spoke with a representative from KMBC Channel 9, ABC’s local affiliate in Kansas City this afternoon regarding the airing of “Path to 9-11 “as a documentary. They indicated there is to be a new disclaimer by ABC to be presented during the movie that it is not a documentary and that it is a compilation of events which have been dramatized for effect. Your website for the study guide presents the movie as a “miniseries that details the historical events leading up to 9/11” which most would conclude that the movie is a documentary. Please advise the educators that you have been promoting to have their students watch the movie and use your study guide that these are not the historical facts leading up to 9-11. In fact, during a conference call yesterday with Thomas Kean, the 9-11 Commission advisor to the movie states “ABC is making it plain that it’s not just based on the report,” that it is based on multiple interviews, reports and articles about the events in question. And, folks, we are apparently meant to keep in mind that in a miniseries of this sort, you must have composite characters and scenes that may or may not have happened.”
Obviously this movie is not something that we should encourage our children to see presented as factual. I expect the necessary corrections to be made to the website and study guides based to today’s information regarding the reliability of the facts. Many people can have different opinions but there can only be one set of facts.
Sincerely,
Sue Thompson
What else can each person do?
Thanks, Jennifer, for bird-dogging this. I think we ought to be asking why Scholastic is “partnering” with ABC and distributing “study guides” to ninth-through-twelfth-graders for classes THE REST OF THE SCHOOL YEAR! In all the flapping and squawking we’re doing over this, we should not let Scholastic off the hook. This is a huge propaganda offensive here. We’ve got a lot of work to do, boys and girls! Who should we e-blast and/or call (politely, of course)?
Pretend I was born yesterday–could someone please explain to me how the Spotlight works?
Jim in Chicago @
9
Not only should we boycott ABC’s News Programs, but they should pay a price for their wingnut shilling overall. I’d support a total boycott of ABC and a boycott of their sponsors too. They should not be allowed to get away with this right wing hit piece.
All throughout this controversy many people are missing one very important point. Sure, one can muddy the water in the blame game, and maybe there was more that Clinton could have done, although God’s own party would have howled GRANDSTANDING! but thats not the point that the undeniable liberal wants to make.
On 9-11, and for many years before that, it was standard procedure to intercept any aircraft that turns off its transponder, goes off course, or loses contact. A year or so before 9-11 (that changed everything) golfer Payne Stewart’s jet lost contact and veered off-course. Within 15 minutes, combat jets were on his planes wingtips, which is standard procedure in such a case.
So just a few questions:
WHERE WERE THE INTERCEPTORS ON 9-11? (they certainly had more than 15 minutes to respond)
WHY HASN’T SOMEBODY BEEN DRAWN, QUARTERED WATERBOARDED AND SENT TO CAMP GITMO FOR THAT MASSIVE FAILURE?
Was THAT Clinton’s fault too?
It’s time to boycott the sponsors of this movie. And it’s time to let ABC Disney that WE THE PEOPLE are tired of this propaganda Bush glorifying bullshit.
It’s about damn time that WE THE PEOPLE take back our country.
Affirmed Bush Cronies
Philface @ 261
Do you want to know the “big picture” or just how to use it?
Philface @ 261
As a completely non-management explanation *g*:
Spotlight sends a copy of the spotlighted FDL post (without the blogger comments) to a selection of up to 10 Media folks.
You choose which of the 10 from a provided list of folks at places like the NYT, the WaPo or the AP, etc.
You can also use the provided selection facility to narrow the Media choices that you want to send to. For example, you can choose Print Media, or TV, or Radio.
You also can further refine your selection list to National or Regional or State.
Lastly, you can (and should) include your own comments as to why you are sending the Spotlight post to those recipients.
It’s advised to keep your comments “dignified” so as not to make enemies of the very recipients you are trying to get the info to.
Click on Spotlight at the bottom of every post section (right before the comments start) and check it out. It won’t send anything until you choose to do so.
Hope that helps!
Mad Dogs @ 266
Very well said!
Besides FDL you can also find Spotlight links on
openlettertoabc.blogspot.com
http://www.crooksandliars.com
http://www.taylormarsh.com
http://www.intoxination.net
http://www.seeingtheforest.com
More on the way. :-)
It is obvious that the “imagineers” at the Walt Disney Company have been working a little too hard…for the lying, cheating, stealing, murderous Bush administration.
“Path to 9/11″ appears to have come straight out of Fantasyland at one of Disney’s theme parks.
But then again, that is what has become of much of the MSM as well as the right-wing blogs-of-fear…a conjunct of Bushco’s Fantasyland.
I went to abc.com and left an angry but very polite comment about the 9/11 program telling them I thought they had a political agenda or at best were being used… I also told them I was not going to watch it, and that I would urge my friends not to do so because the script told lies.
Once again the right wing has been allowed to frame the argument thanks to ABC. They are distracting everyone from the real issue. Why hasn’t OBL been dealt with in the last 5 years? That is 100% Bush!
100% his lack of trying!
100% his responsibility!
100% his failure!
Mad Dogs @
246
Perhaps the easily fooled. There are a lot of those in the world.
Am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I did volunteer for Kerry in ‘04, as a charter member of Kerry-Haters For Kerry.
But what I took away from that experience, and from having watched Democrats close up as they canvassed and campaigned, was that I wouldn’t trust the majority of them to organize the proverbial piss-up in a brewery. Weak and stumbling and disorganized. And not near mean enough.
Which is a bad, bad thing, given that the Democratic Party is currently the only possible bulwark against what I personally think is a disastrous trend towards corporate theocracy in America.
The country needs a viable, effective opposition. Emphasis on the effective part.
Hint: calling up big-time money managers, almost all of them Republican stalwarts, and then complaining about Republican bias by media companies in their portfolio, is almost the literal definition of a fool’s errand.
If you want to genuinely scare the bastards, so much so that they will never again think about such a propaganda piece, hit them in the pocketbook with as much force as you can muster. That means going after the Disney franchises with a serious boycott push. If you have the will for it. And the organizational capacity to make it happen.
Please post numbers at Disney to call and I understand from Huffingtonpost Steve Jobs is on the board at Disney. Please post entire Disney Board. The right would have blanketed them by now
marquer @ 271
Well, that commentary is a bit better than your previous. *g*
A couple of observations:
1. The old adage of “lead, follow or get the feck out of the way” is always applicable.
2. Pissing on a friend’s shoes may get the friend’s attention, but tain’t likely to do much for the friendship. *g*
What I’m trying to say is telling folks they’re clueless disorganized idiots (which may or may not be true, but is certainly beside the point *g*), and then expecting them to be receptive to your “great” ideas is nowhere found in any treatise on leadership that I’ve encountered.
If you have an idea on how to be successful, by all means, present it as effectively as you can!
hey, I bet the ambassador can get Clinton to come in here and talk for a while
that would be a KICK!
heads up – do people know that editor and publisher has updated their article. they now have a blow-by-blow of the whole mini series.
Turns out that the second half which is claimed by RW bloggers to be so “damaging to Bush” is not.
However, on Sept. 4, 2001, Rice tells officials that thanks to the warnings in the PDB, the president is convinced al-Qaeda is a “real threat … the president is tired of swatting flies.” She seems to advocate taking some strong action and Clarke agrees, but Tenet argues against it. So in this telling, it appears that President Bush is in the vigilant/aggressive camp, perhaps thwarted by Clinton holdover Tenet.
truthy enough for you?
It is on TV so it must be true!
I urge people to contact Steve Jobs for help in squashing this miniseries. He is the largest stock holder in the Disney Corp. No way is he a right-winger.
Why should they get advance copies? So they can censor the movie? It is fact, verified by the head of the CIA’s unit charged with capturing Bin Laden that Albright/Clarke/Berger stopped them from getting him because Clinton didn’t want to be seen as assassinating UBL. They did give approval later, but the opportunity had been lost by then.
The Clinton administration: 8 years of non-accomplishment…but Albright’s failures go back through her time at the UN to her part in the disaster that was the Carter Administration.
Did the media die today, after 9/11, or before the war in Iraq…or was it even before that? Tom Paine would have puked.