I’m sitting in a Starbucks on West 67th and Columbus with the incomparable Steve Gilliard. The atmosphere here in Manhattan is quite somber — it’s a sparkling, crisp blue day and according to Steve it’s just as it was the day the towers came down.
The continuing wingnut attempt to whitewash and hijack this this tragedy played out once again last night on ABC, and we’ll let Digby watch it so you don’t have to:
When they look at the numbers closely, I think they will show an ABC audience that shrank tremendously within the first 15 minutes. This is not because it was politically sensitive but because it is one of the most tedious, incomprehensible pieces of garbage they’ve ever broadcast. A bunch of advertisers must be breathing a sigh of relief this morning that they hadn’t been talked into blowing any money on it.
They may do propaganda and disinformation well but nothing has yet convinced me there is a single artistic bone in all of wingnuttia. Think "great right-wing comics" and you’ll likewise come up with a pretty short list.
I was talking with Johnny Wendell yesterday about his very interesting conversation on Air America Los Angeles with Ray Richmond of the Hollywood Reporter, but Digby beat me to that one too. Richmond says that the reason ABC refused to pull their 9/11 crapumentary was because Jeb Bush had big favors in the favor bank due to all he’s done for Disney in Florida, and he called in his markers. Steve recommends a look at Carl Hiassen’s hilarious book, Team Rodent, for more on that particular topic.
I have no idea the truth of the matter, but it certainly is an avenue of inquiry that deserves further investigation.
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Fitz!
OOooh! Number Two Fitz!
If the shoe!
I didn’t know Hiaasen had written that – it makes sense, given his other books. Will have to check it out.
“When they look at the numbers closely, I think they will show an ABC audience that shrank tremendously within the first 15 minutes. This is not because it was politically sensitive but because it is one of the most tedious, incomprehensible pieces of garbage they’ve ever broadcast.”
That was my take as well
I hope the ratings stunk and they lost more than the $40 million the put into production.
I am offically boycotting both Disney and ABC. Since I have two young nephews and a niece that means Mickey and gang are losing out to the competition. Shame on ABC and Disney.
I posted this in a different thread…but I believe it bears repeating…please remove it if you disagree…
Are you afraid to die? if you are, you’re afraid to live. If you’re afraid to live, you might as well die.
In the five years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush Administration has sold fear to keep themselves in power. These days, it’s about all they have left.
In the five years since those attacks, Osama bin Butthead and his minions have won every battle. They have a lot to celebrate today.
Keep Americans in fear? No problem, GW and HIS minions are doing a great job of that.
Kill more Anericans? Hey GW Bush and his minions attacked Iraq and we’ve more than DOUBLED the American death toll, and we’ve hardly had to life a finger to make that happen!
Damage the American economy? GW Bush did our dirty work for us. Fuel has doubled in price, the housing market is cooling faster than grandma’s pie on the window sill, they’re STILL sending jobs overseas and the American middle class is sinking, one by one, closer to poverty.
Yet, the GW Bush minions say THEY are winning the war on terror.
I’d say ol’ Osama bin Butthead is enjoying this day, celebrating with some virgins and a lovely Pakistani meal. Meanwhile, the hand-wringing continues, nothing constructive is done, the administration continues to sell fear and our freedoms, one by one, fall farther back in the rear-view mirror.
So I have one suggestion for all who read tis on this day – Live your lives without fear. Fly on an airliner. Take a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. Have lunch at the top of the Space Needle or the Sears Tower. Take a Pentagon Tour. Go to a ball game.
But don’t cower in fear any more. If it’s your time, it’s your time. Live each day like it might be your last, and show not only Osama bin Butthead but GW Bush and his minions that you are NOT AFRAID, and that they can take all the fear they want to sell, and shove it up their ass. YOU are going to live your life with your head up, eyes open and let the chips fall where they will. You will no longer live in fear.
By the way, vote Democratic in two months. :-D
The list is mighty short. The only two candidates I can think of is Larry the Cable Guy and that really big asshole Andrew Dice Clay. And thats the best they can muster.
Jane, nice to hear from you. Tell Steve that I went over to his blog hoping to hear what he thought of the game because last night that was what America was watching.
vote Democratic in two months
As always, Busted is ahead of the curve.
Jane, welcome to Manhattan.
Last night, a few of us(UptownNYChick, dmg and myself) were kicking around the idea of a mini-FDL get-together here in the city. Are you interested?
When they look at the numbers closely, I think they will show an ABC audience that shrank tremendously within the first 15 minutes.
Well, lookie here:
From http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBI…..ml….
“The [Path to 9/11] movie was flattened in the ratings by the debut of NBC’s Sunday night football, matching Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts against his younger brother Eli of the New York Giants. The football game had an estimated 20.7 million viewers, while “The Path to 9/11″ had 13 million, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The ABC movie did, however, beat CBS’ third airing of its “9/11″ documentary, which was seen by an estimated 10.6 million people, Nielsen said.“
Guess it most not have been all that good, huh?
Well, at least it beat that CBS rerun!
I can’t believe it. I actually saw the mythical zero
Next, ABC will put the GOP spin on the Iraq mess.
RESUME OF GEORGE W. BUSH 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue , Washington , D.C. , 20520
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
LAW ENFORCEMENT
I was arrested in Kennebunkport , Maine , in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver’s license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been “lost” and is not available.
MILITARY SERVICE
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam
COLLEGE
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.
PAST WORK EXPERIENCE
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland , Texas , in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.
I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry, including Enron CEO Ken Lay, I was elected governor of Texas .
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS
I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union .
During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America
I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.
I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida , and my father’s appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT
I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.
I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.
I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.
In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.
I’m proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My “poorest millionaire,” Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her.
I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.
I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. history, Enron.
My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.
I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution.
More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip- offs in history.
I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.
I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.
I’ve broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.
I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. “prisoners of war” detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.
I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.
I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.
I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.
I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime.
In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.
I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
I am supporting development of a nuclear “Tactical Bunker Buster,” a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.
RECORDS AND REFERENCES
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father’s library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.
I am a member of the Republican Party.
PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE WHEN VOTING IN THE 2006 MIDTERM ELECTIONS. PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY VOTER YOU KNOW AS WELL AS DISNEY, ABC OR ANY OF THEIR SPONSERS AND LET THEM KNOW WHY YOU WON’T BE WATCHING THEIR MOVIES, OR THEIR TV CHANNELS OR PATRONIZING ANY OF THEIR SPONSERS EITHER.
Boycott Disney and NBC. Send Disney’s CEO Robert Iger a letter or email informing him.
His address is Mr. Robert A. Iger
President and CEO
The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
Walt must be rolling in hais grave.
oops make that ABC.
Hi Jane, if you’re still in NY tomorrow, and you want to pull an Ann Coulter, Vote against Hillary in the primary.
Jane, have a mini FDL meeting in GA. We get lonely down here.
Ah, a special reward for Carl-fan NZ Expat’s diligence in catching those fresh Mouse droppings for us night-before-last!
BTW, the trick on spelling his pesky last name is “double a, single s — just the opposite of his Florida-pol characters,” ‘nother words.
jane,
hope you’re having a great time. as you’ve probably noticed, it’s been a really crazy weekend!
Why can’t we get a multipart, in depth review of where we are and how we got here?
Wouldn’t it be called a Congressional investigation?
****
selise – from below thread – you raise one of the big issues that keeps being overlooked and why withdrawal from areas is more than a stand up/stand down matter. It’s not just Iraq for that matter. Saudi Arabia was a flashpoint.
Without factoring it all in – we’ll never get to the best path away from 9/11.
EPU’d:
The Rude Pundit posts today about Shrub laying a wreath at Ground Zero and how there was, basically, nobody else there. Tonight, he’s going to go on television and there will, basically, be nobody watching.
Remember, when Clinton was deemed “irrelevant” after the ‘94 elections?
In addition to becoming irrelevant, Bush is now practically invisible. A small, wisp of a man whose place in history is assured only because he was in the right place at the wrong time.
When America needed leadership all we got was photo ops and sound bites. Attempts at myth-making will never change that.
And BTW, love that Hiassen. The plastic surgeon in his book “Skin Tight” is named Dr. Rudy Graveline. I see Dick Cheney in the role in the teevee version.
I thought I smelled payment due for services rendered.
The e-mail address for Disney’s CEO is robert.a.iger@disney.com
One week spent on blasting ABC’s “Path” movie was worth it. We shot it full of holes and it is dying a lingering death, to be complete after part 2 tonight. A $40 million failure!
Right, let’s get back to electing Democrats in November.
Guitar Playing Bastard @ 7
Dear Bastard, I not only think this comment is appropriate here, I believe this would make a FANTASTIC plank in the Dem platform.
Only one quarrel I have with you tho: “American middle class is sinking, one by one, closer to poverty”. I am certain you have significantly undercounted.
PS: When writing this comment, I tried to reduce your comment to a small, reference sentance or paragraph. As I read through it, I couldn’t find anything I wanted to eliminate. So I just quoted the whole thing to reinforce what you wrote.
Cozumel @ 5
So my real time comment last night that it was “pretty damn boring” – it wasn’t just me, eh? My politically oblivious brother liked it, but he is quite interested in Asian cultures, and is an eclectic knowledge sponge. (He’s reading Shakespeare’s Henry V right now.) Not average, in other words.
From Mommybear’s #16
Did anybody ask for a bit of inspection of the upcoming put-ballot-in-magic-box?
op99 @ 27
As a compelling, interesting movie I thought it was horrible. I only watched it to critique the political angle etc. When it was FINALLY over I said thank gawd! LOL
Tell Steve hi from me. I am a big fan of his!
You mean like this?
You’re right! Not only not funny, but not even comprehensible hehe.
67th and Columbus…Wow. Wish I were there.
I will continue to write to and call the Mouse and ABC to lodge my anger, but I, too, saw parts of the show and was delighted it was such a stinker.
Watched some of the MSNBC 9/11 coverage replay this morning and was surprised by how much my feelings have changed from pure shock and horror to anger at how the events of that day have been misappropriated by the Bush Administration. Maybe it was just the nature of the story, but I was also struck by how unpoliticized the coverage seemed by comparison to the sorry state of news today and how much more unguarded and candid the anchors and reporters seemed to be a mere 5 years ago….
—-
Mary4 @ 21
agreed.
was really blown away by pape’s research… wish it was widely known and discussed. if we’re going to keep painting targets on our country – i’d like to have a national discussion about why and if we think the cause is worth it.
as for me, neoimperialism and control of world oil resources doesn’t cut it.
As a counterpoint to ABC’s crap-u-mentary, the Koppel on Discovery special last night was worth watching, even if the Bush admin representatives continued to spin away – too many well respected voices on the other side contradicting them…
Hi Jane and Steve!
My heartfelt thanks to both of you from Italy. Quite an occasion for me : the founder of my favorite blog “Firedolake”, and the founder of the blog where I wrote my first post ever “The News Blog” (about soccer and racism of all things and Steve (rightly) scolded me..)
Kudos to both of you, you are great!
Good advice here…
Five Years After 9/11: Drop the War Metaphor
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..29181.html
Nice to ’see’ you Jane!
Thanks for the critiques from PT 9/11 watchers.
I’m glad to hear it sucks and hope America agrees.
I don’t watch TV anymore but did watch this 9/11 piece a few times last night:
http://www.takebackthemedia.com/true911.html
I think it’s pretty effective in presenting the real timeline on the morning of 9/11.
Anyone else see this?
Right wing artists who don’t suck:
Van Morrison
Whoever did the Narnia movie.
Otherwise, I’ve got nothin’.
This is off the topic, but was wondering if any of you FDL’ers could help. Unbelievably Mr Tweety himself spoke some serious truth to power today on MSNBC. He was being interviewed by some dingdong anchorgirl while he sat at “ground zero”. He went on a rant (and I mean he cut off the anchor and sounded a little pissed) about how important it is for us to be vigilent about NOT conflating the “war on terror” with the war in Iraq. And how Bush went to war based on personal feelings toward Sadaam…etc. It was AMAZING!I was seriously shadowboxing in my living room as I watched telling Chris to “Go get ‘em” It was trully remarkable. Anyway, MSNBC only provides transcripts to it’s shows, not is “news” portions of the day. This occured at approximately 10:30 am PST. Does anyone have this on tape?, Tivo? etc.? Thanks all.
Cozumel @
5
I switched it off after my initial curiosity turned to nausea. The content alone wasn’t what make me sick to my stomach. The film “style” was entirely the bumpy camera style. I guess they were trying to make it look like it was shot as it happened. If that was their intent, it didn’t work. The tight face shots (many, if not most, of the shots cropped off the top of the character’s heads) soon became irritating. The bumpy camera style works if done in moderation. It doesn’t work if it is done non-stop and there are no commercial breaks to help you gain your balance (and let your stomach settle). I’ll go with “unwatchable” as well as “incomprehensible”.
EPU’d
selise @ 69
Another “Anniversary” for September 11 (2002), for it is the Adoption Day of my middle niece. Today is the day that she offically became a member of our family and is the 4th anniversary of her adoption. My sister started the paperwork for her adoption around the time she was born and we never knew that she’d be chosen to come home to us then.
She and her two sisters were adopted from China. The people at the ophanage place the children based upon other children already in the family and the adopting parents ‘personalities’ (or as close as they can come). It’s really very uncanny how their personalities mesh with the families and definitely lends some credibiitly to the nurture over nature issue. N2 was 16mo when she came home to us and is the classic definition of the “mother’s curse”.
We all know (except the 3 girls) what happened 5 years ago, but we choose to find the positive that today’s date has brought to our lives.
and while we’re checking out fellow compatriots, billmon is at it again, and he is razor sharp today. also driftglass. powerful stuff……
I’m going to run the PT911 production crew through IMDB to see how many other
turkeysfilms they’ve done, and which. It’ll take a while. (Who knows, something else might turn up.)My email to Robert Iger:
Mr. Iger,
You were warned. Repeatedly. You chose to ignore the intelligent and correct cries of the people.
Effective immediately, our home of 3 kids under the age of six is boycotting Disney products. We are starting by discarding the Best Buy pre-buy cards for ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Cars’. $10 thrown away, but by not buying the DVDs your company and your shareholders will be out $50.
I have also agreed with my wife that starting immediately there is no such place as Disney World. Or Land. We will be choosing vacation properties run by responsible American citizens. Disney no longer qualifies.
There is some solace in the fact that your “Path to 9/11″ flopped worse than Nemo on a hot sidewalk. But not enough to excuse it.
Jane,
You should have also mentioned that this Starbucks just happens to be right across the street from ABC headquarters in NYC (which, I imagine, is probably why you were there).
(It also has personal meaning for me because I was living just blocks away from there when the planes hit the towers.)
And yes, 9/11/01 was indeed a beautiful day, which made the events of that terrible day all the more unsettling.
Disney and ABC will pay for this, one way or another. Be it financially, in terms of its broadcast license, legislation, name brand, legally, etc., it will not emerge from this monumental blunder unscathed. Of that I am sure.
Hi, Jane — and say hello to Steve for me.
Does Les Paul still play every Monday night a few blocks south from where you are now? You might want to check that out if you have a chance…
op99 @ 54
Anybody know how many viewers an 8.2/12 share equates to? Bet Part 2 doesn’t bust 5 tonight.
Meanwhile, I’m forehead-slapping over not cottoning onto that Disney-Jebbie scenario right away. Wonder what big ol’ announcement Disney World has in store between now and Jebber’s leaving office in January. Stay, as they say, tuned . . .
Has anyone been looking at CNN’s web page today? They’re showing their coverage from 9/11/01, both video and screen captures of the web site. The thing that keeps striking me is that Bush was saying that he wouldn’t rest until those responsible were brought to justice. So, what happened to all that, do you think?
fahrender @
42
Yeah, Billmon.
HotFlash @ 24
This was not my comment (unless there are two of us) though it is an interesting thought. I think there is lots behind Disney.
Thanks for high lighting Hiassen – I love his work. Talk about speaking truth to power – and with humor, good writing, and popular appeal!
Great news that “path” sucked as entertainment. Wouldn’t see it (am boycotting ABC and Disney)
I do have an ABC question for the better connected FDLers however. I have read that Fox and NBC would love to get rid of ABC. Any truth to this, or that ABC got dupped into this? Frankly at this point in time there is virtually no tv I watch (sorry can’t get KO because I don’t have cable). I also no longer listen to NPR. Mostly it is music and Air America.
On the latter, I received an XM for my birthday with a neat portable Pioneer player (there is a similar Samsung one) that serves as an MP3 -sort of. You can save music or talk or games to it. (I listened to most of the World cup which was awesome). For those wanting to boycott Apple (IPOD) here is an option – though at a monthly cost. I love it, except there is virtually no left leaning talk outside of Air America and Ed Schulz (sometimes left). It would be great to get others here with XM to try to put pressure (for example Stephanie Miller is not there). Dozens of uber-righties however.
Today, by the way, Schulz’s guests were amazing on the actual events of 9-11. Sometimes I disagree with him strongly, but today there was alot of real meat there; Bush looked really bad.
You have a point, but I thought the wording made it a little more emphatic.
Reply to Judd Brown: Good for you. I’m not a parent so the whole Disney thing is pretty repugnant to me anyway, but I’m also boycotting ABC TV, ESPN (no Monday Night Football for me) and anything else owned by Disney. Probably forever. Sucks because I’m a huge football fan but sometimes you have to have the courage of your convictions.
Write your congresspeople and senators, make DAMN sure they know you EXPECT them to campaign for people like Ned Lamont, Jon Tester, Jim Webb and Jack Carter. And if they don’t they may face their own primary challenge.
Terry in Maryland @ 47
Interesting that you bring this up. I was here in NYC on 9-11 and I certainly was not watching teevee, so I never saw any of it (for weeks actually). So, out of curiosity, I took a few peeks. Only a few because I really couldn’t bear it. They immediately started to spin and spin and spin. It is shocking how early in the day they started with their scrolls of “America under attack” etc. Collecting lame talking points on the taliban took less than 2 hours.
And Jane, welcome to the city!
Dru at 37– thank you for the Lakoff article. He’s onto something and I hope the Dems listen as I plan to from here on!
It’s clearly a way to tear the country and the Constitution out of their cold, deadly hands and actually get back to international relations.
Jane– I’m insanely jealous to read that you are enjoying a beautiful day in NYC. But why the heck are you patronizing Starbucks? There are better ways to spend your money, and better coffee to boot. Hope you won’t do the same next time you swing through San Francisco. We even have viable caffeine alternatives here in dull old San Diego.
I hear Les Paul doesn’t really have ‘it’ anymore, but I’d go see him too, despite that, if given the chance. Have fun in the Apple.
Terry in Maryland @ 47
I’m listening/watching it too. Judy Woodruff just reported that the BBC was reporting there was knowledge a couple of weeks prior that something like this was going to happen — then she got interrupted and hasn’t gone back to it.
It’s truly interesting to listen to the coverage and evaluate it in light of five years passing.
The Child in Chief does not look good in retrospect.
Banner at CNN.com:
President Bush will tonight call the war on terror a fight “to maintain the way of life enjoyed by free nations,” according to excerpts released ahead of his 9 p.m. ET address
Is he going to try explaining why he doesn’t want to maintain it in this country? (Don’t know about y’all, but I’ve had enough of his speeches about democracy when he keeps trying to get himself made king and emperor.)
Hope I’m not repeating someone else’s comment, but regarding last night’s ratings…(from RawStory.com):
ABC 9/11 film ties documentary rerun
RAW STORY
Published: Monday September 11, 2006
Print This Email This
An expensive and highly-publicized September 11 ABC “docudrama” was soundly defeated in overnight Nielsen ratings by Sunday Night Football, RAW STORY has learned.
Early indications are that the “miniseries event” actually tied a rerun of a documentary on the same subject, and barely edged out the eighteenth season premiere of The Simpsons.
The New York vs. Indianapolis game earned rival NBC a 15.1/23 rating, according to overnight returns.
Part one of ABC’s “Path to 9/11,” in comparison, earned a rating of 8.2/12–about half as many viewers. This tied a CBS repeat of a documentary, also about the September 11, 2001 attacks on America. The CBS repeat was somewhat handicapped by a half hour delay caused by an overrun of a U.S. Open Tennis match.
The season opener of The Simpsons looks to have come in third with an 8.1/12, considered to be healthy for such a long-running series.
As overnight metered ratings are not always indicative of the final national numbers, the second and third place standings are subject to change.
In a rational world, where the representatives worked for the people and not the corporations, something like this would lead to the revocation of ABC’s license:
Dan Whitworth @ 52
at starbucks, you’re not paying for the coffee – you’re paying for the health insurance for the employees.
lots of reasons to dislike starbucks – but employee health insurance (if it is the same in nyc) is one reason to patronize them (t-mobile wifi is another).
i confess that during the week i last spent in nyc (protesting the rnc in 2004) everymorning found me in a starbucks for coffee and wifi (i was one of the lucky ones who wasn’t arrested).
Richmond @ 49
Hi Richmond. Well, maybe there are two of you. I cut my quote from Jane’s article above, para 5. I was not able to get the link there to load, so never saw original.
Richmond says that the reason ABC refused to pull their 9/11 crapumentary was because Jeb Bush had big favors in the favor bank due to all he’s done for Disney in Florida, and he called in his markers.
I’ll bet the “inside baseball” about PT911 is way more interesting than the actual show. I heard Dan Lurie on Ed Schultz last week saying the cast and crew had many discussions on-set about the script; I read somewhere Keitel was really pissed and re-wrote some of his dialogue to reflect a little actual reality.
I didn’t watch it. The Boy started school today, so we spent the evening trying to keep him from dwelling on it (new kid in school, blech.) I’m so pleased it apparently sux.
Hi, Steve. Hi Jane. The Boy sends hugs to Kobe and wants to know if the Kobe will be your logo at FDL Books?
.
mc @
23
Oh yeah – there were people watching the wreath-laying – Pataki, Bloomberg, etc – no Democrats invited!!! A non-partisan photo-op indeed! Geesh!
see:
http://www.prospect.org/weblog…..tml#006242
Hey, it’s not all somber in NYC today. Down in the Village it’s lovely!
Just saying. . .
I’m sure Jane is in Starbucks for the wireless connection as much as for the coffee.
Dennis Eros @
16
Not to be a stickler for details, but when I was at CalArts several years back I learned that Walt Disney was not only cryogenically frozen but also kept in a mysterious wing on campus. As the campus was open 24 hours, my friends and I often hunted for Disney’s frozen corpse in the middle of the night.
My dear marooned flowah, did you get shook up by the earthquake?
When I fell asleep last night with my tv on a sleep timer, it was on MSNBC. This morning, when I turned it on, Imus was on which I never watch. He was talking on the phone to Bob Kerrey, 9-11 Commissioner. Kerrey was going on and on about PT911 with the comment that he learned a lot about John O’Neill, the ex-FBI agent that was killed in the WTC. I was so pissed I couldn’t turn the channel fast enough. If Bob Kerrey was suckered by the show, there is little to no hope for the average viewer to be able to separate fact from fiction. My Mom used to say, “if I can’t believe ALL if it, I can’t believe ANY of it”. Kerrey will be hearing from this viewer. I am so disappointed as I thought he was a better person than that.
Watching the old coverage I was surprised about the “3 weeks ago” warning – I didn’t remember it at the time. It sure was buried deep after the Bush Speech moment – until resurrected with Rice’s appearance before the 9/11 commission (btw – Pat Lang has a short, biting bit up about the Rice and Cheney appearances this weekend – did Cheney really flunk out of Yale or have I missed the punchline?).
I miss Aaron Brown too – someone else said so below threads.
Goss, as head of the Senate Intel Committee saying THEN that no one thought state sponsored terrorism was involved. *s* Five years to get run backwards to where the Senate INtel Committee is still saying that there was no state/Iraq lnk – but now the VP and Sec of State are saying just the opposite. Bold faced as they were with aluminum tubes; as they were with the Wilson attacks (are you sure you’re done with this & boondoggles). Felicia and Oscar.
And Felicia still hanging Tenet out to dry – about as nasty as can be.
Interesting piece from across the water on The Hunt (for bin laden)
It’s so interesting to hear about the need for human intel – a discussion that never includes and reference to how war in Iraq; decimating villages in Afghanistan & Iraq; developing a reputation for violating international laws and torture restrictions and stacking a mean naked pyramid — how those help develop human intelligence.
Do you try to make a deal with a country that kidnaps and walks their sources into black holes for torture? A country that has so many civilian deaths on its hands and a militarized “you are all the enemy” approach, that includes intimidation and humiliation as daily dosing?
Such a screwed up mess.
KathieinMN @ 61
mc @
23
Oh yeah – there were people watching the wreath-laying – Pataki, Bloomberg, etc – no Democrats invited!!! A non-partisan photo-op indeed! Geesh!
see:
http://www.prospect.org/weblog…..tml#006242
Why would any democrat be caught dead w/ that crew?
motherbear @ #15:
please change George Bush’e resume from:
PAST WORK EXPERIENCE
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland , Texas , in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.
to:
PAST WORK EXPERIENCE
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland , Texas , in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock to the Bin Laden family.
Oh this is a hoot– the whole article is good, but this had me howling! GO Tester!
http://www.missoulian.com/arti…..news03.txt
HotFlash @ 59
Well, maybe it was one of those inspired moments I don’t recall. Sounds like my language, but… too much multi-tasking when I turn to FDL – and at other times. Any way I believe you should take credit for the good things people think/say about you even if not true (at least I tried to redirect) because there is certainly alot of crap that gets shoveled one’s way that one has to some way try to shovel back.
beth meacham @ 63
And also, if I remember correctly from the last time I was in the neighborhood, because there is a Starbucks about every 50 feet in that part of Manhattan.
American Airlines is pissed at ABC too. Seemed like they took liberties with them also.
“American Airlines criticizes ABC miniseries on 9/11 attacks
By TREBOR BANSTETTER
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH — Executives with American Airlines say they are “outraged” at the airline’s depiction in the ABC miniseries The Path to 9-11.
Airline spokesman Roger Frizzell said Monday that the miniseries, which concludes tonight, falsely portrays an American gate agent at Boston’s Logan Airport allowing a terrorist onto a flight despite a warning that he may have been a threat.
“It’s important for the public to know that the ABC dramatization is inaccurate and irresponsible in its portrayal of the airport check-in events that occurred on the morning of Sept. 11,” he said.
Two flights operated by Fort Worth-based American were hijacked in the attacks. Flight 11, which departed from Logan, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York, and Flight 77, which flew from Washington Dulles Airport, crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Officials with ABC were not immediately available for comment.
Frizzell said American has alerted ABC to their concerns, but has not yet heard a response.
“The real facts can be found in the 9-11 Commission Report,” Frizzell said.”
Snort. Jerks.
We need a definitive boycott target list to be distributed throughout the left blogosphere. We know ABC and Disney(I also suggest Apple strongly), but who were the 2 big advertisers? Maybe the top 10 advertisers at ABC should be on the list. What I’m saying is we need ONE definitive list.
Mommybrain, I have felt quakes in times past, when I lived in the Ozarks (New Madrid fault zone), but didn’t feel this one. Florida Mom, over on our Gulf coast, noted it, though.
And thanks for asking.
Wonder how long it will take for somebody at ABC to notice how solidly Frizzell slammed them?
Terry in Maryland @
47
He went to work on the Justice department that day and I’m sure he went to bed at 9:00 pm that night.
email from howard dean:
A photo up on Huffington now shows what appears to be Rumsfeld looking contemplatory over a 9/11 memorial. If it is him, I would ask, since when has he actually been contemplatory? And, what about his (and Bush) doing some serious (and public) mourning for those who died in Iraq (American, British, Iraqis and others) and are disfigured and traumatized permanently because of his – and Bush’s – damnable military acts.
annburns @ 74
hehe. They’re down the road from me. Foat Wurth speaks ; )
Cullah ‘em Foat Wrath.
jane
Welcome to the Big Apple. I’m so glad the weather is cooperating for your visit. If you are over by ABC you may want to wander the neighborhood a little. Some nice places to eat and, if you haven’t been there before, touring Lincoln Center can be lovely and they have a great film library.
I longish, but comfortable walk eastward will take you in the vicinity of the Central Park Zoo, which was built while I was a Lawyer at the Parks Dept. There are blackmail piz of me somewhere, of me pretending to be a penguin inside the glass in the penguin and puffins exhibit.
My favorite is the polar bear. We got him (the son) when he was just a cub and I have watched him grow up. He thinks he is a people and really takes shine to kids in strollers.
A few weeks before the refurbished zoo was set to open, the snow monkeys broke out of their exhibit and trashed the place. They may look cute, but boy are they strong.
If you are strolling through the park, head north from the zoo and stop by the model boat basin. On a brezzy day like this, sailing the toy boats is such a joy. If you haven’t seen it, the nearby Alice in Wonderland sculptures are an less well known delight.
Welcome to my hometown. Enjoy.
On American Air: I don’t feel particularly bad for them. Lots of people on the web here and elsewhere were letting them know that this was happening in the film. I am sure that they were warned. Most likely they did nothing. After all, it seems that Washington Post was corrected to Washington Times in the 2nd cut.
Titus Pullo @ 74
I imagine when the lawsuits are filed by Clinton, Albright, Berger, American Airlines, and who knows who else, we will see a list of advertisers among the defendants.
there were no advertisers on the $40,000,000 fiasco for Disney/ABC
Richmond @ 84
well, I guess the idea of a lawsuit from the wapo musta changed their mind…
sheesh
*ilson46201 @ 85
slapping my head, saying d’oh!
well, I guess the idea of a lawsuit from the wapo musta changed their mind…
Or Brady just called in favors.
gag– I have avoided the teevee all day and now have it on mute msnbc– so far they have trotted out Hill, McCain, Kerik, Cofer Black fmr Counterterrorism (now mercenary moneybag-in-chief for Blackwater) to tell their personal remembrances.
ick.
Jane: Ditto the top review for Central Park zoo – and Central park more generally. Poly (as my now 15 year old daughter still calls the polar bear) is fabulous. My last trip was early spring, and the baby monkeys were jumping from their hot tub pools on the rocks into the cold water below with glee. Then one got the idea to jump down on the ducks – with lines of ducklings in toe. The baby monkeys were pretty beaten up in the process by the big billed quackers, and scurried out of the water to dry land quickly. I am pretty sure they learned their lesson, but I bet each year there is a new crop that needs some “learning.” The landscaping at the zoo is also wonderful – all four seasons.
Mary4 @ 89
Jeb, Brady– all cut from the same stuff.
I came here today to see people’s reactions to the ABC hit piece because I opted to watch Peyton vs. Eli. I’m really glad to see no one seemed to watch PT911.
Don’t WaPo and ABC have some joint ventures, polling and prolly others?
I agree with Digby – I watched for a few minutes here and there while discussing PT 9/11 in a chat room. The others in the room agreed it was monstrously tedious and impossible to follow. The relentless “cinema verite” style jerky camera also made me seasick for the first time ever in front of my TV. I can only applaud the wisdom of going without sponsors for this travesty, but the breaks would have been welcome.
Unfortunately the season premiere of The Simpsons was also substandard in my opinion, so it was a rough evening.
OT –
Arch, wicked irony: In the Iraqi war zone, US Army calls for ‘green’ power
excerpt [emphasis added]:
Jane,
Steve is right it was a beautiful clear day like today. I drove that morning from the church I was serving in Brattleboro, VT to a meeting in Concord NH when the news came. I ran in and told my colleagues who were getting coffee. The folks in the office turned on a tv and watched it. We adjourned our ministers meeting because we knew we had a huge task ahead.
I called my husband who left his office, met me at home, west of Boston and we drove back to Brattleboro together to gather people in the church for quiet, prayers, candles and music.
Mommybrain from previous thread- there were no platitudes to be found that night or any time thereafter. It was heartfelt sorrow, confusion, dread and gratitude for community.
All that driving all that day and the sky was blue, the air was crisp and it was hard to believe that on a day like that the world had changed.
Concerning the events that occurred 5 years ago today, there’s only one important question, did the US gov’t allow/participate in 9/11?
The answer to that question would explain the illegal wire-taps, the banning of books like “America Deceived” from Amazon, the detaining of dissenters in fences miles away from events, and the multiple wars based on lies.
How can the gov’t be innocent in 9/11 when we have caught it lying so many times (WACO, Ruby Ridge, no WMDs, ETC., ETC., ETC., ETC.)?
In law, if you determine a person lies ONCE during his testimony, it can be assumed that he lied in the remainder of his testimony. How come we do not hold the gov’t to the same standard as it holds us to?
Final link (before Google Books bends to pressure and drops the title):
America Deceived – Book
I just keep thinking of Katharine Graham, who died almost exactly two months before 9/11.*
Somewhere, her spirit must be howling.
* I know because she and Eudora Welty (whose passing I have marked on my birthday calendar) died within a week of each other, and I remember feeling bad for Jim Lehrer, losing two such friends so close together.
Hi, looseheadprop. Who do you like in tomorrow’s primary for NY AG? I’m inclined to vote for Green. It’s pretty much an anti-Cuomo vote – he doesn’t seem to have relevant experience, and he p*ssed me off the way he screwed Carl McCall in 2002.
I am teevee-less and high speed less until Comcast figures out the situation in this house I am in. The timing couldn’t have been better for missing last night’s fiasco.
I watched a DVD of Network instead. Chilling in its own right.
manonfyre @ 96
manonfyre, what we’d give for that one to hit every paper and TV screen in the country — and for several excellent reasons, eh?
Thanks!
I really hope that more people will get a chance to see Koppel’s program that was on Discovery last nite– it was very, very good.
More please, Mr. Koppel.
lotus,
another howling spirit must be Mary McGrory. I knew the cause of stopping the war was lost when she drank the kool-aid and supported it. Had she lived longer, I’m sure she would have been out in front with Krugman, Rich and others right now excoriating the warmongering bastards in the administration.
Chicago Sun Times, no bastion of moderation, agrees with Digby Accuracy aside, ABC’s ‘9/11′ deserves to bomb
September 8, 2006
BY DOUG ELFMAN TELEVISION CRITIC
Don’t you know it, RevDeb!
manonfyre @
96
and E-85 Ethanol for Humvees and biodiesel for Bradley tanks !!!
*ilson
Even those would have to be trucked in to the troops. The supply lines are cut off, and they are in deep deep trouble.
angie @ 92
Jeb, Brady– all cut from the same stuff.
playdough?
From: “Frizzell, Roger”
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:11:12 -0500
Dear Ms. Robinsong:
I think it is important for you to know that the Disney/ABC television program, The Path to 9/11, which began airing last night, is inaccurate and irresponsible in its portrayal of the airport check-in events that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. A factual description of those events can be found in the official government edition of the 9/11 Commission Report and supporting documents.
Please know this was a tragic event in our company’s history and we hope you will be sympathetic to our employees and our airline on this day. Again, we are outraged by this situation, and we alerted ABC about its gross error. It is very unfortunate.
Roger
Roger Frizzell
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Advertising
American Airlines
Did anybody else notice that AMC was playing “Enemy of the State” last night during the first half of ABC’s debacle? Got ratings nothing like football, I suspect, but it worked for me. Somebody at AMC has a sense of proportion…
New NBC poll: 42% of Americans feel “more safe than 5 years ago,” but the majority split between “about the same” or “less so” . . .
Doesn’t sound Gooper-lucky to me.
I’m amazed they didn’t think of doing a twofer..film “The Making of The Path to 911″ at the same time. Now that would have been a lot more interesting, all the arguing about truthiness and all.
I can’t think of any funny rightwingers offhand either. Wingnuts wish lefties would just disappear but I bet even they would die of boredom with only each other.
lotus @ 100
Fred Hiatt causes my spirit to howl. So called liberal media? *snort*
playdough?
Time we introduce them to Play D’oh!
RevDeb @ 108
isnt there a lot of indigenous marsh grass to make ethanol?
Yes, I’m kidding — such an ethanol plant would be a prime target for saboteurs …
*ilson46201 @ 108
Consumer Reports doesn’t have much good to say about E-85.
looseheadprop @ 82
You know the polar bear, looseheadprop!!!! I LOVE him! Whenever I have time, and I am in the neighborhood, I make a point of stopping by to say hello. Next time, I will be sure to check out the penguin pics!
John@ americablog reports that there is a repeat of Atta and American Airlines in part deux. Will the fun never stop?
Playdough is the perfect medium, Mary!
‘Cept these folks made it deadly and singularly un-funny.
*atou @ 115
yes but is there an Iraqi edition of Consumer Reports? Didn’t think so !
Better lawyer up, Bob Iger:
Your ass is about to be sued. And not just by American Airlines.
Well, they don’t call Disneyland a ‘kingdom’ for nothing.
Hiasson’s book is excellent, highly recommended. It’s a rather thin book unfortunately, but thick with good information and is a fast and focused read. Great for a plane flight getting the hell out of Orlando.
*ilson46201 @ 120
There probably is, of sorts, except it’s published by the Rendon Group and it recommends anything that will make money for certain non-competitive bidders back home. I am suspicious of the genuine nature of the front-line commander’s plea.
Tell Steve that Sue and Lorenzo say ‘hi.’ Sue’s the one who told him not to give out his home address to contributers.
Lorenzo is nice, but Sue can be a bitch.
Phoenix Woman @ 119
yee-haw! And for all that believe that America has no stomach for an impeachment– I say, bring it on! Big money could be changing hands. File suit, Mr. President et al and give them the October suprise early!
a suggestion for greater use of solar power in Iraq makes sense to me. Wind power is more problematic what with the horrendous problem of blowing sand storms… grit and gears dont mesh.
I hate the be the odd man out but I do not think the “Path to 911″ was incomprehensible or boring as much as I wish it were. The propaganda is just beneath the surface. Read Richard Clarke’s slam and you’ll see what I mean. Essentially, I see the movie as type of Willie Horton ad except it’s a movie more in the genre of Dirty Harry where the tough law enforcer types have to deal with the spineless politicians who are of course all in the Clinton administration and ergo Democrats. The propaganda is oin the dialogue about the problems of having to get pesky warrants, getting clearance from some upper level bureaucrat or dealing with some other red tape which stops the good guys from catching the bad guys.
By the way, the movie was not without sponsors: the sponsors ran the ads at the end of the first half. I saw Papa Murphy’s and Ford but I wasn’t going to see if there were 20 minutes of compounded on this thing.
Just what does it take to qualify as Ambassador to Germany?
Ambassador to Germans & Europe – you are soft on terrorism and people need to ditch civil liberties
Ok, maybe I can’t say it so statemanlike-y as he says it.
Given that we have kidnapped a German citizen and sent him off for torture, then when we found out he only had a similar name to a bad guy – and wasn’t really the bad guy- we dumped him in the night on a road to nowhere with no money – and we now are claiming we can’t be prosecuted for torture act, criminal or war crimes violations bc if we did that stuff, umm, It Is A Secret (shhh) — I just have to think that gig on having to give up civil liberties will go over big.
Phoenix Woman @ 123
Fookin lovely.
jonerik — could you discern if those ads you saw were in local slots or part of the national broadcast?
Non-Disney flic worth seeing;
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
Drat! Got another linky to that (130), Mary?
Mary4
Jacob Plotkin was Cheney’s Yale roommate.
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/dickcheney/ascent.html
Richard Clarke on the accuracy and agenda of the ABC movie folks, at TPM:
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/el…..nt_of_film
angie@127 The mouse is in trouble I think. Lindsey used the “D” word. I have followed Clinton’s career since ‘81. The mistake his enemies always made, both in Arkansas and nationally,is to think he is soft and weak. If he thinks it is in his self interest to go after ABC/Disney; those boys are in for severe hurt.
Evening all. Jane, you talk about the lack of right wing comics-tha’s because creativity is a total non-linear process that wingnut brains can’t relate to. Same with compassion and empathy. Say hi to Gilliard and tell him Fuck the Yankees!
Mary4 @ 128
Back in the day, I was an intern at the German desk of the State Department. In THOSE days, being the Ambassador to (West) Germany took a long period of service as a career diplomat – see wiki’s entry on Walter J. Stoessel, Jr. The State Department now has an award for distinguished diplomatic service named for him.
These days, apparently, it takes being the former head of a manufacturer’s trade organization. I haven’t checked, but I’m reasonably sure you’ll also find that it takes a hefty contribution to various republican candidates and causes.
Steve @ 135
good news, Steve.
Wow!
WASHINGTON – For several years, a modest office building in a well-heeled neighborhood of Islamabad, Pakistan, has been the target of a secret CIA operation to capture Osama bin Laden, U.S. intelligence sources tell NBC News.
The building houses the local office of the al-Jazeera television network. Couriers have dropped off two tapes from bin Laden there over the past few years, tapes that offer some of the few clues to the whereabouts of the world’s most-wanted man.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14789070/
scarecrow, thanks for your reminder this am, about Spotlighting Taylor’s post. I sent it to ten at the WaPo. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a confirmation email from Spotlight.
Repeating from likely earlier link, here’s a response from Clinton foundation Exec Dir and counsel to the ABC film, also on TPM:
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe…..rvice_to_t
John DeStefano live blogging right now at Myleftnutmeg.com
http://www.myleftnutmeg.com/sh…..aryId=3276
I’m coming to this gathering late today, and it’ll have to be pretty much a drive-by, but here’s what I KNOW about this topic.
When I was still working in the world of academia, I did research work on so-called “art,” so-called “literature” during the Third Reich in Germany.
It was a total and complete flop — not a single aesthetic value to be found anywhere. It was truly God-awful stuff.
There are reasons why fascism can NEVER produce good art (or even good entertainment), and it has EVERYTHING to do with world-view (and even “Weltanschauung” in the largest sense).
Any piece of “art” which demands of its viewer or reader that he/she submit perfectly in obedience to the whims of The Leader is doomed at the outset. That’s simply not how art operates on the most fundamental level.
One is left with mere agitprop, The Leader’s momentary and arbitrary demand framed as heavy-handed propaganda.
It’s not even that the reader/viewer is bullied by agitprop, oh no! Readers/viewers are fawned over, congratulated thoroughly for being so “good” so “wise” as to follow in lock step with Dear Leader.
The so-called “poets” I analyzed stole ham-fistedly from the Bible to use “prophetic” imagery to prop up their injunctions to readers with grand solemnity and pseudo-sacred mystique. But in so doing, they inverted the original biblical message — in scripture, prophets always bring an unwelcome message to sinners, warning the people about their corruption. Nazi “poetry” instead flattered “the people” for their “inherent” rightness and superiority.
Wherever you see fascist “art” look for this same inversion/perversion of themes and motifs. The structures may be similar, but the content will always be corrupted.
Art thrives on honesty about the human condition in all its complexity. Fascist “art” always dumbs down, and reduces all complexity to simplistic self-serving platitudes.
I could go on listing further such characteristics, but you get the idea, I’m sure.
John Casper @ 140
John Casper — glad you also followed up. There was a lot of good stuff/links in the post, so it seemed the right one to “flood the zone” with. I did not know we got confirmations.
Evenings Folks,
How is your primary eve going? Taking a break from phone calling to remind everyone that there is an election tomorrow here in New York. Primary turn-out is always abysmal but I’m hoping to see a bigger then usual turn-out this year in preparation for the real deal Nov 7 when we elect Kirsten Gillibrand in place of John Sweeney in NY-20.
angie @ 140
I seem to remember that both Madelaine Albright and Sandy Berger had warned Disney, as well. Clinton’s the guy they should really be concerned about, of course, but it looks like he’s not alone.
Disney executives richly deserve to feel prolonged and intense pain for what they’ve done to both America and the other parts of the world where they’ve broadcast this piece of crap. Let’s hope Bill Clinton and Co. can provide it.
NOTE to NSA: I am in no way advocating any form of violence against the people who run ABC and Disney. I’m just saying that they deserve to suffer for this.
Keith will be worth watching tonight, even more than usual:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/#060911a
A couple of weeks ago, I thought the comparisons to Edward R. Murrow were overdone, but I’m coming around. If nothing else, it’s inspiring to see an M$M figure who’s not only on the side of the angels but also understands oratory as a classical form of communication. I’d concluded that, like good manners and the barest consideration of others, it belonged completely to the past.
John Casper @ 134
He had other priorities.
Andrew C. White @ 147
I am looking forward to casting a vote for Charles Barron and booting out the croney Ed Townes in NY’s 10th district.
On CNN, their reporter in Iraq, Michael Ware, says that the WaPo report today is understated, that the conditions in Anwar Province has been known for a year — a “disaster,” a “meat-grinder” and American policy is empowering it’s old enemies, Iran,” and US not strong enough to inhibit al-Qaeda. Wolfie’s questions are a bit alarmist, and
Ware, usually the most critical of US statements, is having to hold back — but still talking about how they have too few troops to deal with the conditions in Ramadi. Hillary up next.
Keith Olbermann is what I will be watching tonight, al- Scooter– he has been the single voice in the American CM teevee darkness that I respect (though I don’t always agree with every little thing he does– like the Michael Jackson puppets)– I will watch tonight, as usual. Most of all just to hear a different perspective that is incredibly precious.
Peterr @
139
Germans to Ambassador Timken – - We tried fascism a few decades ago. Really didn’t work out for us at all.
But if you guys in the US want to try it, there’s little we can do about it other than to suggest that you take a flying f*&% at a roller bearing. (The Timken Company makes/imports bearings)
Have a nice day!
It’s amusing (in a very sick sort of way) that “Path to 9/11″ wont mention Bush’s abrupt vacation plans pre 9/11, the fact that it was a month long (jezuz, the guy had barely started the job) or that F-15’s circled his “ranch” for the entire time, an unprecidented 24 hours a day for the entire month! I don’t know how anyone can read Condi’s testimony (re: 8-6-01 PDB entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside United States.”) and keep a straight face whilst insisting that Bush and company weren’t in on the attack! They didn’t do a thing to increase security (except for themselves) and left the American people wide open and virtually undefended! If that document had landed on Clinton or Gore’s desk, they would’ve had airport security at high levels, fighter planes at the ready, an open channel with FBI agents in the field, the works. The fact that Right-wing Xtians had the audacity to push “Path to 9/11″ (sorry, I mean “The Untitled History Project”) instead of confessing the truth reveals that they don’t actually believe in Hell or in “God’s punishment” or any of the Ten Commandments that they’re forever mewling about (why put them in courthouses when they don’t use them in their everyday lives?). It’s frikkin’ amazing, I tell you. Bush and his cronies betray the country in every way and Xtians put up 40 million dollars to cover up his sins and to lay them at the feet of Clinton?
Mrs. K8,
That’s why we live in a world where American Idol, Larry the Cable Guy and Path to 9/11 are representative of contemporary art.
At leaset during Vietnam there was Dylan and Hendrix and Kubrik.
George W. Bush, the Reverse King Midas for a world of shit.
-GSD
lotus – trying again – not sure why it didn’t work
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/arti…..91,00.html
if all else fails, go to dw-world.de and click on Germany on the newslist to the left.
“Think “great right-wing comics” and you’ll likewise come up with a pretty short list.”
whaddya mean? bush, reagun as POTUS, WHAT A JOKE!!!!!
Chris Matthews just had an epiphany on Hardball:
Sitting just off ground zero, talking to the Newsweek guy, Howard Fineman, he says,
“Maybe when you get lost you should go back where you first got lost.”
Well, that’s as good a place to start as any.
btw, on CNN, shot of Manhattan skyline from ??? shows a gorgeous sunset in the background. (though Gerstein probably thinks it’s a sunrise)
Re Mary4 says
Germany | 11.09.2006
US Ambassador to Berlin Says Europeans are Soft on Terror
Ohio industrialist William Timken was appointed as ambassador to Germany last year
Groansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Ohio industrialist William Timken was appointed as ambassador to Germany last year
In marking the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, US Ambassador to Germany, William Timken, voiced an unpopular hardline view on Europe’s battle against Islamic terrorism.
In an interview with the local newspaper Hannoverschen Allgemeine Zeitung, US Ambassador to Germany William R. Timken warned Europeans not to underestimate the threat of terror.
“Europeans must be better prepared to deal such a menace,” he said, suggesting that the old continent is unwilling to accept the notion that the events of Sept. 11 five years ago could recur.
US Ambassador praises work of CIA
Battle against Islamic terrorism means giving up small personal libertiesBildunterschrift: Groansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Battle against Islamic terrorism means giving up small personal liberties
The ambassador, an Ohio businessman who was appointed to Berlin in August of last year, praised the CIA, saying that its extraordinary undercover work has saved thousands of lives.
Last week President George W. Bush acknowledged the existence of secret CIA prisons outside of US territory, where key al-Qaeda figures have been held and interrogated since the Sept. 11 attacks. The announcement created a furor in Europe over human rights violations, with even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has boosted bilateral ties since assuming office last year, condemning the CIA operations.
Need to give up certain personal liberties
In fighting terror, Timken called on the need for Americans to give up “a small part of their civil liberties.”
“We now live with the understanding that it will be a very, very long battle to resist the Islamists imposing their will on us. Saying such truths might be unpopular, but there is no other alternative,” he said.
In a formal statement issued by the US Embassy in Berlin, Timken talked about being on Capitol Hill in Washington DC and driving past the burning Pentagon and the open field in Pennsylvania where Flight 093 was downed. “Each anniversary of September 11 stands as evidence that good continues to prevail over evil,” he said.
On the fifth anniversary of 9/11, the American Embassy will hold a memorial service in Berlin, which is to be attended by both Timken and German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schuble.
Mrs. K8, your 145 is so rich I don’t even know where to begin — and I’m sure ABC wishes we didn’t have it to contemplate . . .
Kos has the perfect Democratic theme going forward. It is so good I had to come over here and post it.
Responding to the coming GOP smear campaign
by kos
Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:07:02 PM PDT
Every Democrat in a rough race, and even those in less competitive contests, are about to get hit by the greatest slime wave of Rove’s career. They’ve got nothing to lose at this point.
A TPM reader has the perfect Dem response:
Stay focused on one and only message — “You — the Voters — have ONE DAY to hold the Bush Administration accountable for what’s happened in Iraq, and here at home. ONE DAY — election day. If you like the way things are going, vote Republican. If you think things need to change, VOTE DEMOCRATIC. Seize the day. It’s your very last chance.”
At the end of the day, it’s really that simple.
::
Tags: 2006, House, Senate, Karl Rove (all tags)
Thanks, Mary — it worked on my second try. WHO KNOWS what computers are up to?!
Mrs. K8 #145:
This is a subject area that reveals one of the many gaping holes in my education. Thanks for the heads-up. Once we know the code, it’ll be easier to read the messages.
angie #153:
I don’t always agree with KO, either. But if I did, that’d mean that one of us is redundant, and I wouln’t like my chances for being the one to “stay on the island.”
*xyz @ 158
I like that.
The KISS principle in action.
Go here please and just scroll down one post for a glimpse of a picture that is truly beautiful… no warning necessary, although you may giggle at the first image. :o
http://gorillasguides.blogspot.com/
That Ambassador Timkin has some nerve. Hey cheese-hole, ever heard of the Red Brigades, The IRA, Bader-Meinhoff, ETA? Not to mention the London bombings and the Madrid bombings.
Europe has dealt with terrorism for a long time and dealt with it pretty well. Instead the US has been consumed with a self-absorbed pity and an outer directed rage that is creating more and more and more enemies.
It is just amazing, amazing, amazing.
-GSD
GSD @ 4:24 pm (#156)
There was also Jose Jiminez, Ed Wood, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Rin Tin Tin. Over time, we forget about those and remember the Dylans and Kubriks. Contrast the good of any age with the bad of another and the latter age will always seem wanting.
Thanks, angie at 166. I said “wow” so loud, I woke up a cat.
I am shaking my head right along with you, GSD.
Cujo359 @ 167
Here, here. S’alright? S’OK.
-GSD
Thanks scarecrow.
“I did not know we get confirmations.”
I’d say 80-90% of the time, I get a confirmation. It confirms the link of the Post I “Spotlighted,” the introductory message I wrote, and most importantly imo, the names of the journalists I Spotlighted it to.
What does it take!!!!
After giving Hillary a softball question allowing her to talk about the Senate Intelligence Committee report and getting diverted into Iraq and taking the eye off the ball in Afghanistan/al-Qaeda, and she’s standing there with ground zero in the background, Wolfie gives Hillary a chance to say she would have voted differently on Iraq, given the info we now know (e.g., the Senate Intelligence report) and she’s still talking, five minutes later, ducking the question. Good grief! She could have nailed Bush for misleading us and misconnecting Iraq with 9/11, and she ducks!!!
Her triangle must have 13 sides.
She just lost any chance of getting the Dem nomination, so can we stop talking about her, forever? Thanks.
You Tasini folks in NY should vote early and vote often. Here’s my proxy.
Mrs. K8 @ 145
Why this place continues to astound. Brava!
Here’s my proxy too and you are right on, scarecrow! I just watched the same thing and again, shook my head.
GO Tasini!
Keith O gonna have another “special comment” in his show tonight. Looks like it’s going to be about the delays in rebuilding the WTC.
The final movements of my exchange with the Orlando ABC station:
CNN- Karen Hughes on whether Islamofacism is a good term? Oh, it’s really a “cult” she says. Gosh, now she’s the representative of Muslims in America. They must be thrilled. Did they get to vote?
Apparently Merkle not only didn’t get the message, she DID get the message and didn’t care for it – maybe he forgot the neck rub?
(another dw link – hope it goes through)
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/arti…..78,00.html
Some of this was in AP links, but this has a bit more:
Not only did Germany not get it, Council of Europe and European Union didn’t get a neck rub either:
To top it all off, I made myself read through Gonzales (Mr. “I took the tort out of torture”) Chicago piece. The internet is evil, it is responsible for homegrown terrorists who hate us for
our freedomsour slow dial ups. “Recruits” are encouraged to identify with al-Qaeda.[Apparently this is why we go in for hoods - harder to identify with the hood - but evil internet graphics artists *think Dar ali khan Black* have been circumventing our efforts by photoshopping faces onto the hoods - and for some reason mickey mouse ears onto President Bush]
Pictures of mass graves in Lebanon, pyramids of the naked and hooded, levelled and smoldering Fallujah, lists of the kidnapped or *purchased* wrongfully sent to GITMO for years – those things have nothing to do with anything. The problem is “disaffected souls” who, if only they could become affected would be fine – and probably even Republican.
“Disruption and prosecution are the keys to protecting the American people from homegrown radicals” (along with some good old fashioned torture and a nice offshore site to try to bury it all – and a Padilla precedent of ditching the Constitution entirely if someone gets a groin itch).
“The U.S. government and its citizens must be good, trustworthy neighbors to Muslim communities. Building strong relationships can take years, and we are really just beginning. ”
For example, they need to know that they can trust us to kidnap, render and torture. Luckily, Gonzales is there to help them to that promised land. And to make them love us more by explaining how we thoughtfully rushed bombs to Israel to use on Lebanon and approved targeting civilians (bc we think it will mostly mean Muslim civilians) with cluster bombs.
I just love a little “lean forward” from the guys who STAND BEHIND the people on the edge of the precipice.
Scarecrow at 172
That is truly astonishing.
Hillary is beyond any hope of redemption.
Sure, she will tease us from time to time, as she did when she roughed up Rumsfeld recently.
But her lack of judgment on the defining issue of our time indicates that she can never, ever be the Democratic nominee. She simply doesn’t pass the bar of intellectual, political, or most importantly, moral, competence.
Wolfied interview Karen Hughes: Why has image of US plunged in Muslim world, especially since we have the best communications? Why do they hate us?
Karen: — we had to do some hard things.
How is it possible to say what she says with a straight face. Isn’t there some law of physics that automatically contorts one’s face when one lies this badly — a Dorian Grey principle? Prof Foland?
expatjourno2 at TPM has hig praise for PT911:
I wish I’d said that.
Karen Hughes is grotesque and her “cult” language is every bit as offensive as the “crusade speak” her boyfriend spewed.
veruca @ 65
Did you check the god awful sub-basement from Hell?
Seriously though when were you at CalArts? I was there for the late, great Sandy Mackendrick and then I was gone.
GSD @ 167
Had to run after making my earlier comment, but the Red Army et al. was the first thing that came to my mind too. “Amazing” doesn’t begin to describe it.
Grrr. . .
Gotta get dinner cooking . . . and put Olbermann on along with it.
The NewsHour just reported that the Army’s report of lower numbers of Iraqis killed last month in Baghdad due to its increased security operations only counted those deliberately targeted and not those killed by suicide bombing or mortar attacks. If these are taken into account there was no decrease from the 1500 killed the previous month. Juan Cole noted this yesterday. The original story is from McClatchy:
http://www.realcities.com/mld/…..474438.htm
new thread
scarecrow @ 179
I don’t know scarecrow – I think that’s the most honest thing I’ve seen from any of them.
Not “for our freedom” but pretty much fessing up – bc we invaded, occupied, bombed, indiscriminately wiped out civilians, kidnaped, broke laws, did I mention occupied, committed war crimes, laughingly gave a 60 ankle bracelet sentence for a torture killing, held spouses and children hostage, etc.
Hard stuff.
McCafferty on why nearly half the people think Saddam responsible for 9/11 — e-mail answers say, “because people listen to idiots like Russ Limbaugh” or “because people swallowed what you told them” or “because people are dumb as wood” or “because they are ‘true believers’” or “we’re a nation of idiots; where’s the outrage?” Another scientific sampling.
So why did the Pres’ poll numbers go up (42 percent JAR) in the latest poll rwcole reported? Something’s amiss.
Godfkndammerung!
The crawl on MSNBC just now: NY Times: Ned Lamont (D) wrote to Sen Joe Lieberman (D-CT) in 1998 “praising the eloquence” of Lieberman’s speech on the Lewsinsky scandal.
Hugh @ 184
I heard/read that this weekend, Hugh. Bush et al does Orwell one better.
Disney being cryogenically frozen is an urban legend. See Snopes.
There were plenty of other reasons to dislike the man though :)
Anybody who can’t see, smell, or taste the astoundingly vast amount of cover for saying the Iraq war is a tragic sham and it never should have happened is really begging to be put out of their misery.
Mary4 @ 185
You got it. My wish for you is that one day you get to be Wolfie for a day and get to ask every member of this criminal administration any questions you want, and they, strapped upside down on a wet board with a sign that says, “tough but legal” have to answer every question . . . drip, drip, drip.
A procedural question, ladies and gentlemen:
I am attempting to contact the members of the US Senate Committee on Armed Forces re the Military Commissions Act 2006. I telephoned Sen Kennedy’s office to ask how I should be contacting the Senator. I am not his constituent, but as an American citizen I understand that I can communicate to him in his capacity as Committee member. I believe TeddySF was talking about this a week or so ago. Sen Kennedy’s phone answering person said yes, I could contact the Senator as a mamber of the CAS at his regular e-mail despite not being from Mass. The kid did seem a little confused, thought American citizens paid taxes to America no matter where they lived, which is not true. So he may be wrong about the other, too.
Anyway, got this back from Hilary:
Now, I really want these letters to get to the members, anyone know how I can do that? There is a separate mailing address for the CAS but all the Sens have notices that mail is 2-3 weeks due to security concerns and to pls use e-mail — I guess they have to soak all the incoming envelopes for a fortnight just in case.
Thanks for any help with this.
LindaR @ 187
I assume you know that this seriously misrepresents the e-mail that Lamont sent to Lieberman, when Lamont was still a constituent. There was an excellent kos post on this several days ago I can dig out if you need it.
Oh holy smokes– dubya loses it with his best bud Matt Lauer…
smokin’!
Finger in the chest and mucho falso bravado along with a leetle bit of Perot! ROTFLMAO.
Wull, I reckon “Abu ‘I took the tort out of torture’ Gonzales” made my day.
And whaddya know, ’twas Mary done it. Now who’d a-thunk that . . .
scarecrow @ 171
I am absolutely voting for Tasini tomorrw!!!!!!
Now that this thread is EPU’d, I’d like to note:
… the incomparable Steve Gilliard.
When Jane met Digby, she referred to Digby as “suave, charming and brilliant.”
The first time I met Jane, she compared me to a frog. Just saying…
[ Moderator: Ribbit! ]
On Count Down: Even Matt Lauer does a double take when Bush says he can’t talk about techniques, when asked whether we use waterboarding. Of course, that was not torture, because Gonzalez said it wasn’t.
Matt is dumbfounded. Aren’t you concerned there is a blurring of the lines between them and us?
Bush: ignoring this question, says whatever we’ve done was legal, and I won’t tell you what we did, because we don’t want them to train to deal with what we do, which is non-torture.
Swopa @ 198
You are a prince among bloggers to me, Swopa.
ribbit right back atcha!
Mary4 @
177
When will they catch that rascal?
;>)
scarecrow @
188
If you’ve been following Hugh’s daily posts on retail gasoline prices, you’ve noted the downward trend in same. This decline will help the incumbents a little.
Here’s my email to Robert Iger.
I can’t believe that you have gone ahead and aired that smelly piece of propaganda The path to 9/ll. I had read that you were really a good guy. Well forgettaboutit……….you’re true colors are flying. I hereby vow to never, ever go to Disneyworld, or Disneyland, or buy any Disney product ever. I hereby consign ABC to the dustbin of history. You will be a footnote in the story of how America flirted with fascism – the marriage of corporations with government. What an infamous footnote you will be. Hopefully, the forces of good, the people who still believe in the constitution and the balance of powers, will win. If not, your history will be even blacker…..think about it, when your time came to carry on our great American traditions, you failed – utterly. I hope the WhiteHouse paid you big bucks from their propaganda budget. Sincerely, A real American from the midwest, Carmen Ferguson
Andrew C. White @
147
Hello, Andrew. Good luck with that :) I’ll hope to hear the good news tomorrow. You’ll stop by?
I watched for about 15 minutes as well…incoherent rubbish…why do we persist in redefining history in near real time (like this garbage made for tv movie…they’re all the same) instead of trying to change it? Well, because we are not invested financially or personally (like taxes and military draft…like then we become stakeholders)
I agree. I tuned PT911 out except for the actionable defamation scenes. It sat in the corner of my CPU screen while I caught up on blogs.
The show flunks Goebbels’ first rule of cinema: it isn’t entertaining. Not the way to insinuate a worldview. The lack of commercial breaks hurt it. First, the viewer badly needed a break. Second, it laid bare the propaganda catapult, demonstrating, at least to the unzombified, that the show got on the air to sell something besides toothpaste. I’m sure many fence-sitters thought about the controversy it’s stirred and clicked their remotes with a clear conscience.
this is so random and troll like and as if anyone cares, but….9/11/01 in NY was kinda, abnormally, a bit humid and hazy and on the hot side. crisp it wasn’t. brought to you by the historical weather channel.
I usaed to use Hiassen when I taught Crime & Delinquency in Florida. Now it is time to put “Team Rodent” back on my syllabus.
Anybody know how many viewers an 8.2/12 share equates to?
LA Times reports audience of 13 million, versus 20 million for the football game.
The thing that keeps striking me is that Bush was saying that he wouldn’t rest until those responsible were brought to justice.
And in the last 5 years ‘war pretzeldent’ Chimp has set an all-time presidential record for vacation days. He doesn’t work many hours on the days he actually shows up to work, either.
This is a battle that progressives can win. It cost nothing in economic terms for us (the defamed political opposition).
Join the ‘BOYCOTT ABC ARMY’. I have gone almost three days without watching ABC Network and the plan is to never watch it again.
The Liberals have been broadsided by a corporation so fascist that they are willing to sacrifice democracy for a power play.
We need a huge army of individuals to win this fight against lies and deception by ABC. It costs nothing, that’s right not a penny to BOYCOTT ABC.
ABC NETWORK started this fight and we need to finish it. Let’s fight the good fight and this is one we can win. Let’s take America back from the fascist corporations one battle at a time.
BOYCOTT ABC NETWORK!