Bush supporters condemn fictionalized political mini-series -- in 2003

[Oilwellian]

When CBS announced in November, 2003 that it would broadcast a mini-series it produced about Ronald and Nancy Reagan called "The Reagans," Matt Drudge obtained excerpts from the script and published them. That led to right-wing bloggers, organizations and pundits, along with the RNC itself, demanding that CBS cancel the broadcast, which it did (moving it instead to Showtime, with a panel discussion afterwards filled with critics of the film).

Those who wanted the mini-series cancelled back then were making arguments which are highly relevant -- for reasons that are self-evident -- to ABC's plans to broadcast an indisputably fictionalized mini-series about 9/11, a film which includes exactly the fabricated dialogues and historical events which served as the ostensible basis for outrage over The Reagans:

Ed Gillespe, RNC Chairman -- Scarborough Country, 11/6/2003 (via Lexis)

GILLESPIE: And I think it was important that it be historically accurate. And if they didn't intend to make it historically accurate to make sure that viewers understood that it was not intended to be historically accurate but a fictional portrayal. So we made two requests: One is having historians review it for accuracy if you're going to broadcast it. And if you're unwilling to do that, inform the viewers that it's not historically accurate. That's not censorship, that's common sense. . .

I've sent a similar letter to the head of Showtime making the same point: "If you're not willing to have it reviewed for historical accuracy, make sure your viewers understand that it's a fictional portrayal. You know, in this society that we live in and with the media culture that we have, there's infotainment and docudrama and reality TV, and the lines between fact and fiction blur. That's fine when it's entertainment, but when you're talking about the formative phase of the Reagan legacy formation, I think that it's important that we get things right. . . .

I think that same standard should apply to the late president John F. Kennedy or to Jimmy Carter or any president. If you're going to portray a presidency and a president, I think you should do all you can to make sure it's accurate. . . .

Bill O'Reilly, O'Reilly Factor "Talking Points", 11/4/2003 (Via Lexis)

Today CBS issued this statement, "Although the mini-series features impressive production values and acting performances, and although the producers have sources to verify each scene in the script, we believe it does not present a balanced portrayal of the Reagans for CBS and its audience."Well, fine, but how could CBS green light the film in the first place knowing that the producers, the director and the featured actors are all left wing thinkers?

That would be like CBS commissioning a movie about the Clintons written by Rush Limbaugh and starring Dennis Miller and Ann Coulter. Do you think that would ever happen?

Brent Bozell, November 5, 2003

Brent Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center, scoffed at the notion that CBS was stifling free speech. "There is no such thing as creative license to invent falsehoods about people," Bozell said. "I don't care who you are. You don't have that right."

Republican National Committee, November 5, 2003

Some conservatives were unhappy that the program would be aired at all. "I don’t know the misinforming fewer viewers on Showtime solves the problem," said Jim Dyke Republican National Committee.

Ed Morrow, National Review, October 23, 2003

Judging from the accounts that have been creeping into the press and the promotional bits played by Matt Drudge as a fill-in host on Rush Limbaugh's radio show, the miniseries is a vicious smear of Reagan and his wife Nancy. . . .

The substitution of propaganda for fact is dangerous. It's not by accident that tyrants create "history" to justify their schemes. Hitler couldn't have taken control of Germany without the many anti-Semitic myths that had been allowed to fester and go unchallenged. Stalin and Mao couldn't have kept a heel on the neck of their countries without self-glorifying myths that demonized anyone who stood in their way. In this case, simple justice demands that the lies about Ronald and Nancy Reagan must not go unchallenged but, in a larger sense, truth itself must be defended. Attempts to distort our history must be resisted. Historical truth is simply too valuable to be made a plaything for biased filmmakers rewriting it to fit their politics.

Seth Leibsohn, National Review, November 6, 2003

The latest critique of the conservative movement — which should be a critique of anyone dedicated to the thought that our knowledge of history is bad enough — is that we censored a CBS miniseries on President Ronald Reagan because we think Reagan "untouchable." That is a mischaracterization. . . . Show the man in all his glory and all his defeat, we are not ashamed of history. We should all be ashamed of bad history, though — of dressing up fiction as fact. What offended us was a portrayal of Reagan that put words in his mouth he never uttered and attributed positions to him he never held. . . .

Perhaps if the CBS miniseries attempted accuracy, there would have been less concern. But we don't need false portrayals of living (but incapacitated) historical figures, in the nastiest forms possible. It's not decent, and it sure is not helping us understand history better — something we could all afford to do . . .

Bernard Golberg and Pat Buchanan -- Buchanan & Press, 11/26/2003 (via Lexis)

BUCHANAN: All right, Bernie . . . Here's what they've got Ronald Reagan saying in this film."Look at her," about Mrs. Kennedy. "Couldn't she at least have changed her dress? There's blood all over it."Housekeeper to Mrs. Reagan. "Are we going to cancel the cocktail party tonight?" "No, we're not going to cancel anything. Why should we cancel the cocktail party?"And the purpose of this is complete fabrication, utterly out of character with Ronald Reagan.

GOLDBERG: Exactly.

BUCHANAN: putting a lie in his mouth, in order to make the American people, or a generation that never knew him, hate him. Why do - I don't understand why Bill Press and other liberals will not at least say, get the lies out of his mouth.I don't think he was that good a president. But Dennis shouldn't put lies in his mouth.

GOLDBERG: I think that decent, open-minded, fair liberals cannot like that. They can't like it any more than conservatives like it.

(much more)
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/09/bush-supporters-condemn-fictionalized.html