Top Historians Demand ABC Yank 9/11 Film

[rodeodance]

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2006/sep/08/schlesinger_wilentz_and_other_historians_to_abcs_iger_yank_dangerous_film


Top Historians Demand ABC Yank 9/11 Film
By Greg Sargent | bio

We've just received a copy of a scathing letter that Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Princeton's Sean Wilentz, Georgetown's Michael Kazin and a few other historians and professors have written to ABC chief Robert Iger. It demands that ABC yank the broadcast, labeling the network's explanations "disingenuous" and "dangerous": "A responsible broadcast network should have nothing to do with the falsification of history, except to expose it. We strongly urge you to halt the show’s broadcast and prevent misinforming Americans about their history." The full text of the letter after the jump.

Here's the full text of the letter:

Dear Robert Iger:

We write as professional historians, who are deeply concerned by the continuing reports about ABC’s scheduled broadcast of “The Path to 9/11.” These reports document that this drama contains numerous flagrant falsehoods about critical events in recent American history. The key participants and eyewitnesses to these events state that the script distorts and even fabricates evidence into order to mislead viewers about the responsibility of numerous American officials for allegedly ignoring the terrorist threat before 2000.

The claim by the show’s producers, broadcaster, and defenders, that these falsehoods are permissible because the show is merely a dramatization, is disingenuous and dangerous given their assertions that the show is also based on authoritative historical evidence. Whatever ABC’s motivations might be, broadcasting these falsehoods, connected to the most traumatic historical event of our times, would be a gross disservice to the public. A responsible broadcast network should have nothing to do with the falsification of history, except to expose it. We strongly urge you to halt the show’s broadcast and prevent misinforming Americans about their history.

Sincerely,

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Sean Wilentz, Princeton University
Michael Kazin, Georgetown University
Lizbeth Cohen, Harvard University,
Nicholas Salvatore, Cornell University;
Ted Widmer, Washington College;
Rick Perlstein, Independent Scholar;
David Blight, Yale University;
Eric Alterman, City University of New York.

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Sep 8, 2006 -- 02:16:20 PM EST | Tags: National

[AX10]

1. K & R!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

2. Wow

ABC is between a rock and a hard place on this one.

[maddezmom]

3. K&R...folks should include this letter with any correspondence to ABC

:thumbsup:

[calimary]

5. All it does is add credibility.

VERY impressive, including the leading name: Arthur Schlessinger. AND both of bush's alma maters - Harvard AND Yale, too, 'eh?

VERY cool.

K&R!

[MADem]

4. This is ....... WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And ya know, the asshole in the White House was actually a HISTORY MAJOR...

Can ya believe it?

Big KICK, and an R to boot.

[aquart]

11. I've always wanted to meet the person who wrote his papers.

Think he's still alive?

[MADem]

18. Unless it was Rove, the poor slob probably had brake failure on

a Mount Washington trip!!!!

[pnwmom]

19. He got them from the files in his frat.

What's a good frat brother for?

[StraightDope]

53. Hey, easy on we fraternity members...

And we historians, for that matter, though from perusing the link, I should be mighty proud of my fellow past-ists. :) Professional Historians have little affection for revisionism so soon after the fact, or centuries later, for that matter. History, contrary to *'s pronouncements, has already judged himself and his era. Miserable failure is too kind of a nomenclature for that ignorant, evil bastard. As I am wont to say, the preceding is no more than my $0.02. But in this case, it's an educated 1/50th of a dollar's-worth.

[pnwmom]

54. Welcome to DU, you "past-ist"!

I agree -- fellow historians should be proud.
And I didn't really mean to dis all frat guys -- only the ones who use the files. (I wonder if they still have them, now that it's so easy to plagiarize from the internet?)

[Kierkegaard]

60. And here I thought he was an astronomy major...

based on the fact that all he took up in college was space.

[PegDAC]

93. Taking up space. n/t

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[The Wizard]

81. Thought he majored in

time and space. At least that what he was taking up.

[Maven]

6. How do you like them apples, you hacks

K/R

[ProSense]

7. ABC is despicable!

All the RW nuts who were defending them, should apologize to the nation!

[Mountainman]

8. With all the letters going to ABC about this, how does the right defend

doing it? Their whole world is built on lies and distortions. They have to keep lying to cover the past lies. Conservatives do not want the truth out there and we are so badly damaged by it.

[calimary]

9. The other really wonderful and encouraging thing about this particular

letter from all these respected historians is that it's indicative of the dispassionate AND vigilant view of people who will very likely be overseeing or otherwise having an input in the historical record now being compiled. If historians recognize shit like the ABC hose-job for the deceitful history-rewrite that it is, it's likely that actual history books in the future will echo their vigilance. At least I hope so.

I'm just glad that historians are blowing the whistle, too. They are the gatekeepers of what our grandchildren will be studying.

[Jacobin]

10. The war between the fundies and the Rest of Us has begun

And I say Its Time.

:bounce:

[Skittles]

12. kudos to the historians

It is wonderful to see people protesting propaganda

[acmavm]

13. Way to go, tell these assholes they'll go down in history as

lying pieces of shit.

Let them know their future relations won't be very proud of the lying asses.

[longship]

14. Whoa!! This is blowing up in their faces! nt

:kick:

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Nite Owl]

17. Your concept of what

constitutes free speech is misdirected. Freedom of anything doesn't allow a person to do what they want whenever they want. Freedom of speech doesn't include lies. That's why their are laws that are upheld about slander.

[PegDAC]

94. In Australia

ABC is advertising this as "The Official True Story"!

:shrug: :puke:

[samsingh]

20. why don't you do a fictionized documentary on bush

(or a real one) and see what happens?

let's see what free speech means.

stating a fact is free speech.
giving an opinion is free speech.

giving an opinion and saying its a fact while destroying someone else's life's work is potentially libel.

[SPCAworks]

23. If I'm

not mistaken this series is called a docu-drama...

not a historical documentary.

[City Lights]

25. They billed it as an historical documentary until we caught them

with their pants down. They came up with the new term after the shit started hitting the fan.

edited for typo

[newspeak]

26. And, I'm sure you were right there decrying free speech

when Michael Moore's, Fahrenheit 9/11 came out before an election and ABC refused to air it. But, that's different, right?

[DURHAM D]

28. Go play in your usual sandbox. Bye-bye. n/t

[Pacifist Patriot]

38. That would be a concession to the outcry, not the original marketing.

[bookman]

76. That doesn't do it.

Docu-Drama still implies that the basic story is based on fact. Fictional conversation might be used, but the facts are the basis of the story. That is not the case here.

"Based on the 9-11 report" implies that it is based on the 9-11 report. But it contradicts it.

Plus a little research will show the political motivation behind this film.

F 9-11 used actual film clips and included facts. Any opinion came directly from the narrator, not creating an impression of something that did not happen via an actor.

[D23MIURG23]

79. Implying that it still relies on fact.

In any case it is stupid and irresponsible to rewrite history concerning 9/11 unless you call it "historical fiction" and use characters that don't exist.

[yardwork]

87. What the fuck does "docu-drama" mean?

Just asking.

[Bretttido]

89. Do you think most people who will watch know it is a docu-drama?

And do they know what a docu-drama IS? And will they be able to discern which elements are documentary and which are based on fiction? This is a 6 hour film keep in mind, that is a shit-load of facts/events to discern even for the most astute audience members.

[ms liberty]

24. Wow - you are massively deluded!

"I know the mods here don't like dissent."

:rofl:

Whatever anyone else has told you, 5 seconds of looking around on this site should make you aware that dissent is our bread and butter here! If we all agreed with each other and fell into lock-step like you seem to think, the Republicult would have been hiding under their collective rocks begging for mercy a long time ago. It is in fact the Republicultists who demand conformity and obedience, not Democrats, and least of all liberals.

And as for your suggestion that we haven't done as much research as you, simply because we don't consider Michael Scheuer the ultimate authority on all things 9/11...aww hell, screw it. It's not worth my time to take the time to refute the horseshit.

Welcome to DU! Enjoy your stay, however brief it may be.

edited to add: I forgot to add this: Disney/ABC began by advertising this as factual. They promoted this as the truth. They entered into a partnership to use this film as a teaching tool in our schools. They refused to allow anyone who was actually involved in the events to see the film, yet promoted it and previewed it only to those who would agree with it's slant. IT IS PROPAGANDA. Free speech doesn't mean free to distort and lie about facts in our recent history.

[SPCAworks]

30. I think I'd like to be able to see

the entire uncensored version to make up my OWN OPINION insteading of having someone else DECIDE what I'm allowed to see.

[newspeak]

31. maybe you can read Richard Clarke's response

to your alleged scenario and then explain to me what happened on Tora Bora-I remember when that happened and it seems there were soldiers that were quite upset because they thought they had OBL-the Pentagon wouldn't respond for more re-enforcements. Maybe someone is confusing the events, intentionally. But as Clarke states, Clinton was obsessed with getting OBL, not like *--it seems OBL has served his purpose, in more ways than one.

[SPCAworks]

33. Tora Bora

was one of the first in a long line of Bush admin fuck-ups.

Hey we all know that BUSH has been making mistakes constantly for 6 years... it's no secret.

But Clinton admin made some, too.

[loves_dulcinea]

34. he let that lewinsky cow into his life.

other than that, nothing major.

[Patchuli]

74. NAFTA was a major mistake!

Ask all the laid off Americans.

[TankLV]

68. Sure - if you count one blue dress - but NOT on terrorism.

It wasn't Clinton that refused to read the daily briefings and EXTENSIVE reports prepared to fight OBL.

And, unlike this trash masquerading as film, 911 happened on bush*s watch, not Clinton's.

AND, Iraq had NOTHING to do with 911, unlike what bush* and the repukes are constantaly claiming, which is also another lie in this piece of crap...

[Crunchy Frog]

42. I think I'd like to see a 3 hour, prime time interview with Noam Chomsky.

Aired without commercial interruptions of course, and on a major TV network.

Do you think I'm likely to get what I'm wishing for? If I don't, do you think I'm the victim of censorship? I would like to be able to make up my OWN OPINION instead of having someone else DECIDE what I'm allowed to see. I hope to see you out there agitating for this interview to be shown.

(FYI, even if this should get cancelled by ABC, it will certainly be available through other venues to those who wish to see it. Just like the Reagan movie is.) :hi:

[ProudDad]

44. Fine

You have that right and you can watch it alone, 'cause I sure as shit ain't gonna watch it.

If only because it's probably crap - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2817843

I Am a 1st Amendment fundamentalist. I do believe that these film makers have the right to put together whatever they want and that ABC has a right to air it.

I also believe in fairness. And friend, we ain't getting that!

Fairness used to be the Law of the Land. But the right-wing fucks took care of that as soon as ronny ray-gun got into office.

Now we can only pressure the big media corps (all 6 of them) as much as we can for a little crumb of fairness. So we do, any way we can with whatever weapons we can muster. Even high-blown rhetoric about one section of the film that portrays a complete lie as truth...

I DON'T think it's fair of ABC to air 5 hours of the work of an admitted right-wing propagandist without airing a substantial rebuttal from sane people. That's called a fascist dictatorship, and Bunky, rigged elections notwithstanding, that's what we have here in the good ole u.s. of a!!!

---------------------------

ON EDIT: For a fair and balanced portrayal of the 9/11 attack (really, not just faux bullshit) check out "9/11 Press for Truth". I saw it last night at the Grand Lake in Oakland and it's a GREAT intro to the truth about 9/11, and how flawed the 9/11 Commission's Cover-up Report is, rather than the official bullshit story.

[dalaigh lllama]

48. So if I made a "docudrama" about you

called "The sorry life of SPCAworks" based on some actual facts, but interlaced with made up stuff about you -- maybe some early shoplifting, child porn, or whatever -- then showed it to all your friends, family, and co-workers, you'd be cool with that? I think not. It's called libel, not free speech.

[Felinity]

61. Good for you

And maybe you are a rational person who is capable of doing so.

I'm not concerned with people who are knowledgeable about the real facts in this case seeing the film. I am concerned about the ill-informed, the under-educated, the easily deceived, the non-critical thinkers, and the just-too-damn-busy-"putting food on their families"-people seeing this film.

And how about this group of people: THE CHILDREN!!! What about those too young to have researched this issue, too young to view a TV show and then critically analyze which parts are fact and which are fiction; and then to remember all that clearly after they have learned algebra.

They planned this project, bringing in the Scholastic organization (duped, I presume) in order to contaminate the memory and opinions of the 911 intelligence failure in the consciousness of our collective mind as a Nation. If it airs, they will succeed to some extent. That much is certain.

Do you still think this should air?

If you haven't already, you must read this summary of Clinton admin terror initiatives by William Rivers Pitt: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0608/S00377.htm

[bookman]

77. Shouldn't your opinion...

..be based on facts not fiction?

[Nite Owl]

29. And where are you

links supporting this:

'I've done more 9-11 research than 99.9% of people. Several of the controversial points in "path to 9-11" ARE TRUE.'

[SPCAworks]

32. I read

the 9-11 report COVER TO COVER, not just the abridged version. Most everything is THERE. I've read LOTS of other books, like Scheuer's.

Me personally I blame the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism EQUALLY on

Reagan
BUSH1
Clinton
BUSH2

They've all made mistakes. 3/4 Repugs.

[newspeak]

35. so, don't you think it rather odd

that this mock-u-drama, five hours, is presented at this time? Right before elections, five hours of some fabricated scenes? Hell, I have grievances against some of the bills Bill Clinton endorsed, but against terrorism, he was more focused than what these greed heads are. I remember when he attempted to get passed a bill to track terrorist funding and the Republican Congress voted it down!!!! Maybe ABC should show the millions the repukes spent of our money to make anything stick on Clinton. There the ones dogging him every step of the way, so they could get their own little war hard on, on!!!! And, those who were sent to prison by Star because they refused to lie-it was attack 24/7 and the media was totally complicit back then. To bad about that BJ-right now I'd take a BJ any day over all of us being raped!!!!

[SPCAworks]

36. yup...

ABSOLUTELY! Someday I want to see a 5 hour docu-drama about the "Path to Iraq" and I hope it blows the lid off of the last 6 years and thousands of US casualties. And if ANYONE wants to censor/edit/whitewash ONE FREEKIN SECOND of it... I'll be pissed.

I'm very fair minded.

[newspeak]

39. you realize this is a major PR campaign

* has been on TV now twice talking some scary, fascist crap--torturing, terrorists, fear, fear, fear. Now this comes out, is it an attempt to turn the election around (ABC is complicit) or is something scary coming down for the citizens of this country and all this PR, spin, propaganda is greasing the wheel? He's getting too much air time, I want to know why? This is a five hour mock-u-drama, that can be paid for-after all, we had to pay to watch Fahrenheit 9/11--if you want to see it buy the DVD or go to the movies.

[Crunchy Frog]

43. You do realize that this fantasy docudrama of yours

has already been censored. Under the current corporate media ownership, such a documentary would never even be concieved of. It's already been pre-censored. I would be getting pretty pissed about it right now if I were you.

It is very fair minded of you to get so hypothetically upset about the hypothetical censorship of a purely hypothetical future documentary that could never exist IRL as you are getting about protests against ABC's planned bit of RW propaganda.

[ProudDad]

46. The 9/11 report was a Cover-Up!

Check it out:

http://www.911pressfortruth.com/

This film, "9/11 Press for Truth", is NOT a propoganda piece. It's a fact based timeline of the attempts of the 9/11 Widows to get the truth and the fact that they didn't! It discusses the cover up that the Commision represented and many of the inconvenient truths left out of the proceedings.

So you could read that bullshit document all you want and not more than 30% of the real questions about 9/11 are answered in it.

So I hope in the interest of fairness that after you watch the right-wing's propoganda you at least watch "9/11 Press for Truth"...

[Felinity]

63. Again, now read this:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0608/S00377.htm

[Pacifist Patriot]

37. I think you raise an important question, but an irrelevant one to...

the issue at hand.

Censorship, in my opinion, is the state dictating what can and cannot be creatively produced and disseminated. I have no problem with the production of this film or this piece of rubbish being released straight to video.

I do have a problem with the marketing of the film and its use of the public airwaves and public school system to disseminate propaganda and revisionist history. And this completely aside from the fact that blatant slander and libel are rarely successfully defended by the assumption of free speech. (Public figures being trickier in this arena, obviously) However, the fact remains that falsehood is not protected free speech.

I saw a bumper sticker today that said, "One Nation Under Educated." The current situation couldn't be more indicative of the travesty being done to our citizens and our children. The government does have a responsibility to uphold free speech, but they also have a responsibility to interact with the populace fairly and intelligently.

By all means provide the filmmakers with freedom of speech. But I'll be darned if they'll use our public airwaves and public schools to do it without pointing out the political agenda and providing fair voice for an alternate viewpoint.

ABC is a corporation, not a government. They can make a responsible corporate decision to release this political polemic via alternate means.

I thought it was silly when CBS was asked to pull the Reagan bio-pic, but that's because bio-pics are an entirely different genre. If ABC wants to air a Clinton bio-pic that paints Clinton in an unfavorable light, so be it. Most intelligent people know these are dramas. But that is NOT what ABC/Scholastic has been marketing for "Path to 9/11."

ETA: Granted I am accepting the opinion of the program's consultants and principles who have specifically rebutted certain scenes. I typically do not get all up in arms about something I have not seen myself. However, so many details have been gleaned (and admitted to by the creator), that I think we have reliable information by which to assess the validity of the entire project.

[Crunchy Frog]

41. News for you mister.

We already have "REALLY bad censorship by the OTHER GUYS". We already have "selective free speech".

Our public airwaves have already become simply a forum for RW propaganda, but this "docudrama" has stepped over the line. It is, in effect, a gift worth tens of millions of dollars to the Republican party, during the runup to a major election. That's not free speech, that's illegal. You can come whining to me about suppression of free speech when Micheal Moore is allowed six hours in primetime, on a major TV network, to present a documentary of his choice, commercial free and without interruption, and with no rebuttal.

The "Path to Iraq" that you are talking about exists only in your imagination. If it were to happen, it would somehow manage to blame everything on Clinton's penis.

I'm not going to grit my teeth and take it. I've been taking it up the ass from you folks ever since Clinton got elected and I'm SICK OF IT. I intend to freely exercise my rights to email corporate executives and to boycott products. Live with it.

Oh, and this site allows plenty of dissent. It doesn't allow RWers to come here and spew their talking points. Plenty of other places for that.

[IChing]

16. History is not important when you can re-write it for propaganda.

Joseph Goebbels was trained as a historian and became Hitler's `Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda'. He began by rewriting history, then `cleansed' the arts, muzzled journalists, and eliminated cultural opposition. Insistence on truth can come into play when one party practises untruth or injustice.

John F. Kennedy:
"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic"

[Liberalynn]

21. Today is a Proud Day

for Historians. Brava, Brava, Brava!!!!!!

[RethugAssKicker]

22. Fantastic... But it will be ignored !

[City Lights]

27. Oh my! Very impressive!

Thank you for posting this. :hi:

[AZBlue]

40. WOW!

Kick!

[Joe Chi Minh]

45. Good for them. Good historians have an immense contribution to

make to our societies.

[a la izquierda]

57. thank you...

this made me smile. I'm working on a PhD in history and sometimes I wonder what the hell the point is.

[Joe Chi Minh]

85. Well, I'm pleased for you. Our world can never have enough

insight into the variety of ways in which our human affairs have been conducted, and the constants involved in them, as well.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

47. ABC's Next Project: The Path to Pearl Harbor

Scene: The Oval Office, 1940.

Henry Stimson (FDR's Secretary of War): You know, I hate America so much that I really hope some other nation...maybe some other asian nation...will come along and attack us.

Franklin Roosevelt: You got that right! If I weren't a cripple and a degenerate, I'd help them out. Say, has anybody seen my lesbian wife?

Eleanor Roosevelt: Right here, you miserable elitist. I was just getting my latest instructions from Joe Stalin on how to utterly undermine American values and destroy our way of life.

Stimson: Seriously, do you think somebody might attack us?

Roosevelt: Who knows and who cares? But if somebody were, I hope they'll attack Hawaii -- they're not citizens yet so they can't vote against us!

(General Laughter)

Harry Truman (entering): Good Morning, Mr. President!

Roosevelt: Look everybody! It's my loyal Vice President, who used to be a crooked Missousi politician but who I put on the ticket because he has photographs of me molesting a shetland pony.

Truman: Ummm. This is 1940. I'm not going to be your Vice President for another four years.

Roosevelt: Truman, you lying sack of shit! If you don't get with the program, I'm going to have you sent off to a CCC work farm where you'll be passed around the shower room like a bong at a Grateful Dead concert.

Truman: Huh? The who? A what?

Stimson: Who's up for a few verses of "This Land is Your Land?"

...you get the picture.

[AX10]

50. kick

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. ROFL!

That pretty well sums it up.

[NJCher]

80. one of the funniest things I've ever read on DU!

ABC's Next Project: The Path to Pearl Harbor

:rofl:

OMG, that was great!!

(wipes tears from eyes). I needed that.




Cher

[laugle]

49. The historians are absolutely right!!! The horror of 911,

the largest attack on U.S. soil in our history should never, ever be shown in a fictional dramatization.

I can only imagine how the family's of the victims feel at the cheapening of this horror story!!

This really should be dumped, but then they will probably sell it to cable to recoup the 40 million!!

[yorkiemommie1]

52. Bush wanting to interject a speech into this thing

is a blatant attempt to put the 'official' stamp on this sham.

i feel almost as sick now as i did the nights before the '04 theft.

[a la izquierda]

55. Thank GOD!

Colonial Historians to the rescue!!!(Half of those people listed above are on my exams reading list)But unfortunately, they'll be pegged liberals and ignored like the rest of us.

[a la izquierda]

56. Thank GOD!

Colonial Historians to the rescue!!!(Half of those people listed above are on my exams reading list)But unfortunately, they'll be pegged liberals and ignored like the rest of us.

[joeprogressive]

58. petition here

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BoycottDisney/

[Eurobabe]

59. Oh but that list is just a bunch of liberal elites in Ivory Towers

Who is going to LISTEN to them? :mad: :mad: :mad:

[ShortnFiery]

62. YES! K & R eom

[Luna_Chick]

64. K & R

N/T

[whistle]

65. Something very sinister and rotten is going on as ABC refuses

...to provide copies of the film to the very people misrepresented in the film.

<snip>
ABC refuses to provide advance copies to Clinton, Berger, Albright
by Karen Wehrstein
Wed Sep 06, 2006 at 09:30:01 AM PDT

ABC has refused to provide a copy to President Clinton's office. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former National Security Adviser Samuel Berger have also requested copies of the film from ABC, and both have been denied.

Meanwhile the most obscure right wing bloggers are receiving them. I can't believe these people are still making like they're being even-handed either in the content of this propaganda piece, or how they're unveiling it.

Karen Wehrstein's diary

<more>
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/6/12301/31344

[bronxiteforever]

66. ABC and Disney disgrace Americans who died on 9/11

History is the search for the truth. This is not a "historical costume drama" of times so far out of mind (like the Elizabethan era) where some drama is permissible because the participants lived in a non media age and books were still scarce. 9/11 took place at the time when we record everything on media and the participants are alive and well-except for the responders! (another evil story for another time)

To pass drama as history when the event is 5 years ago is an absolute disgrace.
This is another example of the GOP thread of right wing crap which pollutes our country-if you served in the military and are a a member of the democraTIC party you are abused eg Max, Kerry and Murtha. Chicken hawks are praised,eg Cheney etc. Only Republicans are heroes on 9/11 and only they died-if you are a dem you are not part of the country, your death on 9/11 is worth less and in fact ala Stalin we will rewrite history for you. ABC and Disney should hang their heads in shame.

[Tekla West]

67. As a PhD in history

I would have to disagree that these people are all that well respected. They are "top" in that hey have the big positions and all that, but I don't know a lot of people who realy like there work, still, their point is valid. What ABC/Disney is doing by making up dialoge and passing it off as "true" is highly objectionable. I think the producers have a right to make this and air it if they so choose, but like all toxic stuff it should be labeled as such. For all the right-wingers I've been reading on other sites who are up in arms, they should remember what happened to the Reagan bio deal. Turnabout is fair play.

[RoyGBiv]

88. That's absurd ...

Absolutely absurd. Where do you teach and have you read any peer review lately?

Blight, as one example of whom I am personally familiar, is *very* highly respected. Do names like Foner, Piston, Reardon, or B. Simpson mean anything to you? If so, get ahold of them on H-Net and ask them their thoughts on Blight, or pretty much any name on that list, for that matter. The only people I have ever seen criticize Blight's work negatively are non-academic self-described unreconstructed rebels who don't like what he has to say about Reconstruction or pseudo-academic ultra-libertarian types like Thomas DiLorenzo, who is himself a quack.

No one likes Schlesinger's work? Are you mad?

[civildisoBDence]

95. The middle of the road is where you risk getting hit

from the left and the right.

I think both sides are way too partisan and knee-jerk about this docu-whateverthehellit is, just like both sides were with the Reagan piece.

Flame away.

Newsprism

[lynne]

69. Let me get this right . . . educators are demanding that a movie -

- that they have not personally seen be pulled because they heard second-hand from people that were not educators or historians but politicians that it might not be accurate and/or some literary license may have been taken?

The day that educators and historians choose to ignore freedom of speech and of the press is far more frightening than any movie could ever be.

[bronxiteforever]

70. 1st amendment reads the Government cannot abridge free

speech. Historians writing letters to challenge the accuracy of a supposed history of 9/11 is not a free speech issue. If the government ordered a change in the script I would agree with you but Historians have the right to criticize bs when it is peddled by a multi million dollar corporation as history. The historians are calling it bullshit which it clearly is. The government is not part of this matter.

This is a corporate sponsored event and the corporation is facing reactions from the market place which happens to be made up in part of dems. Disney and ABC must face the marketplace.

[RoyGBiv]

72. Go back in your hole ...

If I hear the freedom of speech canard one more time, my head may explode.

[Dr Fate]

86. We have the free speech to call ABC liars & propagandists.

And we have the free speech to ask that they present history in an accurate manner.

Now, if ABC was to give , say, Micheal Moore- or Al Franken equal time to respond, then that would be fine too.

Eitherway, we are combating speech we do not like with more speech.

Has ABC OFFERED to let these historians preview the movie? If not, then your point fails.

What tennant of Free Speech is being violated? You are either being difficult or you just dont understand the concept.

[RoyGBiv]

71. Wow ... Heavy duty names on that list ...

People that don't normally get themselves involved in something that could be interpreted as political on this scale.

David Blight is a particular favorite of mine. He produces great work.

[DeeDeeNY]

73. My local newspaper's "review"

from yesterday's newspaper: "The filmmakers' assurance makes this miniseries play more like bang-up drama
than fact-filled documentary. Yet their facts pass informative muster, and emotional validity, too."

The average person reads this and does not know about any letter signed by historians or any of the
true facts behind this total distortion of the truth. (But at least they know some important information
about the guy who confessed to killing Jonbenet!!!)

:banghead: :banghead:

[drmondo]

75. Quack! Free speech is a canard

No one (mainstream) is arguing that the government should step in and force ABC to not show this, except for the use of public airwaves (below). Yet, our first amendment right certainly allows us to let ABC know how we feel and tell them that they should not show it. It's not censorship to tell someone that they're a liar and that they should stop lying.

Obviously if ABC is libelous, then that steps over the bounds as well.

One other issue here is the issue of public airwaves. Just as we have laws limiting politicians from using public funds for campaigns, we have here a serious issue of corporations using public resources for what essentially amounts to a one-sided political ad.

[BootinUp]

78. Quack! Good post!

[Mr_Spock]

82. This is good - and appropriate

ABC has stepped back in time - to 1984. This film is bad for democracy.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

83. ABC's next documentary - Bush In Vietnam

The actor who plays Bush will spend the entire film in a flightsuit and they'll depict how the young George defeated the entire North Vietnamese Army and took an entire division of NVA regulars prisoner. The film will conclude with the moving scene of the young George Bush being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor while Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings plays in the background.

[lonestarnot]

84. Damn too late to recommend!

[Flatpicker]

90. Enough

Hi,
This is my first post here at DU.
I've been reading this site for about 5 years now and never thought to join.

You see, for the most part, I'm not a politically inclined person. Usually I feel like I'm too busy taking care of me and mine.
So although I voted for Gore, I didn't blink an eye when GWB got elected.
I had felt as if:
"Ah, They don't need me around. They have it all together and know more about this than I ever will."
Then 9/11 happened.
I thought, "How could this happen to us? What can we do to stop it."
Then the Patriot act happened.
I thought, "I don't see how this makes us safer, but, if the admin says it will.. then ok"
Then the war happened.
I thought, "Wait a second? our attackers weren't from Iraq. What am I missing here? Who is this person who is running our country?"
Then Abu Graib happened.
I thought, "We aren't supposed to be doing that. I've always been told about Honor and fair treatment, where did my world go."
Then Halliburton, then Gitmo, then IED's,and then and then...
"Oh my, Have I been so blind, so complacent, that I allowed a beast have our country while I was busy making money?"

Then Kerry lost.
"What? how could he lose to this idiot."

Then ABC decided to slander Bill Clinton with this garbage of a miniseries.

I joined DU because I couldn't take it anymore.
Bill made me go to college when he accepted the Democratic Presidential slot in 92.
It was his words that inspired me. His Vision that pushed me and others on to greater things.

ABC, I just one small insignificant person in the whole scheme of things, but, if this airs, I will Never watch another Disney, ABC or ESPN broadcast. Nor will I purchase any product endorsed by your stations.

Everybody in DU, I hope that you will welcome me here even though I have plenty to learn.

[PADemD]

96. Welcome to DU!

[bliss_eternal]

91. Yet, they STILL have NOT pulled this thing....

(sigh) :( :cry:

[Contrary1]

92. I completely agree with one of the comments left:

"Disney/ABC is a huge, wholly amoral corporation whose only interest is the bottom line. Even most of those who admire and agree with the ten professors will wind up watching ABC or using another Disney product at some point in the future. That's where our weakness lies.

The way to stop this is to pull the plug on 'em -- en masse. If it's possible for one side of this issue to pull the plug on truth as they continue to insist on believing in the Saddam/AQ connection, it's certainly possible for the rest of us to cohere sufficiently to give ABC a pain where it hurts them most: through their advertisers' products, through our cable or other TV subscriptions. But, like the Saddam/AQ goofuses who "need" to believe in Bush, the goofuses on our side will continue to "need" commercial media and whichever product pops up in the advertising intervals of the stupid movie. And that's why sponsors, producers, and distributors turn a deaf ear they see us coming: they know who we really are better than we know ourselves. They know we'll keep the bucks flowing in their direction."

Let's do this "en masse", pull the plug on ABC.