ABC to air GOP progaganda piece in primetime

[Qdrop]

On September 10 and 11, ABC will air a “docudrama” called “The Path to 9/11.” It was written by Cyrus Nowrasteh, who describes himself as “more of a libertarian than a strict conservative,” and is giving interviews to hard-right sites like FrontPageMag to promote the film.

What will it say about President Clinton? Here’s Rush Limbaugh with a preview:

A friend of mine [Cyrus Nowrasteh] out in California has produced and filmed — I think it’s a two-part mini-series on 9/11 that ABC is going to run in prime-time over two nights, close to or on 9/11. It’s sort of surprising that ABC’s picked it up, to me. I’ve had a lot of people tell me about it, my friends told me about it…And from what I have been told, the film really zeros in on the shortcomings of the Clinton administration in doing anything about militant Islamofascism or terrorism during its administration. It cites failures of Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright and Sandy Burglar.

How does it deal with President Bush? Salon has a review:

Condoleezza Rice gets that fated memo about planes flying into buildings, and makes it very clear to anyone who’ll listen just how concerned President Bush is about these terrorist threats — despite the fact that we’re given little concrete evidence of the president’s concern or interest in taking action. Maybe my memory fails me, but the only person I remember talking about Osama bin Laden back in 1998 was President Clinton, while the current anti-terrorist stalwarts worked the country into a frenzy over what? Blow jobs. In the end, “The Path to 9/11″ feels like an excruciatingly long, winding and deceptive path, indeed.

The director of the film, David Cunningham, is already backtracking about its accuracy, saying “this is not a documentary.” OK, fair enough. But the movie is being billed as “based on The 9/11 Commission Report.”


- ABC is going to distribute to schools for free, with a teaching guide which re-inforces the stance that Clinton called off some strikes on Osama, and downplays Bush's "shortcomings.

-promo copies are ONLY available to conservative media types and bloggers.

can you say "revisionist history"?

i thought this kind of crap was already deemed illegal back when Foxnews got slammed for distributing GOP funded propaganda pieces which aired on local fox news offiliate broadcasts?

so, but changing it to "docudrama" it's legal? even though it's basically being presented as historical fact, not opinion?

More: http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/05/clarke-blasts-abc/
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/06/abc-dvd/

Full coverage:
http://thinkprogress.org/?tag=Path+to+911

[Qdrop]

Dems strike back:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14707869/

[kaiser soze]

WAG THE DOG

The republican Congress made it difficult for Clinton to do much with the Taliban/Osama/Hussein, and were ultimately more concerned about his sexual endeavors than the state of the world..

the republicans are just as if not more guilty for this mess

[QueenAdrock]

That's kind of upsetting. But it kind of reminds me of those scenes in movies where the bad guy is down on the floor, bleeding from the ears, and he lifts his head and you can almost see a glimmer of life in his dull eyes, he props himself up on his elbow and is about to get back up, and then BAM, one more hit and he's down and out cold, not to get up anytime soon.

What I'm trying to say is they know they're in trouble. I don't doubt they're going to pull out all the stops for this election season. I mean, a report just came out that talks about how BADLY Bush FAILED with making the US safer after 9/11, and in return they come out with a documentary. That's great and everything, but I don't think it'll change any minds. The public is sick and tired of the lies, and you can see it. Majority of this country wants a change, and they believe the Democrats are the best way to bring about that change (studies/polls in the past few weeks confirm this). There's only so many times Bush can say "Iraq is going great!" "Hurricane Katrina recovery is going great!" "Secret Prisons are great!" "The economy is great!" before people start to think "Hmm...maybe this guy and his party are full of it."

2 more months, and everything will be uprooted.

[Qdrop]

2 more months, and everything will be uprooted.

we thought that in 2004.

take nothing for granted.

[STANKY808]

... That's great and everything, but I don't think it'll change any minds. The public is sick and tired of the lies, and you can see it...

Except wasn't there a poll out not too long ago which shows more people than last year believe that WMD were found in Iraq? That doesn't bode well.

[Qdrop]

Except wasn't there a poll out not too long ago which shows more people than last year believe that WMD were found in Iraq? That doesn't bode well.

more people watch "Dancing with the Stars", than "Face the Nation" or "Frontline"...
democracy is only as good as the education of it's citizens.

[QueenAdrock]

True Qdrop, which is why I'm fighting in Maryland so hard to kick out our red governor, when all signs point to O'Malley winning anyways. Once you let your guard down and relax is when Rove does some of his crafty shit.

Except wasn't there a poll out not too long ago which shows more people than last year believe that WMD were found in Iraq? That doesn't bode well.

I don't remember a poll saying people actually believed there were WMDs found, but I do know that majority thought 9/11 had to do with Saddam. That's the weird thing. The article I was reading said DESPITE people believing what they do, they still want change. People who support the war do not support the way it's being fought; which is why they'd go for different leadership. Which is better than being totally blind sheep, at least.

[yeahwho]

Of all the lame brain ideas I've ever heard in my entire lifetime by the media, this is the capper. To fabricate the details that led up to 9/11 and the murder of US citizens just a few short years after the attacks on US soil is the lowest form of disrespect I could imagine any propagandist to participate in, let alone a major Network media outlet.

Disney needs to be called out as much as possible on this blatant wrong.

[D_Raay]

Norah–we just got statement from ABC that we have been waiting for. I’ll read it right now–"The Path to 9/11″ is not a documentary of the events leading up to 9/11. It is a dramatization, drawn from a variety of sources including the 9/11 Commission Report, other published materials, and personal interviews. As such–for dramatic and narrative purposes, the movie contains fictionalized scenes-–composite and representative characters and dialogue–and time compression.

No one has seen the final version of the film–because the editing process is not yet complete, so criticisms of film specifics are premature and irresponsible. The attacks of 9/11 were a pivotal moment in our history–and it is fitting that the debate about the events related to the attacks continue. However, we hope viewers will watch the entire broadcast of the finished film before forming an opinion about it"–So bottom line they’ve just released a statement about it. They’re not going to change this movie at all…

From Wolf Blitzer

--------
This docu-"drama" ,as they call it, is not unlike how the Bush team operates politically. There is some truth and some distortion and some fabrication all rolled into one big fear-laden package for the American people.

[yeahwho]

From Wolf Blitzer

--------
This docu-"drama" ,as they call it, is not unlike how the Bush team operates politically. There is some truth and some distortion and some fabrication all rolled into one big fear-laden package for the American people.

Like all of the imbedded reporters we have discovered along the way since 9/11, they portray an off bubble view of our world. They've been very good at handling the masses insatiable appetite for speaking points and marching orders.

We are turning into Disneyland in more ways than one.

[STANKY808]

I don't remember a poll saying people actually believed there were WMDs found...

Sad but true...

Despite being widely reported in the media that the U.S. and other countries have not found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, surprisingly; more U.S. adults (50%) think that Iraq had such weapons when the U.S. invaded Iraq. This is an increase from 36 percent in February 2005.

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=684


Anyway, I really do hope that the electorate will act according to the facts available.

[yeahwho]

Local Yokel from Seattle ABC affiliate spouts out on "Path to 9/11 (http://www.komotv.com/stories/45349.htm)" docudrama.

[Documad]

I encourage everyone to use the link in the first post to think progress and email ABC from the think progress website. I am not watching this show and I am not watching ABC anymore. No big loss, I know.

The part that makes me the maddest is that they screened this for conservative bloggers and rush limbaugh but they won't give out advance copies to the media they expected would criticize it. Also, they apparently prepared materials to encourage school kids to watch this -- as if it's accurate history or something. :rolleyes:

This really is despicable.

[yeahwho]

Here is the link (http://thinkprogress.org/tellabc) documad is talking about. Scary is what this is. Disney has really gone off the deepend.

[Documad]

Here is the link (http://thinkprogress.org/tellabc) documad is talking about. Scary is what this is. Disney has really gone off the deepend.
Yes, thanks. I added a personal message to the top of my email saying that I'm not watching ABC until they apologize.

[TimDoolan]

It might not be 100% true, but Harvey Keitel is in it and I want to see it. I really hope the network doesnt chicken out like it did with that Jesus show.

[D_Raay]

Here is the link (http://thinkprogress.org/tellabc) documad is talking about. Scary is what this is. Disney has really gone off the deepend.
It's coming up on crunch time for the powers that be and they are not going to pull any punches.

Will the American people fall for it once again?

[fucktopgirl]

Will the American people fall for it once again?


hummm let me think.....yes, they still believe in santa claus so...

[Qdrop]

ABC to Alter 9/11 Miniseries; Outright Cancellation Considered
ABC has announced that it will make “adjustments and refinements” to its miniseries on the Sept. 11 attacks, after coming under fierce criticism for fictionalizing key scenes, and according to some reports, the network is considering dropping the program altogether.
However it proceeds, it will do so without educational publisher Scholastic,which has dropped its plan to offer the film to 25,000 high school teachers.

http://www.airamerica.com/node/2613

-----

http://www.variety.com/VR1117949675.html
Pols pound 'Path'
Under fire, ABC mulls yanking mini

[QueenAdrock]

Sad but true...

Despite being widely reported in the media that the U.S. and other countries have not found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, surprisingly; more U.S. adults (50%) think that Iraq had such weapons when the U.S. invaded Iraq. This is an increase from 36 percent in February 2005.

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=684


Anyway, I really do hope that the electorate will act according to the facts available.

That's a little different though. There are dumbasses out there like gmsisko who actually believe that they were FOUND. Not many, but a select few believe when we went into Iraq, we marched in and found the stockpiles and unveiled them and said "Oh! Here they are. Let's take them away now." However, this article is about the people who believed that Iraq had WMD's at the point of invasion. It's a more debatable topic than whether or not anything was found, at least.

I believe that if they had any WMD's they had been destroyed or transported out of the country by that point. Whether they had actually had them in the first place is debatable, I think it could have been possible; at the time of the war though? Probably not. Just because all of Bush's "solid evidence" of shit like yellow cake, aluminum tubes, and whatever else was NEVER proven. They weren't being vague, saying "WMD materials" they came out with ACTUAL stuff that they pinpointed...and never found. You'd think if our intelligence was so precise as to know the actual types of weapons-building materials, we would also be able to pinpoint where they actually were. Since we were not able to do the latter, it leads me to think that we weren't precise in knowing what kind of (if any) materials they actually had.

[skra75]

Make a difference, sign this petition:

Exploiting 9/11


In just over 48 hours, ABC will air a partisan "docudrama" about 9/11—apparently part of a right-wing attempt to exploit the anniversary. The movie was written and produced by a right-wing activist who fabricated scenes to smear Democrats and excuse Republicans. Sign the petition to tell ABC not to air partisan propaganda on 9/11.



Sign the petition


Here's the full petition text: "ABC must not air partisan propaganda on 9/11."

Dear MoveOn member,

In a little over 48 hours, ABC will air a five-hour "docudrama" on the 9/11 attacks. The movie was written and produced by a right-wing activist who fabricated key scenes to blame Democrats and defend Republicans.1 It's so partisan that even Rush Limbaugh was surprised ABC decided to air it.2 And an FBI agent who was brought in to consult on the docudrama quit because, he said, "they were making things up."3

Public outrage is mounting across the country, and Variety reports that ABC is now "mulling the idea of yanking the mini altogether."4 But we only have a little time to act. We'll start delivering this petition to ABC headquarters tomorrow at noon and continue as more signatures come in. So we're looking for 200,000 signatures TODAY.


Can you sign? Click here:
LINK TO SIGN THE PETITION(!) (http://pol.moveon.org/abcdoc?id=8706-5857018-bhkJJpgKkNMbSVnHb9kscg&t=4)

Then please pass on this message to folks you know who can help.

The Path to 9/11 appears to be part of a coordinated push—including speeches by President Bush and millions of dollars in advertising—to exploit the five-year anniversary of 9/11 for political gain. That's not acceptable from anyone—especially not a news organization like ABC.

It's not just that ABC's movie is slanted. Big parts of it are simply untrue. The producer himself even admitted to simply improvising a key scene which depicts the Clinton administration letting bin Laden go when they had him in their sights—a complete fabrication.5 Last night, the movie's star, Harvey Keitel, said "It turned out not all the facts were correct."6

It's really pretty simple: ABC shouldn't have any role in the political exploitation of 9/11. But this docudrama is designed to do just that—spreading a false message to millions of viewers across the country.

Sign the petition to tell ABC not to air partisan propaganda on 9/11. Click here:

http://pol.moveon.org/abcdoc?id=8706-5857018-bhkJJpgKkNMbSVnHb9kscg&t=5
*
Thank you for all you do.

–Nita, Eli, Carrie, Joan, Jennifer and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Friday, September 8th, 2006



P.S. For the most current information on the scandal involving this film, and for more information on the movie itself, please visit our friends at ThinkProgress:

http://www.thinkprogress.org

Sources:
1. "Writer of ABC's 9/11 'Docudrama' Is Avowed Conservative Activist," ThinkProgress, September 1, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2047&id=8706-5857018-bhkJJpgKkNMbSVnHb9kscg&t=6

2. "Clintonoids Prepare To Attack 9/11 Movie," The Rush Limbaugh Show, August 30, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2049&id=8706-5857018-bhkJJpgKkNMbSVnHb9kscg&t=7

3. "FBI Agent Who Consulted On Path to 9/11 Quit," ThinkProgress, September 7, 2006
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/07/fbi-agent-quit/

4. "Under fire, ABC mulls yanking mini," Variety, September 7, 2006
http://www.variety.com/VR1117949675.html


5. Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, MSNBC appearance, September 7, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2077&id=8706-5857018-bhkJJpgKkNMbSVnHb9kscg&t=8

6. "Harvey Keitel speaks out on Path to 9/11: 'It turned out not all the facts were correct'", Showbiz Tonight, September 7, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2078&id=8706-5857018-bhkJJpgKkNMbSVnHb9kscg&t=9


Support our member-driven organization: MoveOn.org Political Action is entirely funded by our 3.3 million members. We have no corporate contributors, no foundation grants, no money from unions. Our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. If you'd like to support our work, you can give now at:

http://political.moveon.org/donate/email.html?id=8706-5857018-bhkJJpgKkNMbSVnHb9kscg&t=10


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Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

[kaiser soze]

but I thought 9/11 would never be politicized....so the Decider's mongrels have said

[yeahwho]

I find ABC's response to the criticism irresponsible.

We hope viewers will watch the entire broadcast of the finished film before forming an opinion about it.

What sort of Bullshit is that? I know families affected by 9/11 and they say just watch it? We'd like a license to dramatize how this politically went down, see if we can't spread the responsibility to some other administration.

Do yourself a favor and watch a real documentary this week, Goebbels-Experiment, Das (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458375/usercomments), a must see film on the power of media, propaganda and the political usage thereof.

From the NYTimes August 12, 2005 (http://movies2.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/movies/12goeb.html?ex=1157860800&en=200d4535165d7837&ei=5070) review of the Goebbels-Experiment,

At a time when much of our news and entertainment media is controlled by a handful of corporations, "The Goebbels Experiment" is a cautionary reminder that equal access to the machinery of ideas may be society's most critical goal.

[QueenAdrock]

Clinton Comes Out Against ABC (http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/08/abc.movie/index.html)

As long as the media keeps reporting on the uproar against the movie, fewer people will take it as actual truth. It's when no one says anything that no one knows any better but to believe just what they see and hear.

[yeahwho]

ABC is out of it's everloving motherfucking mind, in a statement to appease the democrats they say no one has seen the film yet Rush Limbaugh is making hay and selling ads for his corporate media ownership by discussing it on his radio show all week, because he's seen the film along with other conservative commentators.

Anybody need help with the math?

Should we hire some sort of specialist in pathological lying?

I wish one of the actors would speakout, this is too big to be silent.

[Echewta]

This is pretty pathetic.

[bilbo]

I wish one of the actors would speakout, this is too big to be silent.

Harvey Keitel has spoken out.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/09/07/harvey-keitel-speaks-out-on-path-to-911-it-turned-out-not-all-the-facts-were-correct/

[Echewta]

Is it really GOP propaganda? I mean, sure, some conservatives could believe this show to be of true events and i'm sure many are silent so that the dems can be blamed again for being week during nov elections but is this some kind of Republican Party thing?

[D_Raay]

Is it really GOP propaganda? I mean, sure, some conservatives could believe this show to be of true events and i'm sure many are silent so that the dems can be blamed again for being week during nov elections but is this some kind of Republican Party thing?
The conservatives that believe that these are true events are blatantly discarding the actual facts.

For them to not acknowledge that,and even worse hold them up as truths, shows whether or not this propaganda.

[yeahwho]

Harvey Keitel has spoken out.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/09/07/harvey-keitel-speaks-out-on-path-to-911-it-turned-out-not-all-the-facts-were-correct/

Harvey is a stand-up guy, much more than ABC tv is. It is good to see him be accountable for this project, now why on earth is ABC & parent company Disney not doing everything possible to come clean?

In the name of the victims and families Disney should just step back, really step back and take a deep breath. It is not a noble act to distort facts and become a political lapdog.

[Documad]

Is it really GOP propaganda? I mean, sure, some conservatives could believe this show to be of true events and i'm sure many are silent so that the dems can be blamed again for being week during nov elections but is this some kind of Republican Party thing?
Good question. I haven't heard that the party as a party had anything to do with it.

The guy responsible for it is a friend of Rush Limbaugh who has said that his intention is to reframe the entertainment industry to a conservative viewpoint. Rush got an advance copy of the movie and he's crowing about it. I don't know his resume.

The network and the producers were saying that it's based upon the 9/11 commission report, but the people who have seen it (including Rush) have relayed what's in it and the things I've heard about are the opposite of what's in the 9/11 report.

[Documad]

However it proceeds, it will do so without educational publisher Scholastic,which has dropped its plan to offer the film to 25,000 high school teachers.
Thank goodness. My mother still believes that FDR had something to do with Pearl Harbor because she learned it as a kid. I've had a similar fear that Clinton will be blamed by kids of today for 9/11.

Clinton Comes Out Against ABC (http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/08/abc.movie/index.html)

As long as the media keeps reporting on the uproar against the movie, fewer people will take it as actual truth. It's when no one says anything that no one knows any better but to believe just what they see and hear.
I was at the airport today when the Clinton clip aired. The guys sitting next to me said "he lied, now he cares about lies? Ha ha." :rolleyes:

[Echewta]

Never lie about a blowjob. Thats what we can all learn and take away from this.

[yeahwho]

I guess the general theme of the Clinton administration in this now called "DocuDrama" is Sex scandal kept Clinton's eye off bin Laden threat (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2349869,00.html), the very sex scandal Republican's jumped on and milked for every drop of media attention they could possibly abuse and pollute. So what the fuck were they doing during all this time, the Republican's and they're holier than thou mentality?

Nothing more than what they're doing now, hijacking the political landscape with an endless line of Bullshit. I currently hate ABC TV for the non-chalant way they have responded to what amounts to a lie.

If anything they have opened my eyes up to corporate media and the abuse of power they represent.

Cyrus Nowrasteh (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/discover-the-secret-right_b_29015.html)

[D_Raay]

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6307/142/400/roveears.jpg

[yeahwho]

If they wanted "fictionalized scenes" why not just show any taped Bush/Cheney/Rumsfield statement after 9/11?

[QueenAdrock]

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003121105

Uh-ohs.