Melanie McFarland in the Seattle PI today makes an outrageous statement about the controversial Disney/ABC movie on 9/11 slated to be aired this Sunday and Monday.
“Some groups, including members of Congress, also requested the show be pulled from broadcast altogether. Wrong move. No political body in a free society has the right to pressure any network into censoring entertainment, even one with factual misrepresentations.”
There is a stange concept here. Two months before an election that could change the political party controlling Congress, McFarland considers a conservative re-writing of what actually happened on 9/11, entertainment and that one shouldn’t question the truthfulness of what is depicted.
Republicans and Bush are trying to make 9/11 and fighting terrorists part of their political game plan to retain Republican control of Congress. Yet McFarlard in her article headline says “Fudged drama put ‘Path to 9/11’ on slippery slope”. So how is it censoring something when members of Congress and others, including those actually represented,say that the movie is full of factual misrepresentations and untruths and should not be aired as written.
Does McFarland really believe that a movie entitled ‘The Path to 9/11″ will be seen as a fictional made up ‘story’ for entertainment? Most members of the public will see no distinction between a so called docudrama and and a documentary. They will see what appears to be a truthful rendition of what happened. Problem is, it isn’t truthful.
Just like H.G.Wells’ infamous radio reading of “The War of the Worlds”, presented as if true for entertainment value, most viewers also will not notice the disclaimer by Disney/ABC which also says it based on the 9/11 Commission report.
The Washington Post on Thursday noted:
Former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright called one scene involving her “false and defamatory.” Former national security adviser Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger said the film “flagrantly misrepresents my personal actions.” And former White House aide Bruce R. Lindsey, who now heads the William J. Clinton Foundation, said: “It is unconscionable to mislead the American public about one of the most horrendous tragedies our country has ever known.”
ABC’s entertainment division said the six-hour movie, “The Path to 9/11,” will say in a disclaimer that it is a “dramatization . . . not a documentary” and contains “fictionalized scenes.” But the disclaimer also says the movie is based on the Sept. 11 commission’s report, although that report contradicts several key scenes.
As the Washington Post notes, Rush Limbaugh and other conservative media are not considering it fictional.
Limbaugh, saying that the screenwriter, Cyrus Nowrasteh, is a friend of his, told his radio audience that the film “indicts the Clinton administration, Madeleine Albright, Sandy Berger. It is just devastating to the Clinton administration. It talks about how we had chances to capture bin Laden in specific detail.”
Elsewhere the Washington Post notes: “Nowrasteh, who has described himself as a conservative …”
Do you start to get the picture? The screenwriter for this movie is not unbiased but is producing a movie in which he is adding made up dialogue that represents his political bias. He did not consult with the principals like Madeline Albright as to what she may have said or how she reacted but is instead putting words into their mouths to say that are not true.
And as ThinkProgress notes, while Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives received copies of the movie, requests by principals in the movie, like President Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger, were not given copies of the film to review, despite sending letters requesting to get a copy.
And to further call into question that this movie is not politically motivated, answer why George W Bush has scheduled a press conference at 9 P.M. on the second day of the movie. This will preempt the show on that day and move it’s starting time back. Bush wants to be associated with this movie and has set himself up to be the leadin on Monday night.
See also:
The Oregonian – ABC’s “Path to 9/11” problematic, no matter what
CoolAqua – Willful Deception, ABC/Disneys Partisan & Libelous Attack on History
CoolAqua – Disney Management Puts Party (RNC) Above Fudiciary Responsibilities
Evergreen Politics – The Story Behind ABC’s “Path to 9/11”
PamSpalding.cpm – The Pet Goat excised from ABC’s “Path to 9/11”
ThinkProgress – ABC Refuses to Provide Copies of Path to 9/11 to Clinton, Albright, Berger
Northwest Progressive – President Clinton to ABC – Pull this Trash
