News and Censorship

I didn't think the divisive nature of the current political situation could get any weirder or any more strained until last week, when news broke that the Sinclair broadcasting chain would not carry the Ted Koppel Nightline epsiode where he planned to read over 700 names of those who have died in Iraq since the war started, stating "it is a political statement disguised as journalism." The Nightline people fired back accusing Sinclair of being the ones promoting politics by censoring their broadcast and that ABC was merely "honoring the fallen". Sinclair responded by saying while they, too, honor the fallen (groan), they could not stand idly by and let ABC do this.

It was noted by many journalists that Sinclair is overwhelmingly conservative and has, in fact, contributed heavily to George Dubya's campaigns. Presumably, by forcing everyone (without remote controls, I guess) to sit through the entire spoken list, George Dubya might be made to look like, ya know, a bad guy. Forcing people to, ya know, re-think what the hell we're doing over there, and, uh, when it's ever going to end.

Koppel himself commented in a radio broadcast I heard something to the effect of, "this all makes me look like I'm against the war....and I'm not". Groan.

OK, so Sinclair is not the be-all and end-all of broadcasting, just a limited chain of affiliates (all valued, of course), the list was broadcast and ABC stuck to their guns.

But then I saw this...

The Return of Michael Moore
Michael Moore, whose films like "Roger and Me" and "Bowling for Columbine," are often political lightning rods is in hot water again, this time for a film about 9/11 originally to be distributed by Miramax. The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax division from distributing a new documentary by Moore, "Fahrenheit 911" that harshly criticizes President Bush, executives at both Disney and Miramax said Tuesday. The film links Mr. Bush and prominent Saudis — including the family of Osama bin Laden — and criticizes Mr. Bush's actions before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Disney, which bought Miramax more than a decade ago, has a contractual agreement with the Miramax principals, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, allowing it to prevent the company from distributing films under certain circumstances, like an excessive budget or an NC-17 rating.

However, this has more to do with Disney's image than partisan politics, and, in fact, is being rejected because of its partisan nature. However, Disney chief Michael Eisner also said he expressed concern that the Disney theme park may lose its tax breaks(!) if Governor Jeb Bush is, ya know, offended, by the attacks on his brother that would be seen as supported by Disney. While Miramax and Disney are supposedly still trying to work something out, higher-ups regard it as a dead issue.

The Iraq question
In a recent appearance, President Bush joked something like, "I don't know how people can say my administration hasn't done anything for the economy.....just look what I've done for the book industry!" (Referring to the plethera of books out taking a stand against him, most amusingly "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" by Al Franken, which Bush mentioned). But none of this would be happening, of course, if everyone were truly united on the question of Iraq---but they're not, nor are they likely to be. So some big corporations are trying to muscle in some censorship to protect, what, their interests? To protect the president? To keep the war going? Why, for chrissake?

OK, look, let's do this: for every subject Michael Moore, Al Franken, or whoever, brings up in a film or a book, let the opposition make their own film or book that completely rebuts the accusations with amazing, compelling evidence to the contrary!!! Now wouldn't that be preferable to political bullying by mere censorship? Show us where we're all wrong, I'd LOVE to see your evidence.

A Strange Development on the Terri Shiavo Case
I have always been very proud of the fact that my personal dentist, Jan Craddock, and his chief nurse Cheryl Ford have been politically active, especially since we agree on nearly everything. I was not aware until recently, however, that Jan has testified as a expert witness in court trials before! I recently received the following from Cheryl regarding the Terri Schiavo case, which she has taken a personal interest in: