Danger: Stupid Evil Bastard in the White House

Timeless and tasteful for generations to come.

Regarding a somewhat related subject, I received a notice from MoveOn.org, regarding Michael Moore’s new movie. It read as follows:

Dear MoveOn member,
Oscar-winning director Michael Moore has finished his latest documentary, but The Walt Disney Company is refusing to let the American public see it.

The film, “Fahrenheit 911,“ is critical of President Bush’s actions before and after Sept. 11 and describes Bush’s relationships with powerful Saudi families, including that of Osama bin Laden.

According to the New York Times, Moore’s agent says embattled Disney chief Michael Eisner feared the documentary could endanger the company’s tax breaks in Florida, where Bush’s brother, Jeb, is governor.

We can’t let corporate favors for politicians dictate what movies we see. Tell Disney to show us Michael Moore’s documentary:

  Michael Eisner
  Chairman and CEO
  The Walt Disney Company
  Phone: (818) 560-5151

If the line is busy, call a Disney store near you. The salespeople aren’t responsible for this decision, but ask them to pass your concerns on to the manager. To find the Disney store nearest you, click here.

Finally, if you own any Disney stock, call:

  Wendy Webb, Investor Relations
  The Walt Disney Company
  Phone: (818) 560-5758

The documentary, which heads to the prestigious Cannes film festival next week, was expected to be distributed by Miramax this summer. But Disney, which owns Miramax, blocked the plan. Denying allegations of political favoritism, Disney said it doesn’t want to be involved with a partisan film.

Moore responded, “If this is partisan in any way it is partisan on the side of the poor and working people in this country who provide fodder for this war machine.“

The film details financial connections between the Bush family and powerful Saudi Arabian families over the last thirty years, including the evacuation of Osama bin Laden’s relatives from the United States two days after Sept. 11. Also included are American soldiers in Iraq describing their doubts about the justification for war.

Michael Moore has commented, “At some point the question has to be asked, ‘Should this be happening in a free and open society where the monied interests essentially call the shots regarding the information that the public is allowed to see?‘ “

Sincerely,
—Noah T. Winer
  MoveOn.org
  May 5th, 2004

P.S. This story appeared on the front page of today’s New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/national/05DISN.html
________________

After ABC affiliate stations owner Sinclair Broadcasting Group decided to prohibit ABC stations around the country from airing a special one hour show that Nightline was presenting, [that consisted entirely of a reading of the names of each soldier who has died in Iraq, while his or her photograph shows on the screen]  I’m beginning to become very upset with ABC and it’s parent company Disney.

In a notice I received last week, MoveOn revealed that:

Tonight, ABC’s Nightline is doing something beautiful and courageous. The entire show will consist of a reading of the names of each soldier who has fallen in Iraq…
But ABC affiliate stations around the country will be prohibited from airing the special. That’s because they’re owned by Sinclair
Broadcasting Group, a company whose executives have given tens of thousands to Republicans and whose right-wing allies tout it as “the
next Fox.“ [1]

In a statement released earlier this week, (Sinclair Broadcast Group) said that to honor the men and women who died in this way would be a political act that is “contrary to the public interest.“ Censoring images of the fallen serves the right-wing ideologues who pushed the war in Iraq, but it certainly doesn’t serve our country to hide those who were killed.

Military families have called on Sinclair to air the special tonight. Jane Bright of Military Families Speak Out is the mother of Sgt. Evan
Ashcraft, who died July 24, 2003, near Mosul, Iraq. She said: “The Sinclair Broadcast Group is trying to undermine the lives of our soldiers killed in Iraq. By censoring Nightline they want to hide the toll the war on Iraq is having on thousands of soldiers and their families, like mine.“ [2]

According to ABC News, “The Nightline broadcast is an expression of respect which simply seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country.“

Yet Sinclair refuses to distinguish between public mourning and a statement against the war: “Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for
the show the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.“ [3]

Nightline is also certain to get lots of nasty right-wing hate mail about this broadcast.

* According to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, Sinclair executives gave $136,000 to Republicans and the Bush
administration since 2000. It’s clear that their partisan bias is outweighing their responsibility to the public.

* Sinclair is essentially saying that any public recognition of the fallen soldiers is a political act against the war in Iraq. That
trivializes the sacrifices these men and women made for us. Honoring the dead is not a partisan act.

* In a news environment often focused on celebrity and pop culture, Nightline’s willingness to take time out of their usual schedule to pay tribute to the dead is a great service. Civic-minded journalism like this should be encouraged, not censored.

[1] http://freepress.net/news/article.php?id=3334
[2] http://www.mfso.org/
[3] http://poynter.org/forum/?id=misc

Please feel free to contact Disney, and even Sinclair, if this type of media concentration and it’s apparent censorious actions bother you.

You may also want to visit:
http://www.mediageek.org/archives/cat_media_ownership_consolidation.html

And everybody thought that the FCC relaxing ownership rules would lead to wide spread abuses… Wait!

Just wanted to let you know that the contest is over and the shirts are on sale! Thanks for the plug.

Coolness. I’ll have to go check them out. I chimed in a few designs as they came up for consideration, but I have to confess I kept forgetting to go back and see when new stuff arrived. Hopefully what little I did help was useful.