oyuki

Friday, September 08, 2006

Squashing Freedom of Speech

I am sorry that ABC has decided to change portions of their 5 hour show 'The Path to 9/11' due to pressure exerted by members of Congress and former President Clinton. Methinks they doth protest too much. But what is extremely disturbing is what the Democrats in the US Senate issued as a letter to Robert Iger, President/CEO of Walt Disney, parent company of ABC.

The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest. Nowhere is this public interest obligation more apparent than in the duty of broadcasters to serve the civic needs of a democracy by promoting an open and accurate discussion of political ideas and events.

Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but what this paragraph is implying is if ABC goes forward with this show then the Democrats will carry out a public inquisition to see if ABC can keep broadcasting. Think of how many thousands of jobs the democrats are holding hostage to force Mr. Iger to recant or change this show. This is unbelievable that the party that defended Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and had him in a prime box seat with former President Carter in 2004 will stoop this low to thwart the airing of a different viewpoint about 9/11 that attempts to describe the overall situation with Osama bin Laden since the Soviets fled Afghanistan.

If the Democrats are going to be this demanding for historical accuracy then they better clamor for the Missiles of October to be pulled from circulation since it does not present the Cuban or Soviet sides of that crisis.

The Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for they seem to be trying to suppress information and opinion, by using their public offices to attempt to censor people with differing viewpoints. Historical goofs or composite characters do not matter when there is a far more serious threat to the well-being of the American political scene.

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes -- Confucius.

4 comments:

Mike's America said...

The letter from Democrats was sent as an official message from the Senate Minority Leadership.

I can't think of a precedent for this kind of official government intrusion into the free speech rights of broadcasters.

We've heard much about civil liberties concerns from Democrats. So it's interesting that Democrats are OFFICIALLY demanding that a major network cancel an entertainment program.

And they call Bush "Hitler?"

Anonymous said...

It's dictatorship at its best...in America no less.

I never would have expected the dems would resort to issuing threats.

Anonymous said...

All I can think of is how none of this garbage happened when those those "docu-lies" came out after 9/11...you know the ones I'm talking about.

And now, the same people who praised those filmed lies are wanting to censor a film that shows them for what they truly are!

Anna said...

They 'know' the truth so their eyes and minds are sealed closed to anything else.

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Proverbs 26:12