Is The New ABC "911-Docu-drama" Complete Bullpoopy?

[Warham]

I don't think ABC should make money off of this 'piece' either.

I don't like aBS. It's another liberal network like nBS and cBS.

[Warham]

The only thing I remember about JFK is...

"Back and to da left. Back and to da left."

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by Warham
I don't think ABC should make money off of this 'piece' either.

I don't like aBS. It's another liberal network like nBS and cBS.

All evidence to the cuntrary. And you'll be avidly watching, won't you?

Originally posted by Warham
The only thing I remember about JFK is...

"Back and to da left. Back and to da left."

Funny though, Stone smeared one of the most socially liberal presidents in U.S. history in it...

[Warham]

I probably won't watch the 'docu-drama', even though Limbaugh praises it.

I really don't care what Stone does. I don't think every liberal president should be smeared. Kennedy was probably the most conservative Democrat president in the last hundred years. Tax cuts. 'Nuff said.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by Warham
I probably won't watch the 'docu-drama', even though Limbaugh praises it.
...

Ooohoohoo! Limbaugh likes it, it must be good!

Clinton officials to ABC: Fix or pull 9/11 miniseries
POSTED: 6:52 p.m. EDT, September 7, 2006


NEW YORK (AP) -- A miniseries about the events leading to the September 11 attacks is "terribly wrong" and ABC should correct it or not air it, former Clinton administration officials demanded in letters to the head of ABC's parent company.

But in a statement released Thursday afternoon in apparent response to the growing uproar, ABC said, "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."

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Clinton Foundation head Bruce Lindsey and Clinton adviser Douglas Band all wrote in the past week to Robert Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., to express concern over "The Path to 9/11." (Read the letter from Sandy Berger -- .pdf file, requires Adobe Acrobat)

The two-part miniseries, scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday and Monday, is drawn from interviews and documents including the report of the September 11 commission. ABC has described it as a "dramatization" as opposed to a documentary. (Watch a 9/11 Commission member list inaccuracies in a proposed scene -- 3:25)

"For dramatic and narrative purposes, the movie contains fictionalized scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue, and time compression," ABC said in its statement. "We hope viewers will watch the entire broadcast of the finished film before forming an opinion about it."

The letter writers said that the miniseries contained factual errors, and that their requests to see it had gone unanswered.

"The content of this drama is factually and incontrovertibly inaccurate and ABC has a duty to fully correct all errors or pull the drama entirely. It is unconscionable to mislead the American public about one of the most horrendous tragedies our country has ever known," Lindsey and Band wrote in their letter.

The letter writers pointed out examples of scenes they had been told were in the miniseries, but which they said never happened. Albright objected to a scene that she was told showed her insisting on warning the Pakistani government before an airstrike on Afghanistan, and that she was the one who made the warning.

"The scene as explained to me is false and defamatory," she said. (Read Albright's letter -- .pdf file, requires Adobe Acrobat)

Berger objected to a scene that he was told showed him refusing to authorize an attack on Osama bin Laden despite the request from CIA officials. "The fabrication of this scene (of such apparent magnitude) cannot be justified under any reasonable definition of dramatic license," he wrote.

Lindsey and Band objected to advertisements for the miniseries, which they said suggested that Clinton wasn't paying enough attention to the threat of terrorism.

"While ABC is promoting 'The Path to 9/11' as a dramatization of historical fact, in truth it is a fictitious rewriting of history that will be misinterpreted by millions of Americans," they said. "Given your stated obligation to 'get it right,' we urge you to do so by not airing this drama until the egregious factual errors are corrected, an endeavor we could easily assist you with given the opportunity to view the film."

Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada commented on the controversy at a morning news conference.

"I haven't seen it, but from everything I've heard it's not down the middle. It's not fair at all. And to have a film that seems to be biased and take one side put on by a network seems to be the wrong thing to do," said Schumer. "You can't take a film that's supposed to report on something that's so real and so close and make it into fiction. That's beneath ABC's dignity."

"They started off this as being a documentary," added Reid. "They changed it to a docudrama and now it's a work of fiction and that's what it is. And, yes, they should pull it."

The five-hour miniseries is set to run without commercial interruption. Director David Cunningham said it was a massive undertaking, with close to 250 speaking parts, more than 300 sets, and a budget of $40 million. Cunningham has said he shot 550 hours of film. Among the actors in it are Harvey Keitel, Patricia Heaton and Donnie Wahlberg.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Link

[Warham]

They based their faulty docu-drama off that faulty 9/11 Commission Report.

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Why Does the Left Hate "The Path to 9/11"?
By Hugh Hewitt
Thursday, September 7, 2006



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On Sunday and Monday nights at 8 PM, ABC will air a five hour mini-series, "The Path to 9/11." I have watched it, and it is a riveting and in some respects horrifying recreation of the events from the hours before the first World Trade Center attack in 1993 through the awful events of 9/11. Rarely does television reach this level of drama, and director David Cunningham and writer Cyrus Nowrasteh deserve great praise from left, right and center for a masterful retelling of the crucial events leading up to the devastation of five years ago.

A five hour show that must condense eight years by necessity will not be complete, but it is very accurate. As a very accurate docudrama, "The Path to 9/11" has drawn the deep anger of the Clinton political machine. Representatives of that era have been demanding at a minimum edits and some outright cancellation of the program. Monica Lewinsky makes an appearance, you see, as does Bill Clinton's videotaped testimony about his perjury. National Security Advisor Sandy Berger is portrayed as indecisive, Madeleine Albright as misdirected, George Tenet as sputtering. The film does not spare the Bush Administration its shots either, but for the left in the US the most damning thing possible is a recounting of the deep slumber concerning al Qaeda that overcame not just President Clinton but all parts of the national security apparatus throughout the '90s. The film does not damn those in charge during those years. It does however deliver a indictment of criminal negligence from which there is simply no escape.


Former U.S. president Bill Clinton walks off the stage following a panel discussion at the Sixteenth International AIDS conference in Toronto August 15, 2006. REUTERS/J.P. Moczulski (CANADA) By attempting a programming coup against the series, the Clinton forces have brought enormous attention to the film, and for that I thank them. The program is not primarily about the Clinton stewardship --or lack thereof-- of the national security. It is not even secondarily about that.

Rather the mini-series is the first attempt --very successful-- to convey to American television viewers what we are up against: The fanaticism, the maniacal evil, the energy and the genius for mayhem of the enemy.

In the self-serving complaints about this scene or that take delivered by Richard Ben-Veniste and other proxies are replayed again the deadly narcissisms of the'90s. The program's great faults are --they say-- in the inaccurate portrayal of Bill Clinton and his furrowed brow and continual efforts to track down bin Laden.

It is all about them, you see. Just as it was in the '90s. To hell with O'Neill or the victims of 9/11, and forget about the worldwide menace that continues to nurse its hatred, though now from caves and not compounds.

Not a word from these critics about the program's greatest strength, which is in the accurate rendering of the enemy, and the warning it might give about the need for continual vigilance.

Critics of the program want to argue that a five hour program has collapsed eight years too brusquely. There is, by the way, zero mention in the fve hours of the allegations that Clinton let bin Laden slip through his fingers when the terror chief was offered up by Sudan. There is no Atta meeting in Prague, no suggestion of a Saddam history of terror ties unrelated to 9/11 --in short, there is no reaching by the writer/producers/director. It is an objective show, and not one that will cheer the right. But any show that does not praise Clinton or hopelessly conflate the eight years of the Clinton tenure with the eight months of the pre-9/11 Bush Administration is to be condemned.

"The Path to 9/11" is a faithful and compelling recreation within the limits of the craft of the fatal nonchalance of the '90s, combined with a salute to the hard-working men and women who struggled against the bureaucratic insanities of that era, represented chiefly in the person of FBI Agent John O'Neill, played by Harvey Keitel, and a supporting cast of brave and never-discouraged lower level Bureau and CIA operatives who understood the risks. In trying to deep-six the series, the Clinton forces are trying to silence their story.

The Clinton operatives are also bringing a useful attention to the program and especially any last minute edits ABC might make. The network risks outrage from center and right if it airbrushes the narrative, and even from those in Hollywood who stand by the idea that a good faith piece of work should be unmolested by the PC police.

No matter your opinions of Presidents Clinton and Bush, be sure to watch (or set your TiVo) to ABC Sunday night at 8. You be the judge. Hopefully ABC will give you that chance.

[Warham]

"But any show that does not praise Clinton or hopelessly conflate the eight years of the Clinton tenure with the eight months of the pre-9/11 Bush Administration is to be condemned".

We wouldn't want that to happen! He's trying to prop up that legacy, but the last leg is giving waaaaaay!

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally posted by Warham
We wouldn't want that to happen! He's trying to prop up that legacy, but the last leg is giving waaaaaay!

Yeah, his third leg. LOL!!

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
Why Does the Left Hate "The Path to 9/11"?
By Hugh Hewitt
Thursday, September 7, 2006

...
No matter your opinions of Presidents Clinton and Bush, be sure to watch (or set your TiVo) to ABC Sunday night at 8. You be the judge. Hopefully ABC will give you that chance.

Yeah, I just scanned this piece of shit, but nowhere did they mention that it contradicts the 9/11 Report it was supposedly "based" on. And also the fact that ABC is essentially tragedy-profiteering.

[Nickdfresh]

And oh yeah, they also refused to show the film to any left-leaning, or even moderate blog writers, columnists, and pundits whilst freely sharing with the Rush Limbaugh's and right leaning blogists. There is supposedly a scene that is such an embarrassment (of the Condi-actress going-on about how Bush was obsessing over an August terror brief) that even she admits this film is shit.

And of course, the trump card scene where Clinton, Clark, and "Sandy" Berger slam the phone down on CIA agents telling them that they've "surrounded Bin Laden," a clear fallacy that never happened.

[ULTRAMAN VH]

And a goodmorning to you too Nick.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
And a goodmorning to you too Nick.

And to you too sir.

http://www.outtahear.com/Nikki/SMTSFLSH2.swf

[FORD]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
Hopefully ABC will give you that chance.

Just like CBS gave us the chance to judge their "Reagans" mini series.

Oh that's right... they didn't.

And that one got pulled because of contraversy over one line whic right wingers deny Ronnie ever saying "they that live in sin shall die in sin", in reference to AIDS and it supposedly being a "gay" disease.

Whether Reagan ever said the exact words or not, the policies of his administration toward the AIDS crisis reflected exactly that attitude.

By contrast, this ABC fictional fiasco disagrees with not only the accounts of those who were actually there, but (as previously mentioned) the 9-11 commission's own report which itself was the 21st century equivalent of the Warren Commission.

ABC should pull the plug on this slanderous, fictional piece of shit.

[FORD]

"The Path To Impeachment"
FADE IN:

CAPTION:

THE FOLLOWING IS NOT A DOCUMENTARY. IT IS A
DOCUDRAMA DRAWN FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES,
INCLUDING THE KEN STARR INDEPENDENT COUNSEL'S
REPORT. AS SUCH, FOR DRAMATIC PURPOSES, THE
MOVIE CONTAINS FICTIONALIZED SCENES AND TIME
COMPRESSION.

INT. SPEAKER'S OFFICE -- NIGHT

Lights are low. SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH is seated behind his
desk. SENATOR PHIL GRAMM is seated across from him. A
dartboard with a likeness of HILLARY CLINTON is on the far
wall, and a voodoo doll with BILL CLINTON's face on it is
laying on the desk.

GRAMM
Newt, we have got to get us rid of
this Clinton fella.

NEWT
Why? He's starting to triangulate again.
He's been giving us a lot of what we want:
a middle class tax cut, welfare reform,
why he's been the best Republican President
we've had in ages, and he's a Democrat!

GRAMM
It's this whole terrorism thing. Not only
is he causing shit with our friends in Saudi
Arabia....

NEWT
This is network TV, Phil, please don't say
the S-Word.

GRAMM
Sorry. But he's trying to shut down the money
laundering network my masters at Enron use to
bilk their shareholders.

NEWT
Fine, then, if it makes Enron happy. Any ideas?

GRAMM
(crosses to and opens door)
Helen? Get us that intern. The pudgy one with
the beret and the goofy hair.

EXT. ROPE LINE -- MORNING

President BILL CLINTON is working the rope line, shaking
hands. MONICA LEWINSKI approaches him, and whispers into his
ear. Through the magic of television, we hear the full
exchange.

MONICA
I want to have sex with you, Mr. President.

CLINTON
Sorry, lady, I'm a married man.

INT. SPEAKER'S OFFICE -- NIGHT

GRAMM
He didn't fall for it, Newt.

NEWT
Give her time. I've gotten her a job in the
White House. She'll work her magic before long.

INT. OVAL OFFICE -- DAY

MONICA is carrying a pile of papers. CLINTON is seated behind
his desk.

MONICA
Here are the reports you wanted, Mr. President.

CLINTON
Thank you, uh, what was your name again?

MONICA
Monica.

CLINTON
Thank you, Monica.

MONICA
Do you want anything else?

CLINTON
No, thank you.

MONICA
You don't want to spread me open here on
your desk?

CLINTON
No, I do not.

MONICA
You don't want to insert this cigar into
my...

CLINTON
No, I do not.

MONICA
Okay then, thank you, Mr. President.

INT. SPEAKER'S OFFICE -- NIGHT

GRAMM
She still can't seduce him, Newt! And I
thought he was a randy bastard.

NEWT
Guess we were wrong. Time for more drastic
measures.

GRAMM
What have you got there, Newt?

NEWT
I had my secretary break into the intern's
house and retrieve this blue dress.

GRAMM
Newt, why are you unzipping your pants?

NEWT
Shut up and hand me that "Hustler!"


FADE OUT:

CAPTION:

THE PATH TO IMPEACHMENT IS NOT A DOCUMENTARY. IT
IS A
DOCUDRAMA BASED UPON THE STARR REPORT TO THE SAME
DEGREE
THAT "THE PATH TO 9/11" WAS BASED ON THE
9/11 COMMISSION
REPORT. IT CONTAINS ABOUT AS MANY FICTIONALIZED
SCENES AS
"THE PATH TO 9/11" AND IS SLIGHTLY MORE
ACCURATE. VIEWER
DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

END OF ACT ONE