CBS re-thinks the Reagans.

[KennedyGuy]

This is my first posted topic, so I hope I'm doing this right.

Oreilley is leading the charge against the network, who, as I understand it, are re-thinking the movie and considering editing it to delete some of the "objectional" remarks about the Reagans. This is in response to threatened right-wing boycotts. Am I the only one who is appalled by this?

[Selwynn]

1. Duh - did anyone think this would NOT happen?

[tridim]

9. Actually, no.

I didn't think CBS would bow to a fringe group of radical, right wingers and give them everything they want. The CBS censors should just go ahead and hire some Freepers and fundies to be on staff.

I really hope this isn't true, because if it is, we've lost CBS as a semi-impartial source of information.

[tom_paine]

10. I suppose I had hopes

I keep forgetting we no longer really live in a Free Country (though for the moment things on our level still mimic life in the Old Republic, for the most part...the fish rots from the head down), but an Orwellian-Totalitarian Empire.

The funny thing is that the Busheviks are forced to do something that Hitler and Stalin and Marcos and others like them were never forced to do, which is mimic the "grassroots".

What letter-writer and Freepers the Brownshirst would have made if for some reason they weren't able to just beat the crap out of people!

(hope I wasn't too much of an ass here)

:evilgrin:

[Brian Sweat]

18. I was absolutely convinced that they would not show this movie.

[Brucey]

40. You were right! Good call.

[TAH6988]

41. He was right?

You mean thay are NOT showing it? Where did you read that?

[TAH6988]

42. He was right?

You mean they are NOT showing it? Where did you read that?

[janekat]

48. I saw this one coming a long time ago....

should have bet on it.

[lefty_mcduff]

2. Wow. Republican attack dogs manage to censor a flick.

Nice precident.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

3. boycotts affect profit making companies

what's the surprise?
Reagan worshippers are both legion and legendary in their worship.
What I want to see is where Ronnie is taken down for dealing with terrorists in Iran.

[northzax]

35. and how would a freeper boycott of CBS change anything?

they are all convinced that the station is 'liberal' and don't watch it. Anyone who would actually participate in this is already boycotting the station. CBS should push on with the program, they really have nothing to lose.

[Girlfriday]

4. Welcome to DU KennedyGuy

:hi:

I'm appalled too, for what it's worth. :)

[Loonman]

5. O'Reilly again

O'Reilly thinks he's a god.

I don't watch CBS anyway, and I'll never watch anything about the Reagans, but the miniseries is driving the neo-cons crazy.

[underpants]

14. I thought he said he was against boycotts

Maybe he misspoke.

So very fair and balanced are they.

[janekat]

49. He might as well be God....

he and Rush are about that powerful....

[DontTreadOnMe]

6. I am completely disgusted that CBS is doing this...

and even though we all know it's a freeper poll, I urge everyone who reads this to go to: http://www.billoreilly.com/

A poll appears in the lower left corner asking "If the CBS miniseries about former President Ronald Reagan treats him badly, will you boycott CBS and its sponsors?"

so how many people reading this post can spend less than 30 sec on the click above?

[NewJeffCT]

37. 91% yes now

and 17K+ have voted... wow.

[realFedUp]

7. Welcome to DU

and your first post..

too bad if they are cowed by a handful
who haven't even seen the movie.

[TAH6988]

8. Why are you appalled by a boycott?

Many, many types on DU we call for boycotts of sponsors who support Rush Limbaugh or that M. Savage guy. Why a month or so ago, many were advocating boycotting ESPN for having Limbaugh on their football show. Boycotts are all-American and a great way to show your displeasure of a stance or position taken by a commercial entity.

[denverbill]

12. What the morons at CBS fail to realize,

is that the freepers already hate CBS because it's a 'liberal' network. Freepers are going to be watching WWF anyway, so who gives a damn if they boycott CBS?

[TAH6988]

15. Obviously, CBS does

if it is true they (CBS) are "re-thinking" the movie due to the outcry.

[Brian Sweat]

26. CBS News is the least right wing of all of the networks,

but if you watch their programming, they are the most conservative.

Jag
NCIS
CSI
Cold Case
The District
The Gardian
Hack
The Handler
Judging Amy
Without A Trace
Joan of Arcadia (good show).

CBS has long aimed it's programming at an older more conservative audience. They don't want to piss them off.

[TAH6988]

27. Hey CSI is really good

And I kinda like that Joan of Arcadia show, at times, even though I am an atheist. Cold Case is pretty good too.

[Brian Sweat]

30. The are decent shows, but they appeal to older, more conservative people.

Hell, I'm convinced that Survivor and Big Brother appeal more to conservatives. The only people I know who watch these shows are conservatives, but that doesn't mean I am right.

[TAH6988]

36. If you say so

I know mant young folks who watch CSI and JoA.

[Brian Sweat]

59. I watch them to, but compared to most of the fair on TV today

these shows appeal to an older, more conservative audience.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

44. Judging Amy is not a "conservative" show! It's good....

family entertainment but not conservative!

[DieboldMustDie]

58. CBS is a liberal network?

The last time I tuned in CBS news and saw a report on the Iraq occupation they still had the the words "Operation Iraqi Freedom" plastered across the upper right hand corner of the screen. They seem to me to be just another propaganda arm of the * administration.

[KennedyGuy]

22. It is not the boycott that appalls me

It is not the boycott that i am appalled by, but rather the fact that CBS would "re-think" or edit the movie because of the shrill threats made by these people. What if everyone who was in support of the so-called "offending" comments called in to say that they would boycott CBS if they caved? my point is, if we let them set the agenda, the'll roll right over us.

[TAH6988]

25. Isn't that the POINT of a boycott?

To make the commercial entity which you are boycotting change its behavior?

[janekat]

51. They've ALREADY rolled right over us....

it's too late. They stole the White House right from under our noses. They've stolen the media.

[tom_paine]

23. I suppose it's the customary double-standard of reaction to said boycotts

Although, as an Imperial Subject of Amerika, Orwellian double-standards are my Coin of the Realm.

It all stems from the fact that there is no equivalent to the Party-Loyal Right-Wing Sub-Media to add a billion dollar megaphone to any Bushevik "boycott" (ever hear of astroturf?).

Sad to be wishing for one. Party-Loyal Sub-Medias are incompatible with democracies (which is why Imperial Amerika is one only in name and technically at this point).

But I see no other alternative. Not that it's ever going to happen.

[forgethell]

50. sorry,

but I have absolutely no idea what you jusst said. Can you repeat it to a slow-learner, please, in English?

[tom_paine]

57. Ok, here goes

One of the salient characteristic of the rise of the Busheviks (sorry, I can't call them conservatives nor Republican, for they are neither) was the formation of the Right-Wing Sub-Media. This includes Faux "News" and a host of Scaife-funded magazines. It also includes the "Elves" who, in my opinion, broke far more laws in generating the "Perjury Trap" for Clinton than Clinton ever dreamed.

At this same time, through overt bullying and cries of "liberal media" every time a news organization dared to print what Busheviks DID as opoosed to what they said they did or their spin, combined with the demands of the Infotainment Revolution watering down actual "journalism".

At the same time, Mainstream Press, bullied by these demands, gave evermore time to Bushevik Loyalists, who are never hindrered by any need to be "fair and balanced". The constant bullying ("working the ref") has had an effect, as has Corporate Consolidation and the Infotainment Revolution.

There never was a "Liberal Media" which served the Democratic Party in the same way Faux, et al. serve the Busheviks.

As a result, a boycott by Busheviks (or a protest) receives favorable coverage and voluminous coverage (like the 300 Alabamans protesting the removal of the Ten Commandments...who got wall-to-wall 24/7 constant OJ-style coverage) versus the pre-Invasion antiwar rallies, comprising MILLIONS just here in Amerika, who were barely mentioned even for a day.

The same extends to the O'Reilly CBS boycott, which cracks the whip slightly and everyone falls all over themselves begging forgiveness in ways I have never seen a non-Bushevik boycott be received.

Hence, the double-standard. This is no accident, as I've said above, but the result of DECADES of media bullying and parasitization, not to mention Right-Wing Checkbook "Journalism", funded to the tune of hndreds of millions of under-the-table Richard-Mellon Scaife monies (and other like Olin and Bradley).

Read David Brock's "Blinded by the Right" to understand how this Nazi-style propaganda machine works, and know that what Brock describes is but one subset of the Right-Wing Sub-Media.

[loudnclear]

11. Could living under the old USSR be much worse?

If CBS doesn't have the same guts it had to show excerpts from Clinton's transcript of his Monica testimony and Paula Jones testimony to go on with this REagan mini series we may as well admit that we are living under a dictatorship!

[tom_paine]

24. But a "kinder and gentler" Bushevik Dictatorship

which must and will maintain the illusion that people still have votes and voices.

For the same reasons, too, because the corer identity of the Roman Republic was that they would NEVER bow to a King.

But they did, as do the Imperial Subjects of Amerika...

[Blitz]

32. As someone who actually lived in the old USSR

it always both amuses and appalls me when someone compares this country with the old Soviet Union. Allow me to just say this:

You have no idea. None at all.

[tom_paine]

45. Agreed, Blitz, though I never lived in the Old USSR

I think that people (myself included) see the dangerous Pravda-ization of Mass Media, the successs of Orwellian denials, and the emergence of a Party-Loyal Sub-Media beholden to no truth and apparently able to launder any lie, no matter how factually disprovable, into "conventional wisdom", the PATRIOT Act and the "alternative judicial system" being set up, the fact that anyone can now be wiretapped without a judge's signature, the creation of Total Information Awareness databses, etc., as trending towards such a state.

Thank God, life at this stage in Imperial Amerika I'm sure is very little like the Old Soviet Union. If these trends which we have witnessed continue onward...

Also, it goes without saying that Totalitarianism, be it leftist like the USSR or rightist like Nazi Germany, must by needs be chimeric, because Totalitarianism is repeatedly discredited after it falls.

So it is very likely that Imperial Amerikan Totalitarianism will look very little like the USSR or Nazi Germany.

But I take your point. For the moment, and probably for the next 20 years, there will be a good bit of daylight between the old USSR and daily life in Amerika.

But I wouldn't wager on 2030.

[forgethell]

52. Yeah, it could

At least they haven't starved the blue states to death in a regional genocide. Hey, I don't like Bush*, either, but these silly comparisons are one reason we have a hard time gaining traction with a significant portion of the electorate that otherwise might be inclined to support progressive positions.

[underpants]

13. Picture of Brolin in make-up

[Capn Sunshine]

16. Your source there is known for hyperbole and fantasy

worldnet NEVER offers source or verification for their assertions.Basically, they type up their version of what they WISH to be, and disseminate it to the RW mobs who only tune in to hear things portrayed this way.

So, try a LEGITIMATE newssource and see if there's anything about CBS "re-thinking" this.

I think this whole thing is hilarious: the wingnuts are being TOTALLY YANKED and are creating the publicity for this TV movie.You can't BUY this kind of coverage! I for one would NEVER have considered tuning in were it not for this controversy. Now, I may host a Reagan-watching party.

[salin]

43. My first thought, as well.

When it appears from a less hyperbolic (and rightleaning - though in an odd and often critical of bush way) media source - then I will give the story credence.

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

17. Record of Reagan Disaster

http://www.bartcop.com/16unbiased.htm

From: The Unbiased Reporter

Subject: Let's settle this Reagan thing


For anyone who was there and paying attention, the Reagan Years
can only be summed up in one word: DISASTER.

There was the Deficit Disaster;
The Savings & Loan Disaster;
The Challenger Disaster;
The Beirut Disaster where over 200 Marines died
The Lockerbie Disaster,
The 1987 Stock Market Crash;
The Commercial Real Estate Collapse;
The Junk Bond Disaster;
The Arms for Hostages crisis
The "We begin bombing in five minutes" debacle.
Trickle-downsizing, and the laying off of millions,
Corporate Pension Raiders;
The explosion in the numbers of homeless;
The longest and deepest recession since 1929;
The biggest debt ever accumulated by any president in history.
The budget cuts.
(And when you hear Rush and Hannity say, "They were NOT cuts, that's just a
bunch of lies told by liberals to discredit a great leader," show them this)

People working harder and harder for less money - but Oh,
the super-rich got their big tax cut - you can bet that happened.
- all of these a direct result of Reagan policies and decisions.
How do you think he got the name "Red-Ink Reagan?"

I am hard pressed to come up with any Reagan Act or Policy that resulted in anything good.
The best his supporters can muster is to say he "made us feel good about ourselves".

Who is "us'?

I never heard a black guy say Reagan made him feel good about himself.
Never heard a Hispanic or immigrant say that Reagan made them feel good about themselves.
Never heard that from any single mothers; or from any Americans who happen to be gay;
never heard it from any of the low income people , or from any of the the millions of homeless;

When they say "Reagan made 'Us' feel good, they must be talking about the old, white,
fat, selfish and greedy whites-only tobacco whores who chased Clinton's cock for nine years.

When they say "Us", they mean Jesse Helms, Jerry Falwell, Sean Hannity, Strom Thurman,
Bob Jones, the vulgar Pigboy, David Duke, Pat Robertson, Linsey Graham, Bob Dornan, Bill O'Reilly,
The Beltway Boys, Chris Matthews, Peggy Noonan and CNN's current lineup of news anchors.

Reagan boosters say he won the Cold War, but I can't come up with any Reagan Policy
that could have had any impact on the fall of the Soviet Union.

If we're looking for the man who brought the Russians to their knees, look at Jimmy Carter.
Yes, that Jimmy Carter. He was a man of action, not words.

When he was president, Jimmy Carter embargoed grain from going to Russia.
(And yes, the Russians were able to get it elsewhere, but at a higher price, starting an inflationary
spiral the same way an OPEC oil increase does to energy prices in this country.)

Carter boycotted the Soviet-hosted 1980 Olympics, (a very unpopular move at the time)
denying them a worldwide Public Relations coup and propaganda tool. Carter also provided
Stinger Missles to the Afgan Rebels, which enabled them to hold off the Soviet invasion which
embarrassed the last institution of pride the Russians had left, their weakened military.

Of Course, Saint Reagan uttered the famous words, "Mr. Gorbachov, tear down this wall,"
but as any educated person knows (and Republicans hope today's young people won't find out)
is that Mr. Gorbachov did NOT tear down that wall. In fact, Reagan's toothless threats allowed
the Soviet Regime to blame the United States for their internal problems and it gave the Old Guard
the excuse they needed to hold on to power a little longer.

However, I don't want to be all negative, Reagan did conquer Grenada.
A proud moment in American Military history. Well, actually, the Invasion of Grenada was
meant to distract the simple-minded Americans who just watched Reagan bungle his invasion
of Beirut where over 200 marines were murdered by Reagan's trading partners, Hezbollah.

To the horror of the Republican Party, some of us remember. The Joint Chiefs wanted our
marines to be housed on our ships at sea, where they'd be safe. But the Reagan White House
thought it would "look better" if those brave men slept on land, instead. This disasterous decision,
made by political hacks at the White House and approved by the senile and confused president
over the objections of the Joint Chiefs cost hundreds of brave men their lives.

Can you imagine the years of endless hearings that Dan Burton, Bob Barr and the rest
would have held if Bill Clinton had personally overruled the Joint Chiefs and gotten 220
marines killed because Sandy Berger thought it might "look better?" But since this disaster
had nothing to do with Bill Clinton or his zipper, it was quickly forgotten.

I hope this clears up the Reagan era for those young people who don't remember it.
The Reagan years brought war, recession, misery and Dickensian poverty. Most people have
memories of the eighties they'd like to forget. But some people - the the old, white, fat, selfish
and greedy whites-only tobacco whores - felt very differently about the eighties.
They loved Reagan - and what he did to America.


Unbiased Reporter

[carlvs]

55. One more incident to add to list

You forgot to add the "silent" nuclear crisis of '83 to your list.

What... you never heard of this?

Well, it is not surprising, since most people have never heard of it. It seems that the world came TOO DAMN CLOSE to a nuclear war that year, thanks to a combination of Reagan's "Evil Empire" blustering, and Soviet paranoia resulting from their WW2 experiences.

For a truly unnerving account of the events of that year, check out this link:

The 1983 Soviet War Scare

Here's a quote from the conclusion of the report:

"Many Western observers dismissed the intelligence alert and the subsequent war scare because they considered its worst case scenario--surprise nuclear attack--as out of touch with reality or just plain irrational. They based their view more on their certainty that there was no objective threat of a US attack... than on their uncertain understanding about how the Soviets saw things. While Western observers were half-right in questioning whether the Soviet war scare was "objective" or "rational," they were half-wrong in writing it off as scare tactics. Even fear based on a false threat can create real dangers." (emphasis mine)

Carl

[newyawker99]

60. Hi carlvs!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

19. 138 Reagan administration officials criminals

found this at post at bartcop forum by poster 'jerky'

I'm sure there's a link to source, but 'jerky' did not post the link.



This is just absolute proof about the corruption of the Repugs during Reagan.

History is repeating itself with the massive corruption of Smirk's
illegitimate regime.


===============

By the end of his term, 138 Reagan administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations. In terms of number of officials involved, the record of his administration was the worst ever.

Lyn Nofziger Convicted on charges of illegal lobbying of White House in Wedtech scandal.

Michael Deaver received three years' probation and was fined one hundred thousand dollars after being convicted for lying to a congressional subcommittee and a federal grand jury about his lobbying activities after leaving the White House.

E. Bob Wallach close friend and law classmate of Atty General Edwin Meese, was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $250,000 in connection with the Wedtech influence-peddling scandal.

James Watt, Reagan's Secretary of the Interior was indicted on 41 felony counts for using connections at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help his private clients seek federal funds for housing projects in Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Watt conceded that he had received $500,000 from clients who were granted very favorable housing contracts after he had intervened on their behalf. In testifying before a House committee Watt said: "That's what they offered and it sounded like a lot of money to me, and we settled on it." Watt was eventually sentenced to five years in prison and 500 hours of community service.

Oliver North Convicted of falsifying and destroying documents, accepting an illegal gratuity, and aiding and abetting the obstruction of Congress. Conviction overturned on appeal due to legal technicalities..

John Poindexter, Reagan's national security advisor, --guilty of five criminal counts involving conspiracy to mislead Congress, obstructing congressional inquiries, lying to lawmakers, used "high national security" to mask deceit and wrong-doing..

Richard Secord pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to Congress over Iran-Contra..

Casper Weinberger was Secretary of Defense during Iran-Contra. In June 1992 he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of concealing from congressional investigators and prosecutors thousands of pages of his handwritten notes. The personal memoirs taken during high level meetings, detailed events in 1985 and 1986 involving the Iran-Contra affair. Weinberger claimed he was being unfairly prosecuted because he would not provide information incriminating Ronald Reagan. Weinberger was scheduled to go on trial January 5, 1993, where the contents of his notes would have come to light and may have implicated other, unindicted conspirators. While Weinberger was never directly linked to the covert operations phase of the Iran-Contra affair, he is believed to have been involved in the cover-up of the ensuing scandal. According to Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh, Weinberger's notes contain evidence of a conspiracy among the highest ranking Reagan Administration officials to lie to congress and the American public. Some of the notes are believed to have evidence against then Vice-President George Bush who pardoned Weinberger to keep him from going to trial..

Elliott Abrams was appointed by President Reagan in 1985 to head the State Department's Latin American Bureau. He was closely linked with ex-White House aide Lt. Col. Oliver North's covert movement to aid the Contras. Working for North, Abrams coordinated inter-agency support for the contras and helped solicit illegal funding from foreign powers as well as domestic contributors. Abrams agreed to cooperate with Iran-Contra investigators and pled guilty to two charges reduced to misdemeanors. He was sentenced in 1991 to two years probation and 100 hours of community service but was pardoned by President George Bush..

Anne Gorscuh Burford resigned amid accusations she politically manipulated the Superfund money..

Rita Lavelle was fired after accusing a senior EPA official of "systematically alienating the business community." She was later indicted, tried and convicted of lying to Congress and served three months of a six-month prison sentence. After an extensive investigation, in August 1984, a House of Representatives subcommittee concluded that top-level EPA appointees by Reagan for three years "violated their public trust by disregarding the public health and the environment, manipulating the Superfund program for political purposes, engaging in unethical conduct and participating in other abuses.".


Robert C. McFarlane was appointed Ronald Reagan's National Security Advisor in October 1983 and become well-known as a champion of the MX missile program in his role as White House liaison to congress. In 1984, Mc Farlane initiated the review of U.S. policy towards Iran that led directly to the arms for hostages deal. He also supervised early National Security Council efforts to support the Contras. Shortly after the Iran-Contra scandal was revealed in early 1987, McFarlane took an overdose of the tranquilizer Valium in an attempt to end his life. In his own words: "What really drove me to despair was a sense of having failed the country." McFarlane pled guilty to four misdemeanors and was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service. He was also fined $20,000. He received a blanket pardon from President George Bush..

Richard Allen, National Security adviser resigned amid controversy over an honorarium he received for arranging an interview with Nancy Reagan..

Richard Beggs, chief administrator at NASA was indicted for defrauding the government while an executive at General Dynamics..

Guy Flake, Deputy Secretary of Commerce, resigned after allegations of a conflict of interest in contract negotiations..

Louis Glutfrida, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned amid allegations of misuses of government property..

Edwin Gray, Chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank was charged with illegally repaying himself and his wife $26,000 in travel costs..

Max Hugel, CIA chief of covert operations who resigned after allegations of fraudulent financial dealings..

Carlos Campbell, Assistant Secretary of Commerce resigned over charges of awarding federal grants to his personal friends' firms..

Raymond Donovan, Secretary of Labor indicted for defrauding the New York City Transit Authority of $7.4. million..

John Fedders, chief of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission resigned over charges of beating his wife..

Arthur Hayes, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration resigned over illegal travel reimbursements..

J. Lynn Helms, chief of the Federal Aviation Administration resigned over a grand jury investigation of illegal business activities..

Marjory Mecklenburg, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources resigned over irregularities on her travel vouchers..

Robert Nimmo, head of the Veterans Administration resigned when a report criticized him for improper use of government funds..

J. William Petro, U.S. Attorney fired and fined for tipping off an acquaintance about a forthcoming Grand Jury investigation..

Thomas C. Reed, White House counselor and National Security Council adviser resigned and paid a $427,000 fine for stock market insider trading..

Emanuel Savas, Assistant Secretary of HUD resigned over assigning staff members to work on government time on a book that guilty to expense account fraud and accepting kickbacks on government contracts..

Charles Wick, Director of the U.S. Information Agency investigated for taping conversations with public officials without their approval.


Alan D. Fiers was the Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's Central American Task Force. Fiers pled guilty in 1991 to two counts of withholding information from congress about Oliver North's activities and the diversion of Iran arms sale money to aid the Contras. He was sentenced to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service. Fiers agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for having his felonies reduced to misdemeanors and his testimony gave a boost to the long standing criminal investigation of Lawrence Walsh, Special Prosecutor. Fiers testified that he and three CIA colleagues knew by mid-1986 that profits from the TOW and HAWK missile sales to Iran were being diverted to the Contras months before it became public knowledge. Alan Fiers received a blanket pardon for his crimes from President Bush..

Clair George was Chief of the CIA's Division of Covert Operations under President Reagan. In August 1992 a hung jury led U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to declare a mistrial in the case of Clair George who was accused of concealing from Congress his knowledge of the Iran-Contra affair. George had been named by Alan Fiers when Fiers turned state's evidence for Lawrence Walsh's investigation. In a second trial on charges of perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice, George was convicted of lying to two congressional committees in 1986. George faced a maximum five year federal prison sentence and a $20,000 fine for each of the two convictions. Jurors cleared George of five other charges including two counts of lying to a federal grand jury. Those charges would have carried a mandatory 10 months in prison upon conviction. Clair George received a blanket pardon for his crimes from President George Bush..

Duane R. (Dewey) Clarridge was head of the CIA's Western European Division under President Reagan. He was indicted on November 29, 1991 for lying to congress and to the Tower Commission that investigated Iran- Contra. Clarridge was charged with five counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements for covering up his knowledge of a November 25, 1985 shipment of HAWK missiles to Iran. Clarridge was also suspected of diverting to the Contras weapons that were originally intended for the Afghan mujahaddeen guerrillas. Clarridge received a blanket pardon for his crimes on Christmas Eve 1992 from President George Bush.

Two types of problems typified the ethical misconduct cases of the Reagan years, and both had heavy consequences to citizens everywhere. One stemmed from ideology and deregulatory impulses run amok; the other, from classic corruption on a grand scale.

The Pentagon procurement scandal, which resulted from the Republicans' enormous infusion of money too quickly into the Defense Department after the lean Carter years.

Massive fraud and mismanagement in the Department of Housing and Urban Development throughout Reagan's eight years. These were finally documented in congressional hearings in spring 1989, after Reagan left office. Cost the taxpayers billions of dollars in losses. What made this scandal most shameful was that Reagan's' friends and fixers profited at the expense of the poor, the very people HUD and the federal government were pledged to assist through low-income housing..

The Iran-Contra scandal. In June, 1984, at a National Security Council meeting, CIA Director Casey urged President Reagan to seek third-party aid for the Nicaraguan contras. Secretary of State Schultz warned that it would be an "impeachable offense" if the U.S. government acted as conduit for such secret funding. But that didn't stop them. That same day, Oliver North was seeking third-party aid for the contras. But Reagan, the "teflon President" avoided serious charges or impeachment..


Environmental Protection Agency's favoritism toward polluters. Assistant administrator unduly influenced by chemical industry lobbyists. Another administrator resigned after pressuring employees to tone down a critical report on a chemical company accused of illegal pollution in Michigan. The deputy chief of federal activities was accused of compiling an interagency "hit" or "enemies" list, like those kept in the Nixon Watergate period, singling out career employees to be hired, fired or promoted according to political beliefs..


Neglected nuclear safety. A critical situation involving nuclear safety had been allowed to develop during the Reagan era. Immense sums, estimated at 200 billion or more, would be required in the 1990s to replace and make safe America's neglected, aging, deteriorating, and dangerous nuclear facilities..

Savings & Loan Bail-out. Hundreds of billions of dollars were needed to bail out savings and loan institutions that either had failed during the deregulation frenzy of the eighties or were in danger of bankruptcy..

Reckless airline deregulation. Deregulation of airline industry took too broad a sweep, endangering public safety.


And you have the balls to accuse Bill Clinton and Al Gore of being corrupt and unethical while simultaneously showering Ronald Reagan with teary-eyed adulation?

You should all hang your lying, hypocritical heads in shame.

[papau]

20. CBS has not announced any editing beyond the standard needed

to fit in the commercials.

So where do we find anyone - other than Fox types - saying that their will be content editing?

The Bad PR Barbra can bring to bear is 10 times whatever crap big mouth no action right wing talk radio and TV can put to CBS.

If the right wants tp pretend they have this power, let them have at it.

And if Barbra says afterward that it was edited to delete the facts of the Reagan era that the right wants to forget - then CBS may as well close broadcast shop and go cable talk only against MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, and Fox.

[Deja Q]

21. If they do this, I'll boycot CBS

For good.

I'll track down contact info... and a-contactin' I'll be!

[Meshuga]

28. Let's start a petition...

maybe not but how many people are really going to care that CBS is dissing Reagan? I hope they have the balls to show it and not make any cuts.

[LeahMira]

29. Not surprising...

I DO wish that the right wing would take the initiative and produce a docu-drama of their own though. If they are going to use any film or TV show they don't like to draw attention to their "issues" it just winds up that non-freepers do all the work of producing the thing and then the freepers step in and bollux it all up to suit their "message."

I mean, they do the same damn thing with school textbooks. They let dozens of people work together to come up with the contect, write the text, select the pictures and/or illustrations, and then they come in at the last minute to insist that whole pages be eliminated because they don't like something (i.e. evolution).

Not only that, but they get a bunch of attention when they do all this censorship.

For once, I'd like to see the little creeps write and produce their own documentary film or TV show, or write their ownscience or history textbook instead of just waiting around until someone else puts in the work and all that's left for them to do is bitch, bitch, bitch!

Since they're all about people not getting anything they don't work for, what's this stuff going on? Did the conservatives work on this show? If not, they should probably, by their own standards, be still about it.

[Redleg]

31. I wonder if they will cut the stuff about Iran-Contra?

Or if that was even in the movie to start with. Another white-wash by the right-wingers.

[loudnclear]

53. Why not. The history books have already cut it out of the pages.

OK Michael, you'll have to make this mini-series.

[John_Shadows_1]

33. Ok , we need a counter-campaign quick...

... where do we e-mail?

[KharmaTrain]

34. Caution Caution: Affiliate Cancellations

Nothing will make CBS do an edit or tap dance than angry affiliates. All the emails to CBS Corp won't do as much as to the local CBS affiliates...who may pre-empt or delay the series. The CBS corps don't want that since it cheapens the ad rates they'll collect from it's overall ratings.

If we see stations...most definitely in the South...not just cancelling it, but delaying it, that's a sure sign the "boycott" got through.

I saw O'Reilly last night (wanted to see if he dared to mention *'s lie...he didn't) and heard his rant followed by a young Freeper (hope he's been neutered) about this silly boycott or lack of it.

Remember, pissing off O'Reilly is good for business...ask Al Franken. How many of us would have known or cared about watching this paprika? Hell, anything Raygun on the History Channel gets the quick zap. Now I'm gonna watch and I get a feeling many of my other DU friends will...and the louder O'Reilly gets the more others will get curious, too.

The only sponsors CBS needs fear of a Freeper/Faux boycott are makers of Black Helicopters and Tin Hats.

[NewJeffCT]

38. I can't find when it will air

When is this thing scheduled to air?
It's not even listed on the CBS website as far as I can tell...

[wryter2000]

39. Damn

I knew it!

[PROGRESSIVE1]

46. Well.......

I will boycott all conservative artists! They questioned our patriotism and have no respect for freedom on speech unless they are speaking! This is a TWO-WAY street! Also, boycott MSGOP and FAUX for their licking the Reich's Hind End!!!

[janekat]

47. Why don't we learn something from this and start doing the same?

Or start doing something similar. I'm not really into boycotts that much - but why don't we all start sending e-mails, start phoning the networks, send letters like the freepers do?

As obnoxious and ill-informed as they are - they're feisty little buggers and work their fingers to the bone for their causes. We need to look at what they do sucessfully and adopt some of their tactics (the ones we can stomach anyways).

I do quietly boycott a few companies on my own (Taco Bell, KFC, Amazon).

[KharmaTrain]

56. TriCon/PepsiCo has been on my Shitlist for ages...

I have the luxuary of owning a company and have made business choices involved large investment based on my beliefs...always willing to work with an independent like myself than submit to the coporates. Also family members regularly ask me for suggestions and advice on consumer purchases and a quiet word about how regressive the billing practices Mobil oil uses caused at least 30 account cancellations that I know of. It's not much, but there's that self-satisfaction you're not being a cause of the problem for once.

[spanone]

54. God forbid the public be told any truths.

Remember Irangate? These guys didn't invent lying, they just took it to a new level. Swine.