NY Post: Bubba Goes Ballistic on ABC About 9-11 Movie

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/bubba_goes_ballistic_on_abc_about_its_damning_9_11_movie_nationalnews_ian_bishop_________post_correspondent.htm

A furious Bill Clinton is warning ABC that its mini-series "The Path to 9/11" grossly misrepresents his pursuit of Osama bin Laden - and he is demanding the network "pull the drama" if changes aren't made.

Clinton pointedly refuted several fictionalized scenes that he claims insinuate he was too distracted by the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal to care about bin Laden and that a top adviser pulled the plug on CIA operatives who were just moments away from bagging the terror master, according to a letter to ABC boss Bob Iger obtained by The Post.

The former president also disputed the portrayal of then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as having tipped off Pakistani officials that a strike was coming, giving bin Laden a chance to flee.

"The content of this drama is factually and incontrovertibly inaccurate and ABC has the duty to fully correct all errors or pull the drama entirely," the four-page letter said.

<snip>

The letter, written by Bruce Lindsey, head of the Clinton Foundation, and Douglas Bond, a top lawyer in Clinton's office, accuses the ABC drama of "bias" and a "fictitious rewriting of history that will be misinterpreted by millions of Americans."

[KoKo]

1. Great News! Finally he speaks out...! n/t

[acmavm]

2. Good. He needed, for the benefit of the country, to dispute this

farce.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Great!

Glad he spoke up.

[ixion]

4. good... he should sue for slander, IMO

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=slander&x=0&y=0

slan‧der  /ˈslændər/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. defamation; calumny: rumors full of slander.
2. a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report: a slander against his good name.
3. Law. defamation by oral utterance rather than by writing, pictures, etc.
–verb (used with object)
4. to utter slander against; defame.
–verb (used without object)
5. to utter or circulate slander.


Which is exactly what this 'docudrama' is.

[blm]

5. Clinton needs to do a 2hr press conference where he answers every question

about terrorism and his efforts.

He needed to do it after the 9-11 report came out - instead he allowed the GOPs to spin 9-11 against him and every other Democrat.

[LongTomH]

36. And if he did?

He might get some coverage from the foreign press and some progressive bloggers; but, the Corporate Media in this country? Cue the crickets!

[blm]

43. HE can command cameras like no other Democrat can as the subject of the

controversy and as ex-president. He is not without some influence thru his own knowledge gained about these companies and he knows where they can be coerced. He hasn't used this influence for any other Democrat, but, I am quite certain he is willing NOW to use it for his own protection.

It's PAST time he do this, as EVERY Dem candidate in 2002, 2004, 2006 is being hung with the Democrats are weak on terror meme that he allowed to fester with his silence all these years.

[Atman]

6. They pulled Reagan. They pulled the gay priest. They won't pull this.

Betcha.

Liberal media, remember?

[Julius Civitatus]

10. They pulled Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" too

They sure are showing their agenda. It's obvious.

[Hugin]

12. Didn't they also pull that Tom Hanks movie? n/t

[druidity33]

37. mazes and monsters?

are you talking about that D&D movie from the 80's that fundies though was "Satanic"? If so, that's a LONG time ago. I think it was Mazes and Monsters, but i could be wrong...

was that Tom Hanks? ok now i'm confused...

:shrug:

[Julius Civitatus]

7. "Bungle Bubba"??? The NY Post sucks!

They are a bunch of fascist neocon tabloid pricks. Even this they have to pepper with anti-Clinton snides.

:mad:

[RamboLiberal]

15. That's why I didn't post in LBN - but still even the wingnuts

now know that this portrayal is being disputed.

[Jacobin]

8. Fucking Fascist Propaganda

That old 'librul' media again.

:argh:

[NashVegas]

14. Yes, But the Interesting Part Is At the Bottom

The 9/11 commission report echoes his denial, and found that Clinton's Cabinet gave "its blessing" for a CIA plan to capture bin Laden and determined that ex-CIA Director George Tenet squashed the plan.

The third contested scene focuses on Albright, who is depicted alerting Pakistani officials in advance of a 1998 U.S. missile strike against bin Laden in Afghanistan - over the objections of the Pentagon. The movie claims the tip-off allowed bin Laden to escape.

But the 9/11 commission reported that it was a member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff - not Albright - who met with a senior Pakistani Army official prior to the strike to "assure him the missiles were not coming from India."


And it's actually more of a defense of the Clinton admin than almost everything else I've seen, even on some Liberal blogs.

[Cobalt Violet]

9. K & R.

:kick:

[TacticalPeek]

11. K & Fn R!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[Avalux]

13. Thank you Bill.

I understand your legacy is at stake also - I hope you hold a press conference and blow this crap out of the water.

[madokie]

16. Good, the Big Dawg Barks

showing some teeth,

[goclark]

27. Maybe his good daddy poppy will support Bill on this ~

Now he'll really see who his friends are.

I love Clinton but his "friend" Poppy is a snake.

[madokie]

30. nothing wrong with having a pet snake

as long as you always know where it is

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

41. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

:thumbsup:

I love me some Bubba.

[bluestateguy]

17. Well he spoke out. This is what everybody wanted.

So this will either be the catalyst for removing the movie (doubtful), or giving it even more attention, and thus a ratings buzz.

[Cha]

18. I'm hoping those "millions of Americans" are

smarter than your average sheep and can tell when they're being bullshitted by the neoCON wing of the right wing insane asylum.

The dangerous precedent here is abc not qualifying this piece of fictional trash.

[Julius Civitatus]

22. Don't bank on it...

:eyes:

If we are to believe the election results of 2000 and 2004, about half the US population voted for Bush. I wouldn't put my money on the American people (in general) being able to "tell when they're being bullshitted by the neoCON wing of the right wing insane asylum." Sorry for my cynicism, but I'm yet to see evidence of the contrary.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

19. This Is EXACTLY What We Need.

The more negative publicity we can get from high profile figures about the movie the more americans will either choose not to watch it or know going in to take what they see with a grain of salt.

No matter what we try and do, ABC will air this. What is important is getting the message out to as many as possible that what they will see should be questioned and not taken at face value. The more Clinton speaks about this, the more people will know that the series itself isn't factual and is just simply partisan.

I hope he continues to speak out and get even more vocal about the injustice of this program.

[Cha]

28. Clinton should go to all the

high schools, too.

[melissinha]

20. Claiming to be based on 911 Commission is crux

They don't back down from their claim to be based on 911 Comission, and that is were they should be hounded on.... hiding behind the word "dramatization" does not change the fact that if aired it will alter the perception of the truth of several viewers.....

we need to hound them on the the refutability of their claim that it was based on the 911 Commission...

[Triana]

21. "too distracted by Lewinsky" - that's the Republican meme...

...was then. Is now.

This, folks, is pure propaganda being shoved down our throats.

[Ignacio Upton]

33. That "meme" is Orwellian

Since THOSE ASSHOLES were criticizing Clinton for bombing Al Qaida training camps in reaction to the East African Embassy attacks as "wag the dog."

[LaurenG]

23. Well I'm mad at Clinton right now

It made him look bad so he said something but the last 6 years he's ignored everything else bush has done since 9/11.

Like I said I'm mad at him. I'll get over it but sheesh. :(

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. There is definitely a public interest here. The right-wing has a strong

precedent of using misinformation to confuse the public so they can capitalize on their redirected conclusions. We have Iraq and two Bush Administration terms to show that damage is caused by this misuse of the media. ABC created its own problems when it called it an objective show based on the 9/11 Commission report. It opened the door for serious criticism. I say it's time to cross the Rubicon.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. His Statement Says "Drama"

I think that's clever use of language. He does not bestow the "docu" prefix to it, therefore adding zero credibility to any of it.

Pretty smart to keep calling it a "drama". I think most people have some equivalence of "drama" with "fiction".
The Professor

[rman]

42. If it were advertised as fiction, there'd be hardly any problem with it

It'd just be odd to produce a work of fiction about such a serious historic event.

The problem with it is that it's advertised as a docu-drama, supposedly telling a dramatized version of reality, while it does in fact tell fiction.

Fantasizing and calling it dramatization, amounts to no less than lying. If people think it's supposed to be fiction, they won't realize how serious it is that it tells fiction.

[NVMojo]

26. YAY!!!

[w4rma]

29. Interesting that the NY Post got the scoop on this story. (nt)

[indepat]

31. Hope Bubba shoots huge rockets up mucho arses

[MasonJar]

32. It is outrageous that Tom Kean is supporting this after he goofed

so badly on the report. His son was on tv saying that he was against some Bush policy. That will change in a hurry if he beats Mendendez. These Pugs are all liars, prevaricators, equivocators and rapers of the truth. Sue them, Bill.

[Ignacio Upton]

34. Kean Jr. also wants to privatize Social Security

That alone shows he's no moderate.

[AtomicKitten]

35. Hooray for Bubba.

And to all those prematurely trash-talking Clinton for not doing anything about this travesty when the story broke, I hope this is a lesson to let events unfold. I knew there was no way in hell Clinton was going to remain silent when his integrity was being impugned by these assclowns.

[Rex]

38. So now we know, Big Dog just takes awhile to get moving.

Like an 18-wheeler. Good to see him swearing off the kool-aid.

[progressoid]

39. Well - technically his people go ballistic.

It was written by...Bruce Lindsey, head of the Clinton Foundation, and Douglas Bond, a top lawyer in Clinton's office

[SammyWinstonJack]

40. With his blessings, I'll wager.

You think President Clinton isn't completely pissed over this?