CBS refuses to air anti-bush ad. "Too Controversial&qu

Synthpopalooza · Post by **Synthpopalooza** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 11:54 pm

This makes me sick:

Dear MoveOn member,
During this year's Super Bowl, you'll see ads sponsored by beer companies, tobacco companies, and the Bush White House.1 But you won't see the winning ad in MoveOn.org Voter Fund's Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest. CBS refuses to air it.2

Meanwhile, the White House is on the verge of signing into law a deal which Senator John McCain (R-AZ) says is custom-tailored for CBS and Fox,3 allowing the two networks to grow much bigger. CBS lobbied hard for this rule change; MoveOn.org members across the country lobbied against it; and now our ad has been rejected while the White House ad will be played. It looks an awful lot like CBS is playing politics with the right to free speech.

Of course, this is bigger than just the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) submitted an ad that was also rejected.4 But this isn't even a progressive-vs.-conservative issue. The airwaves are publicly owned, so we have a fundamental right to hear viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum. That's why we need to let CBS know that this practice of arbitrarily turning down ads that may be "controversial" -- especially if they're controversial simply because they take on the President -- just isn't right.

To watch the ad that CBS won't air and sign our petition to CBS, go to:
http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/

(If you want to skip the ad and just sign the petition, click here.)

We'll deliver the petition by email directly to CBS headquarters.

You also may want to let your local CBS affiliate know you're unhappy about this decision. We've attached a list of the CBS affiliates in your state at the bottom of this email. Remember, a polite, friendly call will be most effective -- just explain to them why you believe CBS' decision hurts our democracy.

CBS will claim that the ad is too controversial to air. But the message of the ad is a simple statement of fact, supported by the President's own figures. Compared with 2002's White House ad which claimed that drug users are supporting terrorism,5 it hardly even registers.

CBS will also claim that this decision isn't an indication of political bias. But given the facts, that's hard to believe. CBS overwhelmingly favored Republicans in its political giving, and the company spent millions courting the White House to stop FCC reform.6 According to a well-respected study, CBS News was second only to Fox in failing to correct common misconceptions about the Iraq war which benefited the Bush Administration -- for example, the idea that Saddam Hussein was involved with 9/11.7

This is not a partisan issue. It's critical that our media institutions be fair and open to all speakers. CBS is setting a dangerous precedent, and unless we speak up, the pattern may continue. Please call on CBS to air ads which address issues of public importance today.

Sincerely,
--Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn.org Team
January 23rd, 2003

P.S. Our friends at Free Press have put together a page which explains simply how CBS and the FCC rule change are integrally linked. Check it out at:
http://www.mediareform.net/media/

P.P.S Here are the CBS affiliates in your state:

WTVF-TV, Nashville: (615) 244-5000
WDEF-TV, Chattanooga: (423) 785-1200
WJHL-TV, Johnson City: (423) 926-2151
WVLT-TV, Knoxville: (865) 450-8888
WREG-TV, Memphis: (901) 543-2333

Too controverial, my eye ... maybe they are afraid of offending Viacom, CBS's owner and a big contributor to the GOP's campaigns. I have signed this, and am going to call Channel 8, and I suggest everyone else in here do so as well. This is an attack on free speech.

Coor · Post by **Coor** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 11:25 am

Corruption in polotics? Oh, fuck off! Say it ain't so !

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 2:35 pm

I really enjoyed that commercial. Get to work, kids! Although it should also show elderly & disabled toiling away, too. Forget about retiring til we're all about 90! :evil:

X · Post by X » Sat Jan 24, 2004 2:40 pm

its not like...its bad......

i mean i could understand like...a commercial with Papa Bush with some puppett strings attached to Junior...and junior is sucking off osama bin laden......but some kids working with a simple fact?...what the fuck

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 2:50 pm

Prehaps the Bush administration would allow the commericial to be played in one their "free speech zones." Afterall, they can't have free speech running rampant all over the country! These things must be contained in small, manageable areas. With prior registation & content submission required, of course. George thinks we need a "mostly free" country so the terrorists won't get us! :roll:

junkie christ · Post by **junkie christ** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 3:27 pm

more proof bush controls the media
im not surprised
what will be funny is in a few months when they edit and wont play democratic commericals..

Post by **Arkady** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 3:50 pm

I think this one is better.

and this one

Post by **Arkady** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 3:56 pm

Copied directly from
http://www.bushin30seconds.org/aboutbush.html

All About George Bush

Here's a short list of the top 7 reasons we're running this ad campaign against President George W. Bush and his administration. We hope this informs your own commercials, and inspires you to look further into the policies of the Bush Administration and their effect on the American public.

1. It appears that the Bush Administration has consistently misled the American public about Iraq , most significantly regarding Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction and his ties to al Queda and Osama bin Laden.
http://www.fair.org/press-releases/beyond-niger.html

2. The Bush Administration's regressive environmental policies have lowered cleanliness standards for our air and water while allowing utility companies (many of whom are Bush campaign contributors) to profit off of the weakened regulations. In 2002, the head of the EPA's Office of Regulatory Enforcement resigned, complaining that the agency was “fighting a White House that seems determined to weaken the rules we are trying to enforce." (CNN, Aug. 22, 2002)
The Bush Record on the Environment for 2003:
http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/2003.asp

3. Bush is underfunding education. The President cut $200 million from his own No Child Left Behind Act, eliminating crucial educational programs for lower income children and cutting professional training for more than 20,000 teachers.

Flawed from its very foundation, No Child Left Behind is based on then-Governor Bush's late-‘90s “Texas Miracle,”—a program of standardized testing designed to increase performance and reduce dropout rates--now recognized as a scandalous failure.
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0338/schanberg.php

4. The Bush Administration's Patriot Act threatens our constitutional rights and civil liberties. Passed by a post 9/11 Congress, the Patriot act expands the ability of law enforcement to conduct secret searches, and engage various forms of surveillance, including internet monitoring and wiretapping. It gives the FBI access to American citizens' highly personal medical, financial, mental health, and student records without notification or permission, and allows them to investigate individuals without probable cause of a crime. Finally, it permits non-citizens to be jailed based on mere suspicion and held indefinitely in six month increments without meaningful judicial review.
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/Safeand ... 2126&c=207

5. Bush's Tax Cuts only benefit the rich. Bush claimed that his tax cut would “reduce tax rates for everyone who pays income tax.” He failed to mention that this “relief” program would put half of the tax cut's dividends into the hands of our nation's wealthiest 5%, while 8.1 million citizens in the bottom half of the income bracket receive approximately $300 a year.
http://www.ctj.org/html/gwbfinal.htm

6. 3.3 million jobs (93,000 in August of 2003 alone) have been lost since Bush took office--more than the last 11 Presidents combined. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2001-August 2003) Meanwhile, huge corporations are paying fewer taxes than ever:
http://www.cbpp.org/10-16-03tax.htm

7. Bush is underfunding homeland security : While energetic in waging war abroad, the Bush administration has been oddly lethargic in fortifying our defenses at home. Domestic security agencies have been neglected. Police and firefighters have been denied essential resources, and muddled public strategy has only spread alarm and confusion.
http://www.ppionline.org/

More Recommended Reading:
The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century, by Paul Krugman

Dude, Where’s My Country?, by Michael Moore

Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, by Al Franken

The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder, by Mark Crispin Miller

Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America, by Molly Ivins

Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, by James Moore

The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception, by David Corn

Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq, by Sheldon Rampton, John C. Stauben

blindboy · Post by **blindboy** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 4:12 pm

Arkady, that second ad you posted was fricking hilarious. Sad but hilarious. :p

Correct me if im wrong but did I read somewhere that you were thinking about organizing a voter registration at sanctus?

Post by **Arkady** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 4:29 pm

blindboy wrote:Arkady, that second ad you posted was fricking hilarious. Sad but hilarious. :p

Correct me if im wrong but did I read somewhere that you were thinking about organizing a voter registration at sanctus?

Yes. I'm trying to find a place that I can get a few hundred voter registration forms and that will accept them when they are filled out. Any ideas?

It will likely be the Febuary Sanctus.

blindboy · Post by **blindboy** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 5:29 pm

sorry man my knowledge of this kinda thing is zip. I think its a great idea though. If you can get the registration form I can make as many copies as you would need, just let me know.

Synthpopalooza · Post by **Synthpopalooza** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 3:21 am

Ok ... here's an idea:

Click on this picture, print out a few copies, take some to kinko's and have em done, and give em out at Sanctus ... or post them at places like the Disc Exchange or something. I dunno ... just an idea to start out with.

I would also strongly suggest that everyone who feels strongly about the CBS issue (as I do), get on to the phones right now ...

Channel 5, WTVF-TV, Nashville: (615) 244-5000
Channel 12, WDEF-TV, Chattanooga: (423) 785-1200
Channel 11, WJHL-TV, Johnson City: (423) 926-2151
Channel 8, WVLT-TV, Knoxville: (865) 450-8888

You might also do well to contact channel 8 through their website at http://www.volunteertv.com ... or google for the other websites if your CBS affiliate is not in Knoxville.

When you call, be polite, but explain why you feel CBS is being unfair. If enough of us call, we can at least make some noise, and make them aware of how we feel about it.

You might also use this as a bit of ammo: http://www.moveon.org/press/pdfs/Super% ... %20ads.pdf ... controversial ads from past Super Bowls which CBS *DID* air!!!

It just ain't right ... if CBS can air an ad for the movie Hannibal (an ad which was considered extremely violent and contriversial) they can SURELY air the moveon.org ad!

Synthpopalooza · Post by **Synthpopalooza** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 3:34 am

Arkady wrote:Yes. I'm trying to find a place that I can get a few hundred voter registration forms and that will accept them when they are filled out. Any ideas?

It will likely be the Febuary Sanctus.

Idea: Try the early voting registration thing at the Knoxville Center Mall, they may have some forms. Just go into the mall, lower level near JCPenney's ... I think they can give you some forms.

Good luck to you.

lovechild · Post by **lovechild** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 11:55 am

commercial is sad but very true.....

jenna · Post by **jenna** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 12:45 pm

Arkady wrote:
blindboy wrote:Arkady, that second ad you posted was fricking hilarious. Sad but hilarious. :p

Correct me if im wrong but did I read somewhere that you were thinking about organizing a voter registration at sanctus?

Yes. I'm trying to find a place that I can get a few hundred voter registration forms and that will accept them when they are filled out. Any ideas?

It will likely be the Febuary Sanctus.

i don't know for sure if things are done the same here in the "big city", but when i lived up in Sevierville i did a Voter Registration drive. All that i had to do was go by the voter registration office in the court house and pick up the pile of forms and bring them back by once they were filled out. i assume that it would be the same in Knoxville. You might wanna call the voter registration office first and be sure though.

Post by **Arkady** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 3:44 pm

jenna wrote:
i don't know for sure if things are done the same here in the "big city", but when i lived up in Sevierville i did a Voter Registration drive. All that i had to do was go by the voter registration office in the court house and pick up the pile of forms and bring them back by once they were filled out. i assume that it would be the same in Knoxville. You might wanna call the voter registration office first and be sure though.

Thanks for the info. i'll do that.

Post by **darkvader** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 5:08 pm

It's even easier than that, you can register by mail, and the registration form is available as a pdf.

http://knoxcounty.org/election/pdfs/registration.pdf

blindboy · Post by **blindboy** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 5:30 pm

like i said i have a huge copier here if you want me to bring a stack of copies in feb let me know.

Seaneleth · Post by **Seaneleth** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 11:55 am

This is just lovely. First, free-speech zones when the president comes to town. Now, denial of something that puts a bad light on Bush.
How long until public book-burnings?

Anyone see King of the Hill last night?
"A hologram of Washington, life size. But look at it this way, it's HItler."
A slight modification to the next bit:
"Bush, Hitler, Bush, Hitler, Bush, Hitler..."