Sinclair to Air Anti Kerry Documentary

A sister thread to Farenheit 911.

http://www.freepress.net/news/article.php?id=4921

It is being showm here. We also get to hear Mark Hyman's opinion on one of our local stations along with the daily news. I have exercised my choice not to watch the Sinclair owned station's newscasts.

I've read a lot of distaste about this by pro-Kerry people on other boards and such and I don't understand it... if Michael Moore can make up stuff and show it as fact why can't the other side's supporter do the same thing... neither is right... but hey at least both sides are represented...

I don't care for Michael Moore at all and I haven't made an opinion yet on Sinclair as I've never seen anything of his... I unfortunately can't say teh same thing about Moore... we were forced to watch his latest crap last night in class... it sucked majorly thank you very much I am not paying 1600 bucks to be force fed Michael Moore's opinions!

The controversy is that it is being shown as a news program. It's the same thing as if NBC would air Moore's film commercial free during prime time a couple of weeks prior to the election. Neither are news programs. They are documentaries that present information from the film maker's point of view.

That's the problem Piel. It is being shown as 'news' and not as a documentary. Whatever the content may be, it should be excerpted on some sort of 'magazine' type of TV show like Dateline, and presented in some sort of movie house, as was Fahrenheit. But this guy, Sinclair is apparently very powerful. I don't know if one of his 62 stations are in NYC. I would watch it, but then I've already made up my mind. At this point I think most Americans have. Kerry was in Viet'Nam during the war while Bush was learning how to fly planes in Texas when he wasn't on AWOL.

Joe

Good point, Joe. At least Kerry went to Vietnam. Evidently, he didn't depend on his daddy to get him into the National Guard so that he wouldn't have to go to Vietnam. And the one who got out of going to Vietnam by joining the National Guard and, therefore, has no idea what it is to fight in a war, is the one who keeps finding more countries to go to war against and send our young men and women out to fight them. That to me is very scary. Personally, I think every President should have fought in a war--it might make him think more carefully before sending others out to fight in them.

I'm glad I don't have to watch that documentary. I already switch the channel as soon as I see a Bush ad come on.

were any of you in Vietnam? just wondering


because talking to my family members that were they see Kerry one half step shy of someone they'd like to try for treason... he made a MOCKERY of his service time... he's no hero in my eyes...

Well Toni, my dad WAS in Vietnam (stationed there for a year) and he doesn't think that at all. You probably don't want to hear what he thinks of the current administration, but that's beside the point.

The real controversy around the whole anti-Kerry movie being shown is that Farenheit 9/11 won't be shown on TV. Michael Moore was just on the Tonight Show talking about what's been happening. He had arranged with the people at pay-per-view to air '9/11', signed the contract and all. Just yesterday he got a call from them saying they weren't going to show it 'for legal reasons' and they wouldn't explain further. He said he even gave up the right to submit '9/11' for an Oscar so it could be shown on TV (you can't be up for an Oscar if the movie is on TV before the awards are chosen). The big beef is that it's not fair for one side to get TV airtime when the other can't. He then surprised everyone by offering Sinclair broadcasting his movie for free if they'd show it in as many markets.

No, I'm not a Michael Moore fan and yes I know '9/11' is a full of propaganda (and a lot of truth ), but fair is fair. If you're gonna show one side, you should show the other. If it doesn't happen, I'll not be watching any Sinclair programs in the future.

Joe, I see you already know about Sinclair! Forget my F911 comment.

Toni, Vietnam is still as divisive as it was in the 60's and 70's. I'm not saying that your family and friends aren't entitled to their opinions. They are shared by many. I just disagree.

All of my generation grew up with a draft. Gee, I just id'd myself as a boomer! And Vietnam was incredibly divisive (but so was the Civil Rights movement). My brothers and cousins and friends and neighbors all had to deal with the question, as all of them were eligible for the draft and none were rich or powerful. My cousin was in Nam. To this day he won't alk about it. A guy I grew up with, went to church with, sat next to in band, etc., joined the Marines. Not because he particularly wanted to fight, but because he had to do something or be drafted. He went to Nam. Received many medals from US and S. Vietnamese. Then he went back. He was the kind of casualty of the war that people didn't want to acknowledge...he died by his own hand. Suicide in Saigon? Why should he be honored with a military funeral? And later, why should his name be on the Vietnam wall? I'll give you the answer my minister gave the community....because his death, even by his own hand, was because he went to war.

I've known who John Kerry was since I was in college in the early 70's. I have also heard all the reasons other people feel he was a traitor. Yes, he probably was already running for something. But who in their right mind would choose such an issue if they planned on a political career? He could have showed off his medals and kept his mouth shut. He chose to act on his own conscience. On what he saw and felt and heard in a war he at least showed up for..twice. That's more than those chickenhawks Bush and Cheney and company can say.

Having lived in NE Ohio my whole life, I was in the thick of the anti-war movement. Kent State was one of the colleges I was accepted to. They even offered me a scholarship..for the journalism school. I chose a smaller college a half hour away. It was a very polical time and I was very political then. I am back to being a political animal because now it's MY SON being asked to put his life on the line for some fuzzy thinking and inadequate planning. This tears me up just as the Vietnam war did. Just as it must have torn up those friends and family members you mention. But that was their emotional involvement, not yours. Or mine.

My dad, like all the other men in our family went off to fight WWII. Both he and his brother served in North Africa and Sicily. (My uncle went on to invade Italy and then France and Germany. Like his nephew, he would never talk about it). My dad could never forgive the American poet, Ezra Pound, for defending fascism in Italy. He went ballistic when we studied his poetry in school. Other people of his generation had bad feelings toward people like Charles Lindbergh who was anti-war and apparently pro-German.

So, should we refuse to acknowledge the achievements of Lindbergh and Pound because they took unpopular political stands?

It will be interesting down the road to hear what sticks in peoples minds and guts from this time. As my sixth grade teacher wrote on the chalkboard (because she was crying) when JohnF. Kennedy died, "We are living history." I always remember that. And I always try to remind people.

Not knowing the difference between Fahrenheit 9/11 and Stolen Honor are the same uninformed, more likely then not, that believes there is a connection between Iraq and 9/11. The Bush Administration loves the uninformed, and if the uninformed is a voter all the better.

Boycotting Sinclair’s sponsors is a way to protest this “news” program. Be sure to let you local Sinclair TV affiliate knows how you feel.

well...

I don't usually get involved in political threads (admittedly, I don't like politics), but I just wanted to put in my $.02. #1: I will admit that I haven't seen Farenheit 911, so I freely admit that I don't have all the data. However, I have read plenty (in mainstream newspapers) about inaccuracies and interpretations of the facts, and I think it's safe to say that there's no way to claim that Moore's documentary is completely factual. It is his one-sided, selective interpretation (and, at times, misrepresentation) of data to support his opinion. I'm not saying that it doesn't have any valid points because I just don't know enough about it to make that judgment. But anyone who accepts it as the gospel truth is, I think, deceiving him or herself. #2: I am so sick of hearing about Bush and Kerry's activities during the Vietnam war. To me, that data has absolutely no bearing on the current ability of either one to govern this country. It happened more than thirty years ago. Furthermore, whoever believes that George W. Bush was a man of stellar moral character and service during his younger days (and I support Bush right now) is sadly deceived. He himself has freely admitted he wasn't, so the fact that there are some irregularities in his National Guard record is no surprise. I believe that people can change and grow over the years, and I believe that President Bush is a different man than he was thirty years ago. Kerry's record in Vietnam, whether you think it's amazing or think it's horrible, seems to me also to have no bearing on his ability to govern. But like it or not, there are some Vietnam vets (I've talked with one of them, who is now an influential figure involved in global peacemaking efforts) who think that Kerry's protesting after he came back was a betrayal of all the officers who were still POWs or stationed in Vietnam. So Kerry's record will always be controversial as well. I am so sick of hearing about Kerry's war record or Bush's National Guard record; I am more concerned about what the candidates are going to do now and who is going to be a better president based on who he is today.

Here is a list of Sinclair's stations (and contact info):

http://sbgweb2.sbgnet.com/business/television.shtml

None in Omaha, wheeee!

If all the Sinclair stations would air "F9/11" commercial free in primetime, then I have no problem with them airing their little conservative piece of propaganda. But, seriously, I hope to God people are intelligent enough to do the damn research and not take the program at face value (what bugs me the most is it's being billed as a "news" program), but then again, some people hear the word "Massachusetts liberal" and lose all forms of rational thought, which is, of course, why propaganda works. You don't have to think.

Speaking of Vietnam, both my parents were in the Air Force during that particular war, and my dad volunteered three times to go, and they never sent him. My mom was a flight nurse about two weeks away from deploying, but I sort of got in the way of that. And you weren't allowed to be pregnant and in the military back then, so she didn't go, either. My dad, btw, will be voting for Kerry, his first ever vote for president for a Democrat. My mom is wavering, and I'm working on her.

Oh, and I was at the Des Moines rally Thursday night, 17,000 people there to see John and John, and Teresa and Elizabeth. It was fabulous! I met all sorts of people from die hard near anarchist left wingers to moderate Republicans who felt W had gone too far to the right. It was wonderful.

Laura

I just don't understand people who don't understand the difference in being in Viet Nam during the war and being on a base in Texas. Duh?

What happens when this Iraq conflict, started by the US invasion, gets still worse. The generals are all saying the US needs more troops. The possibility of the DRAFT is real and you can be sure that Rangel and Jackson will push to ensure that there will be no deferments. Women will be drafted as well as men and college will not get you a deferment. So if you are 18 to 35 think about this possibility because you don't have a father that can pull strings. It's frightening.

Joe

I think sadly, that your right Joe. The only way to ensure adequate personnel for the Armed Services will be a return to the draft. Once that happens, it would make the Vietnam era protests seem tame I'm afraid.

Personally, I like Michael Moore. I thought his movie "Bowling for Columbine" was terrific and "Farenheit 911" was albeit controversial, but made one think.

Anyway, if you want to see a really good movie about the Viet Nam War, then I highly recommend the movie "Fog of War" directed by Errol Morris. The movie looks at "former US Secretary of Defence (Robert McNamara) and the various difficult lessons he learned about the nature and conduct of modern war." He really examines the US involment in Vietnam and the aftermath. Great documentary.

Here is a site about the movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/

http://www.errolmorris.com/

I just don't understand people who don't understand the difference in being in Viet Nam during the war and being on a base in Texas. Duh?

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I never heard anybody say there wasn't a difference. (Although maybe some people do, I dunno - you can find support for almost any opinion these days.) But I don't think that has anything to do with this election.

Tonichelle said:

were any of you in Vietnam? just wondering


because talking to my family members that were they see Kerry one half step shy of someone they'd like to try for treason... he made a MOCKERY of his service time... he's no hero in my eyes...

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Well, both of my uncles were in Viet Nam and I have dated guys that were there. I also have a friend from nursing school who was present at Kent State. How can telling the TRUTH be called a mockery? :scratch: I think it takes balls to tell the truth especially when it it makes you unpopular. Kerry put his life and his reputation on the line. Remember he was actually there. I don't think anyone who has completed a tour of duty in Viet Nam would call their time there a mockery of anything. Kerry could have taken an education deferment, gone the ROTC route, or skipped over to Canada. But he SERVED and came back and told what we had a right to know. It continues to amaze me that the "moral" Republicans only care about telling the truth and government interference when it comes to stuff that is none of their business.... Clinton/Monica, gay marriage, and trying to force people to bear children they don't want or shouldn't have for example. Maybe the Republicans are kinkier than we give them credit for?

Jo, we boomers are IMO the luckiest people in history. Born at the perfect time. We have lived "American Dreams".... and the reunion show .

50 the new 30!

pairsfan said:

Here is a list of Sinclair's stations (and contact info):

http://sbgweb2.sbgnet.com/business/television.shtml

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These cities have Sinclair owned stations that are ABC which means Skate America, Marshalls, and Nationals will be broadcast on them.

Mobile, Alabama
Pensacola, and Tallahassee Florida
Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Highpoint, and Asheville, North Carolina
Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson, South Carolina
Springfield, Massachusetts
St. Louis, Missouri
Columbus, Ohio
Charleston, West Virginia

Anyone else here boycotting these stations?

Some people believe in blind faith. I know that many religions state that one should not question, just believe. I just don't have that. I question and it doesn't matter who or what.

Kerry, Jane Fonda, and many many others questioned the American invasion of Viet-Nam because the North Vietnamese, for obvious reasons, did not attack San Franciso or Los Angeles. I believe as an American one can question and complain without fear of degredation. Others may disagree, and I think that's ok too. That is my definition of democracy.

Joe