A tale of two films and one bitter stooge

If you've been following the news and blogworld, you know that media giant Sinclair Broadcasting Group has ordered its affiliate stations in swing states to pre-empt prime time programming with what is basically a feature length propaganda ad by the same folks who brought you the swift boat spot. This is not a paid advertisement, which is a blatant violation of FCC regulations and raises the possibility of Sinclair stations losing their broadcasting licenses. Imagine the shit-storm if CBS ran Fahrenheit 9/11 on prime time a few days before the election? This is not a free speech issue, but a severe abuse of power and influence by Sinclair executives. What to do? The one thing television companies care about more than anything is money, and a handy way to prevent 1/4 of American households from being force-fed a string of distortions with the sole purpose of destroying Senator Kerry is to let the sales manager at your local Sinclair station know that you are requesting advertisers to boycott their station. Josh Marshall has all the info you need, including a list of advertisers.

Just as one-sided, though not being beamed into living rooms, acclaimed filmmaker George Butler's documentary on John Kerry during the Vietnam era, Going Upriver is testament to the strength a well made documentary can have. I'm sure it's possible a handful of people could walk out of the theater still thinking Vietnam was a good idea and that John Kerry isn't one of the most corageous and honorable men in modern history (not so much for his combat time, but for what he did afterwards), but it's not likely. Seeing and hearing the 27 year-old Kerry speak with such purity, honesty and conviction and accepting responsibility for his own actions (something nobody in the current administrations seems capable of) I certainly went form luke warm to enthusiastic about the Senator. Going Upriver is currently in theaters around the country, and definitely worth seeing. A must see actually.

Did you know that the main guy behind Stolen Honor and the swift boat ad (other than Karl Rove) was hand-picked by the Nixon administration in a simiar attempt to discredit Kerry back in the 70s? John O'Neill - 33 years a bitter GOP stooge.