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As of now, the Oscars are on. We think they will stay on. Thousands of anti-war protesters are expected. Protest organizers say they need the air-time and coverage because the networks aren't giving them enough.
We support anti-war protests but we think this will backfire on the anti-war movement, particularly in the U.S. We doubt those who tune in to watch the Oscars, ourselves included, are going to look at the protesters and say, "Gee, I should be with them tonight," or even, "I'd like to hear what they have to say." We think protesting during the Oscars will weaken the message and hurt the cause.
There's a time and a place for everything. These actors worked hard all year to create movies to entertain us and make us think. They have earned their night. For three hours of a Sunday evening, we should give them their due and leave the war out of it. Except, of course, for those of them that choose to use their 45 seconds of acceptance time to oppose the war. We think that's fine. It's their time and they can do what they want with it.
The winners are being allowed to say whatever they want on any topic, including the war. Presenters, such as noted anti-war activist Susan Sarandon, however, have to stick to the script.
Again, we are all for the participants in the Oscars expressing their opposition to the war during their speeches. But we think the protestors should pick another night--or limit their protests to the afternoon before the ceremonies begin.
Update on Oscar participants:A small number of celebrities, including Will Smith and Angelina Jolie - both due to present awards - and Cate Blanchett and Tom Hanks, have pulled out of the ceremony, voicing disgust that America's annual parade of self-congratulation is going ahead despite the war. Designers Giorgio Armani and Collette Dinnigan have cancelled trips to Hollywood to dress the stars and left it to their US-based associates to do the pampering instead.Donning an anti-war totem is also popular. Among the actors who have said that they will wear anti-war badges are nominees Day-Lewis, Adrien Brody, Pedro Almodóvar Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore as well as veteran star Dustin Hoffman.
Ben Affleck is among those who has apparently not yet made up his mind. Instead he has announced that the final decision will rest with his stylist.
The 500 photographers, TV cameramen and reporters who normally work the carpet have been told that this year the stars do not want to talk and have undergone FBI background checks before they were issued with their credentials.
CNN has made journalist Kevin Sites shut down his warblog. That's a shame. We hope they reconsider. His photo-blogging was terrific. It's still up --go on over if you haven't already visited.
LA Police Chief William Bratton is profiled in A Night Out With William Bratton in today's New York Times. As we knew he would be, the Chief already has become an icon in Los Angeles.
His wife, Court TV Anchor and criminal defense lawyer Rikki Klieman, who has been commuting weekends to LA, moves out to LA for good in June. She has already landed a job on a new pilot for a television series, a drama about district attorneys. Rikki's book, Fairy Tales Can Come True: How a Driven Woman Changed Her Destiny, hits the bookstores in May. You can read excerts, peruse the excellent reviews and order it from the book's website.
Rikki sent us the book galleys yesterday. We are already more than half-way through it and it's a page-turner. There is no question in our minds it's a sure-fire hit and will become an immediate best seller.
Buy the Book Today!
For more of our coverage of Rikki and her remarkable career and relationship with Bill, go here. For our coverage of the Chief, go here.
What Liberal Media
by Eric Alterman
Buy the Book Today!
There is a great review of Eric Alterman's What Liberal Media in today's New York Times. It is written by Orville Schell, the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.
Now Eric Alterman, media columnist for The Nation, has jumped into the ring and taken off his gloves. In an impressively researched and documented book, "What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News," he provocatively challenges this conservative wisdom as a mirage. He asserts that what Americans should really fear is the far better organized, more powerful and effective propaganda machine of the right that postulates the presumption of liberal bias through research groups, religious organizations, ideological news organizations and conservative personalities that "skews the entire discourse toward the right."
Our hero of the day: John Mellencamp
TO WASHINGTON
Eight years of peace and prosperity
Scandal in the White House
An election is what we need
From coast-to-coast to Washington
So America voted on a president
No one kept count
On how the election went
From Florida to Washington
Goddamn, said one side
And the other said the same
Both looked pretty guilty
But no one took the blame
From coast-to-coast to Washington
So a new man in the White House
With a familiar name
Said he had some fresh ideas
But it's worse now since he came
From Texas to Washington
And he wants to fight with many
And he says it's not for oil
He sent out the National Guard
To police the world
From Baghdad to Washington
What is the thought process
To take a humans life
What would be the reason
To think that this is right
From heaven to Washington
From Jesus Christ to Washington
Download the song for free here, courtesy of Mellencamp. Thanks to Snowdog for the link.
You can view the Not in Our Name public service announcements here.
We wish to express our support for Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks and their right to dissent from President Bush's style of diplomacy. As a result of the Bush administration's disrespect for the United Nations and international law, all Americans have suffered injuries to their reputations in the eyes of the world community, which most acutely affect those Americans working and traveling abroad. It was therefore well within Maines's rights to dissociate herself from the views and actions of the President before a London audience. Maines has subsequently made clear that she intended no disrespect to the office of the President or to the American soldiers serving in the Gulf.We applaud Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks for giving voice to the voiceless majority of Americans who do not support President Bush's decision to invade Iraq without UN authorization. We deplore the efforts of radio stations and other media outlets and organizations to boycott the Dixie Chicks. We find it especially ironic that these efforts to chill future voices of dissent are being led by broadcasters to whom the public has entrusted our most vital First Amendment rights.
We call for an immediate end to all such boycotts, and encourage all Americans to show their support for the Dixie Chicks by signing this petition and continuing to enjoy their music.
Check out these war protest photos from this past weekend (March 14 - 15). They express some powerful sentiment.
And don't miss Tom Tomorrow.
First, the comment at issue:
"The trio performed a live show in London on Monday (March 10th) night, and Natalie Maines (news) told the crowd, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas."
The Dixie Chicks' Response:"We've been overseas for several weeks and have been reading and following the news accounts of our government's position," the group explains. "The anti-American sentiment that has unfolded here is astounding. While we support our troops, there is nothing more frightening than the notion of going to war with Iraq and the prospect of all the innocent lives that will be lost." Maines also says, "I feel the President is ignoring the opinions of many in the U.S. and alienating the rest of the world. My comments were made in frustration and one of the privileges of being an American is you are free to voice your own point of view."We're satisfied. In fact, we agree with them. Although we would point out that we don't think the European attitude is Anti-American as much as Anti-Bush and Rumsfeld.
MTV has refused to accept a commercial opposing a war in Iraq, citing a policy against advocacy spots that it says protects the channel from having to run ads from any cash-rich interest group whose cause may be loathsome.Guess its up to the Internet to spread the word. Television ads may dry up, democratic candidates may clam up, but we'll all be here. Dissent will go on.Nonetheless, viewers in New York and Los Angeles will be able to see the rejected spot from Not in Our Name starting today on MTV's "Total Request Live" and "Direct Effect," because its backers did an end-run around the channel by buying time on local cable providers.
A scene from an antiwar ad, directed by Barbara Kopple, who has won two Academy Awards for documentaries. The ad was rejected by MTV.
As other advocates have butted up against similar policies prohibiting advocacy ads at most national television channels, they have increasingly resorted to making local buys. A few minutes of commercial time are reserved each hour for local cable operators or broadcast affiliates.
A long-running Washington tradition apparently ended last night when, for the first time in memory, the doyenne of the White House press corps was not called on in a presidential press conference.Also snubbed was Mike Allen of the Washington Post.Syndicated columnist Helen Thomas, who has covered every president since John F. Kennedy, was relegated to the third row in last night's East Room event and — if the memory of press corps veterans is accurate — received her first presidential snub.
One reporter who has covered the past six presidents said: "I don't remember a press conference in which [Mrs. Thomas] didn't get a question."
For many years, it was a tradition for Mrs. Thomas to ask the first question at White House news conferences and end them by saying, on behalf of the press corps, "Thank you, Mr. President." However, in recent years, her influence has waned — although she was still afforded one of the first questions and continues to enjoy a front-row seat at regular White House briefings.
Update: Transcript is now available here .
Hart made some excellent points on O'Reilly tonight.
1. Korea is a bigger threat than Iraq.
2. Bush was evasive on the cost of the war in human lives and in capital.
3. While Bush said that the goal of war in Iraq is disarmament and regime change, last week he and other administration officials said that a goal was to establish a permanent presence to the region and establish a model of democracy throughout the Arab world. If this is the goal, the American people should be told this.
4. There is an alternative to war with Iraq--it is for an intensified U.N. presence with coercive weapons inspections in Iraq, supported by all major nations, which can prevent Iraq from using any weapons of mass destruction.
5. Iraq is not the only country with weapons of mass destruction or access to biological weapons. If it is going to be our policy that each time one of those nations seems to be a real threat, we go in and disarm and do a regime change, we are going to have a very busy 21st century--and we better have a huge military budget. And the American people ought to be advised that this is the policy.
6. We are woefully unprepared for the next terrorist attack here, and there will be one. Both the director of the CIA and the FBI have said if we invade Iraq, the threat goes up. The last major study of our preparedness (in which Hart and Rudman and 15 others participated for the Foreign Relations Security Council) found that we are not much better prepared for an attack here than we were on Sept. 11.
This is not a transcript and we didn't tape the show--so we apologize if we misconstrued any of Senator Hart's points. If you heard differently, or have an opinion, feel free to use the comments section. We will post the transcript when it becomes available tomorrow.
Bump:
Sen. Gary Hart will be on Bill O’Reilly’s The Factor on the Fox News Channel show tonight at 9:00 EST to talk about what the President says during his news conference. He’s appearing live from LA.
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