My letter to ABC's big wigs.
My family and I are long time fans of ABC, especially of Peter Jennings, who was a journalist in the best sense of the word. But we are increasingly outraged at what we are hearing about the upcoming mini-series about 9-11. The New York Times is reporting that this "docudrama" is "fraught with factual errors and fabrications." The Washington Post says that several people depicted in the scenes in which their characters appear to be "false and defamatory." Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the 9/11 commission, appeared on MSNBC's program "Countdown" and said that the series is full of "errors and mischaracterizations", that it is "inaccurate and unfair" and that the actual commission findings reached the opposite conclusions.
In response to the recent criticism ABC is now apparently claiming that this is a dramatization meant to be entertainment.
HOW DARE YOU! I am furious that ABC would make an "entertainment" out of one of the horrible events in our nation's history. There is nothing "entertaining" about 9/11. Why would ABC do this? Simply for ratings and hence, money? This is completely sickening, to try to profit from the suffering, trauma, and murder of thousands of Americans.
But I suspect that there is an even more reprehensible motive. The Path to 9/11 was being pitched as educational, with educational materials being made available to schools -- educational materials that are filled with "fabrications", which are "false and defamatory", and are full of "errors and mischaracterizations". Hugh Hewitt of townhall.com claims that ABC has told him that minor changes have been made but "- The average viewer would not be able to tell the difference between the two versions. - The message of the Clinton Admin failures remains fully intact." http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/...
I can only concluded that this piece of fiction has been produced as propaganda to smear Bill Clinton and blame his party on the eve of an important election. This kind of blatant political manipulation of the facts surrounding the tragedy of 9/11 is on a par with the tactics used by the Nazi Party and their propaganda wing in the 1930s. I am writing to my congressman and senators to urge an investigation and sanctions against ABC. This the type of unAmerican activity that I will not tolerate. I am also contacting as many of your sponsors as I can find and forwarding this information to my large extended family, as well as members of my church, PTO, and local newspaper, where we are close friends with both the publisher and managing editor.
Although ABC has many fine programs, I am now blocking it on our televisions. Peter Jennings must be turning in his grave.
Sincerely,