Salt Lake Tribune on "the Reagans"

I thought that Utah was a conservative bastion....




Cowardly CBS pulls 'Reagans,' caves in to conservative attack





By Brian Lambert
Saint Paul Pioneer Press

Credibility is a precious commodity. You taint it at your peril.
CBS and its parent company, Viacom, gave their reputation for courage and independence a kind of toxic shower Tuesday. First, they nakedly caved in to pressure from groups outraged over the as-yet-unseen miniseries "The Reagans," about Ronald and Nancy Reagan. They pulled the two-night, four-hour movie out of the middle of November sweeps and dumped it off to Showtime cable. Then they released this statement: "This decision is based solely on our reaction to seeing the final film, not the controversy that erupted around a draft of the script."
A lot of influential people are playing the American public for credulous chumps these days, but as examples of gross disingenuousness go, this one is a classic. There is absolutely no doubt that CBS capitulated to a stunning outpouring of anger from the various kindred elements of what, collectively, can be called the conservative media attack engine.
Word leaked a week or so ago that the script portrayed the former president as a somewhat disengaged figure with early symptoms of Alzheimer's, little or no functional concern for the AIDS epidemic beginning to sweep the country and a lack of emotional interest in his own children. Almost worse was the apparent portrait of the former first lady as a shrill, controlling woman.
Since then, the usual suspects have been in even higher dudgeon than normal. The Drudge Report ran days of outraged headlines. Bill O'Reilly railed. L. Brent Bozell organized a campaign threatening advertiser boycotts. The Republican National Committee fired off a read-between- the-lines letter to CBS president Les Moonves demanding Reagan-friendly "experts" review the film prior to air -- or else.
Viacom chief Sumner Redstone grumbled from on high. Web sites hammering CBS were launched. And, of course, every foghorn with a microphone on the 800-plus radio stations railed that the film was further proof of the ongoing Hollywood liberal smear campaign against everything to the right of Bill and Hillary.
This engine operates all the time. But this time, it succeeded in getting one of the foundational pillars of mainstream culture, CBS Entertainment, to shrink before its wrath and embarrass itself with a grand, public surrender.

(more)-----> http://www.sltrib.com/2003/nov/11062003/thursday/108603.asp

That really tells it like it is, especially the parts about the "conservative attack media machine." And in Utah, no less, that's what's really amazing.

I hate to break it to the Reagan-is-God crowd but, during his presidency, he was, indeed, showing signs of early Alzheimer's, exhibited a distinct lack of concern and caring for the AIDS epidemic until he just couldn't ignore it anymore politically, and he did have a strong lack of emotional interest in his own children. Thems the facts, and it appears the repukes don't like the facts. But then, when has that ever stopped them before?

. . .that was reported upon in The Chicago Tribune about 4 years ago (i think) by a team of doctors that basically acknowledged the Alzheimer's thing.

Their findings essentially said that there was zero evidence of any case of Alzheimer's striking quickly enough that Reagan did not have onset symptoms as soom as the early 80's. They surmised that his inner circle probably should have, or did, suspect something, prior to his re-election campaign.

So, the image of him as a doddering old fool may have been exacerbated by the people closest to him that decided to let a mentally degrading person run for president to keep themselves close to the seat of power. Disgusting.
The Professor

...was spinning in his grave that day. Probably still is.

Later.

RJS

They are usually considered the more conservative of the two main Twin Cities papers (the other being the Star Tribune, which is usually a little more reasonable...)
Minnesota - the only state in the Union that DIDN'T vote for RayGuns!!!

This is a prime issue for them to attack and show how these right wingers and their corporations are now telling YOU what you can watch. They need to say to the American people: If all sorts of sex, violence, horror go unsensored and are said to be okay for the viewing public, then why is it not okay for you to see a movie about a former republican president?? Are we turning into the old Soviet Union? People, contact CBS and demand your right to view what you chose to view." Come on, Dems, for once think, think, think---as Terry and boys, yawn, read the morning news and do nothing as usual...

It was front page news at the time about how everyone had to go through Nancy to get to see him. Some defended her as just doing it because she loved him so much, blah, blah. But the D.C. people were furious that important people on important national/international business had to go through her. AND it was front page again when it was discovered she was doing the 'astrologer' thing which upset the Christian right (just starting to have an impact in the nation). These things are true. So the criticism form the right is propaganda censorship at it's worse.

And now CBS Entertainment does the same for the Repugs.

They think that no one remembers what was reported during the Reagan administration. Read the books written by Michael and Patti Reagan. Read Don Regan's book. Most of the material they're claiming as lies is indeed true.

he had Alzheimer's, or the beginning of it, when he was Gov of Caleeforeneeyah...he made so many stupid moves there already...