Bush-backing broadcasters compare Democrats to “Holocaust deniers”
Notorious Sinclair Broadcasting is ordering its 62 TV stations to run an anti-Kerry documentary, in this case also-known-as free advertising or a smear, shortly before the election.
Whether this violates federal election law or should prompt FCC review as an in-kind contribution to the Bush campaign is up for debate, but what’s more interesting is the comments of Sinclair VP Mark Hyman, as aired on CNN:
“However, the accusations coming from Terry McAuliffe and others, is it because they are some elements of this that may reflect poorly on John Kerry? That it’s somehow an in-kind contribution of George Bush? …
“This is news. I can’t change the fact that these people decided to come forward today. The networks had this opportunity over a month ago to speak with these people. They chose to suppress them. They chose to ignore them. They are acting like Holocaust deniers, pretending these men don’t exist.”
That comment sparked a swift condemnation from the ADL, which called the comment “grossly inappropriate,” “insensitive” and “painful.”
I’ve written in the past on the subject of using the Holocaust for political argument, but the ADL letter brings up the question. Should it be acceptable to use the imagery of the Holocaust “to score a political point?”
UPDATE: Since some have asked why I refer to Sinclair Broadcasting as “notorious,” I’m including this link to a full rundown of Sinclair’s greatest hits. There’s far more information out there, but this very useful primer is courtesy of the Center for American Progress.
“Notorious Sinclair”?
the “notorius sinclair” (called that by mobius based on info from the center for american progress, who based on their website are about as extreme left as michael moore or mobius himself) cannot be as notorius as cbs, whose 60″ show tried to destroy bush based on clearly forged documents (have you no shame, rather?); or the notorius abc whose political director, halperin, sent the now infamous memo to his newsmen saying that newsstories should blame bush for distorting kerry’s positions; and i always naively thought that network news was to report the news, not take the political opinion of a commissar to slant the news in favor of the dems! guess “notorius” is in the eyes of the beholder.
This is just the kind of diminishment of the Holocaust I was refering to in an earlier thread.
Why is that the only metaphor people can ever seem to come up with?
I can’t believe I’m siding with the ADL on this one- those guys usually drive me crazy.
This is completely inappropriate. It does not help anyone or anything.
speaking of the adl, i recently sent a letter to foxman asking why they didnt serve kosher food at an awards banquet of theirs, he never answered. shouldnt it be the policy of all jewish organizations to be as inclusive as possible to the entire jewish community, including those who are frum, and only serve kosher food at all events? hope everyone brings this up when dealing with them.
I can’t stand when the Holocaust is used that way. I also hate the overuse of the term Nazi, used to describe anyone who is stringent in some belief (i.e. those PETA Nazis, feminazis)…
Let’s not forget the most despicable use if the word “Nazi.” This epithet is ubiquitous (spelling?) when pro-Palestininan groups refer to Israel.
avi, i didn’t even write this post. putz.
I wrote the post. putz. 🙂
Now, seriously. To compare the track record of Sinclair Broadcasting to the world-class journalists at CBS and ABC is the height of chutzpah and a not-so-clever attempt at avoiding the point.
The point here is two-fold. First, the Sinclair exec clearly crossed a line here in a casual and inappropriate (to say nothing of grossly misleading) Holocaust reference.
Second, and to me more disturbing, is a clear partisan record of political propaganda from the bully pulpit of a telvision media network, which pushes the limits of FCC regulations and campaign laws (and possibly breaks them).
Even if CBS had a history of error that favored one partisan or another, it wouldn’t excuse Sinclair. CBS, for the record, has no such history. Sinclair does. Why not address this issue?
brad, sorry about confusing you with mobius, but ya know how all leftists look alike :). anyway, nothing to address, i agree with you that sinclair is off the cliff for what they are doing and should be severely rebuked. im just objecting to the lack of balance displayed on this site, i never heard of sinclair before this dispute, cant imagine they have the reach and power as cbs and abc. im just trying to get some diversity of views going in an otherwise leftwing wasteland.
Let’s not forget that CBS, like the rest of the corporate media, bends over backwards so as not to appear “liberal.” Here’s just one recent example, in the aftermath of the forged documents scandal:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0926-04.htm
avi green: “i never heard of sinclair before this dispute….”
Sinclair Broadcasting is the group that wouldn’t allow its ABC affiliates to broadcast the Nightline program that listed the names of KIAs in Iraq. Remember?