News and Commentary on Politics, Media and Culture

UPDATE : It looks like Participant Productions is doing a little damage control. The Post has been amended (even though it is still removed from the main ABC site) to remove the signature affiliation of Chris Salvaterra with Participant Productions and Syriana. The Original post is on my cache here and the amended post is on ABC’s servers here.

=========================

Executive Producer of Syriana Touts Bush Administration Failure on ABC’s “Path to 9/11” Blog

Look quick though because the entry has been removed from the main page of ABC’s official “The Path to 9/11″ Blog even though this link is still active for the moment. The comments have been closed. I have a cached entry on my server here complete with comments just in case the other link stops working.

I am not sure why ABC or the people in charge of the blog are playing games with entries. I noticed the blog update in the RSS reader I used to subscribe to the blog. Luckily I had the page open in another browser and managed to save the entry in case it disappears all together. You will note that the entry no longer appears in the rss feed nor will you find it in the September archives although the post occurred today.

To play devil’s advocate I will note that the blog admins could be doing maintenance although I am not sure how that would entail the removal of a main post and some comments.

Perhaps this points to some sort of pending announcement by ABC. Who knows. Perhaps Salvaterra thought better of the post himself. It is not the biggest of deals except for the fact that there is so much attention on the series; everthing is notable.

The funny thing about the removal is that the post by Syriana executive producer Chris Salvaterra praised the mini-series and took a swipe at the Bush administration all in the same post. You would think that this would be a good thing for the Dems as the intent seems clearly geared toward getting people to look at the mini-series from a different perspective than one that blames the Clinton administration. Here is the full entry:

Looking Inward

I, along with several of my colleagues, have seen “The Path to 9/11” in its entirety. I think that it is absolutely essential viewing, a stunning portrayal of events leading up to September 11, 2001. It is certainly a critical look, as 9/11 could and should have been avoided. One could say that about any tragedy; but, in my view, “The Path to 9/11” is not about pointing fingers. It is about looking inward and looking to the future. The intent of the story is to highlight the fact that our follow-up to the events of 9/11, as outlined by the Commission, has been abysmal. For that, we are all responsible. This is not a partisan issue. To take sides and place blame, in my opinion, is to miss the point of “The Path to 9/11”. The path leading to September 11th can’t be changed; the future can be. Please watch this incredible work and take action – not by pointing fingers, but by demanding attention to the open issues threatening the safety of our country.

Chris Salvaterra
Participant Productions
Makers of SYRIANA, GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK, THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH

So let me get this straight, we are not supposed to take blame and point fingers yet we are supposed to highlight the fact that the "follow-up to the events of 9/11, as outlined by the Commission, has been abysmal". Hmm, I haven’t seen the movie yet but I imagine that the follow up should be called the The Path from 9/11.

This mini-review by Salvaterra should be taken with a grain of salt as well as with the understanding that people will see what they want to see in the movie. The supporters of the Clinton administration will undoubtedly take issue with anything that blows away the myth that the Democrats were doing all they could to protect the future of this country. Quite the opposite is true and they don’t want anyone to discuss it.

I am a bit confused by Salvaterra’s take on the movie. Perhaps he was simply rallying around the producers and smoothing things over so the left doesn’t have to confront the fact that Democrats are the ones who seem to be popping up repeatedly in opposition to free speech. Their opposition and veiled threats are perhaps the best thing to happen to Republicans in a long time. The focus has been put squarely back on the Democrats at a time when they were positioning themselves as a faux security party. This can’t help.

But his review is starkly different than those on the right.

Conservative reviewers of the mini-series have been a bit more optimistic than those on the left. One review by Govindini Murty of LIBERTAS is a must read for those who want to read a conservative interpretation.

This is the first Hollywood production I’ve seen that honestly depicts how the Clinton administration repeatedly bungled the capture of Osama Bin Laden.

Consider that Salvaterra’s point of view is correct and the movie does paint the Bush administration in a bad light. This is a good sign because it demonstrates that conservatives are not afraid to let American’s see more than one side of any given story.

We won’t know until the movie has aired whether or not the activist left has managed to mute the original intent of the film makers. In any case conservatives should be proud in the way they have handled this liberal meltdown.

The most important way to honor those who were killed on 9/11 is to watch the event with an open mind and a discerning eye. They deserve no less.

Update: One other possibility I thought of. Wordpress allows you to forward post entries for release at a later time. This essentially publishes the blog post at a future date but the link remains. Perhaps ABC is moving this post back. This is no longer a possibility now that ABC has edited the original post. Nice little play by ABC but not one that went unobserved.

Previous:

• Scholastic Pulls “Path to 9/11″ Educational Resource Kit
• Democrats Threaten ABC License and Free Speech over “Path to 9/11″ Mini-Series

 Send this post a Friend  

Trackback URI | Comments RSS