Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Congress shall make no law is the pertinent part of this amendment.
I was watching “Saved” on TiVo the other night. The episode was originally broadcast 8/24/2006 and is titled: A Shock to the System. In the episode, a TV crew comes to talk to the character Wyatt Cole regarding a lawsuit that has been filed against him. Wyatt doesn’t want to talk to the TV crew and becomes a little belligerent.

The owner of the ambulance service comes out of his office and tells the news crew, “Remove your equipment and yourselves.”

The TV guy says, “We have a First Amendment right to be here.”

The owner says, “You have a First Amendment right to be across the street. This is private property.”

The owner is right.

Congress can make no law abridging the freedom of the press.

This means that Congress can not make a law that punishes the press for criticizing the government, just as they can’t make a law that punishes you or I for speaking our minds about the government.

The media don’t have a First Amendment right to ask you questions.

They don’t have a First Amendment right to get an answer from you.

They seem to think that they do.

On the other hand, the Democrats in Congress seem to think that they can make a law to punish Disney/ABC for criticizing the government regarding “The Path to 9/11?. Via Hugh Hewitt we are pointed to AmericaBlog which has a copy of the letter:

September 7, 2006

Mr. Robert A. Iger
President and CEO
The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank CA 91521

Dear Mr. Iger,

We write with serious concerns about the planned upcoming broadcast of The Path to 9/11 mini-series on September 10 and 11. Countless reports from experts on 9/11 who have viewed the program indicate numerous and serious inaccuracies that will undoubtedly serve to misinform the American people about the tragic events surrounding the terrible attacks of that day. Furthermore, the manner in which this program has been developed, funded, and advertised suggests a partisan bent unbecoming of a major company like Disney and a major and well respected news organization like ABC. We therefore urge you to cancel this broadcast to cease Disney’s plans to use it as a teaching tool in schools across America through Scholastic. Presenting such deeply flawed and factually inaccurate misinformation to the American public and to children would be a gross miscarriage of your corporate and civic responsibility to the law, to your shareholders, and to the nation.

The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest. Nowhere is this public interest obligation more apparent than in the duty of broadcasters to serve the civic needs of a democracy by promoting an open and accurate discussion of political ideas and events.

Disney and ABC claim this program to be based on the 9/11 Commission Report and are using that assertion as part of the promotional campaign for it. The 9/11 Commission is the most respected American authority on the 9/11 attacks, and association with it carries a special responsibility. Indeed, the very events themselves on 9/11, so tragic as they were, demand extreme care by any who attempt to use those events as part of an entertainment or educational program. To quote Steve McPhereson, president of ABC Entertainment, “When you take on the responsibility of telling the story behind such an important event, it is absolutely critical that you get it right.”

Unfortunately, it appears Disney and ABC got it totally wrong.

Despite claims by your network’s representatives that The Path to 9/11 is based on the report of the 9/11 Commission, 9/11 Commissioners themselves, as well as other experts on the issues, disagree.

Richard Ben-Veniste, speaking for himself and fellow 9/11 Commissioners who recently viewed the program, said, “As we were watching, we were trying to think how they could have misinterpreted the 9/11 Commission’s findings the way that they had.” [“9/11 Miniseries Is Criticized as Inaccurate and Biased,” New York Times, September 6, 2006]

Richard Clarke, the former counter-terrorism czar, and a national security advisor to ABC has described the program as “deeply flawed” and said of the program’s depiction of a Clinton official hanging up on an intelligence agent, “It’s 180 degrees from what happened.” [“9/11 Miniseries Is Criticized as Inaccurate and Biased,” New York Times, September 6, 2006]

Reports suggest that an FBI agent who worked on 9/11 and served as a consultant to ABC on this program quit halfway through because, “he thought they were making things up.” [MSNBC, September 7, 2006]

Even Thomas Kean, who serves as a paid consultant to the miniseries, has admitted that scenes in the film are fictionalized. [“9/11 Miniseries Is Criticized as Inaccurate and Biased,” New York Times, September 6, 2006]

That Disney would seek to broadcast an admittedly and proven false recounting of the events of 9/11 raises serious questions about the motivations of its creators and those who approved the deeply flawed program. Finally, that Disney plans to air commercial-free a program that reportedly cost it $40 million to produce serves to add fuel to these concerns.

These concerns are made all the more pressing by the political leaning of and the public statements made by the writer/producer of this miniseries, Mr. Cyrus Nowrasteh, in promoting this miniseries across conservative blogs and talk shows.

Frankly, that ABC and Disney would consider airing a program that could be construed as right-wing political propaganda on such a grave and important event involving the security of our nation is a discredit both to the Disney brand and to the legacy of honesty built at ABC by honorable individuals from David Brinkley to Peter Jennings. Furthermore, that Disney would seek to use Scholastic to promote this misguided programming to American children as a substitute for factual information is a disgrace.

As 9/11 Commission member Jamie Gorelick said, “It is critically important to the safety of our nation that our citizens, and particularly our school children, understand what actually happened and why – so that we can proceed from a common understanding of what went wrong and act with unity to make our country safer.”

Should Disney allow this programming to proceed as planned, the factual record, millions of viewers, countless schoolchildren, and the reputation of Disney as a corporation worthy of the trust of the American people and the United States Congress will be deeply damaged. We urge you, after full consideration of the facts, to uphold your responsibilities as a respected member of American society and as a beneficiary of the free use of the public airwaves to cancel this factually inaccurate and deeply misguided program. We look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Sincerely,

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid
Assistant Democratic Leader [Richard] Durbin [ed.note: the usual diminutive for Mr. Durbin's given name was kicked back by the Townhall blog software as an unacceptable word].
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Senator Charles Schumer
Senator Byron Dorgan

The Government (or representatives thereof) threatening a broadcaster with the loss of their license because said representatives aren’t happy with said broadcaster’s portrayal of certain current and former members of the Government.

The Reagan biopic originally scheduled for CBS and then moved to Showtime was protested by real people and relatives (Patti Davis’ op-ed in Time here). Congress, even though a majority Republican then as now, didn’t get involved in any way, shape or form and certainly didn’t threaten CBS with a loss of their broadcasting license. They didn’t even do anything to CBS over Ra^thergate (fake but accurate - and timed to sway an election).

Nothing was done to Michael Moore over Farhenheit 9/11. He has the right to free speech.

Captain Ed and The Anchoress have more.

Sensible Mom has some thoughts as well.

hmmmm.

Welcome Wizbang! readers. Thanks Lorie. Read her Thwack! Townhall column!