Then and now
“Back in 2003, when CBS planned to broadcast a docudrama titled ’The Reagans,’ which smeared Ronald and Nancy Reagan, I wrote a column for National Review Online condemning it,” Ed Morrow writes at www.nationalreview.com.
“I advised viewers to not watch it and to write CBS protesting its broadcast. In the last few days, I’ve had the dubious pleasure of having that column quoted by Clintonites attacking ABC’s ’The Path to 9/11.’ Supposedly, conservatives like me, who criticized the Reagan smear, are hypocrites for not objecting to this miniseries because Bill Clinton and members of his administration believe it falsely depicts their actions before 9/11,” Mr. Morrow said.
“But those who cry hypocrisy are often the most splendid hypocrites. I don’t recall many liberals leaping to Reagan’s defense. …
“Now, when the Clinton administration appears to be getting a little rough treatment, conservatives are supposed to saddle up and ride to their rescue. …
“While the Democrats have complained the most about ’The Path to 9/11,’ the Bush administration doesn’t get reverential treatment in it. … Wisely, the Republicans didn’t demand the editing that the Democrats have. To put it mildly, the Democrats went nuts.
“Clinton’s lawyers threatened to sue, and various Democratic congressmen and senators promised to use their offices to punish ABC. In protesting ’The Reagans,’ conservative critics called for a boycott and strove to expose its falsehoods.
“I don’t recall anyone setting a pack of lawyers on CBS, or Republican politicians threatening to use the power of the federal government to put them out of business. The heavy-handed tactics of the Democrats have gotten them the changes they wanted, but have left the impression that the miniseries was gutted to hide errors made by Clinton that might politically damage the Democratic Party.”
He’s back
Filmmaker Oliver Stone, who surprised many with the patriotic flavor of his new film “World Trade Center,” hinted in Moscow on Monday that he is considering a more controversial follow-up investigating the “conspiracy” around September 11.
“There is a great story in a movie, a conspiracy by a group of people in the American administration who have an agenda and who used 9/11 to further that agenda,” he told reporters in Russia.
There could be a “fascinating project [on] what happened after September 11,” the director said at his packed press conference on the fifth anniversary of the attacks.
Mr. Stone accused President Bush of mishandling the fight against Osama bin Laden’s terrorists and using the crisis to stoke fear and bolster his own power at home in a way that was “right out of George Orwell.”
A confession
The campaign of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Democratic rival acknowledged yesterday that it downloaded — and leaked to the press — a recording of a private meeting in which the governor described a Hispanic legislator as having a “very hot” personality.
But Cathy Calfo, campaign manager for Democrat Phil Angelides, said the campaign had done nothing wrong because the file was available publicly on the governor’s Web site.
“No one hacked,” the spokeswoman said at a press conference to address the role played by the Angelides campaign, first reported by the Sacramento (Calif.) Bee. “They accessed information that was available to the public.”
However, Mr. Schwarzenegger’s legal-affairs secretary, Andrea Lynn Hoch, said Monday that the sound files were stored “in a password-protected area of the governor’s office network computer system.” She said she forwarded the Internet protocol address used to download the file to the California Highway Patrol, which is investigating how the files became public.
Sounds familiar
Republican Vernon Robinson, who describes himself as a black Jesse Helms, is mimicking the former North Carolina senator’s most famous ad in his first foray into television.
In his 1990 victory over former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, Mr. Helms depicted a pair of white hands crumpling a job rejection letter. “You needed that job,” Mr. Helms’ ad said. “And you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota.”
Mr. Robinson, who counts the former Republican senator as a political idol, shows a pair of black hands crumpling a letter.
“You needed that job,” the ad says. “And you were the best qualified. But they gave it to an illegal alien so they could pay him under the table.”
Mr. Robinson, a long-shot candidate for a U.S. House seat from North Carolina, invested $30,000 in the cable television spot, the Associated Press reports.
Casey’s ad
Sen. Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania Republican, wrote that both parents shouldn’t work outside the home if they can survive on one income. Democratic rival Bob Casey is using those words against him.
Mr. Casey started a statewide television ad campaign yesterday featuring Debbie Balcik, a working mother who argues that the comment is ridiculous.
“He doesn’t understand how hard it is in order to make ends meet,” Mrs. Balcik says. “I would like Rick Santorum to come to my house at the end of the month when we’re doing our bills and tell me how we can live on one income. I’m not like a U.S. senator. I can’t vote my own pay raise.”
Mr. Casey, the state treasurer, is challenging Mr. Santorum, the No. 3 Senate Republican, in one of the nation’s most competitive races.
The ad refers to a passage in Mr. Santorum’s book, “It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good,” which was published last year.
In it, Mr. Santorum writes, “In far too many families with young children, both parents are working, when, if they really took an honest look at the budget, they might confess that both of them really don’t need to, or at least may not need to work as much as they do.”
Virginia Davis, a Santorum spokeswoman, said Mr. Casey was taking the words out of context, the Associated Press reports.
A proud voter
If Hillary Rodham Clinton was in doubt, Sen. Charles E. Schumer assured the senator she had his vote in yesterday’s Democratic primary.
Mr. Schumer hosted a press conference on port security, and explained his fellow New York Democrat’s absence was a result of her primary election.
Asked by a reporter if he had voted for the former first lady, Mr. Schumer grinned.
“I did, and proudly,” he said.
• Greg Pierce can be reached at 202/636-3285 or gpierce@washingtontimes.com.
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