on drawing the line where the politicization of 9/11 stops

The more the bloggers and journalists dig, the worse this looks for ABC. Today, it was discovered that an FBI agent consulting on the 9/11 docudrama quit halfway through production because the producers were “making things up”. And, worse still, it’s not being disputed. One of the producers has admitted that some of the more controversial scenes weren’t drawn from actual events, but improvised.

The good news is, Clinton’s people are coming down hard on the network. Here’s a clip from the New York Post:

…The letter, written by Bruce Lindsey, head of the Clinton Foundation, and Douglas Bond, a top lawyer in Clinton’s office, accuses the ABC drama of “bias” and a “fictitious rewriting of history that will be misinterpreted by millions of Americans.”

…Clinton pointedly refuted several fictionalized scenes that he claims insinuate he was too distracted by the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal to care about bin Laden and that a top adviser pulled the plug on CIA operatives who were just moments away from bagging the terror master, according to a letter to ABC boss Bob Iger obtained by The Post.

The former president also disputed the portrayal of then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as having tipped off Pakistani officials that a strike was coming, giving bin Laden a chance to flee.

“The content of this drama is factually and incontrovertibly inaccurate and ABC has the duty to fully correct all errors or pull the drama entirely,” the four-page letter said…

And Clinton’s not the only one pissed. Others are demanding someone’s head on a platter. The folks at Americablog say, “Someone at Disney/ABC needs to be fired, and then, come next January, we need some congressional subpoenas issued to Disney/ABC about their blatant attempt to influence the US elections on behalf of the Republicans.”

Executives at the network, as you might expect, working furiously to cover their asses, have said that the criticism is premature, as they haven’t finished editing the film yet. (One wonders what will be left if they cut away all of the pieces that have been called into question.)

I’d say, right now, there’s probably a 50/50 chance that the project will be scrapped (and maybe replaced with the season premier of “LOST”). Remember, there is a precedent. It happened just a few years ago when CBS tried to air a documentary on the Reagans. The right wing, as you’ll recall, went nuts. And, once people began calling for boycotts against the products of CBS’s advertisers, the whole thing got sucked into a black hole, never to see the light of day again… So, there is hope.

If you agree with me that ABC should not air this piece of propaganda, please send a note to George Mitchell, Disney’s Chairman of the Board. His email address is: george.mitchell@dlapiper.com.