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Aren't we living in America, where the First Amendment provides us the right to speak freely? Then why is the Republican National Committee stifling the new mini-series on CBS on The Reagans? What kind of phone call did CBS managment get from the RNC that is causing it to edit and/or not air the new mini-series? If the mini-series is flawed, then it's flawed and reaction can follow (or consumers can just not watch it!).

I thought the media was supposed to be free and independent of political influence, right? I mean, aren't we living in America, where we have a "liberal" media?

I have something to say about this: if the RNC is the group that "silenced" CBS, then I don't think the 1st amendment is implicated, since the RNC is not an arm of the government. I'm pretty sure RNC is a private organization. If they coerced CBS to be silent by threatening to withhold $, that's not government censorship, it's just using influence to condition an outcome. CBS was still free to run the piece, but they would have alienated the RNC. Things like this happen all the time without offending the 1st amendment.

If you look at all the anti-Bush speech on the internet, I think it's pretty clear that free speech is alive and well in the USA.

Andrew,

Nice point! You're right, in that the U.S. Government is not issuing the proclamation, and in fact, the fault lies with CBS, buckling under pressure from the special interest group - RNC.

I still find it pretty darn amazing that the mini-series was cancelled from this type of pressure. I mean, the RNC was entitled to organize a pressure campaign to take down the mini-series; but what really seemed to happen is that a bunch of behind-the-scenes telephone calls were made, and some serious bullying took place. This is what the take-no-prisoners-Republican-machinery is all about, imho!

But you're right, CBS shouldn't have buckled - it was incredibly lame on their part...

The only way liberal will get a voice is if someone like George Soros will start a liberal television network. Otherwise, truth will be stifled.

Dear Vote-For-Dean:

Yes, I couldn't agree more.

Just look at CBS's shameful denial to Moveon.org's advertisement that they wanted to place during the Super Bowl. (Here's the url: http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/)

What liberal media??

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