If ever there was a shoo-in for the number one slot in the Top Ten
Conservative Idiots, it's the Sinclair Broadcasting Group.

Here's the deal: last week, ABC's Nightline decided to dedicate a
special edition of their show to simply reading the names and
displaying photographs of all the U.S. military personnel killed in
Iraq since the invasion last year.

In an email before the broadcast, Nightline's Leroy Seivers wrote, "As
I have said many times, whether you are for the war or against it,
these men and women, whose pictures you will see tonight, have paid
the ultimate price in our names. We think it is only fitting that for
one night, we present their names."

Not so fast!

The Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which, according to
Reuters owns "62 television stations in 39 markets reaching roughly 24
percent of U.S. television households," objected to the tribute and
barred its ABC-affiliated stations from broadcasting Nightline's
special edition.

Why?

Because according to Sinclair, they "do not believe such political
statements should be disguised as news content."

But who's making the political statement here?

Sinclair has been called the "Clear Channel of local news," referring
to the right-wing radio corporation which shoves Rush Limbaugh and
Sean Hannity down everyone's throats for six hours a day five days a
week.

And surprise - the officers and key executives of Sinclair are all
big-time donors to the Republican party.

That's right folks, it's finally coming to this - major broadcasting
corporations will now blackout long-running and well-respected news
shows if they decide that their reports are in some way unflattering
to George W. Bush, even if the report is simply honoring soldiers who
have died serving their country.

So long, land of the free.


From The Democratic Underground
http://www.democraticunderground.com/

Harry

If ever there was a shoo-in for the number one slot in the Top Ten
Conservative Idiots, it's the Sinclair Broadcasting Group.

Here's the deal: last week, ABC's Nightline decided to dedicate a
special edition of their show to simply reading the names and
displaying photographs of all the U.S. military personnel killed in
Iraq since the invasion last year.

In an email before the broadcast, Nightline's Leroy Seivers wrote, "As
I have said many times, whether you are for the war or against it,
these men and women, whose pictures you will see tonight, have paid
the ultimate price in our names. We think it is only fitting that for
one night, we present their names."

Not so fast!

The Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which, according to
Reuters owns "62 television stations in 39 markets reaching roughly 24
percent of U.S. television households," objected to the tribute and
barred its ABC-affiliated stations from broadcasting Nightline's
special edition.

Why?

Because according to Sinclair, they "do not believe such political
statements should be disguised as news content."

But who's making the political statement here?

Sinclair has been called the "Clear Channel of local news," referring
to the right-wing radio corporation which shoves Rush Limbaugh and
Sean Hannity down everyone's throats for six hours a day five days a
week.

And surprise - the officers and key executives of Sinclair are all
big-time donors to the Republican party.

That's right folks, it's finally coming to this - major broadcasting
corporations will now blackout long-running and well-respected news
shows if they decide that their reports are in some way unflattering
to George W. Bush, even if the report is simply honoring soldiers who
have died serving their country.

So long, land of the free.


From The Democratic Underground
http://www.democraticunderground.com/

Harry