November 3, 2003
So called "docudramas" based upon part fact and part fiction have become a staple of television programming in recent years. Not content to confine its left wing, anti-Republican bias to its news programs, CBS has now injected its anti-conservative view of the world into a four-hour miniseries. Entitled The Reagans, the program is set to air on November 16 and 18. When a copy of the finished script was leaked to the New York Times, American conservatives were outraged.
The miniseries portrays former U.S. president Ronald Reagan as constantly being forgetful, which his wife Nancy labelled as a cruel attack on a 92-year-old man who is in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease. In one scene, Nancy Reagan is urging her husband to devote more resources to combat AIDS and the former president is quoted as saying, "They that live in sin shall die in sin". The criticism that Reagan may have reacted slowly when the AIDS epidemic commenced may be fair, but the scriptwriters have even acknowledged that they have no evidence Reagan said anything like the quote that they attribute to him (ie. it was made up). Nor was there ever anything to suggest that Ronald Reagan ever thought that AIDS sufferers were getting what they deserved. Even Jim Rutenberg, the reporter for the liberal New York Times who received a copy of the script, acknowledged that Reagan was given no credit in the miniseries for the economic recovery that occurred during his presidency. Taking office in January 1981, in the height of a major recession, Reagan presided over what would become known as the booming 80s, that among other things, enabled Hillary Clinton to make a bundle on trading futures.
What also angers Reagan supporters, especially Reagan’s talk-show host son Michael,is the casting of the program. Ronald Reagan is played by James Brolin whose main claim to fame is being Mr. Barbra Streisand. Streisand, one of the more vocal members of the Hollywood left, and who is constantly advises the Democrats despite her inability to tell the difference between Iraq and Iran, is a leading Democratic Party fundraiser. The part of Nancy Reagan is played by Judy Davis, who, like the producers of the series, is a self-described liberal.
When the criticism started to roll in, CBS came out with the predictable response. The network stated that no one has seen the script and the final script was not the final "final" script. When bias allegations are made against a media organization that is in fact biased, what they usually do is point to one favourable segment and then claim that the piece is balanced. CBS president Leslie Moonves stated that the miniseries shows that Ronald Reagan helped to win the cold war so therefore the program is balanced. By citing a Reagan accomplishment, it becomes permissible to show negative characteristics that the former president had even if they are made up. Moonves and the rest of the CBS execs have probably spent many late nights pondering why so many viewers are abandoning "The Dan" in favour of cable news.
Some prominent conservatives in the United States have taken action. The Reverend Jerry Falwell has begun a letter writing campaign to CBS and Brent Bozell, the president of the Arlington Virginia based Media Research Center has written to the top 100 U.S. corporate sponsors, requesting that they not take part in the sponsorship of the miniseries.
The Ronald-Reagan hating Hollywood elite may have just gone a little too far in their attempt to tarnish one of the most popular presidents in American history. The miniseries has already garnered a great deal of adverse publicity, not only on right wing talk shows, but in the mainstream media as well. It will be interesting to see if CBS makes any changes to its "final script".