"See in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over andover again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." ~George W Bush
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." ~Joseph Goebbels
The revelation that the ABC 9/11 mockumentary is the product of a
right-wing evangelical group focused on the "transformation" of Hollywood, comes as a surprise to many. It is especially poignant considering the never-ending right-wing talking point concerning the so called "liberal" entertainment industry and press. However, it's good to remind people that this isn't the only association between ABC and Disney with far-right evangelical kooks.
For a little undocudrama history about that relationship, let's take a look at the cable network "ABC Family".
The network that would eventually become ABC Family was originally founded as CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) in 1977 by ...wait for it... that's right ... none other than the incomparable evangelical wingnut Pat Robertson. In 1990, the now renamed "CBN Family Channel" had grown profitable enough to jeopardize CBNs non-profit status and was spun off to a new company, "International Family Entertainment", run by Pat's son, Tim, and the network was renamed "The Family Channel".
In 1997, the network was then sold to none other than the "fair and balanced" Fox Broadcasting Company and the name was changed to "Fox Family". As a part of the deal, Fox agreed to continue to air Robertson's religious news/variety/propaganda show, the 700 Club, twice every weekday, as well as weekend long CBN telethons where Pat could schmooze for dough and squeeze retirement savings from little old ladies.
In 2001 the network was sold to ABC where the 700 Club continues to air preceded by the disclaimer "The following/preceding CBN telecast does not reflect those of ABC Family, or its employees." that replaced "The following/preceding program is brought to you by CBN" following Robertson's advocating for the assassination of Hugo Chavez.
So during this controversy, it is good to understand that this isn't ABC's first flirtation with crazy fundie wingnuts with a political agenda. Indeed, they're business partners.