Path to 9/11
I’m watching ABC-TV’s Path to 9/11 — and I see why Clinton is afraid of it. The movie serves as a reminder of all of the terrorist attacks and attempted attacks. Clinton went eight years and Bush eight months playing cops and robbers while Al Qaeda was implementing unrestricted warfare.
The 73rd Virgin is live-blogging. Bad idea, but what the hell
Comment by The 73rd Virgin — 9/10/2006 @ 7:30 pm
Regardless of whose ox is gored more, what historical illuminations there may be, or who squawks the loudest about this that or the other mis-representation this “documentary” will do little or nothing to sway anyone’s opinion on how the current situation should be handled. This may not have been the idea behind the project but if it wasn’t then just what was? In the years since the tragedy all the willful ignoring of the Islamist threat has been relentlessly documented, pored over, and exhaustively analysed in every media venue imaginable. There may be a few peculiar individuals in this country who are both ignorant of it all and yet interested enough to sit through six hours of such explication that might benefit. I’ll wager they wouldn’t fill up the average living room.
Comment by Mark Mitchell — 9/10/2006 @ 7:55 pm
Mark, you are probably right. Nevertheless, I’m for reminding the public of the dangers of Islamofacism as often as possible and in as many ways as possible. It is a much more important issue than deficit spending, immigration, and other issues that involve serious disagreements between the President and much of the conservative base in this country. If constant reminders keep some of that base supporting canidates who,in turn, support strong actions against Islamofacists, it is more than worth it.
Comment by olrtex — 9/10/2006 @ 8:42 pm
[…] Blogger Reaction: Austin Bay I see why Clinton is afraid of it. The movie serves as a reminder of all of the terrorist attacks and attempted attacks. Clinton went eight years and Bush eight months playing cops and robbers while Al Qaeda was implementing unrestricted warfare. Filed in: Movies, 9/11/2001 by newton at 21:43 on Sep 10th, 2006 | 8 Comments » […]
Pingback by Hang Right Politics - Archives » First Impression: The First One Hour and a Half — 9/10/2006 @ 8:47 pm
I think watching this docu-drama just gave me a lot more resolve in this war on terror. Just brought it closer to reality for me. What sick people!! Too bad 10 years ago we did not head all the warning that we seem to have had. Would I feel safer under a Democrat, NO, I do not think so.
Comment by Kay — 9/10/2006 @ 9:02 pm
We needed the reminder that you can’t just kick the can down the road. I knew most of this “history” but over time I have thought about it less and less. It’s easy to believe everything is getting back to normal, you know, maybe the problem wasn’t so bad after all. It’s easy to think that since we haven’t been attacked here since 9/11. So thanks to ABC for reminding us.
Comment by Harold — 9/10/2006 @ 10:12 pm
Well, if nothing else, it may finally bring home to the man and woman on the street that these people have been spending their life times planning our destruction. And they are Muslims. Okay, they are a special flavor, but we needed to be reminded of the faces and names of the enemy. Islamofascists or whatever, these guys are not Irish, German, Japanese, Siberians, Catholics, Hindus, Jews or Animists. Please spare me one more complaint of racial/religious stereotyping on these issues. Until this is resolved — their world conquest movement is defeated, or our children are all Muslims, we have to pay attention to what is going on. I was actually impressed with how many we tracked down given the way we were handicapped. And yes, I only watched it because the Dems made such a fuss.
Comment by JAL — 9/10/2006 @ 10:20 pm
Politics-Schmolitics. What a fabulous story! ABC can be proud of this ambitious, well-told tale. Compared to this, the two good but safely micro-focused films of “United 93″ and Mr. Stones’ piece seem like thin gruel . It made me wonder where Hollywood has been these last five years, missing such juicy themes. Oh, yeah, this epic doesn’t pivot around a fiendish pharmaceutical executive or ex-Nazi, so of course, Hollywood missed the possibilities.
Comment by Carol — 9/11/2006 @ 12:39 am
Wait till part two arrives. Maybe some of the changes were made to the Bush segment of the movie.
Comment by davod — 9/11/2006 @ 5:13 am
I agree with AJ’s take on the movie. Where I think that this movie does the most damage is not in its negative portrayal of Clinton, because it is not really negative, and not in leaving you with the impression that the MAIN PREOCCUPATION of practically everybody involved in national security were POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS. Obviously mistakes were made and wrong decisions were taken but I think that most people would understand that, as tragic as the results of these mistakes were, humans are not perfect no matter how high a position in government they reach. I think, though, that where this movie is going to have a large impact is in bringing forth that there is NO DIFFERENCE in approach, with respect to national security especially when dealing with terrorism, BETWEEN THE PAST AND CLEARLY FAILED CLINTON ADMINISTRATION AND THE CURRENT DEMOCRATIC PARTY POLICY. If I am correct this will have a huge impact on the upcoming elections: If you do not like what was done in the run-up to 9/11 then you better not elect Democrats!
Comment by Luc — 9/11/2006 @ 7:21 am
The show was better than I thought. IMHO anyone who would be squawking about their portrayal in the film says more about themselves in their objection than the film did. I was pleased by the fact we appear to have been more proactive than I’d realized.
Comment by Brian — 9/11/2006 @ 8:19 am
[…] UPDATE: Austin Bay is watching it too: “I see why Clinton is afraid of it. The movie serves as a reminder of all of the terrorist attacks and attempted attacks. Clinton went eight years and Bush eight months playing cops and robbers while Al Qaeda was implementing unrestricted warfare.” […]
Pingback by « Non Imprimatur — 9/11/2006 @ 10:36 am
ABC-DISNEY AND WHITE HOUSE TEAM UP TO REMAKE ‘TOP GUN’ CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, Sept.10 – As film editors struggle to correct flaws in ABC’s docudrama “The Path to 9-11,†it was revealed today that the Bush administration and ABC-Disney are collaborating on a remake of the movie “Top Gun.†In a highly unusual move, ABC has made available a videotape of a focus group led by the President and Vice President for the purposes of reshaping a rough version of the sequel to the 1986 blockbuster. Parts of the focus group can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Bush+Cheney+%27Top+Gun%27+Focus+Group&search=Search and http://www.thebushcheneytopgunfocusgroup.com/ ABC’s disclosure came in the wake of controversy over its miniseries about events leading up to the attacks of 9/11. A statement issued by the network said the existence of its “Top Gun†project was made public due to anger over issues of dramatization. “ ‘The Path to 9/11’ is not a documentary, and for dramatic and narrative purposes, the movie contains fictional scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue, and time compression,†a spokeswoman explained. “But the public doesn’t get it, so we figured everyone might as well know now that we are also making a film that is entirely fictional, one we can’t be attacked for since it won’t depend on any relation to the truth of some report.†She added, “We don’t want to have to ask the Democrats for their thoughts, and besides, people like fiction more than documentaries.†An aide to Robert Iger, the president of Disney, ABC’s parent company, took a preemptive strike at would-be critics. “Just as with ‘The Path to 9/11,’ no one has seen the final version of the new ‘Top Gun,’ so criticisms of film specifics are premature and irresponsible,†the aide said. An international hit, the original “Top Gun†was credited with being the biggest recruitment vehicle ever for the armed forces. Tom Cruise, who originated the lead role of “Maverick,†has not been asked to star in the remake. The casting of the new movie is still a secret, but in the video of the focus group, Mr. Bush himself takes the role of “Maverick†and even sings new songs from the movie’s soundtrack. “This film is a sign of our faith, commitment, and leadership in advancing America’s ideals at home and abroad,†said a spokesman for the White House’s Office for Public Diplomacy, who added, “It will boost recruitment, convince skeptics of our noble cause, and show the Muslim world what freedom and liberty are all about.†In addition to the website listed above, Ian Maxwell MacKinnon and Eric Zinman, who produced the focus group, invite viewers to see archives of previous Bush-Cheney performances at the website http://www.492cafe.org/audio/comedy-satire/mackinnon.ian/ Included are readings from the Bush Bible, Q&A sessions, and the songs “Faith-Based Gospel†and “The Sun Never Sets On The Eagle,†sung by President Bush, accompanied by the Vice-President on piano.
Comment by ian — 9/11/2006 @ 2:54 pm
We are convinced that the lame, arrogant Clinton Adminstration bears the burden of failure for this disastor. We have told ABC News that our avoidance of “major” media the last few years may be broken and thanked them for their courage to show this despite the pressure from the far left to sanitize it.
Comment by Dennis and Michelle Brown — 9/11/2006 @ 3:12 pm
I’m looking forward to this movie being on dvd possibly. I really admire ABC for airing this movie even though there were alot of people not wanting you to do so. I believe that there must of been some truth to the movie, otherwise there wouldn’t of been so much controversy. Keep up the good work ABC and your news correspondents too! I was thoroughly impressed with the movie. Thank you, Elizabeth
Comment by Elizabeth — 9/11/2006 @ 9:27 pm
My wife is the most a-political person I know. I asked her to watch both nights with me and she disdi so. Her comment, some of those people who missed the aparently obvious signs should be moving and changing their names.
Comment by Don — 9/12/2006 @ 12:01 am
It is time for the deomcrats to become Americans, and support the fight against terrorism!
Comment by John Shobe — 9/12/2006 @ 8:37 am
No it didn’t look that good for Pres. Clinton but it wasn’t that bad either. He happenened to be more at the end of this and not at the beginning.. Perhaps a lot of the terrorism that happened in the 90s would never have happened if Pres. Reagan had done something when the Marines were killed in Beirut in the 80s.
Comment by Gary — 9/13/2006 @ 8:02 am
I watched the Path to 9/11, and I believe the following are the facts: It would not matter if a democrat or a republican president was in office on that day - the terror would still have occurred. The terrorists are insane for many reasons, but especially for believing that any God will encourage and reward them for killing people…I think those terrorists must have had a ‘rude awakening’ when they woke up in a place other than paradise’. I was a democrat until recently…I am embarrassed to say that…the D’s love to criticize Bush…but I cringe at the thought of having one of them running our country…at least Bush is strong. I wouldn’t want to be him right now, I can tell you that. 1 more thing…the CIA agent that was told the attacks would be ‘in the U.S. and through aviation’ and chose ‘not to cause a panic’ should be fired, if he hasn’t been already.
Comment by Sue - former Democrat — 9/13/2006 @ 7:36 pm
I thought the moviewas fair to both sides. It’s about time someone actually spread the blame out more than just to President Bush. As a former Democrat, I have switched sides thanks to President Bush. I would not want any one else in charge. I agree that if we didn’t go to the middle east, more of the terrorists would have come to us. They only understand force, not “talking things over.” Anyways, this was a good movie.
Comment by david — 9/14/2006 @ 1:54 pm
wow! you decided to switch parties and were convinced by bush. unbelievable. you could have picked someone that knows what they are doing.
Comment by fred — 9/14/2006 @ 9:11 pm