many of us internerds have probably already seen this but if not:

[FuSoYa]

Subject: The ad CBS will not air

Dear friend,

During this year's Super Bowl, you'll see ads sponsored by beer companies, tobacco companies, and the Bush White House. But you won't see the winning ad in MoveOn.org Voter Fund's Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest. CBS refuses to air it.

Meanwhile, the White House and Congressional Republicans are on the verge of signing into law a deal which Senator John McCain (R-AZ) says is custom-tailored for CBS and Fox, allowing the two networks to grow much bigger. CBS lobbied hard for this rule change; MoveOn.org members across the country lobbied against it; and now the MoveOn.org ad has been rejected while the White House ad will be played. It looks an awful lot like CBS is playing politics with the right to free speech.

Of course, this is bigger than just the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) submitted an ad that was also rejected. We need to let CBS know that this practice of arbitrarily turning down ads that may be "controversial" ˆ especially if they're controversial simply because they take on the President ˆ just isn't right.

To watch the ad that CBS won't air and sign the petition to CBS to run these ads, go to:
http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/

MoveOn.org will deliver the petition by email directly to CBS headquarters.

Thanks.

 

[FuSoYa]

It's so interesting + awesome how like everyone I keep in contact with throughout the day online all finds out about stuff like this within roughly the same 5 minute period.

 

[FuSoYa]

I guess to be accurate, I've noticed that the full assimilation time is a little less than a workday.

 

[xfer]

I'm on MoveOn's mailing list, so I've been following this whole "Bush in 30 Seconds" campaign, and even considered donating to it. (I was put off, though, when they said, "If we can reach our $10 million fundraising goal, we can spend 1.7 mil of it and put the ad on the Super Bowl!" That seems a little skewed)

Now, though, I'm a little annoyed that they went through all this trouble and fundraising only to reveal that CBS has a "no issue ads" rule for the Super Bowl. My understanding is that this isn't a new thing implemented to "protect Bush", but something that's been there all along. Meaning MoveOn, if they had an iota of sense, would have known that before embarking on a $10million campaign. Meaning they knew they would be turned down? Meaning the millions they've already collected are the mark of their success, not the airing of the ad?

 

[avi]

it's all politics. they can get even more press for the campaign by saying "LOOK! THEY DENIED OUR AD! IT'S WRROOOOOOOOOOONG!"

 

[xfer]

Yeah, which makes me sad, because I felt a rush of idealism, if only for a moment, there. Oh, well.

 

[avi]

well, it *IS* using the media to their advantage, even if it's kinda shady

 

[FuSoYa]

I understand what you guys are saying but I think you're being way cynical.

 

[xfer]

What are you saying, Toby?

 

[lizard]

I don't know that they knew the ad would be denied...MoveOn is a new organization and probably is learning as they go. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, primarily because there needs to be someone out there combating the Limbaughs and the Savages of the world.

 

[xfer]

Savages?! you mean like Dan Savage? I love him!

It isn't conceivable that they didn't know--it's not a "give them the benefit of the doubt or not" type situation. I think if you give them the benefit of the doubt, the best you can say is that maybe they planned on putting the pressure on CBS once they got the funds and they really genuinely wanted to get the ad on the air OR hope the resulting publicity would cause lots of people to watch it on the Internet.

And if you don't give them the benefit of the doubt, then they probably are having a coke-and-stripper party with the $10mil, like they intended all along.

 

[lizard]

that savage rascist homphobe radio guy!! which I'm sure you're well aware of....

 

[FuSoYa]

alex, isn't it a big deal that CBS will air a pro-bush ad though, which is arguably controversial?

 

[xfer]

oh, right, didn't he tell some gay caller to get AIDS and die? i always thought of him as "michael savidge" but looking online i see i was wrong.

 

[xfer]

What exactly is the ad that's being played?

 

[FuSoYa]

I don't know, but you can count on any pro-bush ad to incite a lot of anger. a lot of people hate bush so much.

 

[xfer]

What I mean is, is it really a pro-Bush ad, or just insofar that any ad at all that doesn't explicitly bash him helps his re-election campaign?

 

[lizard]

I don't expect any candidate or organization to mirror my views 100%...

The Bush ad will be by definition partisan; the moveon ad is partisan. but its not stating a lie, and its not a personal attack. for CBS to run one without the other (especially in light of how the corporation has given much money to Bush) smacks of complete disregard of evenhandedness. More and more I'm depending on blogs for info because the mainstream media is completely biased.

 

[xfer]

Well, speaking from an anti-Bush, MoveOn-oriented perspective, I still can't say that's true until I've seen the ad they accepted. I can think of dozens of White House ads that would be acceptable in the light of denying the MoveOn ad.

That's not to say they definitely made one of those acceptable ads, though.

 

[avi]

yeah, Savage said the "get AIDS and die" thing which got him fired from a show out here