This really is pretty unbelievable: NBC won’t run ads for the Dixie Chicks documentary because, in the words of the NBC’s commercial clearance department, “they are disparaging to President Bush.”
It’s also interesting that NBC’s most hyped new show is all about resisting CAVING to political pressure. I guess it’s really that it’s OK to be disparaging or condescending to The Religious Right but not to the president?
Ok, here’s a quick change of subject: I’m certainly no fan of the Religious Right, but I have found myself turned off by the totally unbelievable “Southern Baptist” actress that is the head writers ex. That they have such a relationship is somewhat unbelievable. And I know it’s because Sorkin really doesn’t have much of a clue about “Southern Baptist” types. She has one line where she tells the guy “he’s going to hell”, like it’s one “aspect” of their match up, as if Southern Baptists who have any interest in defending the Religious Right would be so casual. I know it’s all in an effort to portray a likeable character, which is, ironically, what makes the character so totally unlikely and “written” to anyone who actually has Southern Baptist friends that they like and have grown up with. But what one might expect in such a clash of a writer who is irked by fundamentalism and a supporter of such (even though I’m not being convinced as to why this character actually does “support” such; it all is a pretty shallow understanding , but it apparently makes for good script (and , yes, I am liking the show, but I am sure I will continue to shake my head whenever they deal with “religious issues” (I have seen some interesting characters from the Christian camp appear before in The West Wing, as when President Bartlett was seeking to discover if a group of refugees were really “Christians”, and Bartlett probed and got some convincing description of the fellowship in which these refugees found their strength. So, maybe I’m in for some surprises. I hope he’ll spring some on me with the Southern Baptist girl.
