CBS Vanguard of the Liberal Media

trios and Jesus General are already running this story from the Blue Lemur about CBS, which serves as confirmation of a recent status downgrade to a subcategory of invertabrate, a spineless administraton bootlicking propaganda monkey. Meanwhile across the right side of the blogsphere the kids continue to scream about Liberal bias in the Newsrooms of America.

First, CBS caves in to pressure, and pulls the plug on an airing of a stupid movie about the "Reagans" Then they refuse for reasons unjustifiable, to run a Move-On advertisement, the winner of a contest, during the SuperBowl. Of course we all know about Janet Jackson's "Wardrobe malfunction", and the trauma suffered by the Broadcast industry, as the FCC found it's knickers in a painfully irritating twist.

This time, the Network, has refused to air a spot from the United Church of Christ, who in the Fallout from the "rig at any cost" election results and the subsequent barage of a spin point calling it a victory for fundimentalist evangelicals, have decided to advertise themselves as a congregation of inclusion. Apparently the ad features appeals to gay christians and implies that Negros are welcome too. You can view the ad here.

By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor

CBS and NBC’s television networks are refusing to run a 30-second television ad from the United Church of Christ welcoming gays and minorities to its churches, saying it is “too controversial,” RAW STORY has learned.

Negotiations between network officials and the church’s representatives broke down Tuesday, the day before the ad campaign begins airing nationwide on a combination of broadcast and cable networks. The ad has been accepted and will air on a number of networks, including ABC Family, AMC, BET, Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS, TNT, Travel and TV Land, among others, the church said.

The ad, part of a broad public relations campaign by the mainstream Protestant Christian denomination was set to begin airing nationwide on Dec. 1. CBS and NBC were not available for comment Tuesday evening.

The 30-second commercial features two muscle-bound “bouncers” standing guard outside a picturesque church and selecting which persons are permitted to attend Sunday services, and turning away apparent gays and persons of color.

Written text interrupts the scene, announcing, “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.” A narrator then states, “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”

I think I like the ad already, and it appears that while NBC may be caught with the presidential member in its corporate mouth, a number of other networks are going to run it inspite of the tender feelings of an angry but highly vocal, minority. Who can throwdown a hissyfit of victimization better than the Fundimentalists, a cult who's primary function seems to be the manufacture of outrage boogiemen.

According to a written explanation from CBS, the United Church of Christ is being denied network access, they church says, because its ad implies that other denominations are not as accepting of minorities and therefore too “controversial.”

“Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations,” the group states an explanation from CBS reads, “and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks.”

A rejection by NBC declared the spot “too controversial;” UCC did not elaborate on the network’s letter. [code for "please don't hit me" -ed]

Presnidental [misspelling intentional] propositions that are used for craven political purposes now form the framework in which executive desisions are made at CBS? At least you have to give small credit to NBC, who chose only to show the wide yellow stripe on their corparate backside, but did not cause themselves further harm by commenting on the refusal, from a PR standpoint it is a good move, but should not obviate their shunning, by members of decent society.

“It’s ironic that after a political season awash in commercials based on fear and deception by both parties seen on all the major networks, an ad with a message of welcome and inclusion would be deemed too controversial,” said Rev. John Thomas, UCC’s general minister and president. “What’s going on here?”

Allright, lets stop it right there, Rev I get your point but please don't fall into the he said she said trap and suggest for a moment that the lies were equal on both sides. All the Rove campaign sold was a pack of lies, period. At worst, the Kerry campaign could be accused of is distortion of the garden variety. The fact that you feel the need to run this add at all is a direct result of the assault on our freedoms and discourse brought to bear by the religious right and manipulated with mastery by the Republican Party.

In focus groups and test market research conducted before the campaign’s national rollout, the UCC found that many people throughout the country feel alienated by churches, the group said in a release.

“We find it disturbing that the networks in question seem to have no problem exploiting gay persons through mindless comedies or titillating dramas, but when it comes to a church’s loving welcome of committed gay couples, that’s where they draw the line,” Rev. Robert Chase, director of the church’s communication ministry said.

One might suggest that Christ had bigger fish to fry than worrying about gay folks, creatures as god made them I think he may have been more concerned about poverty, sickness, religious perversion, and spreading his message of hope, love and peace.