http://mensnewsdaily.com/archive/r/roberts/2005/roberts121405.htm
"The rad-fems have devised
a remarkable plan for family destabilization:
fabricate a bizarre accusation,
get the media to believe it, whip
the populace into a frenzy, and
then pressure chivalrous legislators
to pass laws that do away with fathers."
I've never heard of a Public Broadcasting
Service documentary being slammed
by two ombudsmen in the space of
one week. But that's exactly what
happened to PBS' ill-fated program,
Breaking the Silence.
The program, billed as an exposé
of divorce courts, said that custody
of abused children is often awarded
to the abusing parent. Government
reports reveal that mothers are
more likely than dads to abuse and
neglect their children, and that
mothers in fact are awarded child
custody about 85% of the time -
so the documentary producers did
have a point.
But the ombudsmen peered behind
the green velvet curtain and said
this time around, the Great Wizard
was trying to pull a fast one.
First Ken Bode, ombudsman for the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
came out on November 29 with a report
that charged the Breaking the Silence
claims were "slanted"
against fathers, "incendiary,"
and plain "wrong."
That would be bad enough if we were
talking about a Leftist love-in
like NOW with Bill Moyers. But in
this case we're talking about a
factual documentary.
Then three days later Michael Getler,
ombudsman at the Public Broadcasting
Service, dropped the second bombshell,
noting "there was no recognition
of opposing views," and concluded
the show was an "advocacy,
or point-of-view,
presentation."
But the problem with Breaking the
Silence is not just flawed and unethical
journalism. Bode's greater concern
was the fact that the program "has
been a launching pad for a very
partisan effort to drive public
policy and the law."
What was Mr. Bode talking about?
Turns out a rogue outfit called
the Mother's Research and Reference
Center was in cahoots with PBS insiders
and got advance copies of the program.
Then the MRRC organized demonstrations
and private screenings of the documentary
for state legislators, judges, and
local activists. The idea was to
convince them to pass laws to make
it almost impossible for dads to
get even shared custody of their
kids after divorce.
At KVPT in Fresno, abuse professionals
were made available to speak with
distraught viewers. But the counselors
probably didn't have much to say
about all those female teachers
who have been making headlines for
jumping in bed with their male teenage
students. Or the mother who chopped
off the leg of her 20-month-old
son last week.
Remember, the party line says fathers,
not mothers, are the child abusers.
And in Alaska, PBS affiliate KAKM,
forgetting it was a tax-exempt organization,
promised they would provide free
publicity for the activists.
According to the local organizer,
"The local PBS station has
said they will help us advertise
and promote our event because we
will then in turn promote viewing
of their screening date on 10/20."
That tidbit came to light last Tuesday,
courtesy of Fox News columnist Wendy
McEloy, who invited readers to see
the smoking gun for themselves.
But the Mother's Research and Reference
Center didn't appreciate all the publicity,
so within days they yanked the incriminating
paragraph. And a few days later,
all 17 pages that documented MRRC's
mischief-making around the country
evaporated in cyber-space.
Well, not exactly. Because someone
beat them to the punch and made
a mirror of the original web page.
Sorry girls, you've just been caught
with your hand in the cookie jar.
The rad-fems have devised a remarkable
plan for family destabilization:
fabricate a bizarre accusation,
get the media to believe it, whip
the populace into a frenzy, and
then pressure chivalrous legislators
to pass laws that do away with fathers.
In the 1980s, it was the myth of
the deadbeat dad who callously abandons
his family. Now we have a draconian
(and costly) child support system
that tosses destitute dads in jail
when they fall behind on their payments.
In the 1990s, it was the ersatz
epidemic of men who assault and
batter their wives. Thanks to that
canard, we have the billion-dollar-a-year
Violence Against Women Act that
makes divorce easy, profitable,
and fun.
And now we have a bogus documentary
that smears fathers as child abusers,
with the aim of keeping dads out
of their children's lives after
divorce.
That's the stuff of old-fashioned,
in-your-face, Soviet-style propaganda.
That's what PBS did on October 20.
So next time you want to get good,
solid reporting about a controversial
topic, you might do better by picking
up a copy of the National Enquirer
in the check-out line.