NBC Lawyer who nixed troop ad gives generously to Congressional Democrats

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The Majority Accountability Project has found that the NBC lawyer who refused to allow a non-profit group to air an advertisement thanking American troops for their service has donated at least $45,000 to a host of Congressional Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, New York Senator Hillary Clinton and the campaign committees of House and Senate Democrats.

According to a Fox News report, Richard Cotton, the general counsel for NBC/Universal, was one of two network officials who decided not to sell ad time to Freedom’s Watch, which describes itself as “a nonpartisan movement dedicated to preserving, protecting, and defending conservative principles and promoting a conservative agenda.”

Freedom’s Watch prepared a series of television ads thanking American troops stationed abroad for “their service and for spending time away from their family and friends this Holiday season.” The ads will run from December 6 until December 21, and while CNN and Fox are both airing the group’s commercials, NBC refused to sell airtime on their cable networks, MSNBC and CNBC.

Read on . . .

According to the Fox report, NBC will not sell airtime unless Freedom’s Watch removes their website address from the commercial. The group’s website address, www.freedomswatch.org, appears at the end of the 30 second spot, under a banner that reads “thank you.”

"NBC asked us to re-vamp our Web site. They wanted to censor us, and we said, 'No we're not going to be censored’,” Freedom’s Watch president and CEO Bradley Blakeman told Fox News.

Neither CNN nor Fox objected to the commercial’s content.

A letter to the Senior Vice-President of NBC News Network Sales posted on the Freedom’s Watch website reports this is the second time the Peacock Network has refused to sell the group ad time.

While NBC’s rejection of a Freedom’s Watch ad from August was never explained, according to the group, Federal Elections Commission (FEC) records are sure to raise eyebrows.

According to FEC records, Cotton has been a generous donor to Democrat campaigns and liberal causes. Earlier this year, he donated $1,000 to the political action committee (PAC) of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and last year gave the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) $7,000.

Over the past decade, Cotton has contributed at least $45,000 to Congressional Democrats, including $2,000 each to Clinton and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

Cotton has donated to some GOP candidates, including $1,000 earlier this year to House Republican Leader John Boehner, D-OH, but those contributions are a fraction of his total giving. While Cotton has written checks to the DCCC, DSCC, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), he has never given to a Republican campaign committee, according to those FEC records.

Ironically, it was one of NBC’s networks, MSNBC, that earlier this year created a stir when they detailed the political giving of journalists and news organizations.

“Because appearing to be fair is part of being fair, most mainstream news organizations discourage marching for causes, displaying political bumper stickers or giving cash to candidates,” the cable news station reported.

“The pattern of donations, with nearly nine out of 10 giving to Democratic candidates and causes, appears to confirm a leftward tilt in newsrooms,” according to the MSNBC study, which found that 125 journalists gave to Democrats and liberal causes since 2004, 16 to Republicans, and two gave to both parties.

Noting that “many news organizations have applied the rules to only political reporters and editors,” the report revealed that “NBC, MSNBC and MSNBC.com say they don't discourage or encourage campaign contributions, but they require employees to report any potential conflicts of interest in advance and receive permission of the senior editor.”

It is unclear whether a similar policy exists for other network executives, such as Cotton.

I had been trying to find who the Nimrod was that did this. Cotton deserves every bit of infamy that can be placed on him for this.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777

Drudge is reporting that NBC is reversing their decision; haven't seen an update, but this may be the first indication they're coming to their senses. I'm guessing GE/NBC got deluged in the last 24 hours; at least I'm hoping they did. This was one of more explicit acts of stupidity on the part of NBC in quite a while.

I must watch it because the game is on but I don't turn it on until kickoff and I turn it off at half-time.

I will not purchase anything with the GE brand until they drop NBC for being the traitorous channel they are.

Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion

Another cockroach caught in the light. Good job MAP!

So Red State mentioned the Boenher contribution. But not the
7/26/2007
$2,000
Lott, Trent
or
6/21/2005
$1,000
Burns, Conrad
or
6/6/2005
$2,000
Stevens, Ted
or
12/11/1998
$1,000
Giuliani, Rudolph
-
6/30/2000
($1,000)
Giuliani, Rudolph W
or
9/30/1999
$1,000
McCain, John
Hes just doing his job as a good corporate lawyer by keeping all the crooked politicians on bothes sides in his and NBCs pocket. Im sure NBC decision is mainly a business decision and not a political one either. Myself personally I hate when either Republican or Democrat trys to use the troops as political props and I have seen the ad and that is what it is. Anybody who buys into to this load BS is blinded by partisan hatred.

Is doing the math partisan hatred ?
Cotton gave more than $40 large to the Demorats and $8 large to the Repubs....... gee that was tough.
As for partisan hatred......
When in US history has one major political party aligned their success with US military defeat ????? Answer: Now - the current "leadership" of the Demorat party is up to their eyes in aiding the enemy in war.... um that is called treason !
So whom do the Dems hate? Is it the country ?? Many - many of the leadership think we - the common red state voters are too stupid to vote properly - for them - or understand that they are naturally morally and intellectually superior .
Many in the Demorat leadership despise free markets and people free enough to make it without their "devine" guidance . The Shrew comes to mind!
Destroying the freedom of US citizens and robbing US of taxes and private property rights is what the Eco-Socialist ("Global Warming") agenda is about.
The Legacy Media is occupied top to bottom with modern liberals, leftists and radicals whom, with very few exceptions, despise the US military and loath those of US who think this Republic is worth defending .

and as of a couple of hours apparently NBC has changed its position.

"We have reviewed and changed our ad standards guidelines and made the decision that our policy will apply to content only and not to a referenced Web site. Based on these amended standards the Freedom's Watch ad will begin to run as early as Sunday."

NBC' head of standards and practices, Alan Wurtzel, notified Freedom's Watch's media consultant Saturday by e-mail, writing: "This will confirm that the Freedom's Watch spot is approved for air."

Freedom's Watch President Bradley A. Blakeman welcomed the decision. "We're actually very happy that NBC has agreed to change its position because it will only help the troops be properly thanked," he said.

I would welcome a decision by NBC and the other networks to do away with the policy that originally guided this decision and remains in place now, namely

“We have a policy that prohibits acceptance of advertising that deals with issues of public controversy,” said Alan Wurtzel of NBC.

If the opinions expressed on the website were expressed in the commercial it would not pass muster at NBC or most other broadcast stations. This policy needlessly restricts political speech.

ISSUES

Conservative Solutions Agenda
Freedom’s Watch believes in limited government, low taxes, less regulation, free enterprise, and more personal responsibility. We believe that a secure border is vital to the national security and economic security of America. We promote and advance solutions to public policy problems that empower individuals and are based on free market principles, not government command and control. Whether opposing liberal tax hikes, granting taxpayer-funded health care to illegal aliens, working to confirm judges who will follow the law and not legislate from the bench, or battling liberal special interest groups, Freedom’s Watch is on the frontlines fighting for conservative principles. Freedom’s Watch provides a credible conservative voice and strong leadership on pressing domestic issues to keep America strong, safe, and prosperous.

Radical Islam and National Security
Radical Islam is a political and ideological movement that poses an immediate threat to the national security of the United States. The threat of a nuclear Iran is equally real and just as serious. At Freedom’s Watch, our mission is to educate and inform the American people about these threats and the consequences of inaction; provide a powerful voice for those who support victory in Iraq and the Global War on Terror; and promote a strong national defense capable of defeating radical Islam anywhere around the globe. Freedom’s Watch never forgets the sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform and always supports them. In keeping with this mission, Freedom’s Watch provides the necessary resources to expose, confront, and ultimately defeat the global menace of radical Islam and the emerging Iranian threat.

Illegal Drugs and Crime
Illegal drugs ruin lives, destroy communities, and impose enormous costs on taxpayers. Freedom’s Watch opposes the legalization of illicit drugs. We believe a sound drug policy must be both tough and humane, and based on three proven strategies – enforcement, prevention, and treatment. Freedom’s Watch not only challenges state and national legislative initiatives to legalize drugs, but also addresses the crime, gang violence, and border chaos caused by illegal drug trafficking.

Opposing Big Labor's Radical Agenda
Freedom’s Watch supports the rights of every worker and opposes attempts by Big Labor to enact its left-wing, big government political agenda. Despite dwindling membership, the Big Labor bosses are using their political muscle to expand membership through coercion, intimidation, and abuse by ending secret-ballot union elections, block free trade agreements, raise corporate taxes, prevent school choice, and expand government control of the economy. Freedom’s Watch supports state and national efforts that protect individual workers’ rights and assists those who want to stop Big Labor’s radical agenda.

The only piece thats even close is the labor one.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777

For too long, conservatives have lacked a permanent political presence to do battle with the radical special interest groups and their left-wing allies in government.

A similar policy was used by NBC and CBS to deny the showing a commercial by United Church on the Green of New HAven, CT inviting LGBT people to their congregation.
It appears that their definition of controversial is that it involves a political issue, somebody might be upset or offended, and they will have to deal with angry calls and e-mails. In this case denying the ad got them the flood of angry calls and e-mails they were trying to avoid, so they changed course.
I disagree with most of what Freedom Watch supports, some of it strongly, but I also disagree strongly the network policies that needlessly limit political speech because someone somewhere might be offended or upset.
Neither of these ads nor a slew of others should be denied network access. We should not be afraid to see and networks should not be afraid to show political opinion simply because it might make some uncomfortable.

I noticed when the site first was up, the donation mechanism was still under development; well it's been a few months and that's still the case. I'd like to donate to help fund their work and these ads!

In the meantime, I'll donate it to the troops.

We're boycotting all NBC and GE related products that we can now (now that there's nothing on TV - and lightbulbs, whoopee ;-) ). I am sick to death of these anti-Americans in our media.

You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.

 
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