"But the Reagan special was a fictional hatchet job written to order and stopped only by people who loved Reagan."
Yep and not to mention he WAS ON HIS DEATH BED at the time of the scheduled airing!
A little something they fail to include with their protests.
Remember, it was mostly ordinary citizens complaining about the Reagans, not members of the Reagan Administration, unlike the Path to 9/11, which was mostly complained about by former Clinton Administration officials.
"I don't think the stories compare."
You are correct, but ultimately, the results were the same and somewhat hypocritical now. This won't likely make me all too popular here, but what's good for one is good for the other. Any sort of censorship is bad for all of us.
I think the opposition to the Regan bit was correct in asserting it's displeasure. But shame on the network for caving in to that pressure. Same goes with the recent decision to edit the 9/11 piece. I think the reaction by both networks in both instances should be labeled as shameless. Depends on what they consider their mission; can one call it a bad business decision? You either have to stand up for all that's fair and correct, or cave in to public sentiment for the sake of keeping your viewer base.
The liberals took it a step further this time, however. Threatening their broadcast license should constitute a flagrant abuse of their positions, and they should be prosecuted for such. They are political figures currently in office and they threatened to abuse said position for political reasons. Surely this has to be somehow illegal?
Welcome to China... we will watch what they say when they say it.