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I just got done watching the Ken Burns National Parks special. This is a show by, for and about tree huggers. They must have said five or six times how much better the parks are in Government hands than being run by private enterprise. They made everyone that tried to keep the parks in private hands to be nothing but evil. This even extended to keeping the parks away from the states and in the hands of the feds. Nothing but socialist drivel.

SNIP In other words, the entire origin of the national park system, whose most passionate backer was a Republican, Teddy Roosevelt, is based on a firm belief in -- Glenn Beck, cover your ears, please -- government intervention to regulate an out-of-control free-enterprise system. In fact, one of the more dramatic moments in Burns' documentary involves the battle to create a park in the Great Smoky Mountains, while logging companies bankrolled anti-park ads and were "frantically cutting the old-growth forests to extract everything they could before the land was closed to them." In some ways, Burns' new series sounds like...

Fresh on the heels of slamming Sarah Palin, film documentarian Ken Burns is now upset at John McCain. Why? Because McCain is being too aggressive in waging his campaign and not politely allowing Obama to ride over him to victory in November. Burns begins his New Hampshire Union Leader Op-Ed piece moaning that this is not the John McCain he used to know, the one who would happily allow Obama to defeat him: WHAT HAPPENED to John McCain? What happened to the man so many of us in New Hampshire have admired and respected for so long? The fierce bipartisan...

Fresh on the heels of slamming Sarah Palin, film documentarian Ken Burns is now upset at John McCain. Why? Because McCain is being too aggressive in waging his campaign and not politely allowing Obama to ride over him to victory in November. Burns begins his New Hampshire Union Leader Op-Ed piece moaning that this is not the John McCain he used to know, the one who would happily allow Obama to defeat him: WHAT HAPPENED to John McCain? What happened to the man so many of us in New Hampshire have admired and respected for so long? The fierce bipartisan...

From Reuters and the Hollywood Reporter comes news that PBS filmmaker Ken Burns used a New York panel discussion preceding the news and documentary Emmy Awards as a forum to denounce the Republican vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, as proof the selection process devolved "into a high school popularity contest and an American Idol competition" and insisted "in the whole history of the republic there has been no one with as thin a credential" as Palin. The reporter on this story, Paul J. Gough, treated Burns as an eminence and not as a partisan liberal who endorsed Obama in December 2007....

<p>CONCORD, N.H. — Barack Obama picked up an endorsement Tuesday from filmmaker Ken Burns, who said he was disappointed in what he called the negative tone of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign.</p> <p>Burns, a Walpole, N.H., resident, said the back-and-forth between Obama and Clinton shows the country needs “a leader who calls upon on each and every one of us to heed the better angels of our nature and not — and not — our basest fears.” “</p>

Former President Harry Truman has received much opprobrium from left-wing circles in the U.S. and elsewhere for his decision to substitute two atomic bombs in place of a D-Day type invasion of Japan in 1945. It was interesting to me to observe during Ken Burn’s current documentary, “War”, that Burns reported that credible estimates of the human cost of such an invasion were in the neighborhood of 500,000 dead Americans and 6,000,000 dead Japanese.

I am just asking if anyone at this site has watched the Ken Burns/PBS program recently aired, "The War". I have been surprised that no one here has commented about the production.

This is just a television heads-up for the last episode of the first airing of PBS/Ken Burns production "The War". (VOA's boilerplate from prior threads) All commentary regarding personal experience, family tales of WWII, and critique of how Burns (and PBS) handles topics are welcome. Hopefully the threads on the seven episodes will serve as guides when this large documentary becomes required viewing in high schools. Comments on how Burns handled the documenatry (positive, negative, or neutral) will come in handy when "the younger generation" sees the series. Especially if Burns takes a "Smithsonian" tact to some topics...leaving people to...

If high school juniors' answers to a World War II questionnaire were strung together, here's how history would look: World War II took place in 19-something, when Theodore Roosevelt was president and the Germans claimed to be the best race. Hoping to aid Third World countries, the United States joined the war to stop racism and end the dispute over Jews. The head of the Nazis was a killer named Hitler whose evil partner, Mussolini, was president of the USSR. Ultimately, the war ended with the bombing of Iwo Jima and Hitler's suicide. Then a treaty was signed. Not every...

Please see following posts for URL links to the discussion threads for Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the series. (VOA's boilerplate from prior threads) All commentary regarding personal experience, family tales of WWII, and critique of how Burns (and PBS) handles topics are welcome. Hopefully the threads on the seven episodes will serve as guides when this large documentary becomes required viewing in high schools. Comments on how Burns handled the documenatry (positive, negative, or neutral) will come in handy when "the younger generation" sees the series. Especially if Burns takes a "Smithsonian" tact to some topics...leaving...

Please see following posts for URL links to the discussion threads for Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the series. (VOA's boilerplate from prior threads) All commentary regarding personal experience, family tales of WWII, and critique of how Burns (and PBS) handles topics are welcome. Hopefully the threads on the seven episodes will serve as guides when this large documentary becomes required viewing in high schools. Comments on how Burns handled the documenatry (positive, negative, or neutral) will come in handy when "the younger generation" sees the series. Especially if Burns takes a "Smithsonian" tact to some topics...leaving...

Please see following posts for URL links to the discussion threads for Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the series. (VOA's boilerplate from prior threads) All commentary regarding personal experience, family tales of WWII, and critique of how Burns (and PBS) handles topics are welcome. Hopefully the threads on the seven episodes will serve as guides when this large documentary becomes required viewing in high schools. Comments on how Burns handled the documenatry (positive, negative, or neutral) will come in handy when "the younger generation" sees the series. Especially if Burns takes a "Smithsonian" tact to some topics...leaving people...

"Band of Brothers" is airing now (Saturday, 12:30PM Central) on The History Channel. Interesting that it should air on the weekend following the airing of the first four parts of Ken Burns'/PBS's "The War". Opinions about the relative merits of the two WWII-ear shows are welcome. ee following posts for URLs for the discussion threads for Parts 1-4 of "The War".

Watching the series helps put the current conflict in Iraq in perspective. Many are concerned about the occasional bombings and explosions of IED's, but these threats don't compare to what our fathers or grandfathers faced in WWII. Soldiers in WWII died by the hundreds or thousands rather than the few deaths at a time in Iraq. Soldiers in WWII were threatened by huge artillery shells and bombing by enemy aircraft. They faced thousands of enemy soldiers at a time rather than maybe a dozen or perhaps as much as a hundred. For those serving in Iraq, the fact that they...

This is a "heads-up" for the airing of "The War", the Ken Burns (Florentine Films) production on PBS.

This is a "heads-up" for the airing of "The War", the Ken Burns (Florentine Films) production on PBS.

see link above... This is an announcement of the airing of part 2 (of 4?) of Ken Burns "documentary" on WWII.

The Talk Shows Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and filmmaker Ken Burns.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Mrs. Clinton and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Mrs. Clinton. THIS WEEK (ABC): Mrs. Clinton and Burns. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Mrs. Clinton; Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt; French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner; Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski; former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

THIS is the big one. I have spent the better part of my adult life watching TV for a living, and I have never experienced anything more powerful than this. "The War," the 14-hour documentary miniseries about World War II from epic-filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, is this fall's main event. < snip > I can assure you that you have never seen anything like this before, even though it might seem as if World War II has been covered from every possible angle in the hundreds of other documentaries seen on TV over the years. This one succeeds...

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 A group calling itself Defend the Honor is staging a four-city protest Sunday against filmmaker Ken Burns and his PBS documentary "The War," on the grounds that the 15-hour series did not initially include interviews with Latino or American Indian veterans of World War II. Armando Rendon, who will be leading the San Francisco protest at 2 p.m. outside KQED's studios on Mariposa Street, acknowledged that Latinos felt vindicated in April when Burns and PBS agreed to include additional footage focusing on both ethnic groups, but said it was not enough. "That was definitely a victory,...

When Ken Burns releases a documentary, America watches. This is partly because of his uniquely compelling style, but also partly because his stories are those of America itself: the Civil War, jazz, baseball. But now some ethnic activists and politicians are decrying Burns's latest project on World War II, The War, as not reflective of America -- and are seeking to impose that judgment. If they get their way, there may be more such spats on the horizon. Why the ruckus? Burns's narrative technique relies heavily on individual accounts and The War is no exception. He aims to tell the...

All I can say is that it's a good thing it's Ken Burns. If the micromanagers and pseudo-censors representing the politically correct Congressional Hispanic Caucus were taking on a lesser filmmaker, who knows what would happen? At least it's relatively easy for PBS, the Public Broadcasting System, to stand behind the best documentary artist in America. In this climate, the second-best might not fare so well. The current controversy centers around Ken Burns' forthcoming film, "The War," which focuses on how the people of four American towns were affected by World War II. Famous historians everywhere have supported the project....

NEW YORK - Activists who believe Latinos deserve more recognition for their contributions during World War II have created an agonizing political problem for PBS and filmmaking star Ken Burns. Several Latino leaders and military veterans, angry that Burns' high-profile documentary series "The War" includes no conversations with Latinos who fought, are demanding changes. PBS and Burns want to satisfy an important constituency, without the precedent of a filmmaker forced to change his vision due to a protest. PBS chief executive Paula Kerger, after meetings with leaders including Congress' Hispanic caucus, has promised suggested solutions as early as this week....

Two troubling statistics fueled the creation of "The War," the 14-hour documentary about World War II from acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns. Burns thought he was done with war movies after his series, "The Civil War." But he changed his mind after realizing that America was losing its grip on the facts of World War II. "It was really a couple of statistics that got me," Burns said. "One was that we're losing a thousand (World War II) veterans a day, and the other is that our children just don't know what's going on."Burns said he was astonished at the number...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters)-The U.S. government's crackdown on media indecency could prevent World War Two veterans from sharing their stories in an upcoming TV documentary series by Ken Burns, the head of the Public Broadcasting Service said on Wednesday.Noted filmaker Burns' highly anticipated seven-part series "The War" features salty language used by servicemen and others. If the explecitives make it to air, they could lead to crippling fines for the offencing stations as a result of a new law signed last month by President George W. Bush.

The shocking-but-false story of America's Blackstronauts

Jack Johnson was a black man who often spent his days beating up white men and his nights making love to white women. This, in the first years of the last century. So you can understand why he was a polarizing figure, why newspapers inveighed against him and the government conspired to bring him down. Of course, chances are good that you've never even heard of John Arthur Johnson. As filmmaker Ken Burns pointed out to me in a telephone interview, we are a nation of great historical illiteracy. Ask most people what they know about even so towering a...

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Gen. John Buford's bravery at the battle of Gettysburg was little noted nor long remembered in his native Kentucky. "He is one of those all but forgotten heroes," said John Trowbridge, director of the Kentucky Military Museum in Frankfort. "But we would never have won the battle without Buford's quick thinking and quick action on the first day." Rebel infantry outnumbered and outgunned Buford's Yankee cavalry. Even so, the horsemen in blue stalled the Confederates long enough for Gen. George G. Meade's Union Army of the Potomac to organize a defense and ultimately to win the Civil...

Get off Michael Moore's back. That was the message yesterday from fellow documentarian Ken Burns, fed up with right-wing carping against Moore's anti-Bush rant Fahrenheit 9/11. "Of course he's entitled to express his opinion --that's what this country is all about," says Burns, best known for epic documentaries The Civil War, Baseball and Jazz. "You're supposed to be able to stand up here and say, 'This guy is a schmuck.' " Burns concedes that Moore has an agenda, but so what? "Whatever your argument about his methodology, this is a man with a deep, abiding sympathy for the working man,"...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- With presidential security helicopters circling over the Yale University campus, filmmaker Ken Burns denounced the war in Iraq on Sunday and told graduating seniors to remember history as they work to repair divides in American culture. President Bush came to the campus for a private reception with his daughter, Barbara, who graduates from Yale on Monday. Bush did not hold any public events, and Barbara skipped Sunday's baccalaureate services and the day-before-graduation senior Class Day festivities where Burns spoke. While Bush was not in public view, his presidency was a hot topic of rhetoric at Class...

November 27, 2003 -- Joseph Dunn, a Democrat senator from California, reacting to a book by some flaming leftist California academic, is part of a movement to pay reparations for a 1930’s mass deportation of California Latinos to Mexico. A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of those expatriated against their will, and on behalf of their survivors. The PBS News Hour segment on this subject showed trainloads of Mexican nationals and Latino-American citizens being put on trains and locked inside until they crossed the border into Mexico. The segment narrator expressly pointed out that federal agents were...

Oregon Magazine "Ken Burns' "Congress" May 26, 2003, 9:00 PM -- The most powerful accomplishment of tonight's segment of the PBS program, Ken Burns' "Congress," is that Mr. Burns managed to describe the period of official racism in America from just prior to the Civil War to the post-Reconstruction era, without once identifying a pro-slavery congressman or senator as a Democrat. When the Republicans outlawed slavery (which is exactly what actually happened), guess who walked out of the House and the Senate. Their party begins with the letter "D." Guess who after the Civil War worked to disembowel the black...

May 26, 2003, 9:00 PM --The most powerful accomplishment of tonight's segment of the PBS program, Ken Burns' "Congress," is that Mr. Burns managed to describe the period of official racism in America from just prior to the Civil War to the post-Reconstruction era, without once identifying a pro-slavery congressman or senator as a Democrat. When the Republicans outlawed slavery (which is exactly what actually happened), guess who walked out of the House and the Senate. Their party begins with the letter "D." Guess who after the Civil War worked to disembowell the black franchise. You have it. The same...

Perhaps the most moving moment of Ken Burns' 11-hour documentary "The Civil War" is the reading of Sullivan Ballou's July 14, 1861, letter to "My very dear Sarah," written days before he was killed at the first Battle of Bull Run. Americans hearing his words 129 years later treasured them almost as much as the Union major's widow must have, reciting the letter at weddings and funerals.The Ballou letter epitomized the great achievement of Burns' film, which PBS is rebroadcasting over five nights beginning tonight. (8 p.m. on WEAO Channel 45/49 and at 9 p.m. on WVIZ Channel 25).Burns gave...

SEPTEMBER 3!