Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

The Heroes of 9/11 Belong To Us All

UPDATE II: The ads are already showing on the blockbuster blogs. Nice work, everyone.

UPDATE: Our efforts have paid off, perhaps, literally. Chris Bowers is reporting that liberal blogs will now get \”United Flight 93\” ads. We'll know more on Sunday. But I'd say this is a big win.

It's amazing what a good marketing campaign can do. I know I've
been harping on this lately, but that's because it really matters. But the real
honcho on all things manipulative in the media is Peter
Daou, now also associated with Media
Matters. The myth of the liberal media was a campaign that worked. There
are many other campaigns the right-wing wages against progressives and Democratic
supporters, but the latest comes compliments of Hollywood and is straight out
of the treason file.

It's bad enough that Republicans got away with tagging the media
\”liberal.\” But now conservatives are continuing the lie through other
means. They're taking it into places that belong to us all; events in history
that have changed all of our lives forever. But through the gift of the web,
producers are now taking a national tragedy and inferring that it's only a Republican
moment, something only Republicans and conservatives can understand, support
and watch. Chris Bowers lays it out. Make sure you read his
whole post.

I am the manager of the Liberal Blog Advertising Network, which has 86 member blogs that combine for 17.78 million page views per week. It is the second largest advertising network at Blogads. From what I can tell, not a single blog in that network features the Untied 93 advertisement that apparently was purchased on all 103 members of the Conservative Blog Advertising Network. That network was 4.37 million page views per week, just under 25% of your traffic. Why did the marketers of United Flight 93 decide to only advertise on conservative political blogs? The Liberal Blog Advertising Network is four times as large, and is even a 20-30% better deal per page view (or CPM, to use the relevant industry term). Do they think that attack is only relevant to red America? Do they think that only Republicans were attacked on 9/11? Do they think that only conservatives remember that day? Do they think that the only people who took action on United Flight 93 had voted for George Bush one year earlier? The Americans aboard Flight 93 were red and blue, male and female, white and not, gay and straight. They were all heroes, and all Americans recognize them as such. All of America was attacked on that day, and all of America worked to save lives that day. There have clearly been, and continue to be, disagreements about the appropriate course of action for us to pursue as a nation in response to that day. However, on September 11th itself, we were all united, including on United Flight 93. For some reason, in memory of that day, the marketers of Untied Flight 93 have taken it upon themselves to continue the conservative slander against liberals and progressives in this country that we don't remember that day, that we didn't care about the lives that were lost, and that we somehow hate our country. If any single day in American history should have shown just how utterly slanderous statement like that are, it was September 11th, when right in the heart of blue America we all stood together. And yet, even in the marketing of their own film about a day when we were not divided, Universals studios and the marketers of their latest film have chosen to divide us. That is sad and offensive. Chris Bowers of MyDD

My uncle ended up with \”battle
fatigue\” from flying so many missions in the Korean War. I distinctly
remember my mom taking me to visit him in the hospital when I was little. The
shell of a man I knew who was once bigger than life shocked me. My brother,
the most important hero of my life, was one of the Marines ready to go into
Cuba during President John F. Kennedy's nuclear stand off with Castro. I have a saying that I use often, in my political show and every where I speak: I
was born in red state Missouri and raised on John Wayne. Part of the meaning
of that statement refers to the ingrained teachings of my family to revere
the U.S. military that comes with the blood of patriotism flowing through
my veins, which I inherited from a family that believes in God and country above
all else. I know, it sounds trite, but it's true.

On 9/11, we all got hit. The tragedy belongs to us all. It would be a great
honor to have \”United Flight 93\” advertise on this blog. But that's
not what the producers at Universal Studios chose to do. In fact, it would be
fitting that Universal advertise on the biggest blogs, especially Markos' because
he's actually a veteran. But no, only conservatives got the nod. Why is that,
I wonder.

There is an old saying. Arlington National Cemetary doesn't have headstones
engraved with Democratic or Republican. On 9/11, it wasn't members of the Republican
or Democratic parties who died in those planes and in the buildings. It was
Americans and people of many other countries, as well as the patriots on United
Flight 93 who fought back against the terrorists and chose to die rather than
let those bastards win. Universal Studios should be ashamed to separate Americans
through advertising practices that further the lie that progressives and liberals
aren't just as patriotic and proud of those people on United Flight 93 as every
other person in America.

George W. Bush has tried to claim 9/11 for his own. Now, through the movies,
Universal Studios is doing the same thing. It is wrong. It is also unAmerican.