June 2, 2011
(AN OPEN LETTER)
Dennis Doty, Chair The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors

Dear Dennis,

Herewith, I tender my resignation as both Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors, and also my general membership. The proximate cause are comments by our friend and Caucus leader Vin Di Bona; but the true reason lies in how those comments make clear that views held dearly and passionately by me, and my sense of the American story, render me unsuitable for continued membership.So while this is not about our friend, the talented and decent Vin Di Bona, it does begin at his side.

Specifically, I refer to remarks attributed to Vin in the recent publication “Prime Time Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How The Left Took Over Your TV” by Ben Shapiro. I do not defend the book, having yet to read it; I address only the matters raised by its research content.

In preparing his book, Mr. Shapiro interviewed a large number of our Hollywood notables on the subject of diversity – not the sacrosanct mélange of race, religion, gender orientation and the like, but a more challenging diversity: that of opinion and policy. The vast majority felt quite comfortable endorsing discrimination against those whose political philosophy was not rooted in the reflexive Leftism of Hollywood. Vin’s contribution, when asked to address this alleged anti-conservative bias, was that it “ … (is) probably accurate and I’m happy about it, actually. … If the accusation is there, I’m okay with it”. In a subsequent statement, he endorsed the content of the quote, saying he “stood by it”. He was not alone; indeed many of those interviewed held the opinion that discriminating against conservatives was a simple virtue – i.e., one all could/should accept. Vin’s comment was mild compared to some. Many called for wider efforts at shutting out voices with which they happen to disagree. But, what if we substitute for “conservative”, words like African-American, or Gay, or Jew, or Muslim, — or, God forbid, Leftists, Communists, or Liberals?

While Mr. Shapiro’s revelations are appalling, and cause enough for any person such as myself to choose to sever ties, it becomes mandatory when the comments made are later affirmed rather than mitigated. (Vin and I have now spoken, and I reference that conversation below.)

In my years as a member of the Caucus, I worked tirelessly to promote fidelity to our First Amendment rights. You well know, for example, the Bipartisan Political Panels I organized, my pieces for the Caucus Journal, and – now to my embarrassment – my involvement in bringing to the Caucus such speakers as Eric Cantor, Tom Ridge, John Thune and others. I knew most of my fellow members looked upon the political positions of these people as distasteful; what I now understand is the disgust was not for their views, but for their very person. Such people, Mr. Shapiro’s sources make clear, must be silenced and it is therefore proper to make them suffer discrimination. Shame on all of them. Their sickness is an infection that belongs in Europe of the 1930s. It does not belong in America. It is especially evil that it be found in our community, where America’s popular culture is born, where we create the images explaining who and what America is to our fellow countrymen, and more, to the world. Next Monday will mark 67 years since young Americans from across our country – and that includes Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, all the “fly-overs” – willingly gave their lives on Norman beaches to bring freedom to the subjugated peoples of Europe, people about whom those brave young heroes knew little or nothing.

And is this how today’s beneficiaries use the freedom won by the blood and sacrifice of men and women surely better than we?

Lest I seem like Claude Raines, I am not protesting, “shocked, shocked!” for I always knew the truth; indeed, as I believe you’re aware, I experienced overt Blacklisting for my views as a conservative – at the very hands of those who piously deplore the Blacklisting of Communists in a former day. As 1950s Blacklist victim Carl Foreman warned me when I told him I was moving to Hollywood: “Beware the fearless defenders of the safely contentious.” He was right: Rhetoric is easy, principle is hard. Certainly, then, I have always known and understood the Leftward prejudice of Hollywood. Yet, until now, I have remained relatively passive and simply rolled with the blows. So what has changed?

Three things:

- The first is personal: I realize, now, the enormous special obstacles put in my path by my supposed colleagues, obstacles that over the years made earning a living or a quiet pursuit of my trade so unusually onerous, were not a matter of political difference; they were a declaration of my unworthiness to be one of them. The rejection was not of my ideas, but of my person.

- The next is my immediate community: Until now, the Hollywood culture kept mean-spirited and odious persecution carefully discussed out-of-earshot of we lepers; now, however, there appears to be no problem in openly admitting to cheap and easy prejudice. Few cancers are more lethal to a civil society than ideological bigotry. And no one can spread disease better than our industry. – The last, and by far, far, the most important, is our beloved America: This is a time of inflamed political confrontation, evoking Bleeding Kansas of the 1850’s or even the Civil War itself. And as Dante taught, “there is a special place reserved in hell for he, who in the face of moral crisis, does nothing.” So if the Hollywood Left has no compunction in publicly proclaiming its creed, then for the sake of those Americans who have a different vision for our country, someone must shout, “Stop! This is not what America’s about! The American people deserve better!” In my own awkward way, I am trying to meet that challenge. We, privileged to work in the entertainment industry and enjoy the bounty our chosen career bestows on success, should never imagine ourselves the arbiters of what is permissible in the public square. We do not own the dream factory, but are merely its custodians, stewards at best. Rome won its empire at the edge of the sword. The British built theirs with commerce, sending out grocers. But America? We dispatched Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis and Elvis Presley, Writers, Producers, Directors, DPs, all our talent. The jewel of our national patrimony – our popular culture – has been a beacon to the world in spreading the message of freedom and tolerance. The success of this enterprise when in the hands of prior generations makes the miserable failure of our current crop to even listen to voices other than their own all the more painful.

Since beginning this letter, I have had the opportunity to speak to Vin, and I assure you both, I believe his distress at what has been said, his explanation of how the words came to be spoken, and accepted his personal apology. But this issue now goes beyond my personal trust, having migrated to the very nature of our community and its mainstream organizations – amongst which The Caucus holds a particular pride-of-place. It is for that very reason I no longer belong in your midst. I shall miss you all.

I wish you and all my former fellow members the rewards freedom, hard work, and talent, enable.

With best wishes and great sincerity,
Lionel Chetwynd

Her resignation has been a classic example. 

First, let’s make it clear that, despite what MSNBC has implied on numerous occasions, I am NOT Governor Palin’s spokesperson, and I was not in on any official discussions about her decision to leave office (or any other of her decisions for that matter). However, I was not at all stunned by her decision. 

In fact, I had been predicting on my radio show and off (more boldly off the air because I didn’t have any direct inside knowledge and was concerned that someone “connected” to Palin making such a prediction might spark news coverage of the possibility) that something like this was going to happen. In retrospect, the only thing that should really be “shocking” about her decision is that the very same news media that’s targeted her reputation for assassination for most of the last year, was also so completely incompetent that they didn’t see the incredibly obvious signs that Palin was about to make a dramatic change in her career direction. 

My first inkling of this reality came when I screened “Media Malpractice” in Anchorage in May. There were rampant rumors there that something was up and it was obvious to me that the pressure she and her administration were under was far greater than anyone in the “lower 48″ (including someone like myself who was following events closely) could possibly comprehend. When I left Alaska I started to wonder how in the world anyone in her position could even hope to get anything done, or why, under the conditions she was facing, anyone would even bother trying. But I had come to see Sarah Palin as something of a “Superwoman” who was not bound by the limitations of mere mortal mothers of five and I figured maybe I was just being too pessimistic. 

However, when I started my new Los Angeles radio show and Palin graciously agreed to be my first guest, I did make sure to ask her point blank whether she ever considered walking away from public office because of the attacks on her family and the dastardly attempts to destroy her ability to do her job. Her response at the time startled me with its honesty (she’s the only national politician with whom I have ever had that experience). Looking back, I strongly believe her answer is important to providing the full context as to how and why she made this decision, as well as how she views her future. You can hear the remarkable interchange here: 

–

Now, I guess I can understand how the mainstream news media would miss/ignore something that happens on a conservative radio show (we all know that that “news” isn’t really “news” if it originates on conservative talk radio), but it has been truly startling that this sound bite has, to my knowledge, still not been played by even one news program even though it was made publicly available in the immediate aftermath of her resignation when the cable “news” channels were desperate for any content on this issue as well as any context for understanding what she did. In this case, I flat out blame the ineptitude rampant in today’s “news” organizations which was greatly exacerbated by the realities of a holiday weekend. 

The clip proves to me that the decision was (just as Palin said) in the works for months, which is an extremely important fact because it goes to her credibility as well as eliminating many of the bogus theories as to why she decided to step down (sudden scandal, the Vanity Fair hit piece, Letterman flap, etc.). But in case that isn’t enough proof for you, how then would you explain what happened three days later when Matt Lauer asked her on the “Today Show” about 2012? Palin very clearly said, “I don’t need a title to effect change,” a statement that slid right past Lauer and every other apparently deaf member of the news media. 

But those weren’t the only breadcrumbs Palin left in the weeks leading up to her “Independence Day.” I found it particularly amusing that when Palin said in one of her post-resignation interviews that “If I die politically, I die, so be it,” this was breathlessly reported as Palin admitting her resignation had hurt her chances of ever being President (as if she was too stupid to know that obvious reality when she made the decision). What the ignorant/lazy media hoards failed to realize is that Palin had made almost the exact same statement in a public speech in the weeks leading up to her resignation. 

In short, Palin’s resignation has been misreported and misperceived because of the horrendously biased and incomplete coverage of her over the past ten months. It’s not just that a completely phony narrative has been created by the media which makes it easy for people to think of her as stupid, incompetent, overly ambitious, diva-like, nutty and capable of massive lies (the LA Times and NY Times published rumors she faked the pregnancy of her down syndrome child!!). If possible, it is actually even worse than all of that.  

Even if they were capable of seeing through the obviously grotesquely flawed media created caricature of her, the vast majority of the public simply doesn’t have enough information to connect all the dots themselves and put her move into its proper context. (I must state here that while in a rational world this should have been taken care of by the news media, Palin and her people should have realized this was not going to be the case and made more of an effort to lay the educational foundation for the resignation to be properly interpreted.)  

For instance, how in the world can anyone fully understand why Palin took this action unless they know this is not the first time she’s done something like this? How many people are aware that in 2004 (almost exactly the same amount of time before her election as Governor as there is now before the 2012 primaries) Palin put her political career in jeopardy and resigned out of principle from a cushy government job as the chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission? My guess is very, very few. 

I’m sure most members of the news media know nothing about this basic and relevant fact from Palin’s background because I’ve done my own “poll.” Every time a media inquiry to discuss Palin’s resignation came my way I made a point of asking the reporter if they knew about this episode. So far I have yet to find even one who had a clue, and this sample includes a writer from The New York Times!!  

As maddening as this kind of incompetence is, the most insane element of the reaction to Palin’s resignation is the complete inability of the vast majority of the press — and at least some of the public — to even comprehend the possibility that she just might be telling the truth about how and why she came to this decision. 

This will evidently come as a complete shock to nearly every member of the media elite, but not everyone in public life is a manipulative and cynical liar, and not every person who has a shot at being President must live their lives to pursue that end no matter the costs to the public good, their family and their personal sanity. The Sarah Palin I know is at least one person in that position who is sufficiently well-grounded and secure enough in themselves and their values to not succumb to this illness of hyper-ambition. She is more than capable of putting something else above her own selfish, short-term political self-interest. You would think that a just society might reward that kind of person and not crucify them, but it has been long since clear that we don’t live in that kind of place.  

The bottom line is that Sarah Palin resigned simply because she was no longer allowed to do her job in a way that benefited her state and family. She saw that if she stayed on as Governor it would cost the state millions of dollars in wasted time and resources and doom it to gridlock. She knew that it would also continue to cost her family hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend against false and maliciously filed ethics complaints. And she had simply had enough of her children being fodder for inappropriate public attacks. 

That’s it. Those are the facts and I’m positive there’s nothing else. There is ABSOLUTELY no hidden scandal (or as CNN’s hack Rick Sanchez “reported,” an unplanned pregnancy) and this was NOT a poorly executed ploy to ignite a 2012 Presidential run. Sarah Palin simply came to the “remarkable” conclusion that stepping down was the right thing to do for the greater good. How sad is it that so many in media (including a whole lot of “conservatives”) can’t even begin to see this obvious reality.  

I know that whatever I say is discounted because I created a film largely about Sarah Palin, and I have made it clear that I have personal admiration for her (I guess I would be more credible if I was a liberal who didn’t know anything about her), but I have never been more confident in any public declaration I have ever made. The media-created perception of this woman is the most corruptly inaccurate I’ve ever seen, and their attacks on her and her family are the most outrageous and dangerous I’ve ever been aware of. 

Every single American, regardless of their politics, should be frightened by what’s happened to Sarah Palin. I truly believe that if they knew just how false the impression of her is they’ve been spoon fed for the sake of ratings, political agenda and, as she herself said, “blood sport,” there would be an uprising. 

There’s a lot of blame to go around for how and why this has been allowed to happen, but I want to make special mention of some my conservative media “friends” (that is just an expression, I don’t really have many friends in the media) who have once again revealed just how weak, shortsighted and willing to sell out they really are. Regardless of what you think of Sarah Palin, every single conservative who attacks her by buying into media-created falsehoods so they can curry favor with the media elite should be seen as traitors to the movement. You have been duped and used as cover for a public lynching. 

The latest to fall into this trap is CPAC’s Chairman David Keene who ripped Palin (mimicking a false claim put forward by several prominent conservative commentators) for “whining” about press coverage and declared her unfit for a Presidential run. Could someone PLEASE show me just ONE legitimate example (no one making the claim has even bothered to try) of where Palin has “whined” about something that has been said about her publicly?! Are these people saying you can’t set the record straight about lies? Are you not supposed to fight back against illegitimate attacks? Gee, that strategy worked so well for President Bush. And these are the so called leaders of the movement? No wonder we are where we are.

Along the same lines, I have been astonished that a majority of conservative media members have completely skipped over an incredibly important phase in the process of accepting that Palin is not likely to be elected President in 2012… 

Outrage. 

Are we really so numb that we jump right from shock to acceptance and even criticism of the victim without bothering to express outrage over the crime itself?!! Have conservatives really become that wussified? Can you imagine how the left/media would react if one of their stars had been taken out in such a vicious and unprecedentedly inappropriate manner??!  Michael Jackson’s funeral might have even been preempted! 

For all the left’s many flaws, you have to give them this, they play for keeps. They understand this is a war. If the apparent destruction of Sarah Palin doesn’t make conservatives wake up and realize that they’re bringing butter knives to gun fights and must start protecting their warriors, there simply won’t be anyone left standing to carry the flag. 

As for what the future holds for Sarah Palin, I honestly don’t know (and I don’t think she does either). My personal belief is, barring a catastrophe, that the only person with the potential to beat Obama in 2012 is Tiger Woods, but he’ll be doing more important things. I told Palin after my first interview with her that I hoped she held her fire until 2016 when the Messiah was no longer a factor and the media narrative would be all about her comeback. I still believe that scenario is more than viable. 

I do know that what we’ve learned about Sarah Palin over the past ten months has proven that she’s a remarkable person. It just saddens me that the real story has not been told. I wish we lived in a country where character like this was rewarded or that we even deserved a leader like her. Unfortunately, I fear we do not. 

However, I take solace in the knowledge that Sarah Palin disagrees with me on this point, and that she doesn’t need her ultimate reward to include living in the White House.