In the key scene in the show now relegated to the 8 PM EDT/PDT, 7 PM CDT Friday slot, “District Attorney Jack McCoy,” played by Sam Waterston, contends: “This memo he wrote for the Department of Justice laid out the legal architecture permitting the abuse of prisoners, abuse that led directly to this death in Iraq. You could argue this memo is an element in a conspiracy to commit assault and depraved indifference murder.”
An astonished “Executive Assistant DA Michael Cutter,” played by Linus Roache, asks: “Jack, you want to prosecute a member of the Bush administration for assaulting suspected terrorists?” To which, a cocksure “McCoy” declares: “The word is torturing. And, yes, it's about time somebody did.”
Audio: MP3 clip (1:25)
In the September 25 episode which re-ran Saturday night, “Memo from the Dark Side,” lawyer “Kevin Franklin,” now a law professor in New York City, kills an ex-soldier. As the show unfolds, detectives determine he wanted to silence the soldier, who blamed “Franklin” for the prisoner's death while he was working at Abu Ghraib. The soldier was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and wanted “Franklin's” help to get health benefits the Army had denied.
By the end of the episode, “McCoy” has added former Vice President Cheney and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to his indictment. Incredibly, the case brought by a local DA against federal employees over the conduct of their official duties goes to trial, but before a verdict is rendered a federal court orders the trial stopped -- thus getting NBC out of the bind of either characterizing the Bush administration as guilty or not guilty.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center





















Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Terrorists have rights......
Sat, 09/26/2009 - 21:56 ET by superconThank whatever non denominational deity you foolishly worship that Hollywood pampered millionaires who have never handled a toilet brush or a time card will set you straight on what to think.
" if Republicans are able to stop Barack Obama on health care, 'it will be his Waterloo, it will break him...." -Sen. Jim DeMint
Law & Fiction
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 09:54 ET by fatharryI've been saying to people for years that the easiest and best paying job on the planet must be to be a writer for any of the L&O shows. "Can you read a newspaper, are you liberal?? Welcome Aboard! They did the same thing with a Ken Starr figure during the Clinton years. What a total joke.
Edd B.
Not a surprise
Sat, 09/26/2009 - 22:32 ET by Anneke9I stopped watching Law & Order after Fred Thompson left the show. You can count on its writers slipping in some crack at conservatives, Republicans, and/or Christians on every episode.
Hey, how about that Fox News interview with Hugo Chavez when he visited the U.N.? Hugo admits that he learns about the American people from Sean Penn (and presumably Oliver Stone and all the other Hollywood idiots who kiss his bum). Hugo has learned from his Hollywood pals that Americans are stupid (especially if you watch Fox News), demented, twisted in our minds and thinking, and racists. Hollywood: you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villiany.
Camouflage conservative in Baghdad-by-the-Bay
Gee, I wonder if McCoy will
Sat, 09/26/2009 - 22:31 ET by BDGee, I wonder if McCoy will also prosecute a certain member of congress for treason for releasing classified information detrimental to the security of the US.
Fred Thompson Where are You
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 07:05 ET by allanfWasn't conservative Fred Thompson also on this show. I wonder how crusading DA McCoy - who stands for truth and justice and the law, would have legal jurisdiction over a Federal matter with no nexis to New York County?
Price Waterhouse and the financial losses
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 15:16 ET by AvitarI wonder if the spokesman for Price/Waterhouse will be prosecuted for all of the losses of all of their investors suffered? <br>
When I was 12, Walter Cronkite ran footage of the Deputy Chief police for Saigon executing a man during the TET offensive. When I was 17 learned, what the man had done... I read the Geneva Conventions and learned that the authorized penalty for an illegal combatant in civilian clothes is death without trial. .
Torture under international law is not authorized but execution is and no American court can change that. New York City should prosecute NBC for being accessories after-the-fact to over two thousand murders on 9/11/2001. It is time someone did.
Well....that finished the.....
Sat, 09/26/2009 - 22:59 ET by BEGRUNTshow for me....that's so over the top......never will I watch it again....and it was one of my favorite shows....being a retired cop and all....thats it!!!!!! I really lost interest when "Lenny"retired......he was a cops cop............what a sad end!!
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
Liberal law and Odor
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 14:02 ET by Jerry MackWhatever happened to just catch the bad guys? Who is it that pays idiots to turn the #1 show with 2 successful spinoffs into a propaganda show that is quickly sinking out of sight? Have not watched it in several years and do not plan too.
If I want to watch liberal spin, I will watch Msnbc.
Flipped through this,
Sat, 09/26/2009 - 22:58 ET by JoeBobFlipped through this, caught about five words during the trial, and kept right on going. Thought to myself, "Law and Order is at it again". It gets old, though, you know?
Without recognizing the ordinances of Heaven, it is impossible to be a superior man. - Confucious
Deja vu~
Sat, 09/26/2009 - 23:09 ET by Georgia GirlWe hadn't watched Law and Order for a really long time, and I just happened to tape this very show. We started watching it tonight, and shortly into it -- deja vu! -- I've seen this show before (more than a few times, largely verbatim). So much for entertainment! ^_^
Wow. Imagine if this scenario is repeated
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 00:51 ET by Scout Finchthrough every house in every city with a cable connection.
Buy a clue, producers, or ignore in vain.
Fiction is easy
Sat, 09/26/2009 - 23:20 ET by KC MulvilleThe thing about fiction is that you can manufacture your assumptions as if they were facts. Unaware viewers will think that L&O is only using established facts -- but these "facts" are always just what Hollywood writers assume.
Again, the word "fact" is used to mean something that, unquestionably, everyone agrees is true. But too often these days, it's a rhetorical trick to call something a "fact" just because one group believes it so strongly that they refuse to accept that anyone could dispute it. Liberals call something a fact because they assume it's true, not because everyone thinks it's true. In essense, they simply ignore conservatives, and base "fact-hood" on what liberals all think.
I'm glad you guys picked up on this one, because I watched the first half hour before I decided to stop.
That's it for me
Sat, 09/26/2009 - 23:56 ET by The SquigglerAs soon as McCoy made his speech about prosecuting, I changed the channel. We've got the world laughing at us, calling our president President Pantywaist, and I think we've got them scared to death as they come to the realization that America is being led by a man who is bordering on narcissitic insanity in his need to both manipulate and appease.
I. MISS. W! and I have a feeling that there are lots of backrooms around the world where they are saying the same thing.
I'm not sure we miss "W" so
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 00:14 ET by SlyrrI'm not sure we miss "W" so much as we miss a media and a side of the aisle that was sane. The nation has always been partisan, but the left went off the deep end after Florida 2000, and they've been going steadily further into madness every year afterwards.
I blame Al Gore for the current hyperpartisanship. Because he was so arrogant and petty, he started what has since become the standard operating procedure for free elections: When you lose, accuse the other side of cheating and contest the results.
Seriously, every election since has followed that pattern - not just in the US, but across the world. Whenever anyone loses, it's because 'the other guy cheated'. In many cases this has led to strife in the elections in other countries, and in some cases, people have been killed. Al Gore must be so proud of himself as he sits in his mega mansions blasting carbon everywhere and raking in millions.
Since Florida 2000, the left has been unhinged, insane, rabid and furious. They've been storming around, screaming, protesting, attacking people and lusting for one thing: revenge. They still think 'their' election was stolen even though it was proved that Gore lost the initial count, and every recount afterwards.
But they're so insane with their partisan rage and bigotry that they'll never be happy unless each and every one of their political opponents is destroyed. And since they own Hollywood, they get to use it as a platform to spin TV shows, movies and books which play out their twisted little revenge fantasies.
It's pathetic, petty, small-minded, smarmy, and in the end it's utterly pointless. Just like these shows. I too enjoyed Law/Order once upon a time. But they gradually became more and more intolerable in their social grandstanding to the point where I stopped watching them over four years ago. I can't believe they're even on the air still.
Well, I guess it's not surprising. After all, what else has hollywood got? They havent' come up with any good TV shows in ages. So they're stuck with the ones they've got.
I got tired of them long ago. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
you've got the left pegged
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 00:20 ET by jkwtradingyou've got the left pegged as well as anyone.
If Conservatives
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 12:33 ET by doug1950would simply stop going to see anything made by Hollywood, it would turn into a ghost town. I haven't watched L&O in many years for just this very reason. Every version of the show and almost every episode would include some little "factoid" to be rattled off by one of the stars so they could "educate" the public. It almost always sounded and felt out of place in the dialog of the script, like a public announcement by the weazel Belker or one of the other stooges. Yet, the movie houses still fill up and you know dang good and well conversatives flop down their money right along with the liberals and the unwashed and unlearned 10-20% of the mysterious "undecided" voters we hear so much about. As long as we continue to support their trash and put up with their indoctrinational speeches, they will continue to thrive and put out more. There were many sitcoms that were very well written and funny, but at some point, decided to get "political" and shortly failed from the sudden drop in viewership. Bloodsworth Thomas comes to mind during the Clinton years (friends of Bill).
Law and Order
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 00:09 ET by PeterStoneI have been a fan of Law and Order for the last 10 + years.
Two years ago they began inserting their Liberal dementia into their episodes. I change the channel as soon as it starts.
The older episodes are great. However, the program will likely be cancelled in the near future. It has lost most of it's Conservative viewers and Liberals never liked it because the bad guys usually get what they deserve.
More things change
Mon, 09/28/2009 - 08:46 ET by Heather RadishThe more they stay the same, actually. I've been watching older seasons on DVD; every other episode in Seasons 3-5 slurs Justice Scalia.
Have they done a truthers show yet
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 00:25 ET by TjexciteAs it was Bush officials that did that too. /conspiracy
I guess we can look forward
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 00:25 ET by mlongI guess we can look forward to future episodes where a Tea party or Town hall protester kill some Liberal or Government official and they charge a Conservative Radio or TV host for inciting them to kill.
mlong
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 08:06 ET by ahusserI am sure one is in the works, probably about a the murder of a census worker and of course a "right-wing" white Christian will be the bad guy.
"Somehow, I told you so, just doesn't quite say it." Will Smith in 'I, Robot.'
The ultimate show will be
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 08:56 ET by ThisnThatThe ultimate show will be when a female Muslim infiltrates a group of white ex-Army-Iraqi "terrorist" veterans intent on using an innocent illegal immigrant (but hard-working and tax-paying) family to deliver a WMD device during the innaguration of a homosexual, minority President who has narrowly escaped death multiple times over, but was cured by Obama-care health reform laws.
___________________________________
"mmm, mmm, mm. Barrack-Hussain-Obama." - The liberals cool-aid drinking song
Long time fan here
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 01:17 ET by DurdenI had to stop watching when Lenny left. The show started going down hill when Detective Green came on but kicked into over drive with the new guys in there.
I'd seen every single episode way back from the early 90's with Chris Noth. The show was really good back then. It's just a shell of its former self, no heart, no soul, no talent.
I'm still watching SVU since Criminal Intent went off the deepend. Just waiting till SVU buys the farm now too.
Really not surprised since this is NBC we're talking about.
Point of order!
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 05:03 ET by UnsaneIt's just a shell of its former self, no heart, no soul, no talent. With the exception of Alana de la Garza. Now, she's no Angie Harmon, but...wow.
:-)
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
The killing of the Census Admin person...
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 01:21 ET by on-the-rocksin KY could be used as the basis for another Conservative-bashing episode. How long will it take for it to make it through the script-writing stage?
In their fantasy world, they could connect it to the Washington, DC tea party.
Or I have it, it could be a formerly rotund radio talk show host who runs down a census taker in his luxury neighborhood. Afterward the radio talker claimed he thought it was just a cardboard pop-up image.
Oops, don't want to give them any material.
This show jumped the shark of lefty propaganda agenda long ago..
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 01:51 ET by wnaegeleSigh!
Well . . . .
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 02:00 ET by DoktorFranken. . . . . THIS certainly puts the ''Batty'' in MoonBatty.
IF, that's IF, terrorists ever hold a group of Leftists for ransom I say we talk about for a long, long while. Maybe ask the terrorist to meet with us to discuss how they're going to treat the hostages. Why, we could talk for hours, days, weeks, months, years - whatever it takes for them to see the ''light''.
God forbid we should take any action.
That's Already Happened
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 08:16 ET by allanfRecently, a New York Times reporter, investigating a NATO Airstrike in Afghanastan which supposedly killed civilians was taken hostage.
He was rescued in a raid.
There was a lot of criticism on the left and by Afghan journlists for not wairing longer.
Typical
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 13:21 ET by DoktorFrankenJust typical.
NBC
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 02:12 ET by TeamcheeserI can almost guarantee you that NBC has insisted that the writers include some line that supports Obama's administration in every show.
Even "The Office" had an awkward, gratuitous, Obam-ass-kiss line. Something like, "Well if this was Sweden I wouldn't have to worry because I'd be covered under Universal Healthcare!"
Seriously? "The Office"? Can't GE just back off a little bit? NBC may start to see serious loss in viewership.
I've already refused to watch their NFL pregame show simply because of Olbermann.
Liberal writers need to read the Founding Fathers
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 05:02 ET by sic721"A strict observance of the written law is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to the written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."
Thomas Jefferson, The Federalist Papers
Not about law
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 05:17 ET by AgnosticIt seems that it is not about following the 'letter of the law' but picking and choosing which laws must be followed based on personal reasoning and, of course, the ideology of the person that committed the crime.
A person may be won over with logic and reason but the masses must be bought with spectacle and platitudes. - 2008 Elections
Hemmorrhoids from Hollywood
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 05:20 ET by wolfemanicOh great compassionate liberal Hollywood icons, has your shame no limits? Let history record these traitors for who they are.
Where is their “depraved indifference murder” for all of those who had to
endure real torture of a leap from a 100 floors to to their deaths
rather than be burnt alive on 9/11. Instead these Hollywood hemorrhoids
defend those who would in a second cut off our heads for the simple joy
of it.
I would not hesitate dropping all these traitors in al qaida's hands and say..take them, do as you please, their no damn good to us.
Like throwing the weak overboard from a life boat, survival of the fittest. The strong must continue to row and
survive.
I haven't watched any of
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 06:04 ET by ricklailI haven't watched any of the new Law and Orders since Jerry Orbach left. That was 4-5 seasons ago. I did watch a rerun the other day were he was the DA now. Crummy show. I haven't watch SVU since Belzer went on with Maher and make samrt ass comments. That's been about 3 years ago. Quit watching Criminal Intent when the guy that played Goran made comments about Bush on one of the late night shows.
Come to think of it I haven't watched anything on NBC in the last 3 years and that includes Sunday Night Football.
Semper suprene nitens
OBAMACARE: If it ain't good enough for my Congressman then it ain't good enough for me.
Re Quit L&O
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 09:43 ET by slickwillie2001I stoppped watching the whole Law and Order suite when Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and the little dishwater blonde that plays his brainless sidekick made comments about 'crazy right wing knuckledraggers' during an episode on abortion. They have had an leftwing agenda for years and years. I don't understand a business that puts their politics before customers.
Haven't watched NBC...
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 06:22 ET by Indiana Joeor ANY of the alphabet-soup networks for years. Since then, many, many shows have come and gone without me even noticing. Maybe I just smelled it coming, but I saw TV as vapid and pointless years ago. I watched Leno last week just because Rush was on, but that's it. For my money, the last good crime drama was NYPD Blue, where Sipowicz could still rough-up a skell to save a life.
With cable (thinking of going satellite soon), I prefer to watch reruns of older good shows than just about anything the modern mega-networks have dished up for a long time. And before anyone accuses me of Luddism, backwardness, etc, remember that TV was described as a "vast wasteland" back in the 60s.
It's more of a toxic wasteland now. I prefer my fiction in book form.
"Four legs good... two legs better!" - George Orwell
Television: something to be ignored
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 18:56 ET by UnsaneBack when I was in high school, nearly 20 years ago (has it been that long???), one day I asked myself, "What if I stopped watching TV? I don't find any shows interesting anymore." So I did. And basically it goes like this: if I am watching TV, either it is news, or a game is on somewhere (football, baseball, basketball, the Olympics, etc.)
I do admit to watching Law & Order reruns on occasion, though. Especially depending on who plays the role of the assistant D.A. :-) But even that is a rare thing.
Even without the snide political commentary, there just isn't anything out there I find appealing anymore. Give me my books, fiction or nonfiction, anytime.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Waterboarding can't be
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 07:02 ET by wiwfWaterboarding can't be torture
Why? Because we're told torture doesn't work
Waterboarding does work
Therefore, waterboarding can't be torture.
The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy
Propaganda
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 07:12 ET by misterbee241This is just propaganda that Obama and the democrat/socialist party didnt have to pay for.
"I dont need to read a newspaper to know the world's been shaved by a drunken barber."
Walter Brennan, The Colonel, Meet John Doe, 1941
Just more pro-enemy propaganda from the far-left
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 07:37 ET by R D HelmWhen these people aren't busy cramming the latest perversion down our throats, they are giving aid and comfort to our enemies in a time of war.
I only watch the Nothing But Communist network for the sports, and am beginning to rethink even that.
-Dave
I agree with Rush. It's time for Obama to resign.
Transformation
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 08:55 ET by canuckLook how just pretending to be a lawyer turned this guy into a total flaming a'hole.
I was never a fan of L&O or
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 09:30 ET by samhermanmdI was never a fan of L&O or any of its spin-off programs. The only episode I ever watched was the crusading medical examiner who went after another doc for being the medical monitor during intensive interrogration techniques. The medical examiner, with all of her self-righteous liberal fervor, takes the doc in front of the New York State Board of Medical Examiners and the doc loses her license.
In reality, there is no way that could happen. Several laws governing security would have been broken by the police and a federal court would have intervened to protect national security. The doc would also have immunity under the canons of professional ethics in the "primum non nocere" construct. As long as the doc obeyed the appropriate regulations, no revocation decision could be made in light of the indemnifications that would have been made to cover the physician as a medical monitor. Third, it would be a huge stretch by any regulatory standards to have a state licensing board have any jurisdiction over a federal matter in the context of the physician being there to ensure the interrogated prisoner's welfare. By extension, every professional (medical, pharmacy, nursing, other) who ever participated in a state execution would have to have their licenses revoked, and there is automatic indemnification and exemptions made for those purposes.
Why let something as trivial as reality enter the drug-addicted, drunken and amoral brain of some idiot Hollyweird writer? After all, they have schlock to push and lies to tell.
Tuned Out
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 09:52 ET by PahlavanUpon hearing the dialogue "...you want to prosecute a member of the Bush administration..." I changed channels. I knew where this episode was going.
Them too
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 09:54 ET by jaywlI think it's about time some of the Hollywood writers and actors are prosecuted for depraved indifference to the consequences to the nation and specifically to the children of Americans who die in combat because of restrictions in rules of engagement that expose them to unnecessary harm because these said as*holes permeate our culture with anti-Americanism that leads through policy makers directly to the death of true patriots. Long sentence, yes. And just what they deserve, a long sentence embedded with a combat team being attacked by a smart enemy aware that (now) the Americans cannot call for air strikes or artillery support if they are attacked in the presence of civilians. Rules of engagement are needed, but an ironclad policy like this gets our kids killed. These lefters would be happy to stand up at an awards ceremony and decry the death of some Afghan villagers (armed or not would have no mention) but never, never would they mourn the death of Marines or Soldiers because an air strike was canceled because Muamumu was running ammo and wasn't armed (at the time).
Almost turned this into a rant until I caught myself!
NBC
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 10:00 ET by jessieHNBC needs to be prosecuted for their daily torture of Americans. Telling the people lies, every day, is torture.
Several years agon on Lawn Odor....
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 10:17 ET by Willis_Leon_JohnsonThe pretty face came into the local law enforcement office and said "Fed trumps local every time!"
Which proved two things.
Pretty face does not equal intelligent brain.
Pretty face has never read, or understood, the Constitution of The United States.
Neither has the shows writers or their ADVERTISERS.
http://gjresult.com
Are they running out of plots?
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 11:07 ET by CobraManWhat's the Manhattan district attorney doing prosecuting someone for inciting a "crime" (that is the legal premises for this show) that happened in another country? I don't know if the writers are aware of this, but there there are such legal restrictions such as jurisdiction of authority.
You would think that the writers of a show called Law and Order would understand that the Law restricts the DA's authority to enforce Order in their district, and their district only. Iraq is NOT a part of Manhattan, unless New York has annexed a foreign country. Is this what the writers are implying, that Iraq is part of Manhattan?
According to Law and Order, New York City has annexed Iraq! Wow, and they call Republicans Imperialistic!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
At One Time, This Would Have Been Unbelievable
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 11:57 ET by rammingspeedNBC is notoriously the most radical, Bush hating network of them all, and since the battle between alternate news sources (News Busters, Fox News et al) has put them on the brink of destruction, they're going down swinging. It is insane to alienate a huge part of your audience - which this Law And Order episode will do - based on the opinions of political hacks. Crap like this is the reason NBC is on life support.
L & O
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 12:36 ET by RightfromthestartWell it's been coming for some time, that's it for me. I used to really like that show. On what planet does Wolfe imagine all these snarky left wing cops. In real life hen's teeth are more plentiful. Perhaps if even one writer actually knew a cop it would help.
I'm glad I'm not alone!
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 12:40 ET by AZTech2020It was precisely at that point that I stopped the DVR and deleted the program. Actually I first "rewound" the scene because I couldn't believe my ears. When confirmed, I immediately deleted the episode. I may or may not watch L&O again, one of my all-time favorite programs. But, just like "24" with their employment of the commie wretch Garafalo, I may never watch again. What a shame that these leftholes can't keep their political agendas out of their scripts. An absolute shame!
For NBC's Law & Order producers the verdict is in.
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 13:23 ET by CTThey have decided they don't need me in their audience.
As for Sam Waterston's image value for TD Ameritrade that's for them to decide.
I've never watched the show
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 13:40 ET by Kat Outta the BagI've never watched the show but if I did, I wouldn't anymore.
I'm a little mixed on this
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 13:19 ET by fitzfongI'm a little mixed on this one. This is hardly the first time that Law & Order has employed a heavy-handed approach to a pseudo-political case, and it won't be the last. While it's clear that the producers and many of the script writers inject their left-wing biases into their stories, and Jack McCoy's character is extremely self-righteous, I wouldn't say that the portrayals are completely unrealistic. The legal system is riddled with unethical, yet sanctimonious, overly-ambitious attorneys who play on the margins, who take ethical shortcuts and who test new legal theories to ultimately achieve their objectives. Jack McCoy may be portrayed as a largely sympathetic character, but he also has his faults and is prone to knowingly contorting legal procedure, to going outside the law to get what he wants...at that point, it is up to the viewer to decide if he's right or wrong. Meanwhile the likes of Pat Fitzgerald, Mark Geragos, Lynne Stewart, Ronnie Earle, Gil Garcetti, Rocky Delgadillo and others operate just like Sam Waterston's alter-ego...only in real life.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." -George Best
Question~
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 13:42 ET by Georgia GirlAre there any lawyers in the house? I have a question about this episode that maybe somebody can help me on...
You know how at the beginning of each Law and Order episode there is that disclaimer that states how it's not based on actual events, people, etc. (even though many episodes are actually "ripped from the headlines")? I get that the reason they do that is so that the entire show does not have to be completely factually accurate to real-life events (creative license) -- and mainly so they don't get sued. But with all the other "ripped from the headlines" episodes, real names have not been used (somebody tell me if I'm wrong about this). To use real names makes their disclaimer moot, if you know what I mean.
So...my question is: how do they get away with using real names (i.e., Cheney and Bush) in this episode? Being that they are not currently in office and now private citizens, I would think that they would fall under the same guidelines -- in other words, I would think producers can't get away with using their names in a real-life situation like they portrayed in this episode.
Can anyone enlighten me on this?
I'm not a lawyer, so I'm
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 14:04 ET by fitzfongI'm not a lawyer, so I'm guessing on this one. But I would imagine that this might fall under libel restrictions...in which case they would have little, if any, recourse in the law because (if I remember correctly) the information written must be untrue, it must be proven that the writer knew the information was untrue and there's some kind of limitation that cuts writers some slack on potentially libellous statements/assertions based on a subject's status as a "public figure". But as I recall, Carol Burnett managed to win a libel case against the National Enquirer despite the public figure exception.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." -George Best
fitzfong~
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 16:24 ET by Georgia GirlYeah, I think you are exactly right on that, in terms of all the restrictions. It's such a steep hill to climb to get the desired pound of flesh -- though it has been accomplished by some.
P.S. I didn't finish watching this episode, but the other thing I thought of is that L&O's ultimate protection in this was probably that they were not making an accusation but that they were providing both sides of an argument...though I will say that the one character who was the "con" side of the political infomercial was not the best representative and gave just one tiny, wimpy counterpoint, of a few sentences (way unbalanced)...that said, we didn't see the entire show -- because it stunk.
I suppose one way to look
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 18:01 ET by fitzfongI suppose one way to look at it is that attorneys are typically left-of-center, and that this is a fairly accurate representation of how many in this profession think and act...especially public attorneys.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." -George Best
Thank you for watching this tripe and reporting on it
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 13:52 ET by DaMavSo I don't have to watch it to confirm my suspicions that the Hollyweirders (or whoever puts this stuff out) are living in a world with a purple Sun, three moons, and unicorns frolicking among the Jubjub trees.
How morally bankrupt they are to be so at ease risking the lives of others by their obsession with the comfort and well being of those who would do us all in without the slightest hesitation. How beyond the realm of rational thought.
Dear NBC/Universal/General Electric
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 14:12 ET by nolotrippenThat clicking sound you hear is people turning off your shows and finding others on other stations.
That clicking sound you hear is people turning off their appliances and when it's time to buy new ones, they find other manufacturers.
That clicking sound you hear is people switching from your "news" shows to the internet and FNC.
Bye-Bye.
Moronic Law and Order
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 15:45 ET by Michael GilsonMichael Gilson
I stopped watching L & E years ago, after the one where NY policemen who were also reservists started going violently nuts because of the anti-malarial drug the Army made them take despite knowing of its aftereffects. I stopped because I knew that had actually happened to CANADIAN soldiers sent to Somalia during the Clinton administration.
Long Ago
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 15:51 ET by justbob223I once liked this show long ago before they began to get all political and advance the Hollywood leftwing agenda. Now, I never watch it. I guess for Hollywood, politics trumps entertaining and making money. It's about time for this show to disappear.
Why should we expect NBC to do anything different?
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 17:44 ET by JohnMIsn't this the same network that tried to create a Fantasy Clinton presidency after Bush won? West Wing???
And isn't this the network of the goofy Green Week? And got "24" to become a laughingstock?
The scriptwriters for L&O have created the real "opinion media".
Sam Waterston is a lefty
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 18:40 ET by mattmSam Waterston is a lefty activist who got his start on PBS. I never watch anything he's in.
I Turned It Off Right After McCoy Said...
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 19:02 ET by Wildcatter1980Before that moment, I felt the writers of L&O at least made legitimate attempts to present both sides of a controversial subject. After that, I a.) will no longer watch L&O and b.) think it is time that GE be made to divest itself of NBC and it financial unit.
I would not put it past Dick Wolf, L&O Exec. Producer that he agreed to follow story lines that GE would like in his effort to have L&O get to 20 years on air.
I want to see GE's financial unit divested from its parent for the simple reason that the parent will have less "business" from the passing of a cap & tax, er, trade bill. GE's financial unit is in a position to be a major concern in the trading of carbon credits, thus, it can benefit along with GE's electrical power system units. (Is it any wonder why GE wants cap & trade?)
--
We need to stop calling them "Progressives" when in reality they are big government "Socialists" who no longer value the individual's rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Sam is a sniveling wimp! What was done doesn't approach ...
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 19:39 ET by ThalpySam is a sniveling wimp! What was done doesn't approach torture- it's simply a lame excuse to poke a stick in the eye of the Bush Administration. Don't kid yourself, if it served their world view, the Left would waterboard their own mother.
Wow, this is making the
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 19:53 ET by Radical1979Wow, this is making the Brady Bunch marathon a friend has been watching with her daughter look pretty highbrow.
→ Lawn Order
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 20:01 ET by Cool ArrowCUT MY GRASS!
Sorry, "IRON MY SHIRT" was taken
CA...
Mon, 09/28/2009 - 08:55 ET by Georgia GirlStop being so darn clever. You're making all the rest of us look dim. ;)
Brent Baker: "thus getting
Wed, 09/30/2009 - 18:29 ET by deerjerkydaveBrent Baker: "thus getting NBC out of the bind of either characterizing the Bush administration as guilty or not guilty."
Not so fast. I saw the show last night and it was clear as day that the jury was going to hand down a guilty verdict. The trial, as depicted by the fiction writers over at NBC, was heavily skewed to make the defense sound very guilty and weak. We hardly heard from the defense at all. But we heard all of the juicy arguments by the prosecution complete with background music to make it sound serious and convincing.
DJD~
Wed, 09/30/2009 - 18:51 ET by Georgia GirlThat's how it ended? I never saw the ending. That ticks me off even more. It's like gossip -- you just wing it out there & pollute -- but no damage done. Yeah, right. That show was plenty insinuating and insidious, without even seeing the ending. So much for an honest trial -- they just went straight-away to conviction. I'm done with that show.