And airbrush out Stalin on the right

Fresh from their “Reagan” victory in their campaign to censor whatever they disagree with, the conservatives have claimed yet another victim in their soviet-style revisions. From today’s Washington Post:

A Memorial to Politics

By Al Kamen
Monday, November 10, 2003; Page A23

The National Park Service, responding to intense conservative criticism, is hoping to unveil next month what a spokesman said was a “more balanced” version of a video that has been shown since 1995 as part of an exhibit at the Lincoln Memorial.

Conservatives have been complaining for months that the eight-minute video — portions of which have President Abraham Lincoln’s speeches read by an actor while footage is shown of historic moments and demonstrations at the memorial — implies that Lincoln would have supported abortion and gay rights.

The video begins with Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Lincoln’s condemnation of slavery. But it then shows demonstrations in favor of gun control, against the Vietnam War, favoring abortion, gay and women’s rights, and against Soviet anti-Semitism. Marian Anderson is shown singing at the memorial after being barred by the Daughters of the American Revolution from singing at Constitutional Hall.

Then there are shots of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson and a quick shot — that doubtless dismayed conservatives — of the Clintons and Gores at the top of the memorial’s steps.

The revision effort began after the conservative CNSNews.com reported on the video in February and some less than positive mail started flowing to the Park Service. Fran Mainella, director of the Park Service, and others looked at the tape and promised to work on it.

But it’s far from certain that anyone’s going to be happy with the new, more politically balanced version. The work is not expected to be done until mid-December or so, but spokesman Dave Barna said it was unclear how much, or whether, the original would be edited.

One change, he said, may be to show all presidents who have visited since the memorial was completed in 1922 — that would be very quick shots of all but Gerald Ford and President Bush.

A second change would be to add some conservative events, Barna said. One problem seems to be that there haven’t been many conservative demonstrations at the memorial, which has been a focal point for liberals for many years.

So the plan now, Barna said, is to add footage of the Christian “Promise Keepers” rally in 1997 and a Desert Storm march after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. One problem, however, is that neither event took place at the memorial, but on the Mall.

Once it has been deemed appropriate to include the Mall as a whole in the exhibit, will the Rev. Louis Farrakhan’s rally insist on being included? What about the Beach Boys? How about Britney Spears’s excellent recent exercise of her First Amendment rights?