Straight Shooting - Issue #79
by Fritz Capp
Exclusively For PWBTS.com
August 4, 2000 Bozell leaves Republican National Convention with egg on his face!

The Republican National Convention has come and gone. Most things played out as expected. Bush got the nomination for the GOP and he has Dick as his running mate. Man are the late night comics going to have fun with this. But one of the major triumphs at the convention came from a Stamford. Ct. based company as they did indeed have an appearance by one of their top spokespeople at the convention. The man, Dwayne Johnson, know as "The Rock" to his millions and million of adoring fans appeared on the floor and at the podium of the Republican National Convention, much to the chagrin of one L.Brent Bozell III.

Now it is not like Mr. Bozell didn't try to use his influence and political pull to have The Rock's appearance pulled from the show. In fact, when talking to a representative of the Republican National Committee I was told that they were inundated with phone calls all day long from people wanting the Rock taken off of the convention that evening. It was then that I explained to them who was responsible for the phone calls and why. They could not believe that one of their own, a republican, would stoop to such tactics, this being disrupting the flow of information into the committee headquarters by tying up the phone lines for a personal agenda. I explained to them that these are the same tactics he uses to get advertisers to stop advertising on programs. In the long run, it is nothing but a constant bombardment border lining on harassment by an organization who feels it is their moral duty to tell us what is and what is not suitable for us to view in the privacy of our own homes. The one thing that Mr. Bozell did not count on though, was that the Republican National Committee was not going to be bullied into something that someone wanted them to do. In the end The Rock made his appearance and life went on as usual. Or did it?

One of Mr. Bozell's main complaints is that the WWF's Smackdown broadcast is played to thousands upon thousands of children. He stated on CNN that there are thousands of children in the arena to watch this weekly broadcast of filth, violence and sex. I have one question for you Mr. Bozell, "How are all of these children getting into these arenas since they are so young?" It is not like they can go out and purchase these tickets themselves. I also look through the crowd as the WWF cameras pan to it a lot to show fan reaction and while I do admit there are younger children in the audience, it is not the numbers you profess it to be. Before I go too far I want to ask again, "How are these children getting into these arenas Mr. Bozell?

The answer is really quite simple, the parents are bringing them. Now I would hope that you wouldn't be thinking that the parents do not know anything about the WWF and today's brand of wrestling. There is so much mainstream media coverage on pro wrestling these days that you cannot get away from it. That being said, you are now trying to state that the parents are allowing their children to watch this program, but that you know better than the parents. I must say, that is a pretty bold statement.

Simply put, you over exaggerate your numbers to lend credibility to your statements. Your CNS news is well known and documented for "stretching the truth" to your benefit. Maybe you learned these tactics from working at the Washington Times, a Unification Church owned newspaper who is very apt to spread it's own word as long as the price is right. What is your price Mr. Bozell? Is it your over inflated salary that you pay yourself each year from the money you make from your non-profit organizations? Is it the political clout that you so desire so badly? What is YOUR price Mr. Bozell? It surely isn't morality.

Mr. Bozell does not believe that the parents of these children he professes to be worried about have enough intelligence to turn the channel if their children are watching something that they do not view as appropriate. Mr. Bozell feels that the only way to combat the smut and horror knows as Smackdown is to harass it's advertisers and sponsors by giving them over exaggerated viewpoints, questionable at best numbers and bombard them with letters and phone calls from the members of his organizations until the advertiser succumbs to his wishes. Is this morality at work? No, it is someone who is out to garner as much publicity for his organization, hoping he can increase his numbers, thus increase his donations which means more money in his pocket. The more publicity, the more people who are looking for something to believe in will join his cause. This is no different than what the Unification Church did with it's followers. They sought out the people that were disillusioned with their own lives and made them feel as if they were doing something positive, all the while bleeding them out of their money. Both the Unification Church and the PTC ask if their members want to leave them anything in their wills. Both preach a doctrine of morality while weaving a web of deceit to further it's own goals. The similarities are frightening.

Be all that as it may be, this week we all saw Mr. Bozell "FAIL" at what he was trying to accomplish at the Republican National Convention. With all of his might, he could NOT stop the Rock from making his appearance. When in a small debate with the Rock on CNN, Mr. Bozell was ill prepared for the Rock's answers. He tried in vain to impress his beliefs across on a national platform and came up short. Mr. Bozell came across as a right wing extremist trying in vain to attack something that doesn't need attacking. The old principle of, "If you do not like it change the channel" was never more evident as it was right then. Bozell, for all he thinks he is, was shown to be just another leader of a small group of Kool-Aid drinkers bent on trying to change the world to his viewpoint and when he did not get his way he proceeded to attack his own party. So much for party unity.

Internet Reporters

Now what I have been witness to lately has made me sick. And to be honest I am going to catch a lot of heat for this column but you know what? I could care. The pre-madonnas and so-called "names" on the Internet who feel they are above it all can look down on whatever they want to while forgetting where they come from is over the edge.

Now all I ask is that no matter how you feel while reading this column, before you open your e-mail and write some nonsense flame letter to me, read the whole column....take a few minutes to rationally think about it, and then if you still want to write, feel free.

The WWF announced that it was going to the Republican National Convention and did just that. While there they tried to position themselves against the ever growing wart called the Parents Television Council. At one point they said they could bring 14 million of age voters to the plate and would probably play a big hand in the next election.

No sooner was that said, the "big boys" of wrestling reporting decided it was time to rake Vince over the coals for these numbers. They said they were fraudulent and likened the number closer to 4 million. Since they did this I have had more than a few e-mails from some of these self proclaimed "insiders" defending their numbers while citing "random counting" as a viable and accurate representation of their numbers. I just shake my head at how naive people can be sometimes.

What makes me sick is these are the guys that make a living off of wrestling without having the guts to actually lace up the boots themselves.(well one does occasionally which makes him even worse) It's ok that they make thousands of dollars from impression advertising on their websites or from selling their little word processor newsletters but when it comes to actually looking at the good in what Vince is doing they do not want to see it. I liken them to Phil Mushnick, who does and says things so people will go see what they are up to.

Vince McMahon realizes that he is up against a political machine in L.Brent Bozell III and his MRC and PTC organizations. So Vince took the fight to him in his own backyard. I applaud Vince for that. Not many in this world have the grapefruits to go into the Lion's Den. This is evident by a lot of these reporters who sit behind a keyboard and "trash and bash" but if they were face to face with the person they were bashing they would be the nicest people in the world. They are called "frauds" everybody.

Now are Vince's numbers correct? Can he deliver 14,000,000 voters at this years election?

I will admit that Vince's way of figuring is not as accurate as what he (or I for that matter) would like them to be. There are better ways to do this. But at the same time there are more than the 4,000,000 number that these so-called wrestling "smarts" are professing the numbers to be.

How can I say this? Did I take a poll? No way, polls can be made to reflect whatever you want. Did I take a survey? Nope. How about go to the Nielsen ratings? The Nielsens are a fraud all unto themselves. The Nielsens are a random sampling firm that state that their Nielsen families represent what all of us in this country think, feel and watch. How can that be? Have you ever looked at the Nielsen's? If you have how many of their top rated shows do you watch? 1? Maybe 2? Any at all?

Random sampling is not an exact science by any stretch of the imagination. It is like going into a town of twenty thousand people and asking 15 people on the street what their viewing habits are and allowing that to speak for the viewing habits of the entire town. Does that make sense? Who scammed the American population into thinking that what Nielsen said is law?

These so-called top reporters state that most people that watch RAW also watch Smackdown and Heat so Vince's numbers have many flaws because he is double and triple counting people. Do these people have access to documents that the rest of us do not? Or are they assuming this and putting it out as actual news? I would say it is safe to say that the latter would be more true than anything else.

People who have been around the business for say the past 15 years think that they know everything. Just this fact alone shows they know less then what they think. They, like everyone else, do not really know how many people the WWF have as far as viewers are concerned that are eligible to vote. No one really knows because no one has sat down and done that statistic by asking each and everyone person how old they are who go to the shows or who watch their television shows. Also no one has asked each and every viewer how many shows they watch each week. Unless this is done, and that is more likely an impossible task to accomplish, random sampling, no matter how it is pitched, DOES NOT give an accurate interpretation. You wouldn't need a poll, you would need something akin to a census report on the WWF to get the true numbers.

My point is that while these guys do not know for themselves how many fans there are that watch the WWF and could vote in the upcoming election, they make their little phone calls and assume they know what they are talking about. Also, instead of embracing the fact that Vince is trying to do something on a grander scale than anything he has done before, they turn their back and try to play Geraldo Rivera at Al Capone's vault because in all actuality they have come up empty because they still do not have one actual piece of evidence to support their claims.

Wrestling Fans Against Censorship

I am happy to say that the originator of the Anti-PTC movement, Wrestling Fans Against Censorship, has been updated with a new look and is now at a new location. Co-webmastered by Melissa Gavin and myself, we are going to continue the fight against the hypocrisy of the PTC, Media Research, L.Brent Bozell III and any other person or organization that try to impose their will on our ability to view what we want to view on our television sets in the privacy of our homes.

I want to take a moment to say thank you to all of the supporters on the Internet, not only of the WFAC website, but also to everyone who supports PTCSucks.com, Rock Out Censorship, Freedom TV, No-PTC, Piledriver Press and all of the other people who have taken a stand against the people who want to force their viewpoints and opinions onto us and the future generations of this country.

Here are the facts :

1 - L.Brent Bozell and his organizations are attempting to have all advertising pulled from the WWF's Smackdown broadcast which would in turn have it taken off of the air.

2 - L.Brent Bozell has stated on numerous occasions that his organizations are now going to be watching and targeting World Championship Wrestling, who has turned it up a notch or two in the categories that they deem inappropriate.

3 - When ECW's deal is inked, you can bet that L.Brent Bozell will also target them, which is without a doubt the highest risk of all three promotions.

4 - We have made a difference. The PTC's Marketplace is in shambles as there are only 27 companies left that still allow money from purchases to go into the PTC.

5 - L.Brent Bozell is getting ready to turn up the heat even more in the wake of his recent failures. The WWF is now being attacked on CNN and other media outlets and as time goes on you will see and hear more and more people come out against the WWF as Bozell will start calling in past favors to help him discredit not only the WWF, but he is also currently attacking his own party.

We must unite in greater numbers to combat the upcoming onslaught being prepared by L.Brent Bozell and his minions. This is not something that will go away by itself as it has proven when the majority of us were lulled into a false sense of superiority. We were rudely awakened when MCI pulled it's advertising from WWF programming. We cannot allow that to happen again. It doesn't take long to write a letter or sign a petition. Take the time, show you care about what is going on and stand up for your rights.

And with that I am outta here. Remember wrestling is nothing more than it appears to be but also remember a quote from James Billington, "Intellectual and cultural freedom is the most important single precondition for the breakdown of the kinds of tyrannical and totalitarian systems that periodically threaten us."