Sinclair Broadcasting: Hold Your Ground, Says Frontiers of Freedom

Sinclair Broadcasting: Hold Your Ground, Says Frontiers of Freedom; Let America Decide the Merits of 'Stolen Honor'

10/14/2004 6:30:00 PM

To: National Desk

Contact: Jason Wright or Aaron Lee, 703-246-0110 or press [at] ff.org, both of the Frontiers of Freedom Institute

FAIRFAX, Va., Oct. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Yesterday, Frontiers of Freedom learned that the national Democratic Party was attempting to squash Sinclair Broadcasting's right to show Stolen Honor, a documentary that reports on John Kerry's actions after the Vietnam War.

"These liberal Democrats are afraid of the truth," said Kerri Houston, Vice President of Policy for Frontiers. "If they actually had combat boots, they would be shaking in them for fear that the American people will learn the real story of what John Kerry said upon returning from his short tour of duty in Vietnam, and how it was used to by the Vietcong to torture our POWs."

Sinclair Broadcasting offered time on its affiliate stations for the Kerry camp to respond to the documentary, but Kerry/Edwards declined the offer, instead resorting to using the federal government to ban Sinclair from asserting its First Amendment rights.

"'The First Amendment is for me, but not for thee' is not a position that a presidential candidate should take," continued Houston. Stolen Honor was produced by a team of Vietnam POWs who have never been able to tell their story. They were tortured and silenced more than 30 years ago, and now John Kerry is attempting to silence them again to keep their story from being told. These war heroes have more than earned the right to speak -- and the First Amendment demands that this right be protected."

"Instead of denying these soldiers the right to speak their mind, Senator Kerry should come clean to the American people," continued Houston. "If there is truly nothing to hide, why is the Senator afraid of the documentary?

"Furthermore, why has he refused to sign the DD-180 form to authorize release of all his military records - including those that reference his medical history, and shouldn't he explain why his medals were all reissued on the same day in 1985?"

"The Senator is campaigning to be Commander in Chief and the American people deserve to know the full story of his Vietnam military experience and the terms of his discharge -- including why it was reissued in 1978, six years after his separation from the navy,"

"Deflecting attention away from his own service by limiting POWs ability to discuss their own will not sit well with the American people. We hope that Sinclair will stick to its schedule for airing Stolen Honor."

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Houston can be reached for media interviews at 703-246-0110