Another example of today's type of state-run television

The ABC television network not only is declining to offer any opposing points of view during its upcoming propaganda piece "White House health care presentation" on June 24, it's refusing to allow a group opposed to nationalized health care to buy a 60-second national advertisement and air it just before the special.

But we're promised that it won't be an "infomercial". Yeah, right.

Between this stunt and NBC's own exclusive little White House "access" party the other week, the propaganda's getting so overwhelmingly blatant that even the networks' own news journalists are beginning to get a little uncomfortable with these convenient little arrangements:

"'I think it's pretty obvious politics,' said Jay DeDapper, a veteran political reporter for WABC/Ch. 7 and WNBC/Ch. 4.

'When NBC essentially did a version of [MTV's] 'Cribs' in the White House a few weeks back under the guise of news, the GOP said nothing, leaving it to Jon Stewart to point out the obvious - there was no news value at all - it was a promotional stunt by NBC News accommodated by a White House happy to use the network to advance the administration's political goals.'

'In this case," DeDapper said, "the RNC is finally doing what it should, from the political point of view, have done then.'"

We don't know what current ad rates are, but if we were shareholders in Disney/ABC, we'd be quite irate that they are turning down badly-needed revenue for such a partisan reason.