raise soft money; conservatives . . . islamo-fascism .... 911 --- inciting fear.

With the first part of ABC's The Path to 9/11 scheduled to premiere tonight, the controversy surrounding it has lit up the HuffPost blog. Check out the fired-up takes of Rick Perlstein, Taylor Marsh, Eric J. Weiner, Matt Stoller, Eric Boehlert, Nikki Finke, Frank Dwyer, Martin Lewis, Mona Gable, Bruce Kluger, Rick Jacobs, RJ Eskow, Davis Sweet, Steve Brant and Max Blumenthal. The week's other hot topic was Bush's ongoing Fall of Fear Tour, and his efforts to ratchet up the rhetoric on Iraq, the war on terror, and national security. Don't miss the blowback from Kathleen Reardon, Harry Shearer, Trudi Loh, Howie Klein, and Robert Elisberg (mine's here). And, if you haven't already done so, click here to visit our new Becoming Fearless section.

According to the right-wing reviewers who have seen “The Path to 9/11,” its production values are high-quality. ABC spent $40 million on it.

What makes "The Path to 9/11" somewhat different is its claim to be based on the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission). Thomas Kean, the Republican co-chairman of the 9/11 commission, served as an advisor to the film, although Lee Hamilton, the commission’s Democratic co-chair, did not. ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson is claiming that its miniseries is a public service that goes beyond mere entertainment. "Some things you do for commerce and some things because they are the right thing to do," he told Variety magazine.