When hubby, James Brolin's movie The Reagans was cancelled on CBS, Barbra Streisand suddenly became an amateur Constitutional scholar. Many of those observing the flap surrounding the controversial movie knew that invariably someone would scream "censorship" when CBS decided to yank the mini-series. Barbra was more than happy to step forward to carry the torch for the black helicopter crowd.

This is censorship, pure and simple. Well, maybe not all that pure. Censorship never is. Due to their experience with the restrictive English government, the framers of our constitution specifically included a ban on prior restraint in the First Amendment, which is an attempt to stop information from getting out there before the public has a chance to see it at all - exactly what is going on in this case.

Of course, this case really has very little to do with the First Amendment or censorship. CBS was, and still is, free to air the movie. That right is protected by the First Amendment, and the government has made no attempts to violate it. CBS has the right to air the "biopic" just like television viewers have the right to boycott The Reagans, CBS, and their advertiser's products.

Now, Barbra Streisand doesn't really believe that there is government censorship at work, or at least that is what she freely admits in the very next sentence.

Of course, CBS as a company has the legal right to make decisions about what they do and do not air. However, these important decisions should be based on artistic integrity rather than an attempt to appease a small group of vocal dissidents. Indeed, today marks a sad day for artistic freedom - one of the most important elements of an open and democratic society.

So, just who is it that Barbra is mad at? First she blames the government for censoring CBS, when in fact it is merely the American viewing public who she tries to characterize as a small targeted arm of the VRWC, for putting pressure on CBS not to air the hit piece. Of course that is factually incorrect. There were no federal agents in black suits who showed up at CBS headquarters and forced them not to air the mini-series. No, it was the threat of losing advertising dollars during the November sweeps that got CBS to change it's mind.

Of course Streisand also recognizes this as she blames CBS for not basing their decisions purely on "artistic integrity" when deciding what they want to put on the air. Streisand may have a right to be mad at CBS for caving to market pressure, however since she isn't the one that has to answer to CBS/Viacom shareholders, she really doesn't have a dog in the fight. As a publicly traded company, the shareholders rule the roost and they are primarily interested in money.

If Streisand really thinks that CBS' motive is "artistic integrity" (instead of money) she is dumber than was previously thought. Barbra and her boy toy James Brolin are just the window dressing used to bring in the viewers who pay the bills. When they fail to capture the attention of the masses, they put themselves in jeopardy of being fired; which is exactly what happened to the producers of Brolin's film. She can be mad at CBS for shit-canning him if she wants, but in the end, it was the artists and their "artistic integrity" who failed CBS by producing an un-marketable product. They have no one to blame but themselves.