In a September 21, 2003 article written by Times Staff writer James Bates, James Cromwell in commenting about the opponents to Consolidation stated “If we had come up with a cure for cancer they would have voted against it.”

A Local branch President in a scurrilous e-mail stated unequivocally that “If Melissa Gilbert brought a referendum in favor of oxygen to a vote of the membership, Kent McCord would raise $50K to send you a glossy flyer enumerating the ways in which breathing will kill you.”

And in the most outlandish statement as reported by Variety Magazine, SAG board members Richard Dreyfuss and Mike Farrell issued a similar attack in a recent message: “Some will object, we assume, to anything!”

Now we at SAG Watchdog wondered if these accusations were true. Would consolidation opponents vote against a cure for cancer. Would Kent McCord raise $50 K to send a glossy flyer enumerating the ways in which breathing will kill you. And would opponents object to anything. For instance would they object to getting a million dollar residual check? Would they object to winning an academy award? And, Would they object if they didn’t have to pay a fifty dollar co-payment every month for health insurance?

Anyway to answer these questions, SAG Watchdog did a survey among Consolidation opponents to find out if the above Pro Consolidation statements were true.

In our state of the art scientific survey conducted by a professional E-mail service, We asked opponents if they would have voted against a cure for cancer, or would in fact object to anythingto please hit the ol’ reply button, and e-mail SAG Watchdog with a “yes” response! If they would NOT have voted against a cure for cancer–and would NOT object to anything, we advised them to not respond!

We did not receive a single response proving once and for all that the above outlandish allegations by the hyperbolic Pro Consolidation crowd were not based on scientific data. The SAG Watchdog Survey has a margin of error of Zero.

SAG Watchdog award winning Editor & Chief A.L. Miller

PS, Kent McCord has already assured SAG Watchdog that he would NOT raise 50 K to send out a glossy flyer enumerating the ways which breathing will kill you. However he did remind members to stay indoors when there is a smog alert.

The following was sent to Morgan Paull, alias Captain MP, who originally brought this story to SAG Watchdog’s attention! Its sender is National Assistant Executive Director Pamm Fair, whom we assume speaks for the Guild and President Gilbert:

—–

—– Original Message —–

It seems these, folks, just can’t help themselves. They always have to blame the little guy or gal rather than taking responsibility for their actions. So, it was a mistake. Hmmm.

Ah, lets see, the assistant was sitting around with nothing to do, so what the heck, the assistant wrote the bogus ! You know, just for laughs! Ah, and then quite by accident the assistant mistakenly hit the ‘send’ button– and OOOOPS !

Oh, well, we can all ‘feel’ for poor Melissa. After all, good help is hard to find these days. On the plus side, she didn’t have to take down the pictures of her kids from her SAG office wall.

SAG Watchdog Editor and Chief
A.L. Miller

PS: Just for the record any mistakes on this website, either in the past or the future, are the fault of my assistant !

Oct. 1, 2003
6 :30pm

On behalf of the Screen Actors Guild, Melissa Gilbert and James Cromwell are getting a large group of high-profile actors together for an anti-recall news conference this Friday, October 3 at noon. They’d love it if you could be there. The actual location is being determined.

The purpose of the news conference is to let California voters know that you will be voting “NO” on the recall on Election Day, October 7. It will NOT be a pro-Governor Davis event, nor an Arnold-bashing event. In fact, it’s not supporting or opposing any of the almost 135 gubernatorial candidates. It’s to let people know that you are opposed to the recall based on principle because you believe that it is dangerous for the future of our state and country; that it’s an attack on American democracy.

We’re trying to get this together quickly, so time is of the essence. Please feel free to pass this on to other high-profile actors that you think would like to be a part of this. If you can participate on Friday at noon, please call Melissa at home tonight (818) 880-****, or at work tomorrow (323) 549-6610.

Thanks so much,

Kat Lewis
Assistant to President Melissa Gilbert
Screen Actors Guild

Well, apparently the “you-know-what” hit the fan! And in a quick turnaround, the following missive was e-mailed!

-Original Message—–
From: Kat Lewis [mailto:klewis@sag.org]
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2003 3:16 PM
To: Kat Lewis
Subject: Re: From Melissa Gilbert/James Cromwell-Time sensitive

The email you received last night regarding a SAG anti-recall event was sent in error. As is our longstanding policy, Screen Actors Guild has NOT taken a position on this recall, nor have we endorsed any candidates. Melissa and James are not participating in the press conference. We regret any confusion this miscommunication caused.

—

You’ll notice that the first e-mail with great relish detailed who the e-mail was on behalf of– and who it was from in the body of the text. On the other hand, in the second e-mail, it was like no one wanted to have anything to do with it! Basically a big “Ooops!” with no explanation.