The Exclamation Point at the End of the Story
Americans have a desperate need to believe. We want to trust our government and our leaders. Our default position is to accept without too much questioning the assertions of our presidents and the institutions of our government. Few of us are easily convinced yet today that America was involved in assassinations and the deposing of democratically-elected leaders of other nations, and as Hamas drops rockets into Israel and Israeli troops sweep through Gaza we conveniently ignore the incontrovertible fact that it was the policies of our outgoing president that put Hamas into power.
Our citizens are not big on context. When the Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers overthrew the U.S. puppet Shah Reza Pahlevi in 1979 and occupied the American embassy, we accepted the characterizations our leaders gave us that the Ayatollah was a madman. Perhaps, he was, but he was a madman of our own devise, whose foundational power grew from the CIA's overthrow of a democratically-elected leader in the early 1950s, a man who was nationalizing energy company assets. The Shah became our boy, bought billions of dollars of our armaments, let us have his country's oil, tortured his opposition with U.S-trained forces, and was no real threat to Israel. High school history class, however, leaves out that part and the journalism that covered it, rare though it was, went largely ignored. The Ayatollah was a lunatic, our enemy, a threat to global peace, and that was all the American taxpayers needed to hear. Give us a bad guy so we can be good.
America's role as the unwavering good guy is a mythology that has sustained us but may ultimately be our ruin. We are not the knights of perpetual goodness on steeds of democratic glory saving the world from tyranny. Often, we have played the opposite role. Unfortunately, as the eight years of the Bush administration are coming to a close, we seem to still want to believe in our own righteousness, instead of scrutinizing our government's behavior in our name. The founders, of course, had a different construct in mind. The United States became a nation on the premise of the simple notion that there was nothing more patriotic than the act of questioning authority, and that is the only way it will survive as a country of free people.
Working people tend to turn to the media to handle this responsibility for our democracy. This is our mistake. There is, of course, as the wise man said, "no such thing as a free press unless you own one." America's media are generally owned by the corporate entities that have interests that do not serve the public. Consequently, when Brit Hume and Brian Williams and Wolf Blitzer intone their stenographic journalism based upon the White House's message of the day, we are all misled. Those who go further are shouted down or vilified as unpatriotic and ridiculed for not wearing flag pins on their lapels. Global conflict is reduced to the simplicity of a football game under the Friday Night Lights.
We cannot easily undo our failures as a democracy. We can, however, reduce the odds of repeating them, and the best place to start that process is by reading Russ Baker's epic new book Family of Secrets. Baker is independent and unafraid, two characteristics needed for unfettered journalism, and he has been relentless in pursuing the damning details that other reporters have either misunderstood or ignored. Baker's investigation into the Bush family and its self-serving influence over American policy is profoundly disturbing and immediately important as the spinners try to reframe the disaster of George W. Bush's tenure in the White House. As an investigator and as a writer of compelling narrative, Baker has created, in my estimation, an almost unequaled standard in political reportage. He has refused to accept conventional wisdom regarding the Bush family and the failed son they made president. There is no way any reasonable person can reject what Baker reports.
I confess that I was prepared to be dismissive. When Baker first approached me about an interview and to offer what little insight I had on years of covering the Bushes in Texas, my reaction was that he was too late and that the public had been worn out by the publishing deluge prompted by George W's incompetence and lying. Why did we need another book on the Bushes? After reading Family of Secrets that answer is abundantly obvious: we did not know the truth. I think we do now and Russ Baker has given it to us in a brilliant book that that will be impossible for any sensible American to ignore. In almost every key moment of American history over the past half century, Baker has turned up witnesses and documents that lead to a different view of everything from Watergate to Vietnam, the Kennedy assassination, George W's National Guard fiasco, and the disinformation that led to the invasion of Iraq.
I considered myself well informed on both Presidents Bush but Baker has proved that even those of us close to the subject need to reconsider the facts and to do otherwise is to jeopardize the value and purpose of our democracy. In the years that it has taken him to create this masterwork, Baker has uncovered new evidence and witnesses, which both offer a different perspective on the political ascent of the Bush family and how their greed and lust for control has affected our democracy. The reporting in this book will leave any reader doubting everything they have ever heard from the news media and they will become convinced, page after page, footnote after footnote, quote after quote, that everything we thought we knew about the Bush family and American history in the past 50 years was wrong.
As Karl Rove, Joe Allbaugh, Karen Hughes, Mark McKinnon, Dan Bartlett, Condoleeza Rice and the rest of the outgoing administration go about their immoral task of trying to secure a more positive Bush legacy, let them confront the truths as revealed in Family of Secrets History will not abide any further distortions of the Bush record, and when researchers seek to understand what happened to our country under the Bush family regime, let's hope they find their way to the phenomenal work of Russ Baker. Family of Secrets is much more than a non-fiction narrative of political history; Baker has created an historical document that is, ultimately, an act of courageous patriotism for a nation in need of self-examination and the truth.
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The problem is not that the Truth about things isn't out there - the problem is that there is, if not ignorance and stupidity, subterfuge regarding said Truth.
It then devolves upon Joe & Mary (Six-pack) to make the decision about whether or not to put eggs in a particular basket, so to speak.
Unfortunately, Joe & his wifey a) aren't all that widely or well-educated, or b) inclined to be (not mentioning here the myriad factors that contribute to this).
It's easy to make a decision when your fears are being pandered to.
Unfortunately for us, there seems to be no shortage of folks willing to do just that.
Always remember, the average IQ of the electorate is 100. Maybe a smidge higher, since there are probably more voters with 130 than with 70 -- but I doubt there are enough people at either to change the curve much. And it's a heavily propagandized and distracted
Let me get this straight. A book about the leader of the strongest country in the world, whose greed and lust for control is unparalleled, whose ability to silence all who dare to criticize is all encompassing and whose family is more powerful and corrupt than all the Mafia families COMBINED!!!!! And, I can buy this book by the correctly named author w/ photo on the dust jacket on Amazon.com?
God, I love this country!
We may not be the greatest country in the world. Now, if you would just point to the country that IS greater, we'll know what our goals should be.
Canada!
In many ways, Canada.
The truly greatest in any sphere are humble and always willing to learn from others.
Like you're doing right now?
I agree!
Thank you, Jim. Some people might dismiss your words and Mr. Baker's book, which I will find and bring home by the end of the day.
When I "Pledge Allegiance" to our nation, the US, I do so as one among a crew on our ship of state which has listed so heavily starboard as to nearly swamp us, but in our foundering I have no other vessel on which to seek shelter and safety for my family.
I can not say for certain why I was so suspect of GWB over even Nixon, and so many others who have threatened our country before him. I can simply state that I was from the first moment I hard him speak in pursuit of the WH.
Thank you for raising the thoughts at this time, as the Regime is applying a coat of shellac. a decoupage o respectability to the most vile and criminal regime ever to have ruled over us.
Good riddance, ... but we must not forgive, nor forget what they continue to do to this country even today in their 11th hour.
W did crimes that make what Nixon (allegedly did -- read the book) seem like child's play.
It astonishes me to think that normal people think we should just walk away and not prosecute the former administration. They need to be tarred and feathered. They need to be in orange jumpsuits or our reputation in the world will continue to suffer. We cannot stand by and let W go off to Texas and live a normal life. No way. He needs to pay for the crimes committed.
Cheney laid down the gauntlet on national TV. Told us that he and the administration condoned the torture of prisoners. Watch the PBS Frontline "Cheney's Law." Read this Baker book.
Thanks for the recommendation - i just ordered it!
Thank YOU for posting the link to this blog, Babs. I just ordered it, too.
A summary:
1. Ayatollah Khomeini = not such a bad guy and a victim of American propaganda, but
Bush family = behind-the-scenes evil-doers and probable card-carrying Trilateral Commission members
2. Despite the staggeringly vast array of American perfidy which has escaped the attention of the public, Mr. Moore spent his time on "groundbreaking ten year investigation into the president's [George W. Bush] National Guard record." Seems like small pototoes.
3. I smell dusk jacket blurb.
National Guard record? The missing ones, you mean... the ones showing that GW Bush is our first-ever military deserter president?
Deserter-i
Its only "small potatoes" if you think that outrageous 'above the law' criminal behavior is OK.
But NOT a draft dodger! Thank you "Slick Willie"! And he didn't desert! I'm assuming you said he did because you've READ the missing records? Pure BDS!
While I have a backlog of reading to do, I'll certainly put "Family of Secrets" on my reading list. It sounds explosive, based on the Amazon book reviews. Given what I know already of the Bush family, it seems very credible. Thanks for the insight, James.
I get it: Family of Secrets exposes new material that the umpteen other books (and Michael Moore's much maligned movie) have supposedly missed. Okay then, why not mention some of these tidbits in your piece? Most of America is not buying the current Bush "final propaganda tour" to help shape his image or really cares at this point. Do we really need to waste our time reading another book that confirms our worst expectations and fears about this family?
Let's bring this back up in 2010 when brother Jeb tosses his (soiled) hat in the race.
We'll be ready for Jeb Bush when he crawls out from under his trust-fund rock to despoil the landscape. By 2012 the Bush name will be synonymous with murder, greed, cowardice, and stupidity. Count on it. And by the looks of recent photos, Jeb will weigh 400 pounds and will have a hard time getting out of a chair.
But... I thought it was a shining city on a hill, Grandpa...
Gee I wonder how this will compare to Laura Bush's biography.
It always was a myth. There were no good guys ever in your governemnt. The founding fathers were only looking after their own comercial interests. So far as the constitution goes. The old Soviet union had one that read just as good and was followed just as well as the American one. The one thing the old Soviet Union lacked was the propaganda machine in the US. They could not compete with Hollywood.
After reading said book I found it propaganda. It is not history. Each of us could find books to support our thinking, FDR was a communist, McCarthey was a hero, Hoover was a homosexual. The trick is to read mulitple historical sources. Many old adages prove why reading multiple sources is necessary for instance: There are two sides to every coin and history is written by the winner. If you letyourself fall prey to one way thinking you become a concpiracy nut.
I totally agree with considering many sources. I didn't know people thought Hoover was gay.
He never married; he left everything he owned to his long-time friend Clyde Tolson (an associate director at the FBI).
They worked together, ate together, went out together -- even vacationed together.
I didn't spend that much time with my ex and I'm straight.
After hearing about it I intend to purchase the book. Is it not truthful? Are there proven errors?
Seems to me that you defeated your own point since the book did not support your pre-conceived notions. Does that make it propoganda if you don't like it?
I usually base my opinions on differing sources and books that carry footnotes that are backed by proven documentation (freedom of information, past newspaper clipping, charts, etc...). If the guy says Bush did something wrong, I want to read something quantifiable to prove that its true. It's not propoganda, its an opinion until the point is proven or verifiable.
Another great book on how our government has been overthrowing sovereign nations for over 100 years is ...
"Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq" by Stephen Kinzer.
It really opened my eyes to how the government really isn't there for us -- we the people -- but for them, the corporations.
I used to be one of those people who believed our government was good and that a president wouldn't lie to us, especially when it came to war. That all ended with the whoppers Bush told in his 2003 State of the Union address.
Better late than never, I suppose. I'll never believe another politician as long as I live.
Nixon claiming he had no knowledge of Watergate was the whopper that did it for me.
That and the nightly "body counts" on CBS News. 4 American GI's dead, 159 VC. Night after night. At that rate we would have won the war in under 5 years, I reckoned. And I was only 11 years old.
I was a naive young airman in the service of our country and believed that our presidents were always 100 percent honest. Then suddenly Eisenhower lied about the U2 flights and was neatly caught when the Russians shot Gary Powers down over Russia. I was shocked, not because of the flights but because my hero had lied about them. My trust in presidents started crumbling then and is completely gone by now.
As whoppers go, I think the VP that claimed he "was out of the loop", then became president and pardoned those ' in the loop' is perhaps more of an eyebrow archer than the president who claimed "I did not have sex with that woman". But yeah, most US History is pretty damn disneyfied and one can suffer uncomfortable cognitive dissonance when you discover the other sides to a story.
Good post.
Just used my B&N Christmas gift card to buy the book. Thanks for presenting it to us.
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