40 Years of Republican Playbook Dirty Tricks, and Arresting the Press for Asking a Question - Two Political Stories With Major Implications

by Robert Wilkinson

I ran across these on Truthout. They are both disturbing in different ways, but are related in one big way - the US is at severe risk of losing any pretentions of being a democracy, which of course affects the entire world. The first article outlines 40 years of the Republican playbook which places dirty tricks over honesty and demonstrates they are willing to make deals with anyone to throw an election their way. The second story concerns how an honest reporter was thrown in jail at the Repub convention simply for asking where her producers were. If you're not into politics, don't bother to comment, but then never ask for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for thee (and we all).

The first article is by the esteemed Robert Parry, titled How the Republicans Win. In it he speaks of how Nixon cut deals with the Vietnamese to sabotage the Paris Peace talks so he could win, and how LBJ and Hubert Humphrey knew but refused to tell the American public of Nixon's duplicity. He goes on to tell in detail how Reagan/Bush1 offered an arms deal to Yassir Arafat if he would hold up the hostage release until after the 1980 elections, and the efforts of Bush1 and Dubya to do nasty things to Clinton and Gore in their respective elections.

Of course we know of the "anything goes" lies spread about John Kerry in 2004. I wholeheartedly recommend that if you're into understanding how and why the US keeps "electing" neo-Fascists to the presidency, read this article in its entirely, and if you're really interested, Mr. Parry's books.

The second article is by the equally esteemed Leslie Griffith, titled Silencing the Town Crier. In this one she tells the story of Amy Goodman, host of one of the few "alternative" news shows called "Democracy Now." Hardly a voice in a television media dominated by O'Reilly and all the other screaming heads, this is a legit journalist that helps us all to get information we need in an era of overwhelming and strident rhetoric.

Leslie Griffith's article begins with a quote from Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of our democratic republic: ""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." Here's a few pieces from the article:

Voices of dissent have always restored balance after times of extreme, and if those voices are silenced, can we still call ourselves a democracy? Goodman is one of the few working news persons to ask tough questions of powerful people, and they don't like it.

This is the age of the bully, and those bullies don't want anyone showing America or the world that there is concern about where our country is headed. Bullies don't like discussion, and yesterday Amy Goodman was bullied right into the paddy wagon.

Today, many of those in power want to convince sleeping Americans that dissension is evil - that it's unpatriotic and should be feared. How can a country formed by revolutionaries not understand that there is no democracy when there is no free press?

To kill those who question is to kill democracy itself, and the end product is a dictatorship.

By all means, please go to the link and read the article, since the uber-authoritarians running our show still have the power to muzzle free speech and incarcerate people for exercising their Constitutional rights. As she so correctly writes, "The town criers of democracy are getting arrested," and without them, we cannot say we are an informed citizenry. Without information, we've lost our democracy.

Copyright © 2008 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Jilly]

Glenn Greenwald has some good Salon posts about this too.

Do you think when the Federal Gov't has power over people's health care, citizens will be likely to protest?

Local police are also becoming mighty militarized too, with all that $$ from the Department of Homeland Security enabling them to buy stupid toys. (that link also links to Greenwald)

Email me some poems :D

[libhomo]

The kidnapping and false charges against journalists is truly dangerous and unAmerican. People must not shut up about this one.

[dp]

This is such a paranoid post that I'm speechless.

[aa]

dp, if you aren't paranoid, you have not been paying attention...

[Jane]

If you are not paranoid and "scared", you have not been paying attention.
Great Article

[dcu]

I have also been following this story on Alternet and Common Dreams. It is deeply disturbing to say the least. Not to mention the fact that the MSM is not mentioning the 10,000 plus demonstrators in the streets of Saint Paul. At least with Pravda the people knew they were being lied to. But way too many people here still believe that the MSM is "fair and balanced."

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YTPybTJ5R5Y7dyzWP2LJ4KN%2BZ7bkyu7j

We have known of the Republican dirty tricks, but this is really scary stuff.
dcu

[Robert]

Here's Utne Reader on the 21st Century Police State where we get a snapshot of where things have been going. Lots of examples of police heavy-handedness and violating Constitutional rights. Though written a while ago, it hasn't gotten any less oppressive according to the story of an Utne intern at the Repub convention trying to get out of the way of RNC: Police Tear Gas and Arrest Protesters which reads like an old time Soviet roundup. Video there as well. Who will police the police?

[Juliet]

If you really want to see some incredible political information check out actor John Cusack's myspace page on the internet. It was quite an eye-opening experience for a political novice such as myself.

[s-s cusp 0 degrees number 11]

informationliberation.com click "multimedia" WARNING not for the faint of heart nor for those who prefer the luxury of living blind...