Gary Web R.I.P.

[SeattleRob]

Here's an link to Chapter 2 from the Excellent book, "Whiteout: the CIA, Drugs and the Press" by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffery St. Clair. I urge everybody who has a curiosity about the workings of our press corps to read this entrie piece.

Here's an except:


Another important point in the politics of this campaign is that Webb's fiercest assailants were not on the right. They were mainstream liberals, such as Walter Pincus and Richard Cohen of the Washington Post and David Corn of the Nation, There has always been a certain conservative suspicion of the CIA, even if conservatives ­ outside the libertarian wing ­ heartily applaud the Agency's imperial role. The CIA's most effective friends have always been the liberal center, on the editorial pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times and in the endorsement of a person like the Washington Post's president, Katharine Graham. In 1988 Graham had told CIA recruits, "We live in a dirty and dangerous world. There are some things the general public does not need to know, and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows."

Link for the entrie piece:

http://counterpunch.org/webb12172004.html

[jonnyblitz]

1. I have his other book, Dark Alliances, sitting right here.

As soon as I finish the book I am currently reading, I will read it...

[Robbien]

2. I wasn't aware reporters I admire joined in on the Jack Webb attack

I've always considered Walter Pincus, Cohen and David Corn be be ten steps ahead of me in knowing what the schemes are that BushCo are pulling. It is surprising they let themselves be used as tools of BushCo in censoring and controlling the media.

[SeattleRob]

3. I know - that surprised me

I am not sure if it is "Bushco" per se or if it has more to do with propping up the Washington establishment.

I think there is a kind of ruling class in our Nation's captiol who seem to close ranks to protect the status quo. I would cite the 9/11 Commission as a prime example of this type of behavior. They got
together and reached certain conclusions, but theree are still many reasonable unanswered questions about what actually happened on that horrible day.

I think Webb's reporting, and the implication that minority communities like South Central were the recipient of crack cocaine shipments, was a threat that shook the very foundation of the Washington Power elite.