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The Best Investigative Journalist Money Can't Buy By Mike Hersh Journalist / author Greg Palast's reporting has appeared in the
Washington Post, Harper's Magazine, the Observer, the BBC, the
Guardian (UK) and several other publications. He is currently working
with Martin Luther King III and the NAACP to protect voters' rights just
in time for the rapidly approaching elections. Palast
won Britain's highest journalism honors for his 1998 undercover
investigation of influence peddling within Tony Blair's cabinet - by Enron
and other US corporations. He then turned his sleuthing skills on to the
Bush money trail: uncovering for BBC and The Observer the
uncomfortable truths of how the Bush Administration quashed investigations
of Saudi financing of terror* - and Poppy Bush's extraordinary methods for
stuffing his bank account and his son's campaign coffers. Palast
remains consistently a year or more ahead of the headlines, breaking
critical stories others fear to investigate including: How Enron cheated,
lied, and swindled its way into an energy monopoly.* How the Bush family
stole the election in Florida* with violations of voting rights including:
illegal voter purges, registrations collecting dust, millions of missing
ballots, and the Bush Brothers' plan for the "Floridation" of
our elections called the "Help America Vote Act." Recently,
Palast got his hands on the secret State Department "Iraq
Strategy" document - the blueprint for a free-market Disneyland of,
by and for Washington insiders and lobbyists - outlining the real reasons
our troops are putting their lives on the line in Iraq today. Previous
editions of Palast's The Best Democracy Money Can Buy uncovered the
calamitous lapses in national security leading up to the September 11,
2001 terrorist attacks. Palast essentially wrote the report the 9/11
Commission should release - but won't. Reviewers
praised previous editions. The Tribune wrote: "Investigative
journalist Greg Palast has uncovered scandal, fraud, corruption, and lies
in the highest seats of power from the White House to corporate America.
[Palast is] Known in Britain as 'the greatest investigative reporter of
our time. [In his] polemical indictment of globalization and political
corruption ... Palast updates the muckraking tradition with 21st century
targets such as oil treaties, energy concerns and corporate
evildoers...." Michael
Moore, Oscar Winner for Bowling for Columbine based much of his
upcoming movie Fahrenheit 911 on Greg Palast's reporting which he
calls "Courageous!" Joe Conason, reporter and best-selling
author says, "We need a dozen more Greg Palasts." Noam Chomsky,
activist, author and iconoclast says Palast "Annoys all the right
people." Including Katherine Harris, Bush's infamous 2000 Florida
Campaign Co-Chair who claims Palast is "Twisted and maniacal."
Activist, comedian, and actor Janeane Garofalo says Palast uncovers
"The whole truth." And he does. I
interviewed Greg Palast April 19. He explained that he felt compelled to
re-re-release this new Expanded Election Edition of his NY Times Best
Seller, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy because, "Sewage
keeps pouring out of the pipe." This is the third version of a book
that "gets newer - more urgent and topical everyday." Palast is
about to go back on the road again supporting the book. Here's the
interview: Hersh:
Let's discuss the major new topics in this edition: First - shades of 2000
- this is shaping up as another photo-finish election. Your website, http://www.gregpalast.com/
mentions "the Bush family fix for the election of 2004 - from bogus
voter lists to computer voting tricks, plus the story of 1.9 million
missing ballots." Palast:
The fix is in - as Kissinger says, "The issues are too important to
be left to voters." We've got the "Help America Vote Act."
When the Bushes say they're going to "help us vote" I get
worried. This takes the Katherine Harris Florida purge nationwide. I've
been working with Harvard University statisticians whose research revealed
one million Black people cast votes which were voided - thrown out for no
reason. This computerized voting will make things worse. This is all known
well in advance. It's intentional. Hersh:
I heard DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe interviewed on Air America radio, and
he said they understand the problems and have it all under control. I'm
not sure I have confidence in his confidence. Palast:
"Terry Mc" is the Party Chairman who led the party from peace,
prosperity and incumbency into defeat. I don't know why he's singing a
lullaby to voters while the pick-pockets are on the loose. This will be
worse than 2000. In 2000, they were just trying it out. They got away with
it, and it'll get worse. They still have the fake felon lists. They didn't
make any effort to fix it. Hersh:
Second, "the State Department's secret "Iraq Strategy"
document - that lays bare the true reasons our troops are still putting
their lives on the line." Palast:
Bob Woodward is saying they were planning to invade Iraq since 9/11. That
isn't news. This is: People in the White House were having meetings just
days after the inauguration. I've spoken with people who were *in the
room* when they discussed "selling off all of Iraq's state assets -
especially in oil and oil services." It's
the money a grab for the goodies. People like General Jay Garner and
others were fired for calling for elections. After about a year, you're no
longer liberators - you're colonizers. The French helped us get rid of the
Brits - then they left. That's the difference. It's
evil - the entire Middle East strategy under James A Baker III. Baker has
an office in the White House, and he's the lawyer for the Saudis against
the 9/11 victims. Why can't the victims have any representation in the
White House? Hersh:
Third, "The War on Terror, the "Third Ring" and the
billion-dollar bonanza for George Bush's political pals to set up a new
American KGB." How are Bush's cronies cashing in on this? Palast:
It's "Fear for Sale." People are concerned with the Total
Information Awareness Project and Big Brother. It's even worse than that.
I'm concerned about "berserker brother." No
bid contracts for gizmos and gadgets - smoke and mirrors - supposedly to
prevent another attack. This is the new duck and cover. Hersh:
I remember those during the Cold War. "Feel good" measures which
didn't protect anyone. This is more of the same? Palast:
We're spending $billions on programs to look the other way. They're
spending money to maintain passenger lists to trace hijackers using their
own names. They did that last time. They're tying their shoelaces
together. When they fall over we all get hurt. Hersh:
When they fall over buildings will fall over. Palast:
And they're trying to accuse John Kerry of impotence vs. terror - painting
Kerry as Osama. Hersh:
They did that against Tom Daschle and others. What is the "Third
Ring" of security? What do you mean by "new American KGB?" Palast:
We're all getting caught in this spider's web. It's not about security
it's about control. I'm getting this information from contracts and
documents - Homeland Security - it's very clear they're going to be your
"political proctologists." This is misuse of information. This
isn't going to find a single terrorist. The purpose is political control.
This is about going after dissent. Choice
Point - the same company that came up with fake felons list in Florida -
is going to be using fake felon lists to stop dissent. They're now in
Venezuela and Brazil. They're stealing personal files of citizens of Latin
America when none of the terrorists came from there. They're not
investigating the guys who lent their credit cards to the hijackers. Hersh:
More on Election 2004. Any comments on John Kerry? Is he a liberal? Palast:
He's a warm body - I hope he'll come back to life. He looks like Lurch
from the Adams Family. Even Richard Nixon ran as a peace candidate [in
1968]. Why can't Kerry with his Vietnam War record lead us out of war? Hersh:
I see him as more like the Tree People from the Lord of the Rings - the
Ents. Palast:
*Laughs* Hersh:
Any comments about the rise and fall of Howard Dean? Palast:
The Powers That Be were uncomfortable with him. He was scary. He didn't
owe anything to the DLC or Terry McAuliffe, but he showed how taking a
position on issues can make a difference. Kerry took all his best lines. Hersh:
How about Dean's announced intention to "break up" media
conglomerates? I noticed the next day the press coverage - which was never
that great - turned ugly. He never got another positive story. Palast:
Bill Clinton bought the affection of the media when he gave away $50
billion of our TV spectrum to the corporations. We can't outbid Bush in
that arena. FCC Chairman Michael Powell is more powerful than his father.
He knows if you've been bad or good. He's the "enforcer." If you
don't do the administration's bidding he can punish you. Hersh:
Any thoughts about Dean's "Democracy for America" effort to
transform his email lists and blogger army into a secular, mainstream
version of Pat Robertson's political empire? Palast:
That's what Ralph Nader should have done. Nothing changes except from the
grassroots up. It's about time someone is doing this. The first time a
politician made the goal a continuing movement instead of just running for
office. Hersh:
About Ralph Nader's decision to run again? Palast:
This is the 1st guy in history who ever invited an entire nation to join a
midlife crisis. He should just go off-shore and declare himself president
of his own island. Hersh:
9/11 - coverage and the Commission - Questions asked and not asked - are
they doing their job? Palast:
They're missing the key issue. It's not about the screw ups. It's about
Bush stopping the investigation of the Saudis. He didn't want to offend
his benefactors. Bush gets away with a lot with his dumbbell grin. The
most dangerous mistake people make is they assume Bush is dumb. He's not
dumb. He's the front man for bigger forces. We've got an unelected puppet
government operating here. This
is the Big Stuff: The Saudis financed the Pakistani nuclear weapons
program. Saudi Billionaires in 1996 in Paris provided funding for al
Qaeda. It was more like protection money after the fact. Bush made sure
our intelligence services couldn't follow the money. They were blinded.
This is what's important: What Bush didn't know, didn't want
to know, not what he did know before 9/11. Bush's willful failure to know. Hersh:
He didn't want to make waves with the Saudis? Palast:
Agents told me, the "fastest way to end your career" in the CIA
was to investigate the Saudis. The Saudis assured us al Qaeda was paid off
and Bush ordered our national security agencies to "back off"
the Saudis as I reported on BBC's TV program Newsnight.* Hersh:
Any comment on Richard Clarke, his book, testimony, appearances on TV? Palast:
Where was the American press? This information has been out there. No one
would report on it. He had to print the story himself. Hersh:
How about Condoleezza Rice - her performance as National Security Advisor?
Her testimony and appearances? Palast:
Rice's outright lies about how the attacks using planes were not
foreseeable. Law enforcement in the Philippines arrested al Qaeda and
found plans to use airplanes as weapons. Her criticism of Clarke? Clarke
wasn't National Security Advisor. Rice was. Agents
were looking into Saudi funding of Pakistani nukes. I'd like to ask her,
"Why was that investigation killed?" Clinton's National Security
Advisor Sandy Berger told Saudis to stop funding al Qaeda. He sent two
missions to Riyadh. Why didn't you? Hersh:
How about Cheney and Bush testifying together? Palast:
Here Kerry has an opportunity to say, "When I'm President and I get
asked a question, I won't have to wait until my Vice President can hold my
hand and whisper the answer in my ear." I'm running late. I have to
go. See you in DC. Hersh:
Thanks for your time! I'll see you in DC. Buy
the Expanded Election Edition of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
with an all-new additional chapter; the hottest and latest material with
details for the topics discussed in this article and more. Catch
Greg Palast's book tour: 4/25
Cedar Grove, NJ Check
the online calendar for
more information about events in the cities above and to purchase tickets
for select events at http://www.gregpalast.com/calendar/ * Watch / listen to Greg Palast broadcasts and interviews on these topics at http://www.gregpalast.com/ ©
Copyright 2004 by MikeHersh.com |
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