VB: The money came in from Canada. So it may sound presumptuous of me to say this, but this, I think, is an important story, because it is a snapshot glimpse of a nation, I think, in serious decline, with freedom of speech and expression supposedly being our most cherished constitutional right, and we say we're, what, the land of the free and the home of the brave? What has happened with my book, I think, throws into question the present vitality of both of these assumptions.
Three people independently of me told me essentially the same story, and it's something I hadn't thought about, and what they said is, "Mr. Bugliosi, the reason they're not having you on television is because of who you are." And I said, "What do you mean by that?" And they said, "Well" -- three people independently at separate times and essentially the same words. Obviously they didn't use the same words, but essentially the same words. They said, "If some nut wrote a book with a title like this, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, (we) would probably have him on because it's colorful, it's entertaining, it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't go anywhere. But you're a very serious person, and you write very serious books." And in all of my true crime books -- and I wrote about the biggest crimes of the twentieth century, the Manson case, the Simpson case, the Kennedy assassination -- I prove my case beyond a reasonable doubt.
So the right wing certainly does not want me on their shows talking about prosecuting the guy they love so much for first degree murder, where he may end up on death row. And even if they haven't read the book, they know my reputation in the area of criminal law, and they know what I do in my other books. They probably feel it's the same type of book. He's proving his case beyond a reasonable doubt, so they don't want to give voice -- they don't want to help me give voice to my message. And these three may be right.
The reality is that if you're unknown and less effective, you can get published and heard. If you're well known and highly effective, you're not allowed to disagree.
For a book of this nature, people take me seriously, because I write very, very serious books, and I can say this. This book is identical to every other true crime book I've ever written. Some people have said it's my greatest true crime book. I'm not going to say that one way or the other. It's certainly my most powerful, explosive book.
What I'm saying, Michael is that this book is identical. I present the evidence with powerful inferences and the law, the applicable law. I present the evidence and the applicable law to prove my case. That's the only way I'm capable of writing.
MC: 130,000 have sold right now, or it's probably above that, isn't it?
VB: I really don't know what the number is, but the book is a best seller. It's number ten this week on the New York Times, and that number is not a particularly high number for me, but I can tell you that the publisher is ecstatic about it, because they say, "Vince, come on. This is incredible. You've been essentially blacked out by the mainstream media, and you're still a New York Times best seller."
Why am I a best seller? Well, one reason is the tremendous word of mouth the book has been given. Number two, people like you, Michael, who are giving me a voice to convey my message to the American people. And progressive radio. By the way, that New York Times article, my publicists were high fiving it back there before it came out. They thought it was going to open up the media to me, because of The New York Times article. I'm proud of them, because they're at the pinnacle of the mainstream establishment, and they've kind of chided the rest of the media for blacking me out. It did not open up the media at all, or hardly at all. I was on one show -- what's the -- not McDougall.
MC: On television?
VB: Cavanaugh, Scavanaugh --
MC: Oh, Scarborough.
VB: Scarborough. I was on the Scarborough show early in the morning.
CNN came to the house and talked to me for a couple of minutes on the blackout, very, very little, and then they wanted to do a regular interview with me. And they were disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful. They interviewed me for around 20 minutes, taped it, and then they put four and a half minutes out there that basically almost converted it into a pro Bush piece
What they did is they totally bastardized the 20 minutes. And this was CNN. Now, people have asked me, "What's the genesis of all this?" And I'm no authority on this, because I haven't studied contemporary history, but I can tell you just my sense, it's the despicable right wing in America. They have transformed this country into a nation where people like myself -- and many other people said the same thing -- for the first time ever do not feel 100 percent comfortable. They have transformed us into a nation where someone as honorable and decent as Mario Cuomo could say, "I respect Rush Limbaugh," an uncommonly loathsome individual.
MC: I had not read that until I read it in your book. I was stunned.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
