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The award-winning
investigative journalist and author Gregory Palast first came to the
attention of this writer during the presidential election debacle in
2000. When I first heard of the voter purge, based on Greg’s coverage
and carried in my local newspaper on page A-22 in an AP article in early
December, I realized immediately that this story might well be the real
“smoking gun” of the “election.” More than the discounted over-votes
(some 100,000 or more), more than the butterfly ballots (a loss for
Gore of some 20,000 votes), more than the fraudulently wrought absentee
ballots (remember the Republican “operatives” working illegally in election
headquarters in two counties, illegally ‘fixing’ applications?), more
than “the bourgeois riot,” more than the “reproduced ballots” (imagine
that!), or the illegally counted absentee ballots from overseas (no
post-marks and arriving late)—this was the story that demonstrated clearly
an orchestrated attempt on the part of Republican operatives to steal
the state of Florida for Bush and thus the national election. My mind hasn’t
changed much since then, although even more salient crimes come to mind:
for example, the Supreme Court decisions based as they were on twisted
legal nonsense and obvious conflicts of interest. So Greg Palast came
to my attention and became a beacon, a light out of this horrible storm
known as the Bush coup now moving Eastward across the planet and visiting
its plague on the Middle East, bullying, bribing and threatening everything
in its path. Last night
I [Mike R.] appeared on the debut national Fox News radio show, Fox
News with Alan Colmes (a.k.a. “Faux News with Faux Liberal”). Alan asked
me why “I” (we) continue to harp on the stolen election and Bush’s illegal
and anti-democratic seizure of power. I tried to explain (although yelled
over) that what we witnessed in Florida is being played out in large
scale across the world. Bullying, lying, bribing, presenting faux evidence,
and god-knows-what else---this is how Bush got his position and this
extends his position, and this simply IS his position!
Is that so hard to understand? Is there no sense of history’s importance
and how it connects to and forecasts the present? Why the ahistorical
vacuum? Why not connect the dots—Bush is a liar, thief and a grand larcenist.
He was and continues to be one. He stole the election and has no regard
for democratic principles. He murdered retarded people in Texas and
will bomb helpless ones in Iraq. He will install a military puppet in
place of Hussein, and, to quote one of his ministers, “exploit the peace”,
i.e. the natural and strategic resources, of Iraq.
And, there’s a family pattern too. That should be recognized.
We on the “left” call it “congenital homicidal tendency.” It goes back
to Bush’s dad, who bombed Iraq mercilessly, and to his grandfather,
who funded the Nazis. The latter is a matter of public record. Just
ask the curator of the holocaust museum in Miami. In light of the importance of history and the connection
of issues, one to the other, Lori Price and I interviewed Greg Palast
this past weekend, to get his take on the way things have steadily grown
more horrible and deplorable since the Bush coup. This is something
the CLG predicted two years ago, and many voters, before that. After
all, “Stop Bush” signs were the clearest emblematic expression of the
“decision” to be made in the 2000 “election.” And “Stop Bush” is now
the rallying cry of the world at large. One saving grace is that Europe
isn’t cowed and propagandized daily by US rightwing pundits and pukes,
and has a mind of its own. So, we asked Greg some questions—about the
upcoming war, the coup attempt in Venezuela, the face of globalization
under Bush, the perception of Bush & Co. in the UK and the EU in
general, and more. As usual, Greg’s answers cut to the quick with wit,
humor and a lacerating accuracy that have had some of the ‘subjects’
of his investigations writhing in pain and back-lashing in scorn (but
without rebuttal). By the way, while the CLG is such an anachronism according to Alan Colmes, Greg Palast recommends (in the latest edition of his new book, and below) that his readers join us. We thank you, Greg. CLG: When you interviewed [Venezuela President,
Hugo] Chavez, what was your impression of him? Does he seem like the
maniac that the US media and the current US regime is making him out
to be? GP: Chavez
is the Nelson Mandela
of Venezuela and for five centuries, a white elite has controlled that
nation. And for the first time ever, the majority of Indian population
has elected their own president. At the end, he is their elected defender
and the fact that he has survived kidnapping and assassination attempts
orchestrated by the Bush Administration proves that he could not be
very crazy. The only indication that he is crazy is that he has taken
on the US oil companies. CLG: What proof exists of Bush complicity in
the coup attempt(s)? GP: For
example, Otto Reich of the US state department met with the coup plotters
just before the coup and US Ambassador [Charles S.] Shapiro met
with the coup leaders while they were holding the elected president
of Venezuela, hostage. CLG: What is the relationship between President
Chavez opponents and US oil companies? GP: The
leader of the failed coup d'etat Pedro Carmona is an oil industry executive
and lobbyist for the oil industry. This was as much a corporate takeover
of government as a coup d'etat. CLG: Speaking
of oil, Greg, what is the relationship of the proposed Iraqi War and
the oil industry? Do you think that the war is really about oil, or
is that just a leftist conspiratorial myth? GP: It's
not just oil. It’s the issue of water resources. Though most important,
is that Bush is using the war as a weapon of
mass distraction. We cannot find and we are not trying to hard to find,
Osama bin Laden, who is a true threat to America. And Bush has
successfully played ‘bait-and-switch’ with the public, putting
a turban and beard on Saddam, so that most Americans believe we are
attacking the guy who attacked us, while the real perpetrator is laughing
all the way to the bank. CLG: How will the war change
the oil relationships of the US? What will be the upshot, economically
and in terms of world opinion? GP:
It wouldn't change world
opinion at all because most of the world believes that George Bush the
'oil man' has once again, put his Texas oil buddies first. So, this
time, Exxon is going to have to make room for British Petroleum. CLG: Bush's budget proposals
for 2003 included no humanitarian aid for Afghanistan (congress
intervened and added $300m in humanitarian and reconstruction funds.)
Does this fact foreshadow a possible inconsistency with Bush's assertion
that he wants to ‘liberate Iraq’ i.e., a ‘faked’ concern? GP:
Well, we were told we were
liberating Afghanistan for democracy. In fact, we now have a country
run by a group of warlords and drug dealers. In 1991, Daddy Bush told
us we were liberating Kuwait for Democracy. I haven't seen the latest
election results from Kuwait. So now, for the third time, the bush family
is going to create another 'democracy'. Do they mean like Afghanistan
or do they mean like Kuwait? CLG: We at the CLG think that the US has undergone
a serious mutation in its history with the Bush coup and current drive
for a new imperialism. Do you see the US entering a wholly new stage
in history? GP: In
Bush's fantasy, yes. Which, he dreams of America as the world's sheriff.
But, American history shows that we are a people who have never been
comfortable with 'empire' and it is to great credit of the American
public, as Daniel Ellsberg says, that our government has to lie to us
to sell its policy. CLG: Greg, you've written an enormous amount about
globalization. Our question is: do you see any relationship between
globalization and the current regime in the US, or, would this same
process have continued regardless of the regime? GP: The
growing power of the World Bank and the IMF dictates the economic terms
to the developing nations. It has taken on a new meanness since the
'Bush-leaguers' came to office as we have seen, in the ever more brutal
treatment of Argentina, which is explained in my book. CLG: Greg, you've spent a good part of the last
few years in England. How would you characterize any change in opinion
about the US since Bush's policies for the world have become so apparent?
We know that there has always been a tradition of leftist anti-Americanism.
What changes have you noted in the rest of the political spectrum, with
reference to the US since Bush's coup? GP: Bill
Clinton is the most popular political figure in Europe. Without question,
if he agreed to it, he could be elected prime minister of England and
prime minister of France, tomorrow. George Bush has utterly destroyed
the good will toward America felt by most Britons and Europeans.
CLG: What can we expect in the coming edition of
your book? What new material is forthcoming? GP:
The new book comes out this
week, totally rewritten top to bottom, and twice as long --a special
new US edition. This is in paperback. We do have hope in America, because
through groups like CLG [Citizens for Legitimate Government, http://www.legitgov.org/], we do have an alternative
means of getting the information denied us by the mainstream corporate
press and a new method for organizing, rapidly, to counter the arrogance
of an unelected president. CLG: Greg, one possible criticism of your work is
that it gives us little hope of opposing the corporate global agenda.
How do you respond to this criticism? Do we have reason to be cynical?
What chance do activists have for exposing and opposing the Bush regime,
the World Bank, the IMF, globalization, etc.? GP: In
fact, in the new book, I recognize CLG criticism of my dark view and
I've corrected my ways. Therefore, the new edition has a brand
new ending with several pages of specific actions Americans can take
to counter the sense of helplessness. And, one of my recommendations
in my book is to join CLG. CLG:
Switching gears, you uncovered the (illegal) purging of 97,000 Florida
Voters by Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris before the 2000 Presidential
"Election". Is this covered in your book and can you
elaborate?
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