Inside the Current Issue:

Comments or questions about the site?:
advocate webmaster

This site last updated on:
May 14, 2004

The current issue will be available online within 7 days of printed publication.

WBAI’s “Exception to the Rulers” Tour
kicks off in NYC

Paul McBreen

On Tuesday, April 13, supporters of alternative media filled the Cooper Union auditorium beyond capacity for the release of a new book by Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! The book, entitled The Exception to the Rulers, is Goodman’s first and was co-authored with her brother, David. According to its subtitle, the book exposes “oily politicians, war profiteers and the media that loves them.” Frequent listeners of her show (9 a.m. on 99.5 FM in New York and online at democracynow.org) will already appreciate the highly informative, non-commercial news style that characterizes the book.

The book tour, which will visit seventy cities, is a celebration of independent media across the country. The event at Cooper Union brought in other WBAI journalists, as well as actor/activist Tim Robbins, and Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel Muhti. Muhti was freed just the day before after being detained for two-years without being charged of any crime. He was detained following immigration sweeps in the months after the September 11, 2001 attacks, but due to that fact that he is a stateless Palestinian, there are legal questions as to whether (and to where) he could be deported. During his imprisonment, Muhti was sometimes kept in solitary confinement, and was also moved from one location to another in order to make contact with his lawyer difficult. Stories such as Muhti’s are commonly heard on WBAI and Goodman’s show.

Exception to the Rulers probes behind the scenes to tell the real stories of the players involved in the contemporary war industry. For instance, a May 2003 bombing that took place in a residential area in Saudi Arabia and killed 34 people was described simplistically by the Bush administration and mass media: a senseless, incomprehensible slaughter of innocent people. Amy Goodman reveals the precise political target behind the bombing, which went completely ignored elsewhere: an American security firm, Vinnell Corporation, a recipient of contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan worth $48 million in 2002 and 2003. This company also trains the mercenary forces of the Saudi Arabian National Guard. Dissident Arabs are not confused about Vinnell’s role—they see it as an American corporation keeping the despotic Saudi regime in power. Now owned by Northrop Grumman, Vinnell was formerly a property of President Bush Sr.’s Carlyle Group.

Goodman lists the names of these war-profiteering corporations, their chief executives and campaign contributions. Billions of dollars of US taxpayer money are now being awarded to these companies, often via no-bid, no-competition contracts. It gives one an uncomfortable feeling to see the names of these war profiteers in print, and to see how their narrow social-political-financial circles are conjoined.

Exception also aims criticism at the slavish corporate media, which have served as the cheerleader-in-chief for Coach W’s big tournament in Iraq:

To understand how the media shape the message, look at who the messengers are. The media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) did a study of the “experts” who appeared on-camera on the major network news shows during the critical week before and week after February 5, 2003-the day Secretary of State Colin Powell made his case to the UN Security Council for invading Iraq. This was at a time when 61 percent of Americans supported more time for diplomacy and inspections. The FAIR study found only 3 of 393 sources-fewer than 1 percent-were affiliated with antiwar activism. Three out of almost 40 interviews. And that was on the “respectable” evening news shows of CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS. (8-9)

According to Goodman, “We must build a trickle-up media that reflects the true character of this country and its people - a democratic media serving a democratic society.”

This book is a must-read for citizens who consider themselves informed. One can only gain from the truth.