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Campaign 2008 could well be the hinge that swings open the door to the future of the American Republic – and arguably to the survival of the planet – or it may slam the door shut. (To do the work necessary to cover this historic election, we at Consortiumnews.com need your help.)
While the choice between Barack Obama and John McCain is surely not a perfect one – both candidates have weaknesses and strengths – they nevertheless represent clear choices on crucial questions about how a Republic must function and how America should approach the world. Though McCain often highlights his “maverick” ways, the Arizona senator says he will continue most of President George W. Bush’s key policies, including the open-ended “war on terror” and restructuring the U.S. Supreme Court to ratify the neoconservative vision of an all-powerful president. Though Obama has waffled in recent weeks, the Illinois senator still vows to take a less confrontational approach toward international crises and favors restoring the constitutional checks and balances that Bush has disdained. Obama also promises a more aggressive approach from the federal government toward developing alternative energy, reducing global warming, and providing health-care coverage for Americans. McCain would prefer using tax incentives and more market-oriented approaches to the problems. Beyond these policy questions, Campaign 2008 will test whether the U.S. political process can face up to the historic challenges ahead and perform in a more serious manner than it has in recent elections. Surely, shrewd political operatives will be out in force again seeking to manipulate information and smear reputations. During the first phase of this election year, we have already seen plenty of that. Which is where Consortiumnews.com comes in. Challenging Propaganda During our 12-plus years as an investigative news site, we have consistently challenged the propaganda and political “oppo” used to confuse and mislead the American people. Unlike many news outlets, we have not been afraid to stand against the herd, even when it’s in full stampede. For instance, in Campaign 2000 when both right-wing and mainstream news outlets were busy hazing Al Gore, we insisted on setting set the record straight and reported on the double standards that dominated that crucial election. We’ve done the same between election cycles. We challenged Bush’s bogus case for invading Iraq; we warned against his dangerous wishful thinking on war; and we issued alarms about Bush’s abuse of presidential powers and his mistreatment of detainees. [For details on our work, see our three latest books – Lost History, Secrecy & Privilege and Neck Deep.] Today, however, the challenge is even greater – and more urgent. For the American electorate, there is no longer any margin for error; there is no time left for the frivolous; there is no choice but to get serious. At Consortiumnews.com, we are ready to do our part. What We Can Do As regular readers may have noted, we continue to step up our production of stories and we are adding video content. Besides reaching our quarter-million “unique visitors” a month, our articles are re-posted at scores of Web sites across the Internet. Over the next four-plus months, our goal is to act as a sentinel making sure that political distortions and lies don’t go unchallenged. We also intend to continue giving our readers historical context, showing how past distortions of our American political traditions brought us to this dangerous moment. We must learn from that past. To do all this, we need your help. We are setting our mid-year fund-raising goal at $40,000, a modest amount to achieve all that we hope to do. But we know that times are tough – and we promise to stretch every dollar. So, please contribute what you can. You can make your tax-deductible donation by credit card online or by mailing a check to: Consortium for Independent Journalism (CIJ) (For readers wanting to use PayPal, you can address contributions to our account, which is named "[email protected].") As a thank-you gift for donations of $100, we will send you an autographed paperback copy of our latest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush. (Or, if you prefer, you can request a substitution of either Robert Parry’s Lost History or his Secrecy & Privilege.) For donations of $150 or more, we will send you an autographed gift copy of the hard-cover Neck Deep. (Or you can request a substitution of one of the other books – or one of the few remaining copies of Robert Parry’s Trick or Treason – while supplies last.) As always, thank you for your support. Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, was written with two of his sons, Sam and Nat, and can be ordered at neckdeepbook.com. His two previous books, Secrecy & Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq and Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth' are also available there. Or go to Amazon.com. To comment at Consortiumblog, click here. (To make a blog comment about this or other stories, you can use your normal e-mail address and password. Ignore the prompt for a Google account.) To comment to us by e-mail, click here. To donate so we can continue reporting and publishing stories like the one you just read, click here. |
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