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Age of Obama
Barack Obama's presidency

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George W. Bush's presidency since 2007

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George W. Bush's presidency from 2005-06

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George W. Bush's presidency, 2000-04

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The secret world of Defense Secretary Gates

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Bush Bests Kerry

Behind Colin Powell's Legend
Gauging Powell's reputation.

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Recounting the controversial campaign.

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Is the national media a danger to democracy?

The Clinton Scandals
Behind President Clinton's impeachment.

Nazi Echo
Pinochet & Other Characters.

The Dark Side of Rev. Moon
Rev. Sun Myung Moon and American politics.

Contra Crack
Contra drug stories uncovered

Lost History
America's tainted historical record

The October Surprise "X-Files"
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You Can Invite Ray McGovern & Bob Parry to Speak to Your Group

Do you want to bring the "New Bob and Ray Show" to your city, town, campus or church?

Call Diane Duston:
703-203-8957

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern and investigative reporter Robert Parry are teaming up as a unique speaking duo to provide insights into what’s going on in Washington today -- and what went wrong with the United States over the past few decades.

This is:

  • Partly a response to requests from our readers that we create opportunities for more give-and-take with a broader national community;
  • Partly our wish to escape the political suffocation in Washington and to learn from you what's going on outside the Beltway; and
  • Partly the pressing need to supplement fundraising for the Consortiumnews.com Web site.

Though coming from different fields – intelligence and journalism – McGovern and Parry have been truth-tellers when telling the truth in Washington wasn’t easy or popular.

Ray McGovern was a 27-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency who objected to what he saw occurring inside the CIA’s analytical division, the distortion of intelligence for political reasons. As those lies misled the United States into overseas calamities, McGovern spoke up, offering fact-based, rather than faith-based, analysis.

As a private citizen -- after his retirement from the CIA -- he famously confronted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in an impromptu four-minute, live-TV debate about the lies that were used to justify the Iraq War.

Robert Parry, who has covered Washington for more than three decades for news organizations including the Associated Press and Newsweek, led the way in exposing the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s (as well as breaking stories on contra-cocaine trafficking, the Iraq-gate scandal and the October Surprise controversy regarding Republican misconduct in Election 1980).

But he couldn’t abide a mainstream U.S. news media that increasingly shied away from telling difficult truths. He refused to play the career games to get ahead.

The Truth-Tellers

In recent years, both McGovern and Parry turned to non-traditional ways of honoring the principles of their professions and their commitment to the American people.

In 1995, Parry started the first Internet investigative magazine, Consortiumnews.com, to create a home for well-reported journalism that defied Washington’s timorous and vapid “conventional wisdom.” For 14 years, the Web site has delivered consistently high-quality articles on important topics to millions of readers around the world.

Parry's reporting has specialized in examining key turning points in modern American history and revealing the untold stories of those crucial moments. He's compiled much of this information in his last three books: Lost History, Secrecy & Privilege and Neck Deep (the last one co-authored with two of his sons, Sam and Nat).

McGovern co-founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity to challenge the politicized intelligence that was emanating from the CIA and other co-opted intelligence agencies.

His Internet commentaries became must-reads for anyone looking for a truthful account of the news. On occasion, he even found his way into the mainstream press and onto Jim Lehrer’s “News Hour” and “The Charlie Rose Show.”

Several years ago, McGovern and Parry teamed up when McGovern began to publish his articles at Consortiumnews.com and when Parry joined McGovern to give occasional talks – with plenty of Q&A – at the request of a faith-in-action community associated with the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington.

This “New Bob and Ray Show” proved popular, mixing friendly banter and off-beat humor with the serious business of analyzing the news of the day and providing historical perspective on how the United States ended up in its current predicament.

Now, you will have a chance to bring McGovern and Parry to speak to your organization.

Besides offering an enjoyable and informative evening -- examining the many challenges of today's Obama Era -- an important goal of the “New Bob and Ray Show” is to raise funds to keep the independent news Web site, Consortiumnews.com, alive.

Speaking fees -- set at a sliding scale for non-profit, university and for-profit organizations -- will go to the Web site’s parent, Consortium for Independent Journalism (CIJ), and from there will support the journalism at the Web site. CIJ is a 501-c-3 non-profit that can accept tax-deductible donations.

(Hint: Honoraria will be set no higher than 5 percent of what Colin Powell draws for his lucrative speeches on leadership.)

For details on how to bring the “New Bob and Ray Show” to your city, town, campus or church, contact Diane Duston at 703-203-8957.


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