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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From the Parochial to the Global,
By
This review is from: Derailing Democracy: The America the Media Don't Want You to See (Paperback)
Too often people become tragically insulated from the global picture by reading the sanitized mainstream media publications and watching equally sanitized news programs. David McGowan endeavors to expose willing Americans to the global picture. Relying significantly on reports from Amnesty International and statements from sources outside the sanitized mainstream, McGowan lays out his case. From global warning to crime and punishment, McGowan cites sources who possess the bold integrity to criticize in the expectation of helping build a stronger America.The Jeanne Kirkpatrick who mouthed the famous "Blame America first" quote would greet this book with revulsion. So will others who like to sugar coat the American political scene with Reagan style "Morning in America" pieties and admonitions to citizens to either "Love America or leave it!" McGowan believes, as do many of us, that to build a stronger country we must initially face up to problems that require corrective action. It would be nice to breathe cleaner air and provide greater numbers of Americans with a chance to live at a healthier, more prosperous level. We must pursue these goals rather than live in an insulated society devoid of critical commentary where people mouth pious platitudes to the status quo.
54 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The "Ugly American" just keeps getting uglier.,
By
This review is from: Derailing Democracy: The America the Media Don't Want You to See (Paperback)
Author David McGowan starts with the premise that despite well-published assertions of America having a Free Press, we, in fact, have quite the opposite. I would describe the so-called "mainstream" press as a self-serving choir that endlessly sings the praises of its corporate owners; harmonizing on the righteousness of the multi-national's shills in elected office; lulling the congregation to sleep with dulcet praises sung to the holiest of holies, an everlasting status quo. Dave much more mater-of-factly describes America's media as simply the greatest propaganda machine every built. "Derailing Democracy" pulls back the emerald curtain of biased non-reporting to reveal America's hypocrisy abroad and increasing tyranny at home. Taking a most unusual tack, McGowan dispenses with the usual Leftist editorializing, poignant point making and lamentary hand wringing and lets the facts speak for themselves. Not dry, boring facts, but infuriating, frightening, nauseating facts - a staccato barrage of statistics that shred smug complacency, blowing fatal holes through cherished illusions. "Derailing Democracy" is about 95% quotes, the overwhelming majority from credible and reliable sources outside the dominant media. For the state of American democracy presented in the book I found "Derailing Democracy" rather depressing; for very personal reasons I also found it darkly amusing. David McGowan considers himself a radical "leftist." I, as an author of Conspiracy Theory books, have been marginalized by the dominant media as a "right-winger." Yet, we are in virtually perfect agreement on nearly every subject addressed in this important book! Despite the media's attempts to obfuscate the facts; and trivialize and marginalize the few courageous voices who dare to speak out; The Problem remains The Problem, and the facts, although deleted and denied, remain the facts. "Left" and "right" biases are irrelevant. The right-wing and the left-wing have each seen and spoken out on these issues for decades, often unknowingly in agreement. Despite Dave's occasional pot-shots against "right-wing reactionaries" and "rightist repression," the genuine right (in contradistinction to the corporately controlled Republican Party which is often indistinguishable from the Democratic Party (which one is the "evil twin"? both!) Constitutionalists and Patriots are just as angry and frightened by the Draconian tactics of an out of control War on Drugs that is really a War on Liberty, Justice and Freedom, as any self-respecting Socialist, Social Democrat or pot-smoking hippy. If anything the Constitutionalists are even more righteously indignant, for these crimes being committed by our employees (government agents and officials) against us are being done in our name. It is only the bogus, myopic, self-described "middle" that is ignorant of the accelerating slide of America into Authoritarianism. America is quickly becoming a totalitarian state; one whose purpose abroad, stunningly documented by Dave, is not to spread democratic ideals but to place control of the wealth of nations into the hands of the control freaks who guide the ruling elite. Contrariwise, McGowan's choice use of damning quotes, reveals that the media has painted a smiley face over the "Crypt keeper" visage of the growing prison-industrial complex and the flood of new technologies that make Orwell's Big Brother look like a wuss. Read this book only if you want to know the unvarnished facts. "Derailing Democracy" is a quick, easy, and very disturbing read.
46 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scary - But A Must Read & Excellent Reference Resource,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Derailing Democracy: The America the Media Don't Want You to See (Paperback)
I grew up believing that my country's government was good and could be trusted to do what was right, and it hurts to learn that that is no longer so (if it ever was). I trusted Ted Koppel and Peter Jennings and Mike Wallace and Hugh Downs and others. Now I learn on page 13 that the CIA owns "everyone of any significance in the major media."I learn that the country I have been and want to be proud of is a rogue state that has one of the world's worst records on human rights. I learn about the many, many steps our executive, legislative, and judicial branches have taken to chip away at our civil rights and our civil liberties. I learn that my country is well on the way to becoming a police state. I don't want to believe all the terrible things McGowan tells about my country, but he has carefully documented what he says, so that denial is not rationally possible. I wish this book were a compendium of vicious lies, but unfortunately it is a compendium of appalling truths. Ignorance of these awful facts may be bliss to some, but I, for one, don't care for the idea of living in a fool's paradise. Every patriotic American should read this book. Maybe, just maybe, someone smarter than I will figure out a way to get this country back on the right track. Yes, it is "my country, right or wrong," but I happen to know the rest of that quote: "when right to keep it right, when wrong to make it right." If you, too, are a patriotic American, reading this book will make you feel very angry and frustrated at some of the things our country has done and is still doing. But if you (singular and plural) can channel that anger into a search for a way to set our country right, and if some one or more of us succeed -- then it will be more than worth the pain we suffer. watziznaym@gmail.com
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