Customer Reviews

Derailing Democracy: The America the Media Don't Want You to See

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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

McGowan's book lives up to all the acclaim. Every page is filled with devastating facts that the media ignores or downplays. Whether your cause is ending the death penalty, the war on drugs, the military build up, or the media cover-up, this book is for you. Simply the best book I have read in years. Professors, teachers, etc., use this book in your classes and your students will never be the same.

Probably one of the most shocking books I've read. This one is an eye-opener, a must read. If you've come this far to look for this book, than you're aware that there are huge problems; this book clarifies what many of those problems are. From the inequities of capitalism, to the brutality of the 'most free' nation on earth, 'Derailing Democracy' utilizes various media resources to expose holes in the common beliefs held by Americans and their position in the world. This work is truly of the free press. I can only hope that someday, it, or it's like become national best sellers.

This is the most informative and useful book I have read in years. It is mindblowing (and very scary) to learn of the information that is not made available or reported on in the united states. It makes me very upset with the news media in our country that they choose to ignore these important facts.

This book is a must read for all Americans. It provides a comprehensive review of the USA's self serving interference in international affairs and it's total disregard for democracy or human rights in most countries in the name of plundering and raping these countries for economic and egoistic gain. While this was the section that interested me, the book also provides a wake up call to Americans on the development of the Big Brother state and the abuse and disregard of human rights by corporations and "defense" industries within "Uncle Sam". I plead with any Americans reading this review to read this book and consider all the illegal and revulsive actions pursued by your fellow citizens against innocent and harmless peoples across the planet. What you allow to happen to your fellow North Americans is your business, even if you might want to consider how the continous and ever expanding trend towards domination by an elite few within your country will impinge upon yourself and the generations that follow you.

Mr. McGowan has created a piece of work that is a CALL TO ACTION! Please spread the word to friends, family, even enemies that the mainstream media is both a hoax and a propoganda machine for the prison building industry, war, and so much more. This book is aptly titled!

I picked up this book just a block from where a few friends had been tear-gassed during the WTO 'riots', while they walked home from the grocery store. This book provides some excellent context for what I saw unfold in my backyard. It is also, chillingly full of hard numbers. It is a book which will disturb your sense of 'America, home of the free and the brave,' but for the best of reasons.

Packed with numerous essential facts, this book provides a detailed account of serious transgressions and violations of international law perpetrated by the U.S. government, the facts which can be ignored and dismissed only by jingoists. This book reveals an extremely flawed foreign policy of the United States. McGowan argues that the U.S. foreign policy makers seek to protect strategic and economic interests of the U.S. at any cost, even if many innocent people have to be sacrificed, that is as long as they are not Americans. According to McGowan, U.S. has shown no signs that it cares about the poor, the victimized and the oppressed. On the contrary, U.S. has consistently and systematically opposed every U.N. resolution stipulating a right to food and acknowledging children's rights and the rights of Palestinians. Morever, U.S. has vetoed every U.N. resolution calling for a condemnation of Israeli human rights violations. No one seems to wonder why no U.N. inspectors have been allowed to enter the facilities in Israel in which weapons of mass destruction have been produced. Why does not the U.S. coerce Israel to cooperate with the U.N.? Why does the U.S. knowingly hamper development of poor countries? Why does not the U.S. ratify the agreement banning the use of chemical and biological weapons? Why does the U.S. collaborate with terrorists when it serves the interests of the U.S.? This book divulges unfathomable injustices and gross violations of international law perpatrated by the only remaining superpower in the world. Even though this book contains a great number of important facts, it lacks a detailed analysis and for that reason I gave it four stars. For an elaborate and meticulous analysis of the U.S. foreign policy, I strongly recommend a book called Why do people hate America by Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies; irrefutably the best book on the subject matter.