Oops...on edit reversed the title!!!
Hi all! Posted this at my site (
http://www.perkypat.com) and figured I'd 'cross-post' it here.
Just saw the great documentary "Horns & Halos" on Cinemax tonight, an amazing film about two people who go up against the power of the Bush administration. The movie was about James Hatfield who wrote the book "Fortunate Son", a biography of GWBush that was none too flattering, and Sander Hicks, the publisher of the tiny "Soft Skull Press" that 're-released' the book after it being burned (yes BURNED!) by St. Martin's Press.
"Fortunate Son" was a warts and all biography of George W. Bush, that mentioned past cocaine use, draft dodging, and many other episodes of Bush's life that the powers that be didn't want talked about. For an election that was supposedly about 'character', the Bushies sure didn't want an honest version of their candidate's 'character' (The book was released during the Republican Primary season.) St. Martin's released it, but quickly stopped distributing the book.
St. Martin's Press took "Fortunate Son" off the shelves and physically BURNED the book after someone exposed Hatfield's past to the media (he was involved in a murder plot-noone hurt and had spent five years in prison for it). Hatfield later said he had talked to Karl Rove before the book's publication, and he suspected Rove of releasing this information (sure sounds like Rove's way of doing business).
So, an enterprising punk rocker named Sander Hicks, who ran an independent press called "Soft Skull Press" decided to re-release the book. Hicks is a singer with his band "White Collar Crime", and seemed to be a true punk, having the energy and anti-corporate stance required to re-release this book. One of my favorite scenes is Hicks showing Bush's form that asked whether you wanted to go overseas when Bush was in the National Guard. The Yes & No parts were checked out, but Hicks righteously mentioned that since all the states were blacked out too, but the overseas countries weren't, that he wouldn't have checked yes. Of course, Bush said he wanted to go overseas to Vietnam, but this catches him in another lie. Hicks also had my favorite line of the movie as he's editing the new edition "The angrier I get, the better the book gets".
Anyways, the book gets re-released by Soft Skull, but distribution is almost immediately stopped by a lawsuit. It seems Hatfield made statements in the new foreward that implicated a Dallas businessman in Hatfield's crime, and the businessman sued. The distributor backed off from the book, and the book disappeared off of bookshelves. A heartbreaking scene showed Hicks a few months later visiting a DC bookstore on inauguration day to find the book remaindered for $3.00.
Finally, the case was dropped (after the foreward had the offending parts deleted & Hatfield publicly apologized). Hatfield & Hicks were able to create a 2nd edition. The interviews during the 'press junket' for the 2nd edition showed Hatfield really depressed, and sad. During a press conference, he blamed media disinformation for the problems the book had had, Hatfield interestingly said that Karl Rove had talked to him (Hatfield) during pre-publication.
When asked if the book had been taken off the shelves due to 'inconsistencies', Hatfield correctly mentioned that it hadn't been, but pointedly asked how many books on Bill Clinton had inconsistencies that were never pulled from the shelves?
Many of you may have heard that James Hatfield committed suicide. The film showed the suicide note, and although many people have theories that Hatfield's death was a murder, I thought the film showed that it was probably suicide. He had pretty much lost his family, had no livelihood, and was at the end of his ropes in the interview segments that I saw. A very tragic death, that impacted Hicks greatly in one of the most intense scenes in the movie.
So, a great film that was sad, but also very inspiring thanks to Sander Hicks. Thankfully, the book's 2nd edition sold out, and is still in print in their third edition. A cool moment at the end showed that Hicks was now writing a book about Karl Rove. I can't wait!
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