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During election season, the most closely read section of most newspapers is the "letters to the editor." The leaders of the republican party have long recognized this. During the Nixon years, Patrick Buchanan was in charge of directing a program that coordinated LTTE from the White House, making it appear that there was significant grass roots support for the administration's policies. The Senate Watergate Report documents how Buchanan & Co. would outline LTTE for trusted friends to sign and mail to a variety of newspapers.
I live in the rural, upstate New York area. There is no single large newspaper, such as the NY Times, that serves our neck of the woods. But there are a variety of papers, including relatively large ones (from Binghamton, Syracuse, and Utica), a few daily papers, and small weekly community papers that I have had LTTE published in for decades. I have a list of over a dozen that tend to print my letters and op-eds, without editing them. I also have a list of friends and associates who are interested in helping me in my efforts to frame the discussions in various newspapers, not completely unlike a small-scale Buchanan effort.
Although the talking heads on the network and cable television shows often say the public is not yet interested in the 2008 presidential election -- despite the fact their shows are focused on it -- the truth is that the people are very interested in the issues that involve what is at stake come November. Hence, it is a good time for grass roots activists to consider writing LTTE to the papers in their area.
As always, we should remember that political campaigns involve three groups: (a) those who support you/your candidate; (b) those who oppose you/your candidate; and (c) the undecided. During the sumer months, our goal should be to speak to Group C. Our main tactic should be to plant seeds that take root before the fall contest becomes more heated. That allows us to say things in a manner that creates a picture that sticks in their minds. As Senator Sam Ervin told a press conference in July of 1974, "Some people draw a picture of a horse and then write 'horse' under it. We just drew the horse."
The "basic" LTTE should be three paragraphs. Each paragraph should be 3 or 4 sentences. The "most readable" form is 3-4-3. In the summer months, it can be easier to get op-eds published; these are, of course, a bit longer.
The following is an op-ed that I sent to a regional newspaper this week. It doesn't mention Obama or McCain, but it may plant a few seeds. I am confident that it will get some hostile reactions from a few readers of the paper, which then allows "others" to respond to those. Here it is:
Recently, I called a local bookstore, to see if they had a copy of Vincent Bugliosi’s new release? The store’s owner asked if I meant the one about President Bush? Yes, that’s the one.
"No. We don’t carry that one. But we do have a couple of his other books," she said.
I had previously bought some of Bugliosi’s books there. He has long been one of my favorite authors. His credentials are outstanding. As an L.A. County prosecutor in the 1960s and ‘70s, he prosecuted 106 felony jury trials, winning 105. This included convictions in each of the 21 murder cases he tried.
Bugliosi’s most famous murder convictions were of five members of the "Manson family." He later detailed the case in "Helter Skelter," which remains the top-selling "true crime" book, 34 years after its publication.
Two of Bugliosi’s other books have been New York Times’ best-sellers. One was "Outrage," about the OJ Simpson trial. Like many Americans, the author was outraged that Simpson got away with murder.
Among his other important books are "The Betrayal of America: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President" (2001), and "Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy" (2007). Although I did not agree with everything in the1612-page JFK book, which took Bugliosi 20 years to write, it is a fascinating read. It is important to listen to people like Vincent Bugliosi, no matter if one agrees with him, or not.
Luckily, Borders carries Bugliosi’s new book, "The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder." In it, he advocates the prosecution of "what I believe to be the most serious crime ever committed in American history – the president of this nation, George W. Bush, knowingly and deliberately taking this country to war in Iraq under false pretenses, a war that condemned over 100,000 human beings, including 4,000 young American soldiers, to horrible, violent deaths" (page 3).
Although this book has sold 130,000 copies, and is on the NY Times’ bestseller’s list, even the Times has failed to publish a review of it. This has not surprised Bugliosi: several publishers told him that while they agreed with the book, and knew it could be a money-maker, it was "too controversial." More, a couple liberal law professors urged Bugliosi not to follow through on publishing it.
Since publication, most of the publicity for the book has been found on the internet. This is keeping with a recent phenomenon: in 2006, a retired US Prosecutor with 21 years of experience named Elizabeth de la Vega published "United States v George W. Bush et al," a book that recommended prosecuting the Bush administration under Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, which prohibits conspiracies to defraud the United States. While it was ignored by the "mainstream" media, it was popular among those who access the internet as a news source.
Last Friday, Vincent Bugliosi was told he would have ten minutes on MSNBC’s Morning Show, to discuss his. Book. The host, a former republican Congressman, interrupted Bugliosi’s description of the book, to say that he strongly disagreed with it. When Bugliosi asked him if he had read it, the host admitted that he had not. When asked for something specific he disagreed with in a book he had not read, the host said that Bugliosi was wrong about a US intelligence report. Bugliosi countered by saying he had a copy of the report; when he held it up, the host had his microphone cut off.
At a time when Americans have concerns about the current administration’s attempts to restrict the Bill of Rights, and when the up-coming election may determine if the next administration follows the Bush-Cheney plans to expand the violence in the Middle East with air strikes on targets in Iran, people should consider Vincent Bugliosi’s message. That is equally true for those who think they would agree, or disagree, with this book. Please consider picking up a copy at Borders, or getting it from your local library.
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