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Overview
Big Lies explains how our corporate overlords, politicians and media establishment warp reality and undermine democracy. Examining high crimes throughout US history, Greg Guma has come up with a penetrating new study that deconstructs democratic illusions, the mechanics of perception management and the imperial presidency in a post-modern age of narcissism and devalued facts.
Media's handling of news has become unreliable over the years, and journalists often find it difficult to cover stories that don’t fit into the "Washington Consensus." Meanwhile corporations employ sophisticated strategies to promote the stories they want to see and prevent others from getting out. The result is perception management, an effective form of social engineering. Big Lies provides startling proof and a guide to often-used techniques.
One of the biggest untold stories of the last half century has been the growth of presidential power to an imperial level, abetted by the cult of commander-in-chief authority, a global network of military outposts, a vast intelligence apparatus, privatization and outsourcing of foreign policy, the withholding of information on spurious grounds, and a permanent state of emergency. Examining presidential lies from Polk to Bush, Big Lies demonstrates how, despite “regime change” in 2008, the process has nevertheless continued in the age of Obama.
In response, various anti-government and secession organizations are springing up across the US as state legislatures debate laws that could “nullify” federal actions. Experts claim there is no right to secede. Big Lies asks why millions of people across the country find it an attractive idea.
Available now on Nook, Kindle, iPhone, iPad and PC, Big Lies also digs into…
▼ the power of private military companies and the National Security Agency
▼ the cost of secret war in Afghanistan, the Congo, Yugoslavia, Mexico and other places
▼ the untold story of Enron’s predatory tactics around the world
▼ the evolution of Presidential Death Match politics since the millennium
▼ how deregulation trashed the economy and government action became the only way out
▼ radical analysis on topics like cyber-warfare and immigration
From the Author
This book built momentum slowly for many years, but didn’t coalesce until after the emergence of Barack Obama. Although the narrative sometimes reaches back as far as the 19th century, I’ve mostly tried to project a post-Cold War and post-modern point of view.
Returning to Vermont in 2008 after two years as Executive Director of Pacifica Radio, I was invited back to a local weekly radio show. As in the past, my segment was a news roundup, along with a weekly rant. Afterward, I would use the notes from broadcasts to develop new story ideas. So, let me start by thanking Phinn and FP from The Howie Rose Show, first at WRUV and later at WOMM in Burlington, for providing a spot where I could exercise my imagination, test my perceptions, and get immediate, often hilarious feedback.
The chapter on Haiti in Part One would not have been written without Robin Lloyd and Doreen Kraft, who first pointed me toward that strange, tragic island in the 1970s. Like other sections of the book, that material evolved as I covered developments for print and online outlets. Material in “Cracks in the Iceberg”, “Secrets R US,” and “Enron’s Global Scam,” for example, appeared in investigative and feature articles for Toward Freedom, Metroland, and The Vermont Times. The remaining chapters in Part One were originally developed for Vermont Guardian, a weekly newspaper launched with Shay Totten in 2004, and as columns for United Press International.
The Presidential Death Match concept explored in Part Two owes a debt to the animated TV show Celebrity Death Match, a brutally funny animated series in which claymation versions of famous people faced off in the ring. Why not a presidential version, I thought, since campaigns have become so intertwined with entertainment. The earliest material appeared in The Vermont Times and on the Alternet website.
Part Three, Regime Change, began to take shape when I started to blog in 2008. My site, Maverick Media, provided a platform for new articles and campaign coverage. Many pieces subsequently appeared on websites such as ZNet, Common Dreams, Countercurrents, and Truthout.
If there is a central thrust, it is the pervasive nature of perception management. Part Four, some of which first appeared as Chapter 14 in Project Censored 2008, sums up what I’ve observed over several decades. It also completes the thought begun in the introduction.
Media's handling of news has become unreliable over the years, and journalists often find it difficult to cover stories that don’t fit into the "Washington Consensus." Meanwhile corporations employ sophisticated strategies to promote the stories they want to see and prevent others from getting out. The result is perception management, an effective form of social engineering. Big Lies provides startling proof and a guide to often-used techniques.
One of the biggest untold stories of the last half century has been the growth of presidential power to an imperial level, abetted by the cult of commander-in-chief authority, a global network of military outposts, a vast intelligence apparatus, privatization and outsourcing of foreign policy, the withholding of information on spurious grounds, and a permanent state of emergency. Examining presidential lies from Polk to Bush, Big Lies demonstrates how, despite “regime change” in 2008, the process has nevertheless continued in the age of Obama.
In response, various anti-government and secession organizations are springing up across the US as state legislatures debate laws that could “nullify” federal actions. Experts claim there is no right to secede. Big Lies asks why millions of people across the country find it an attractive idea.
Available now on Nook, Kindle, iPhone, iPad and PC, Big Lies also digs into…
▼ the power of private military companies and the National Security Agency
▼ the cost of secret war in Afghanistan, the Congo, Yugoslavia, Mexico and other places
▼ the untold story of Enron’s predatory tactics around the world
▼ the evolution of Presidential Death Match politics since the millennium
▼ how deregulation trashed the economy and government action became the only way out
▼ radical analysis on topics like cyber-warfare and immigration
From the Author
This book built momentum slowly for many years, but didn’t coalesce until after the emergence of Barack Obama. Although the narrative sometimes reaches back as far as the 19th century, I’ve mostly tried to project a post-Cold War and post-modern point of view.
Returning to Vermont in 2008 after two years as Executive Director of Pacifica Radio, I was invited back to a local weekly radio show. As in the past, my segment was a news roundup, along with a weekly rant. Afterward, I would use the notes from broadcasts to develop new story ideas. So, let me start by thanking Phinn and FP from The Howie Rose Show, first at WRUV and later at WOMM in Burlington, for providing a spot where I could exercise my imagination, test my perceptions, and get immediate, often hilarious feedback.
The chapter on Haiti in Part One would not have been written without Robin Lloyd and Doreen Kraft, who first pointed me toward that strange, tragic island in the 1970s. Like other sections of the book, that material evolved as I covered developments for print and online outlets. Material in “Cracks in the Iceberg”, “Secrets R US,” and “Enron’s Global Scam,” for example, appeared in investigative and feature articles for Toward Freedom, Metroland, and The Vermont Times. The remaining chapters in Part One were originally developed for Vermont Guardian, a weekly newspaper launched with Shay Totten in 2004, and as columns for United Press International.
The Presidential Death Match concept explored in Part Two owes a debt to the animated TV show Celebrity Death Match, a brutally funny animated series in which claymation versions of famous people faced off in the ring. Why not a presidential version, I thought, since campaigns have become so intertwined with entertainment. The earliest material appeared in The Vermont Times and on the Alternet website.
Part Three, Regime Change, began to take shape when I started to blog in 2008. My site, Maverick Media, provided a platform for new articles and campaign coverage. Many pieces subsequently appeared on websites such as ZNet, Common Dreams, Countercurrents, and Truthout.
If there is a central thrust, it is the pervasive nature of perception management. Part Four, some of which first appeared as Chapter 14 in Project Censored 2008, sums up what I’ve observed over several decades. It also completes the thought begun in the introduction.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940012767455 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Maverick Media |
| Publication date: | 07/18/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 435 KB |
About the Author
Greg Guma has been a journalist, editor, historian, activist and progressive manager for over four decades, working throughout the US. His tenure as CEO of Pacifica Radio followed a career that began in the 1960s.
As a journalist he broke award-winning stories that raised questions about the activities of the intelligence community and private military contractors. His books include The People's Republic: Vermont and the Sanders Revolution (1989), Passport to Freedom (1992, with Garry Davis), Uneasy Empire: Repressions, Globalization and What We Can Do (2002), and Spirits of Desire (2005), as well as the play Inquisitions (and Other Un-American Activities), and scripts for documentaries on Haiti, Guatemala, Vietnam, and Bread & Puppet Theatre.
He has one son and lives in Burlington.
As a journalist he broke award-winning stories that raised questions about the activities of the intelligence community and private military contractors. His books include The People's Republic: Vermont and the Sanders Revolution (1989), Passport to Freedom (1992, with Garry Davis), Uneasy Empire: Repressions, Globalization and What We Can Do (2002), and Spirits of Desire (2005), as well as the play Inquisitions (and Other Un-American Activities), and scripts for documentaries on Haiti, Guatemala, Vietnam, and Bread & Puppet Theatre.
He has one son and lives in Burlington.
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