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Palast Charged with Journalism in the
First Degree
From: Greg Palast
<palast@gregpalast.com>
September 11, 2006
By Greg Palast
IT'S
true. It's weird. It's nuts. The Department of
Homeland Security, after a five-year hunt for Osama,
has finally brought charges against ... Greg Palast.
I kid you not. Send your cakes with files to the Air
America wing at Guantanamo.
Though not just yet. Fatherland Security has
informed me that television producer Matt Pascarella
and I have been charged with unauthorized filming of
a "critical national security structure" in
Louisiana.
On
August 22, for LinkTV and Democracy Now! we
videotaped the thousands of Katrina evacuees still
held behind a barbed wire in a trailer park
encampment a hundred miles from New Orleans. It's
been a year since the hurricane and 73,000 POW's
(Prisoners of W) are still in this aluminum ghetto
in the middle of nowhere. One resident, Pamela
Lewis said, “It is a prison set-up" -- except there
are no home furloughs for these inmates because they
no longer have homes.
To
give a sense of the full flavor and smell of the
place, we wanted to show that this human parking
lot, with kids and elderly, is nearly adjacent to
the Exxon Oil refinery, the nation's second largest,
a chemical-belching behemoth.
So
we filmed it. Without Big Brother's authorization.
Uh, oh. Apparently, the broadcast of these stinking
smokestacks tipped off Osama that, if his assassins
pose as poor Black folk, they can get a cramped
Airstream right next to a "critical infrastructure"
asset.
So
now Matt and I have a "criminal complaint" lodged
against us with the feds.
The
positive side for me as a journalist is that I get
to see our terror-busters in action. I should note
that it took the Maxwell Smarts at Homeland Security
a full two weeks to hunt us down.
Frankly, we were a bit scared that, given the
charges, we wouldn't be allowed on a plane into New
York last night. But what scared us more is that we
were allowed on the plane.
Once
I was traced, I had a bit of an other-worldly
conversation with my would-be captors. Detective
Frank Pananepinto of Homeland Security told us,
"This is a 'Critical Infrastructure' ... and they
get nervous about unauthorized filming of their
property.
Well, me too, Detective. In fact, I'm very nervous
that this potential chemical blast-site can be
mapped in extreme detail at this Google Map location
What
also makes me nervous is that the Bush Terror
Terriers have kindly indicated on the Internet that
this unprotected critical infrastructure can be
targeted -- I mean located -- at 30º 29' 11" N
Latitude and 91º 11' 39" W Longitude.
After I assured Detective Pananepinto, "I can swear
to you that I'm not part of Al Qaeda," he confirmed
that, "Louisiana is still part of the United
States," subject to the first amendment and he was
therefore required to divulge my accuser.
Not
surprisingly, it was Exxon Corporation, one of a
handful of companies not in love with my
investigations. [See "A Well-Designed Disaster: the
Untold Story of the Exxon Valdez."]
So I
rang America's top petroleum pusher-men and asked
their media relations honcho in Houston, Marc
Boudreaux, a simple question. "Do you want us to go
to jail or not? Is it Exxon's position that
reporters should go to jail?" Because, all my
dumb-ass jokes aside, that is what's at stake. And
Exxon knew we were journalists because we showed our
press credential to the Exxon guards at the refinery
entrance.
The
Exxon man was coy: "Well, we'll see what we can find
out.... Obviously it's important to national
security that we have supplies from that refinery in
the event of an emergency."
Really? According to the documents our team
uncovered from the offices of Exxon's lawyer, Mr.
James Baker, the oil industry is more than happy to
see a limit on worldwide crude production. Indeed,
the current squeeze has jacked the price of oil from
$24 a barrel to $64 and refined products have jumped
yet higher -- resulting in a record-busting profit
for Exxon of nearly $1 billion per week.
So
this silly "criminal complaint" has nothing to do
with stopping Al Qaeda or keeping the oil flowing.
It has everything to do with obstructing news
reports in a way that no one would have dared
attempt before the September 11 attack.
Dectective Pananepinto, in justifying our impending
bust, said, "If you remember, a lot of people were
killed on 9/11."
Yes,
Detective, I remember that very well: my office was
in the World Trade Center. Lucky for me, I was out
of town that day. It was not a lucky day for 3,000
others.
Yes,
I remember "a lot" of people were killed. So I have
this suggestion, Detective -- and you can pass it on
to Mr. Bush: Go and find the people who killed
them.
It's
been five years and the Bush regime has not done
that. Instead, the War on Terror is reduced to
taking off our shoes in airports, hoping we can bomb
Muslims into loving America and chasing journalists
around the bayou. Meanwhile, King Abdullah, the
Gambino of oil, whose princelings funded the
murderers, gets a free ride in the President's golf
cart at the Crawford ranch.
I
guess I shouldn't complain. After all, Matt and I
look pretty good in orange.
A
personal request to readers. Many have written to
ask what can be done to protect Matt and me from
becoming unwilling guests of the State.
First, this ain't no foolin' around: Matt and I are
facing these nutty charges. So spread the info. We
believe that getting the word out is the best
defense.
Second, call Homeland Security and turn us in. They
seem to have trouble finding us. If you get a
reward, you may choose to donate it to the Palast
Investigative Fund, a 501(c)(3) educational
foundation which supports our work and pays our
legal fees.
Third,
ask your local library to order our book, Armed
Madhouse: Who's Afraid of Osama Wolf? Homeland
Security now reserves the right to read over your
shoulder at the library; therefore, the more our
agents are forced to read this subversive material,
the more likely we can convince them to come in out
of the cold. All kidding aside, we do ask you to
request your library order the book: not everyone
can afford to purchase this hardbound edition.
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