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Bush End Game
George W. Bush's presidency since 2007

Bush - Second Term
George W. Bush's presidency from 2005-06

Bush - First Term
George W. Bush's presidency, 2000-04

Who Is Bob Gates?
The secret world of Defense Secretary Gates

2004 Campaign
Bush Bests Kerry

Behind Colin Powell's Legend
Gauging Powell's reputation.

The 2000 Campaign
Recounting the controversial campaign.

Media Crisis
Is the national media a danger to democracy?

The Clinton Scandals
Behind President Clinton's impeachment.

Nazi Echo
Pinochet & Other Characters.

The Dark Side of Rev. Moon
Rev. Sun Myung Moon and American politics.

Contra Crack
Contra drug stories uncovered

Lost History
America's tainted historical record

The October Surprise "X-Files"
The 1980 election scandal exposed.

International
From free trade to the Kosovo crisis.

Other Investigative Stories

Editorials

We’ve received some reader criticism for flogging our new book, Neck Deep. And we apologize for any annoyance that we’ve caused.

But proceeds from book sales are a big part of our very tight budget and the simple fact is that we haven’t been generating enough money – either from book sales or donations – to keep Consortiumnews.com in the black.

Another part of the problem is that our annual “beg-a-round” to foundations has come up empty. A year ago, we did receive a modest grant from one foundation, enabling us to modernize our Web site with features, such as RSS feeds, that some readers wanted.

But that foundation has told us the grant will not be renewed, and other foundations we’ve approached have made clear they are not interested in supporting independent journalism. They have other priorities.

So, we are faced again with a financial crunch. Either we sell more copies of Neck Deep and get more donations from readers, or we will have to curtail – possibly even shut down – our operations.

Election 2000

Ironically, we faced the same dilemma eight years ago.

In early 2000, I had just written an article about how the major U.S. news media – both the right-wing and mainstream varieties – had put bogus quotes in Al Gore’s mouth to make him appear “delusional.”

My story, “Al Gore v. the Media,” demonstrated how far these press lies about Gore had spread and how influential they were in damaging his image as he headed toward a general election against Republican George W. Bush.

I had lunch with the head of a progressive foundation and stressed the danger I saw if these distortions about Gore were accepted as truth.

As the lunch ended, the foundation chairman told me I was mistaken.

He said there was no doubt in his mind that Al Gore would be the next president, that George W. Bush would never get into the White House, and that what was most important was spending money on activist groups that would pressure the Gore administration to enact more progressive programs. That was where his money was going, he said.

After that discouraging lunch, I decided to take a job as an editor at Bloomberg News, pay off mounting bills, and put Consortiumnews.com in mothballs. (Several months later, we resumed operations on a part-time, low-key basis, but did not return to full-time work until I left Bloomberg in spring 2004.)

It’s impossible to say what might have happened if Consortiumnews.com had kept churning out investigative journalism during Campaign 2000. But it’s certainly clear that pouring money into activist groups to pressure the Gore administration wasn’t money well spent.

Grim Replay

Now, eight years later, we are experiencing a replay in a far grimmer political environment.

Yet, in a curious twist, it is the widely recognized disaster of George W. Bush’s presidency that has become the new reason not to support independent journalism.

Because of the Bush calamity, national Democrats are confident of a resounding victory in 2008. They are sure that whomever the Republicans nominate can’t possibly win. Caught up in this conventional wisdom, left-of-center foundations are again focusing on “organizing” for how to approach the expected Democratic administration.

The thinking can be summarized this way: “Yes, those independent media folks were helpful in bringing a lot of important information about the Bush administration to the American people, but they’ve served their usefulness.”

So, that means those of us who view Election 2008 as less a cake walk and a slam dunk for a political party than the last hope for saving the American Republic – and who think honest information will be the key to that difficult battle – are on our own, again.

That is why we continue to ask people to buy Neck Deep. Not only is it a very important book in defining an honest historical narrative for our era, but each sale generates some money to keep Consortiumnews.com going.

We also are using the book as a gift for those who make tax-deductible donations to our parent non-profit, Consortium for Independent Journalism. With each donation of $100, we will send you a gift autographed copy of Neck Deep in paperback. With donations of $150 or more, we will make that a hard-cover copy.

And we have a special offer for groups that might want to use Neck Deep for their own fund-raising.

As for the annoying book flogging, we apologize and thank you for your patience.

Robert Parry, Editor

Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, was written with two of his sons, Sam and Nat, and can be ordered at neckdeepbook.com. His two previous books, Secrecy & Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq and Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth' are also available there. Or go to Amazon.com.

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