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Gary Webb, dead

They told me Heraclitus, they told me you were dead.

Bill Conroy's words
And as I read the obits in the commercial media about his death, all of which mention his famous series for the San Jose Mercury News exposing the CIA/Contra crack connection -- and all of which go to great lengths to discuss how the “big dogs” of the commercial press discredited the series -- I keep in mind the words of social theorist Erich Fromm :

Historically...those who told the truth about a particular regime have been exiled, jailed, or killed by those in power whose fury has been aroused. To be sure, the obvious explanation is that they were dangerous to their respective establishments, and that killing them seemed the best way to protect the status quo. This is true enough, but it does not explain the fact that the truth-sayers are so deeply hated even when they do not constitute a real threat to the established order. The reason lies, I believe, in that by speaking the truth they mobilize the (psychological) resistance of those who repress it. To the latter, the truth is dangerous not only because it can threaten their power but because it shakes their whole conscious system of orientation, deprives them of their rationalizations, and might even force them to act differently. Only those who have experienced the process of becoming aware of important impulses that were repressed know the earthquake-like sense of bewilderment and confusion that occurs as a result. Not all people are willing to risk this adventure, lest of all those people who profit, at least for the moment, from being blind.

Gary did speak the truth, and in so doing, opened many eyes and has changed the world in the process. His story continues....

Gary Webb: a Great Reporter
posted by degustibus at 2:30 PM