I have always been facinated by investigative journalism, senate investigations, national politics. I was six years old when John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the President of the United States of America, had his brains blown out before a crowd of well wishers and, due to the advent of television and hand-held recorders, eventually the world. Even at this young age (6 years old, mind you) I was rivited. I watch every news piece they had on TV. I watched the funeral intently studying the faces of the mourners, their clothes, the cason carrying the body of the President, the riderless horse. This was theater. I was hooked.
After this, there was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. These two tragedies were set against the backdrop of the trumoil of the cultural upheaval of the 1960's and the war in Vietnam. What a time! The country seemed to be coming unglued. And this is the pablum I was raised on as I watched the evening news and the few news shows they had on at that time. Remember there was no 24/7 cable in those days.
In the 1970's as a teenager, I became enthralled with the US Senate Watergate committee. In the summer of 1973, at the age of 17, I watched every single bit of that hearing. I was watching when Alexander Butterfield revealed to the committee that President Nixon had tape recorded EVERYTHING that was said in the oval office since the beginning of his presidency. I watched as the committee's collective jaw dropped. Butterfield, at the time of his revelation, was totally oblivious to the reality that he had just brought down a president. In very short order, President Nixon would become the first President of the United State to resign the highest office in the land. This investigation would never have occurred without the political pressure applied by an engaged citizenry.
These are just some of the media events that drew me in and made of me a political and news junkie. This is the purpose for this blog. I want to share what I know, but I also truly want to know what you know. Trust me...I WANT TO KNOW. I absorb the information like a sponge that the powers that run this country allow us to know. At the same time, I am aware that there is much, much more information that is hidden from us. Documents that we are never meant to see and videos and tape recordings and who know what all there is to discover.
Since we have no operating Press in this country any more, it will be up to you and me to apply the pressure that is necessary to keep us informed. Information is the heart of any democracy. Dictatorships rely on secrecy. We are not supposed to allow ourselves to be led around by the nose, living on the propaganda that the government puts out. We have to stay vigilant and pursue the truth. The truth will not just fall in our laps, however, We must PURSUE the TRUTH.
I sure hope you will join me. I think it is vital to all of us. I think it is vital to our country. We have to be the watchdogs of the government and its elected officials. They work for us, not the other way around. Never forget that. For one, as long as I am here, I am going to be watching.
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