On a day in the not so distant past, I received a letter that surprised me. The writer praised me for being one of the few honest and intelligent columnists he had ever encountered. There was no way of discovering the identity of the writer nor where he had met my public persona. Being praised was, and is, a rare pleasure. The mysterious letters continued to arrive. He told about an American investigative reporter named Greg Palast who was the author of a book entitled Vulture’s Picnic. I bought a copy. I was shocked to discover the book to be such a blistering exposé of the global petroleum industry that its publication in corporation-controlled USA seemed to have been a major miracle. Palast documented incident after incident of corporate greed overriding any consideration for human values or for the planet which is the home of the human race and all other life forms which still survive. What he wrote was a poisonous brew. He told of murder for profit and crimes unpunished.
The letters continued. The relationship with the shadowy puppet-master continued. Then one day I wrote a column in which I expressed an opinion which made him angry. He wrote to tell me that I was an “old fool.” I wrote a column in which I revealed the existence of the mysterious stranger and made it plain that I wanted nothing more to do with him. He wrote to me again, only two words. “Papa spank.”
An old fool I may be, but I am an honest one. A columnist, if he is worthy of the name, puts his name on what he writes and his reputation on the line with every new opinion piece. An anonymous source puts nothing on the line. I had allowed myself to become a surrogate, I think, of a man with a conscience who disliked his work in industry or government but liked his income and lifestyle too much to give it up.
The world of professional journalism is a dangerous place filled with truths distorted and untruths made believable. I wonder how many gutless anonymous sources there are and what effect they have on the processes of gathering and disseminating factual information. Certainly there are people in the media, and controlling the media, who are skilled in deception. I look at the news releases spewing out of the American presidential election battle and wonder what can be believed. The turmoil of the electoral process is like a menagerie where the keepers are in the cages. I see Donald Trump quoting statistics which disagree with those quoted by observers who are supposed to be neutral observers, I see people who place their political parties above the welfare of the nation. I see that wars of death and destruction are preceded by wars of words. And I wonder how many anonymous sources are injecting venomous words into the political process, like burning tinder into a storehouse filled with gunpowder.
I met a family from Michigan yesterday. They said they thought a Third World War was looming. They were afraid. In 2016, fear, like trade, is global.
