The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them

More and more I find Democracy Now! to be the best news program we have. In this book the Goodmans cover a lot of territory from East Timor to Iraq to Hiroshima. With liberal footnotes they detail how the US government funded and trained Osama bin Laden and company in Afghanistan and gave its stamp of approval to Saddam Hussein while he was deploying chemical weapons in the 1980s. Of course, this is all old news. After describing the assault on the Bill of Rights following 9/11, the authors spend the bulk of the book detailing the consequences of the fact that "six huge corporations now control the major U.S. media" (p 153), including several that directly benefit from war. From uncritical paroting of the government line to the lack of diversity of voices on the airwaves to the silencing (sometimes fatally) of war journalists in Iraq to the self-censorship of the news media at home, they thoroughly depict a democracy crippled by an uninformed public. The Goodmans close this highly recommended book with the birth of IndyMedia at the WTO protests in 1999, suggesting that part of our way back lies with grassroots, independent media movements.

The Goodmans have produced an exceptional expose' on the Bush administration's style of "freedom". It's the freedom to know what they want us to know. The press has been leashed/limited in their coverage of the war in Iraq. This was accomplished by the introduction of "embed" reporters during the height of the invasion. <br /> <br />This book highlights foreign aid double-standards where human rights are concerned. Amy Goodman and Allan Nairns were eye witnesses to mass executions perpetrated by an ally,Indonesia. <br /> <br />Some points brought up in this book are: <br /> <br />Donald Rumsfeld's denial of being a presidential envoy to Saddam Hussein in the early 80's after Hussein used poison gas on opponents. The use of that gas went from being a non-factor to a motive for invading Iraq a few decades later. <br /> <br />The Zumach documments-the unredacted Iraq report to the U.N. that detailed it's weapon program only confirms what has long been believed by many.....U.S. corporate and official complicity in arming Iraq. <br /> <br />The blueprint for post-9/11 foreign policy was drawn up by the Project for the New American Century founded in 1997 to promote American imperialism. Membership is represented by many of the warhawks-Rumsfeld,Cheney,Scooter Libby,Wolfowitz,and Richard Perle. <br /> <br />"In an administration that has taken a pledge of allegiance to enrich it's billionaire buddies,one crony captitalist trumps them all:Vice President Dick Cheney."-page 65. <br /> <br />"For the Bush family,taking care of business-and it's billionaire friends-has always come first,and these friends have always repaid the favor by taking very good care of the Bushes."-page 45. Cronyism at it's worst.The Carlyle Group appears in that context. <br /> <br />The domestic propaganda machine was examined and how it was used to support the war before,during, and since the invasion of Iraq. <br /> <br />The "Oilygarchy" chapter was a well-presented expose' on the corporations that are profiteering from the current wars and the "crony connections" that make it possible. <br /> <br />The Goodmans book is one of the better critiques on the subject of current foreign policy. The equal of "Sorrows of Empire" by Chalmers Johnson in my opinion. Amy Goodman does write from first-hand experience and as an investigative journalist she has a unique perspective. "The Exceptions to the Rulers" is highly recommended reading!

I read the book last year and then listened to the CD's on a car trip. This is such relevant information to understand what's going on in the USA and the world. Amy Goodman is the premier journalist who digs deep, asking the most important questions, tying world events together in a network to promote the comprehension of the interrelationship of seemingly unrelated events. Big media fails to do this, so there little understanding the cause and effect of all important global events. Watch Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! to get a clear picture of world events.

Far more intriguing format than the book! This profound document comes across far better on CD than in print. Like an extended "Democracy Now" with the addition of subjective commentary. If you listen to "Democracy Now", buy it, asap! If you don't, well... you should. For the past half century, Pacifica Radio has been doing much of the most important journalistic work in America. The Goodmans' stunning journaling of events spanning the period from 1991-2003 is at once highly intimate and of universal importance. I feel this set of CD's maybe the greatest "audio book" ever recorded. Like Ed Murrow's "You Can Hear It Now" LPs of the 1950's, the essential stories of our era are here, recorded up close and personal, as they rightly should be. The complicity between the U.S. government - brutal militaries and paramilitaries world-over - the arrogant and unconscionable greed of the dominant corporations - and a submissive media - is illumined once again in the light of damning evidence (as is the battle to shed that light). That battle is crucial for the survival of life on upon this planet, and Amy et all are leading the way. One can only wait for the CD version of "Static".