Amy and David Goodman at B&N

October 29th, 2006

Amy Goodman / Photo: kashish

Amy Goodman and David Goodman
Static
7 p.m. Oct. 26
Barnes & Noble, Union Square in NYC.

A mix of young and old had begun to fill the reading space on the 4th floor of the Union Square Barnes & Nobles as early as 45 minutes prior to the reading scheduled at 7. Speakers of the night were Amy Goodman and David Goodman, authors of Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back. The siblings are presently on an 80-city tour, with the stunning turnout in Utah, according to David, reaching as much as a 1000. By 6:30 a spirited debate had commenced between two men in the audience though details were drowned by the murmur of about a 100 that had already gathered.

I had heard a short phone interview with Amy Goodman on the Randy Rhodes show on Air America Radio few weeks prior but I had never heard David. He read passages from the book and shared stories from the period they spent researching for it. He revealed that scores of well-known journalists and media houses have a history of being directly involved with the CIA—’access of evil,’ he said, trading ‘access for truth.’

David Goodman / Photo: kashish

Amy told startling stories with the passion of a preacher on a Sunday morning instead of reading from the book. Fiery and fervent, her delivery aroused an eruption of gasps, aw’s, and hisses though the tales didn’t go without bits reserved for laughter. She spoke of mothers who lost their sons in Iraq, the beginning of “Cindy’s Crawford”, the “Oily-garchy”, Rosa Parks, and an Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar who was forced to sit at the back of a Jet Blue airplane for wearing a shirt that said “We will not be silent” in several languages including Arabic—Jarrar was made to wear another t-shirt before being escorted to the back of the plane. She spoke passionately about how the media has failed the public, reminded us all that it should stand for, and ended with a hand raised in a fist, demanding “democracy now!” The audience roared in applause, some stood in respect, then formed themselves in a line that snaked across the hall to get their books signed.

Amy Goodman / Photo: kashish

An elderly man in a hoodie adorned with buttons managed to get on stage during the signing and angrily slur booming yet incomprehensible complaints apparently aimed at Amy. The audience responded with boo’s and a female employee immediately stepped up to take the mic away from him. A police officer seemed to have appeared out of nowhere to arrest this unsatisfied man.

President Bush recently revealed that he does not read books written on his administration but he appears to be an increasingly popular muse amongst political authors, especially as we approach mid-term elections. A couple of weeks earlier PBS host Charlie Rose asked his guest Woodward, Washington Post veteran and author of State of Denial, “What is different about your book?” Exploring the topic of investigative journalism and offering an inside look at the adminstration’s handling of the war on Iraq, Woodward seems to have somewhat redeemed himself from his initial support for the war. Joining Static and State of Denial are a multitude of recent books inspired by Bush, including The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina by Frank Rich, How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime by Sidney Blumenthal, Hubris: The inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War by Michael Isikoff, David Corn, and more.