.
Americans
have seen their formerly protected rights rapidly evaporate
under the guise of “anti-terrorism” since
9-11 and the passing of the misnamed “Patriot
Act,” but now even the mainstream media are nervous
about recent First Amendment abuses along Gulf of Mexico
beaches.
And
while many “unsubstantiated” reports from
the past 10 weeks concerning the behavior of British
Petroleum (BP), area police and various officials are
now confirmed, reports of rampant pollution may not
be telling the full extent of the story in the gulf
region.
While
telecasting from New Orleans, CNN’s Anderson Cooper
was visibly upset by the situation, and Newsweek
reported “BP and Coast Guard officials explicitly
targeted members of the media and denied them access
to the oil-covered beaches.”
Filmmaker
James Fox was the first to go public by reporting the
intimidation and restriction of information by BP security
guards in early June. Shortly after he arrived in Grand
Isle, La., he told talk show host Mel Fabregas that
he wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t
seen it with his own eyes. Not only news reporters but
ordinary citizens were being arrested and detained after
photographing various beach cleanup activities.
“There
was a complete media blackout. No cameras allowed. Clean-up
workers were being threatened with loss of their jobs
if they even spoke to a newsman on or off camera.”
Fox was both angry and frightened. “They call
this a free country? There is no freedom of speech.
There is no freedom of press. They’re even closing
down the air space to stop reporters from flying over.”
However,
Fox was but a voice in the wilderness, as U.S. Coast
Guard officials responded to the growing list of other
complaints with: “We are looking into it.”
Meanwhile,
along the Texas coast outside of Texas City, freelance
photographer Lance Rosenfield stood on a public road
taking photos of a BP refinery. Soon, he was followed
by local officers to a store where he was detained while
they demanded to see the photos he had just taken. A
BP security representative showed up, closely followed
by Homeland Security official Tom Robison, who did his
best to frighten the freelancer into not returning.
Apparently,
BP’s private security goons are the new “secret
police,” and they have the help of local and federal
law enforcement officials. The public’s right
to know the truth is being suppressed. Now, even local
law enforcement is not on the side of the citizenry
anymore. They’ve sold out, according to Mother
Jones magazine, and BP is covering the salaries
of nearly all the cops
working in certain areas there.
Mac
McClelland of Mother Jones reported, “One
Louisiana parish has 57 extra shifts per week that they
are devoting entirely to BP security detail, and BP
is paying the sheriff’s office.”
Following
the Independence Day weekend, this AMERICAN
FREE PRESS
writer visited Louisiana to talk directly with the locals.
We soon hit upon an interesting anomaly: while “terror”
regarding the gulf gusher and its effects continues
to be spread through the media and Internet, nobody
appears to be afraid. The hotels are full from New Orleans
to Destin, Fla. Bourbon Street is supplying booze and
oysters to its normal amount of summertime revelers
and, despite the current “downside economy,”
Royal Street shops would be the envy of any retailers
in the country.
The
talking heads on TV claim that benzene and Corexit 9500
are lurking in the air, about to poison millions, but
the people in New Orleans have smelled nothing. During
four sweltering days there, this AFP writer didn’t
smell anything either. Despite the video posted on the
Internet in late June showing oil falling with the rain
on the streets of New Orleans, we could not find anyone
who had actually seen this happen.
“Ah,
heck, they just want us to move out again,” said
Isadore Vance, a cheerful dinner server at a popular
French Quarter restaurant, referring to the Hurricane
Katrina aftermath. But he admitted that he saw the dreaded
tar balls floating in Lake Pontchartrain, which is north
of the city and many miles inland from the gulf.
Probably
more disconcerting was the eyewitness testimony from
James “Bubba” Marchaud, a lifetime resident
of Metairie, La. “Those play actors out there
on the beach are not cleaning up anything,” he
said. “They are just covering everything that
washes ashore.”
He
went on to tell AFP what was happening — because
he had seen it himself. It was not only a figurative
cover-up with the cooperative news media but actually
a literal cover-up: the beach workers were merely spreading
new sand on top of the tar balls from the oil spill
that had been discoloring the beaches.
He
also confirmed the rumor of the ridiculous, staged photo-op
when President Obama came to southern Louisiana. Five
truckloads of workers were unloaded on the beach road
where the presidential entourage would be passing.
“Absolutely
zero people were on the road to greet him,” Marchaud
said, “and as soon as his fleet of cars went by,
the workers were put back on the trucks and driven away.”
July
19-26
Pat
Shannon is a contributing editor to American
Free Press newspaper. He is also the author
of several videos and books including One
in a Million: An IRS Travesty and I
Rode With Tupper, detailing Shannan’s
experiences with Tupper Saussy when the American
dissident was on the run in the 1980s. Both
are available from FIRST AMEND-MENT BOOKS for
$25 each.
at
the Battle of Cowpens, S. Carolina, 1781