WBAI, New York,99.5 on your FM dial, is a listener sponsored radio station with a variety of programs, usually from a left wing perspective. For years I have found many of these programs excellent.
Until recently Democracy Now was among my favorites, as it provided information that could not be found anywhere else. Ms. Goodman would often challenge the official narrative and challenge mainstream media pundits with provocative questions. She also welcomed debate. I was one of her many admirers.
But with the advent of Covid-19, sadly, all that has changed. Her reporting about Covid is abominable and censorious. She never has a guest who challenges, even slightly, the official narrative about the pandemic. She never fails to spout the official narrative, which critical thinkers have come to realize is a bunch of dangerous lies, which have literally cost thousands of people their lives and livelihoods. For example, people with Covid are told to stay home and do nothing and receive no treatment until they can’t breathe. Then they are sent to the hospital, where they are given Remdesivir, which is an extremely toxic drug, and then they are put on ventilators. Between 8 and 9 out of 10 patients on ventilators die. Repurposed drugs that save lives are not allowed.
Here are a few things Ms. Goodman has done and failed to do during the past few weeks. She called the excellent, life saving drug, Ivermectin, a horse dewormer, thereby once again spouting the official narrative, a damn lie. Had she done her homework, she would have learned that there is Ivermectin designed for people, and there have been multiple studies from all over the world attesting to its safety and efficacy. A very recent study from Brazil proves conclusively that Ivermectin works extremely well against Covid, as it is a repurposed drug, which has potent anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. (See the Front Line Covid Critcal Care Alliance-FLCCC) for incontrovertible evidence. Why doesn’t Ms. Goodman challenge the narrative on any topic concerning Covid-19? Doesn’t she realize that it is likely that the officials are deliberately smearing Ivermectin, because it is a repurposed drug that can no longer be patented, so Big Pharma can no longer profit from it.
I cannot be absolutely sure, but I suspect that perhaps her funding sources won’t allow it, or, perhaps she has been brainwashed, like so many others. If you listen to her show, please challenge her on this very important topic. I have left messages for her and written to her, as have several other folks I know, to no avail. No one has gotten a reply.
Ms. Goodman used to speak eloquently in favor of dissenting voices on a variety of topics and have many terrific but controversial speakers on her show. But today, when it comes to Covid-19, that is just not happening.
I wax nostalgic for the days when Ms.Goodman would welcome dissenting voices. On other topics, she still does. But when it comes to the pandemic, it appears that her critical thinking skills have gone out the window, or perhaps there is another motive. I find it extremely disheartening.
She copied, I think verbatim, the official narrative that very popular pod caster Joe Rogan was a conspiracy theorist.What bullshit. Rogan should be applauded for interviewing people with alternative points of view on all topics, including Covid 19. And some of those alternative voices are brave doctors who have been saving lives, and, sadly, have been demonized as a result. Has Ms. Goodman forgotten that the so-called health care system in the United States is profit driven, and has little or nothing to do with protecting people’s health?
And she is guilty of omission as well. She says nothing about the most important stories of our time, how people all over the world are protesting against draconian vaccine and mask mandates. They are becoming more and more aware that these measures have a lot more to do with social control and authoritarian than with people’s health. Indeed, there has been zero evidence that mask, vaccine passports, and lock downs work. Instead, they have caused untold misery for millions. What does work is early treatment and prevention. Yet you never hear a word about that on Democracy Now.
Beginning last week 50,000 Canadian truckers started a 45 mile long convoy to the capitol, Ottawa, to protest the draconian mandates. The government had said that all unvaccinated truckers need to quarantine for 14 days when they cross the border. About 90 percent of truckers are vaccinated, but the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike all got together. Every knows by now or should know that the vaccinated and the unvaccinated spread the virus at equal rates, so all mandates, for this reason and for so many others need to be abolished immediately. The movement has been totally peaceful and thousands of supporters from every province of Canada have come out to support the truckers, despite bone-chilling sub-zero temperatures. There are people from right to left and all ethnic groups are represented. It is clear that the majority of Canadians overwhelmingly support the movement, which has grown, as now people are demanding that mandates for everyone be lifted. In fact, a go-fund me page has raised 8 million dollars, and the truckers stay they will stay in Ottawa until their demands are met. The Canadians are solidly united against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who remained in hiding for the first few days of the protest. Then he emerged to condemn the protesters, calling them a fringe movement, and he accused them of misogyny racism and more epithets, none of them true. However, he vowed to remain adamant and never even consider the demands of his citizens. And there’s more. A large convoy of trucks has blocked the border between the United States and Canada. Tow trucks were brought in to haul the trucks away, but the tow truckers sided with the convoy. Throughout this entire massive protest, people have been extremely respectful, and truckers have never once blocked any emergency vehicles. Yet, until Monday, February 1, 2022, Ms. Goodman never even mentioned this massive movement. Finally she very briefly mentioned the protest but failed to mention the amazing solidarity . She then quoted Trudeau, who is justifiably hated by most Canadians. After she cited that quote, she said nothing about what was actually happening, thereby leading listeners not familiar with the movement to believe that what Trudeau was saying was correct, as if to say only right wingers oppose vaccine mandates. What a vicious lie, something I never would have expected from Amy Goodman.
Trudeau mentioned that there was a swastika among the protesters. Damn, the protesters emerged from all over Canada in huge numbers, and their displays of kindness were overwhelming. Local Ottawans provided food and gasoline for truckers.
Whenever a movement becomes too big to ignore, mainstream media finds a way to discredit it and will go to ridiculous lengths to do so. Possibly, there was one swastika among groups of many thousands. Why was nothing mentioned about the age old and vicious use of agents provocateurs to discredit and break up movements?
And why was not a single word mentioned that the trucker movement has now become international and maybe even unstoppable. There will be a convoy from the U.S. going to Washington,D.C. and there have been convoys of truckers driving in solidarity from countries as far away as Belgium, Australia, Bolivia and more, and the list is growing every day. In every case protesters have been extremely respectful and peaceful, and never have they blocked emergency vehicles.
This is the type of movement that Amy Goodman once would have embraced. I listened to a discussion about the movement on Fox News, where, quite surprisingly, there was a lively debate. It is hard for me to imagine that Fox News would have better, more well-rounded coverage of this important issue than Democracy Now, but that’s exactly what happened.
Finally, I wish that Ms. Goodman would stop telling her listeners that wearing a mask is an act of love. That’s another lie. Masks don’t work, and there is zero transmission outdoors, so wearing a mask outdoors is an act of folly, not love. Prevention and early treatment are much more effective and they are genuine acts of love.
Amy Goodman, shame on you.
Dear reader, if you agree with my sentiments, please contact Democracy Now. Thank you.
Hi Susan, It is now October 8, and I just found your blog. I agree with you 100%. Today there are massive demonstrations supporting Julian Assange in the UK and DC. But Amy and Democracy Now choose not to cover it. It is a huge story. Instead, they are covering the Nobel Peace Prize, which has gone to pro-Ukrainian forces whose aim is to destroy Russia.
Very sad indeed. I agree with everything you said about Amy's coverage of Covid, but I am also very angry/disappointed by her coverage of other stories of international significance.
And she wouldn't touch the Hunter Biden story. I guess her "handlers" would not allow it.
Soooo disappointed in Amy Goodman.
And thanks for your blog and for letting me feel I am not the only one who is disappointed and outraged by the selling out of Democracy Now.
Peace.
Carol Kennedy
Swarthmore, PA
Thank you Susan. I was thinking the same thing. I think the show should be called "Neoliberal Mainstream Narrative Now".