“A memo from 1970…”: Alfonso Chardy, “Reagan Advisers Ran Secret Government,” Miami Herald, July 5, 1987.
Agitator Index (ADEX): Earl Ofari Hutchinson, “The Dangerous New FBI,” June 4, 2002, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/06/04/cointelpro/print.html
You may be a terrorist: “Missouri Report on Militias Draws Fire,” The Associated Press, March 14, 2009, http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-story-militia-report-031409,0,5591136.story
Last declared war in 1945: “The Declaration of War: One for the History Books?” National War College, 1998, http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA441475 &Location=U2 &doc= GetTRDoc.pdf
The same Miami Herald article that uncovered the FEMA director’s college paper also detailed the drastic continuity-of-government proposals that FEMA was formulating:
“FEMA’s clash with (Attorney General) Smith occurred over a secret contingency plan that called for suspension of the Constitution, turning control of the United States over to FEMA, appointment of military commanders to run state and local governments and declaration of martial law during a national crisis.
“The plan did not define national crisis, but it was understood to be nuclear war, violent and widespread internal dissent or national opposition against a military invasion abroad.”
Orwellian continuity-of-government provisions put in place: Alfonso Chardy, “Reagan Advisers Ran Secret Government,” Miami Herald, July 5, 1987.
Presidential Decision Directive 51: National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, whitehouse.gov, http:// georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/ 05/20070509-12.html
See also: Charlie Savage, “White House Revises Post-Disaster Protocol,” Boston Globe, June 2, 2007, http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/06/02/white_house_revises_post_ disaster_protocol/
Presidential Decision Directive 67: Enduring Constitutional Government and Continuity of Government Operation, October 21, 1998, http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/pdd/pdd-67.htm
See also: Francie Grace, “’Shadow Government’ News to Congress,” CBSNews.com, March 2, 2002, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/01/attack/main502530.shtml
Constitution Free Zone: Ellen Nakashima, “Citizens’ U.S. Border Crossings Tracked: Data from Checkpoints to Be Kept for 15 Years,” Washington Post, August 20, 2008, http://www.washington post.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2008/08/19/AR2008081902811.html
See also: Ellen Nakashima, “Expanded Powers to Search Travelers at Border Detailed,” Washington Post, September 23, 2008, http:// www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202843.html
See also: Fact Sheet on U.S. “Constitution Free Zone,” The American Civil Liberties Union, http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/fact-sheet-us-constitution-free-zone
Free Speech Zone: Marcella Bombardier, “Boycott Is Planned in Free-Speech Zone,” Boston Globe, July 25, 2004, http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/07/25/ boycott_is_planned_in_free_speech_zone/
In Chapter 12 the meeting at the bar is disrupted by someone referred to as a newer member of the organization. This, of course, is inspired by those who have publicly stated their goal to infiltrate the Tea Party, the 9/12 Project and other like-minded organizations and stage violent acts or hate speech. According to one anti-Tea Party group, their mission is to “act on behalf of the Tea Party in ways which exaggerate their least appealing qualities.”
One other important note on this scene: While Noah initially thinks that the instigators were New York City policemen, he is quickly proven wrong. If there is one thing that virtually every group fighting for our rights and freedoms agrees on, it’s that those entrusted with the public safety, from local cops to federal agents, are on the side of the good guys.
Agents provocateurs inside Tea Party events: Valerie Bauman, “Foes of tea party movement to infiltrate rallies,” The Associated Press, April 10, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041203358.html
See also: Brian Montopoli, “Tea Party Foes Target Movement ‘Morons,’” CBSNews.com, April 13, 2010, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002377-503544.html
These next two statistics are related in a pretty amazing way: While Congress’s approval rating continues to be abysmal, historically more than 90 percent of incumbents are still reelected. People always want to know how they can help change the course of America. This is it! While the answers are undoubtedly more complicated than they used to be, the easiest solution is still the best: Turn your back on those who’ve turned their backs on you by voting them out. Actions speak louder than words, and right now our actions are showing that we tacitly approve of the lies and corruption.
Congress’s Approval Rating: Gallup.com, http://www.gallup.com/poll/127343/Congress-Job-Approval-Rating- Improves-Low.aspx
Congressional reelection rates: “Reelection Rates Over the Years,” http://www.opensecrets.org/bigpicture/reelect.php
In Chapter 14 Noah and Molly have a conversation in the limousine. Several things cited during this talk are factual, or based on real events.
U.S. Senator out west about to be involved in an ethics scandal: Eric Lichtblau and Eric Lipton, “Senator’s Aid After Affair Raises Flags Over Ethics,” The New York Times, October 1, 2009, http:// www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/us/politics/02ensign.html
The Rev. Al Sharpton (fried chicken and waffles) at Amy Ruth’s: Amy Ruth’s Menu, http://www.amyruthsharlem.com/dinnermenu/waffles/wafflemenu01.html
Edward Bernays served as one of the inspirations for Arthur Gardner. Several sources below reference Bernays, but if you really want to understand the reach and power of public relations (and why Joseph Goebbels found Bernays to be so instructive) then be sure to read Bernays’ own book Propaganda, which includes this assertion right on the cover:
“As civilization has become more complex, and as the need for invisible government has been increasingly demonstrated, the technical means have been invented and developed by which opinion may be regimented. Democracy is administered by the intelligent minority who know how to regiment and guide the masses.”
Edward Bernays, Woodrow Wilson and United Fruit: Larry Tye, The father of spin: Edward L. Bernays & The Birth of Public Relations (New York, NY: Crown Publishers, 1998), http://books.google.com/books? id=Dk0SPKpYCsQC
If you’re interested in reading more about a real-life example of a modern force in public relations, take a look at John Rendon. His company is a leader in “perception management” and, according to Rolling Stone, “fills a need that few people even know exists.”
PR push behind the Iraq War/Rendon Group: James Bam-ford, “The Man Who Sold the War,” Rolling Stone, November 17, 2005, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/8798997/the_man_who_sold_the_war
Guatemalan Coup: Central Intelligence Agency Freedom of Information Act document archive, http://www.foia.cia.gov/guatemala.asp
80 million gun owners: Wayne LaPierre, “Sotomayor’s Bias,” CBSNews.com, July 15, 2009, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/15/opinion/main5162054.shtml
Bernays’ book: Edward Bernays, Propaganda, (New York, NY: Ig Publishing, 1928), http://books.google.com/books?id=JlcPgPt17KcC
Bernays’ book on Goebbels’ shelf: Larry Tye, “The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & The Birth of PR,” PR Watch, Second Quarter 1999, Volume 6, No. 2, http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1999Q2/bernays.html
In Chapter 15: This may not exactly be the most critical fact in the book, but Eliot Spitzer’s father really is a real estate mogul, and at one time Spitzer really could have run into Noah and Molly in that elevator car on the
