Character Assassins II - gebonden uitgave, pocketboek

CHARACTER ASSASSINS II re-examines controversial historical events and takes a fresh look at contemporary issues. It is highly critical of the federal government, the Justice Department and courts throughout America. Essentially, the book is a brief history of the consequences of bearing false witness. It tells how "toxic talk" has led to shunning, branding, witch hunts, persecutions, prosecutions, executions, pogroms, famines, wars and genocides. From small acorns great oaks grow, and from small lies come poisonous fruits: ruined reputations, divided neighborhoods, class hatreds, clan violence, ethnic cleansings and blood libels, preludes to the twentieth century's worst horrors. The book critically examines local, national and foreign events. It shows how the press, the courts and government officials contort the facts, twist the truth and subvert the Constitution of the United States for political gain, ideological advantage or more simply and crassly to settle old scores from old political feuds or personal vendettas. It all begins with a slur or an insult, then the retort, then the tit for tat and the poisonous chit chat, then the false witness and rumors that spread like wildfire, then "eye for eye" the stepped upon step up, and strike back, and, as the worm turns, the backbiting and stone throwing spiral out of control, and that inevitably leads to the singling out of "the other" or of "different" people, who are subjected in due course to derisions, scorn, retribution, persecution and punishment. It compares the Dreyfus case to the Connolly case, and proves how slander and libel can lead to wrongful, highly destructive prosecutions of innocent men and women.